Exeter Branch Train Outing.
Monday 1 May 2006.

Michael Cannon writes...

This year's event took about 30 of us into Cornwall to ring at Bodmin and St Germans and a ride on the Bodmin and Wenford Steam Railway. The day dawned warm and sunny as we met at St Davids station to catch the 8.15 train to take us into Kernow. The route as we all know took us along the spectacular sea wall at Dawlish and along the Teign estauary. This stretch of line is one of the most expensive in the country to maintain as it is constantly being battered by the sea and south westerly gales. During the 1930’s the Great Western Railway proposed to create a junction at Exminster,then quite a large station which still boasts its long closed but proud signalbox, and cross inland to Newton Abbot. Much of the land was purchased and plans were well advanced when war broke out and the idea was shelved only to be totally abandoned when the GWR was nationalised in 1947.

Spot on time we arrived at Bodmin Parkway (formally Bodmin Road) where we crossed over the footbridge to catch the steam train to Bodmin. We pulled out of the station and began a steep climb towards Bodmin itself. The incline here is 1 in 37 which is very steep for a normal adhesion railway, in comparison the incline from Exeter St David’s to Central is 1 in 39. It was a pleasure to ride in early BR carriages (known as Mark 1 stock) which I found more comfortable than the modern “plastic train” that we had just alighted from! We were hauled by a 0-6-0 Pannier tank no. 4612 built at Swindon in February 1942.

After arrival at Bodmin we made our way to St Petroc’s and enjoyed the pleasant 17 cwt 8. Methods varied from call changes to Bristol and I believe all of us enjoyed these bells.

We then enjoyed a leisurely lunch break where fine local hostelries were sought, tried and tested (well these things are expected aren’t they?) Following this very pleasant interlude it was time to return to the railway and catch the 14.20 to Boscarne Junction. Being a volunteer fireman on the Ffestiniog Railway, I was lucky enough to be invited to ride on the footplate and enjoyed the exchange of views of the crew as we compared the locomotive we were on to the Ffestiniog types that I work on. This time we were hauled by a 2-6-2 Prairie tank engine built at Swindon in November 1928. At Boscarne the locomotive was detached then run round the train before hauling us back to Bodmin where we caught the 15.10 to Bodmin Parkway. Again I was invited to ride on the footplate as the engine that hauled us in the morning returned us to Bodmin Parkway . I reluctantly left the atmosphere of a steam locomotive cab with its smell of warm oil and steam and burning coal to board another “plastic train” that took us back East and our next stop at St Germans.

The present Bodmin and Wenford Railway is a restored part of the original Bodmin and Wadebridge railway, the first part of which was built in 1834 .It was the first steam worked railway in Cornwall and one of the first in Britain to carry passengers, and originally built to carry sand from the Camel Estuary and china clay to Fowey. An extension from Boscarne Junction to Bodmin was opened in 1887 and extended again in 1888 to connect with the Great Western Railway at Bodmin Road. The railway was operated by the London and South Western Railway and later jointly by the Great Western Railway. The last passenger train ran on January 26th 1967 although the branch remained open for china clay traffic until 1983 when a need for new track forced the lines closure. Today the line enjoys a revival and it typifies a WR and SR branch line of the 1950’s. It is now home to a number of steam and diesel locomotives and the railway is run entirely by volunteers. On the day of our visit it was staging a “Railway at War” weekend showing how Britain's railways operated during those dark times.

At St Germans we alighted from the train and walked through this fascinating little village towards the imposing entrance to the St Germans estate where just before the gates stood the church of St Germanus. Another interesting church that was built originally with two towers but now has just the one. Here we rang on what can be described as a challenging 11cwt 8. The long ropes and the long draught caught one or two of us out and there was a delay during the ringing where a rope slipped wheel. Luckily the key to the bell chamber was found and normal ringing soon resumed after re-roping the wheel.

The day was going fast as we caught the 17.15 train back to Exeter enjoying the evening sun as we did so. This really was a most enjoyable day. We may only have rung at two towers but that is not what the day was about. It was a combination of excellent weather, great company, superb scenery, a pleasant nostalgic journey on a “proper” train and some enjoyable ringing as well and all for just under £20. Thanks must go to Ken Vingoe who did much of the ground work, Ian Campbell and Becka Rickard who all did such a splendid job to give us such an excellent day out

Click on the photos to enlarge.

 

And just to show we did some ringing... a very bad photo of the Ringing Master!

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