A valuable window into our past

As a fan of The Titfield Thunderbolt, I read with interest the article in RAIL 849. Even after more than 60 years, it still has enough of a following to ensure it is shown on TV occasionally, and a digitally re-mastered DVD of the film was released a few years ago.

For me, the attraction is the way this corner of 1950s England, and the long-closed Camerton branch, are brought back to life in glorious technicolor, with wonderful acting and camerawork.

This part of Somerset remains largely unspoiled with most traces of its industrial heritage now vanished, although evidence of the railway and its predecessor the Somersetshire Coal Canal can still be made out.

The site of Monkton Combe (aka Titfield) station has long since disappeared, but a tangible link to the film remains.

At one point Mr Blakeworth is seen cycling through the gates at the station entrance, complete with Titfield Station nameboard provided by Ealing Studios. Two cast iron gate posts (made by W. Richards and Son of Leicester) are still firmly in place, either side of a garage (see picture).

Finally, for any of your readers who use Facebook, I am an administrator for an online group called Titfield Thunderbolt: Then and Now which readers with an interest in the film or the railway are welcome to join.

Kevin Mitchell, Poole