Trains of thought
In this issue we look at the history of the Great Western route from Bristol (Temple Meads) to Bath Spa, a busy main line that passes through Twerton tunnel on the outskirts of Bath. I fondly remember Bristol, its massive station, and its three large engine sheds from 1951 during my spotting days soon after leaving school, through to 22 October 1966 when I attended an open day at Bath Road shed. The limited number of steam locomotives there on that occasion included No 7029 Clun Castle, No 7808 Cookham Manor and Southern USA 0-6-0T No 30064.
My first visit to Bristol was in the summer of 1951 at the start of my cycling holiday with two friends to the West Country. As we were anxious to get into Devon where we could visit many steam sheds, we, with our bicycles, travelled from our home town of Worcester to Bristol (Temple Meads) by train, but as we cycled down the road leading from the station to start our cycle tour, the chain on my bicycle jumped off, and the only way that I could stop this happening again was to line the chain up with the largest sprocket (23 tooth) on the back wheel of my 3-speed derailleur gears, which was the lowest gear (57 inch), and then cycle the entire 600 mile tour in bottom gear. It was fine going up hill, but on the flat it was quite tiring!
To go round Bristol (Bath Road) shed you needed to call at the foreman’s office, accessed from the road above the shed, to ask permission, which was achieved. St Philip’s Marsh shed was easier, and for me, far more interesting with its two large roundhouses, and with plenty of steam on shed, many being pannier tanks and freight locomotives – a great start for our ten-day cycle tour. We did not visit the ex-LMS shed at Barrow Road on this occasion, but I made a visit there a few years later when an interesting variety of LMS locomotives was seen, including quite a few ‘Jubilees’. Sadly my note book from my 1951 cycle tour got lost during subsequent house moves, but I do recall some of the locomotives that I saw during that trip.
My next memorable visit to Bristol was in 1956, the year of the Suez Crisis. I remember this well as having ended my National Service in the Worcestershire Regiment in April 1954, I was on reserve and anticipating a call – fortunately this did not happen! My lady friend, Jane, (later my wife) and I travelled overnight from Worcester for a holiday in Perranporth and had to change trains at Bristol (Temple Meads) where we spent nearly two hours on the station soon after midnight. However, I witnessed many Hawksworth ‘County’ class 4-6-0s on newspaper and mail trains during that night, which delighted me no end.
A later visit to Bristol provided me with the sight of GWR ‘King’ No 6000 King George V standing at the platform at Temple Meads on an express train that would travel over the line to Bath, featured in this issue of the magazine; my last ‘King’, it had eluded me for many years.
Yes, Bristol had so much to offer the trainspotter, and I only wish that I had gone there more often. Enjoy your read and your own special memories.