Villages 'more connected' before 1960s rail cuts

Shillingstone station closed in 1966

Bob Downes was 19 when he began working as a porter at Shillingstone station in 1962, before training as a signalman.

"There was always a busyness about the station, I miss it so much," he says of his time overseeing trains on the Somerset and Dorset Railway from the station's signal box.

The original signal box was demolished after the Dorset station shut in 1966, as part of sweeping rail closures following the Beeching report.

"We could do with our railways back," says Mr Downes. "This is quite a big village now, Shillingstone has doubled in size since the railway shut. The cost would be prohibitive but it would bring life back to the countryside."

Bob Downes worked as a porter and signalman on the Somerset and Dorset Railway

Work to restore Shillingstone station and relay a stretch of track began in 2005 and was completed recently.

In the future, volunteers at North Dorset Railway hope to run steam train rides for visitors along the half a mile of track.

The station opened in 1863 on the Somerset and Dorset Railway, which ran from Bath to Bournemouth.

In its heyday, it carried holidaymakers to the coast and was a vital transport link for local people.

Volunteers have relaid half a mile of track at Shillingstone

Gavin Collins, chairman of North Dorset Railway, says the view from the platform of hills, fields and sheep has barely changed in 100 years.

"It's a beautiful setting but, when it closed, the line was not profitable," he says.

"Even into the 1960s, this station employed eight people, it wasn't sustainable."

Gavin Collins, chairman of North Dorset Railway, says 5,000 miles of track was lost across the country in the Beeching cuts in the 1960s

Mr Collins says he believes it was a mistake to rip up the tracks at Shillingstone and across the country.

"If the government had had the foresight to keep the tracks down, they could have restored tram or light train services into the towns and cities which are now totally crammed with traffic," he says.

Shillingstone station, pictured before restoration, after its closure in the 1960s

Volunteer John Coulbert makes the journey every week from his home in Poole to Shillingstone by bus.

If the railway was still in place, it would take about 35 minutes but, with a change of bus in Blandford, the journey takes more than an hour.

Mr Coulbert says because there is no service from Blandford on Saturdays and Sundays he misses out on weekend sessions at the station.

"To my mind, public transport was better back in the 1960s, towns and villages were more connected back then.

"The rail cuts were a major error and government promises to fill the gaps with buses weren't kept.

"We have gone backwards."

John Coulbert says he believes rural public transport has worsened since rail cuts in the 1960s

The government has said it is committed to delivering better buses across England, including in rural areas, with an "ambitious" reform agenda and more than £1bn investment this year to "support and improve services and keep fares low".

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: "We are undertaking generational reform of our railways, bringing services back into public ownership and putting passengers at the heart of our railways.

"Great British Railways will enable local communities to have more say in rail services, helping rural areas get more reliable trains and better links with other public transport."