West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Thanks!

Date corrected.

Robin

 

In all this discussion of ETH let's not forget ETHEL whereby redundant diesel locos were used for empty carriage heating and for providing heating on some trains I service.

 

There was a delay in fitting ETH to the ScR 37's, thus leading to the stop-gap measure of using 25's as ETHELs.
http://www.derbysulzers.com/97250.html

 

WSR Journal 159

On my doormat when I arrived home.

A somewhat inevitable front cover!

Robin

 

I'm told that after the rabbit population was devastated by Myxamatosis there was a much higher survival rate for young trees hence the change to the landscape we see in this and many other pictures.

 

Rabbits tend to prefer grass rather than young trees. Deer are keen to eat young tree shoots but prefer grass.

 

I’m not sure I believe the ‘its Down to the rabbits’ theory. These days we tend to flail hedges once a year rather than the more laborious Manual trimming that there would have been in the 1930’s when labour was cheaper and modern machines didn’t exist.

Robin

 

That's right. In the 1950s the Dorset village of my childhood had several hedgers. Back then good use was made of every kind of natural resource. Hedges provided a stock barrier but was also managed as a crop in itself. Same with trees - those allowed to grow were also a crop. Strangely, nature also thrived. However, there's no doubt a lot of modern day scrubland started when the rabbits died out.

Steve

 

the countryside was noticeably different then. Looking at photographs of 100 years ago from up our way (The Sussex Weald) there was noticeably less dense woodland than today, in fact it often looked quite denuded by comparison, but then coppicing was still common, local oak was still an easily obtainable building material (our house is oak framed, although less than 200 years old), plus the huge requisition on timber for pit props on the Western Front all contributed. I'm guessing those factors all played their part in Somerset life as well.

 

There is a small area of ancient woodland at Havenstreet which is a few years into a coppicing regime including layered hedges. In the railway's ownership it is promoted as a visitor attraction with explanatory panels.

PH

 

Janet and John Dion used to tend the bank between the two bridges at Washford, very carefully as it was SSSI listed. John spent 3 years nurturing the saplings in the hedgerow to create a layered hedge, finally splicing the selected specimens and leaving them lowered for a few days intending to concentrate on them when he returned. But .... the lovely chaps with the flail and/or the 'tidy train' came along, saw the 'mess' and cleaned it up for them

 

Sounds as if some offence may well have been committed. I understand one has to be very careful about work adjoining an S.S.S.I. yet alone in one.

There's more to being a good neighbour than avoiding un-necessary black smoke or "linear scrapyards",

PH

 

God, they must have been heartbroken.
That's in a way like spending three years on a carriage restoration only for someone to rough shunt it and twist the underframe.

 

West Somerset Railway - Then and Now #148

Roebuck Gate Crossing 1977 / 2017

We’ve been here before but here’s a delightful shot of a wood burning pannier (coal in short supply) hauling two wagons loaded, I think, with the remains of the crossing keeper’s cottage. I wonder where that went?

Today’s scene reveals nothing of the drama of the past...

Copyright Nick Jones / John Wood / Robin White

1977


2017

 

That area is not an SSSI. I believe it is a 'County Wildlife Site' so does not enjoy the same protection and land management requirements. The Dixons worked very hard to maintain that strip. There's every reason why the WSR should manage that area to help protect and nurture the wildlife.

Steve

 

Ah right, thought it was something like that. The primroses, wild orchids and various daisies are beautiful. There was one little bush halfway down the bank that they used to trim round very carefully with hand shears. The station side of the bridge had 4 patches that did have an SSSI put on, marked out with sticks and tapes, and an area that supposedly had dormice. A thousand pound fine for every dormouse disturbed was threatened so the grass cutting had to stop.

 

All you needed to do was put out a teapot or two, surely?

Robin

 

"[]WSR Journal 159 "

Interesting what the journal has to say about some people on Nat Pres. !

 

Do tell!