ORIGINALLY built as two separate rural routes that eventually linked to provide a single-ticket ferry and train ride from South Wales to Paris via Poole, the Somerset & Dorset Railway closed under the Beeching axe in 1966.

Passengers on the Wales to France route had to board a ferry at Cardiff for the journey across the Bristol Channel to Burnham-on-Sea in Somerset, catch a train via Evercreech Junction to Poole, board another ferry for Cherbourg and then take a second train to the French capital.

The grandiose scheme was never successful and was dropped after a couple of years when the only passengers proved to be sheep and goats.

So says presenter, researcher and writer Dave Rogers on 1st Take’s DVD, The Somerset & Dorset Railway, which is on offer to Daily Echo readers.

Produced with the Somerset & Dorset Railway Trust, the film uses some very grainy cine images, paintings and still photographs, coupled with modern day video work from former railway locations to tell the story of the much-loved line.

The DVD journey begins from the day the first section was mooted way back in 1850 up to the very last trains out of Writhlington Colliery six years after passengers services halted.

The first sod was eventually cut on the Somerset Central at Highbridge on April 18, 1853 and the first trains ran from there to Glastonbury from August 17, 1854.

That line was extended eastwards and eventually met up with the Dorset Central’s line which first linked Poole with Blandford and then expanded northwards.

Later the route was extended over the Mendip Hills to Bath Green Park station.

The Bournemouth West to Bath route became the main line while the lines west from Evercreech Junction became “The Branch”.

Mr Rogers credits the Somerset & Dorset with expanding the population of Bournemouth from a few hundred to 16,000 in 1881, though the London South Western Railway’s links with London played a major role in the resort’s popularity too.

The Somerset & Dorest railway overreached itself financially and, after initial interest from the Great Western, was eventually taken over by the LSWR and the Midland Railway in the 1870s.

In addition to good footage of trains running, the DVD also features interviews with former staff and heritage trust member Chris Warren who says: “The Somerset & Dorset, if it was still here today, would be providing a vital link and it would be a very, very well used line.

“And to me what has happened to the Somerset & Dorset is nothing but state-sponsored vandalism.”

Daily Echo readers can buy the DVD for £10.95 including postage and packing, saving you £5.

Orders should be made to: First Take Ltd, PO Box 1840, Yate, Bristol BS37 4WB.

Cheques should be made payable to First Take. Telephone 01454 321614 for more information.