Templecombe raises the bar… again
DANIEL PUDDICOMBE visits the Somerset village to discover why the 2019 National Rail Awards Small Station of the Year enjoys repeated success
Templecombe station, on the WaterlooExeter line, can best be described as a ‘serial winner’. The small Somerset station has triumphed at RAIL’s
National Rail Awards in both 2016 and 2019 and was Highly Commended in 2017 and 2018.
Getting off the train, it’s almost as if you are taken back in time - or transported to a station on a heritage railway.
The first thing you see is the (now-disused) footbridge, which takes pride of place in the station, resplendent in former Southern Railway green paintwork. On the adjacent (unused) platform is a former waiting room, again restored and repainted in former SR colours. And further along the platform is a garden, with a statue built to celebrate the station’s reopening in 1983.
Clearly, a lot of effort - and pride - goes into making sure the station looks so good. And much of that is down to the Friends of Templecombe station group, which was established in 2011 by the husband-and-wife team of Peter and Christine Hillman in order to return the station to its winning ways.
(In the 1980s, after it was reopened, it was crowned ‘Best Station of the Year’ by BR. The certificate stands proudly in the former waiting room.)
“The station won many awards in the past. Part of establishing the group is about us wanting to thank people for using the station since it reopened, and to make it nice again,” Christine tells RAIL.
“It wasn’t a very nice-looking place at one time - it needed repainting - so we took it upon ourselves to get on with it, having told South West Trains we were going to just get on and do it.”
Adds Peter: “We have a dedicated team, and their main aim is to make the station look nice and keep the garden tidy - not particularly because they are fond of railways, but because it is a ‘must-do’ thing because of its history.”
He says the aim is to make the station the centre point of the village.
As well as winning numerous awards over the years, the station is appreciated by passengers, too. The group has a comments book in the (operating) waiting room/ticket hall, while the station even attracts praise online from regular passengers.
Peter explains: “Someone, who isn’t from Templecombe and was just passing through, posted on Instagram the other day and said it was the best looking station she’s ever seen. She was passing though, looked across to the other side [where the flowerbeds and garden are located] and was blown away.”
The NRA judges awarded the station the coveted trophy this year because “it remains the jewel of the Small Stations thanks to the SWR/Friends of Templecombe partnership”. They also saw “further improvements to the extensive gardens and the use of the ticket hall/waiting room as a centre for community activities”.
Phil Dominey, senior regional development manager at South Western Railway, tells RAIL the train operator has the easy part in the partnership, as the group “does the hard work and we assist where we can”.
He adds: “Every year it is a step up in terms of the ambition. Every time I come here, there’s something new and creative, and that’s what makes this place unique.”
He says that helps SWR in the long run:
“If you have an attractive station that people want to use, you will build up business. People drive here because they like the experience of travelling by train, so doing that does drive up business, but the intent behind it is that this is the gateway to the community and part of the community. If it was superficial you wouldn’t feel it, and it wouldn’t come across as being genuine.”
Every time I come here, there’s something new and creative, and that’s what makes this place unique. Phil Dominey, Senior Regional Development Manager, South Western Railway
Anecdotal evidence suggests this is true. Christine and Peter say they are aware of people who drive from Castle Cary (ten miles away and which has its own station) to catch a train because they prefer the gentler surroundings that Templecombe station offers.
Dominey explains: “We are very lucky to have these guys, and also Anne [Dibble, the station’s ticket officer], who has the same ethos and customer-focus approach. Between them it is a fantastic service, from arriving at the station, buying a ticket and boarding a train. You always look to put the customer first and the experience first.”
When RAIL visited, the main ticket office/ waiting room was out of action because new lights were being fitted. However, normally there are leather seats, second-hand books and a board advertising events in the village.
The group also holds regular ‘coffee and cake’ mornings, including when steam-hauled charter trains pass through the station, as well as a Christmas party for the station’s users and wider community. The station has also hosted Halloween-themed events for the past three years.
As for the future, both Peter and Christine say they won’t rest on their laurels, with several ideas on how the station can be improved further.
One key plan which is already under way is to return the former signal box (repainted by the group in 2015) into a usable space once again.
“I put in a report last November saying what needed doing,” says Christine.
“We’ve been going in and airing it. We also run the water to make sure nothing leaks, and I’ve been sweeping up. SWR has taken note and thought ‘we could use this as an office’, and it is at this moment being refurbished.”
Dominey adds: “It is being kitted out for the station manager to have an office and outpost. It is such an iconic location, with a view over the station. We were looking for additional locations for people to hotdesk, and so that’s why it is being fitted out.
“The signal box will be brought back into use, although not for signalling - it will be occupied, and it means the station will get a greater presence staff-wise. That’s good news for everyone.”
And he says the group provides a blueprint for others to follow: “In terms of the structure, set-up, ambition and quality of work, this is how you do it.”