Back when the BBC made documentaries we wanted to watch and weren't bias towards old fashioned values, how far has the BBC fallen. Loved the film and made me recall my first book I got way back in 1980 from my local library in North London by Ivo Peters about the S&D which went on to spawn my love of steam, wonderful stuff to watch ;-)
@Novak Ingood Hey no worries. Ivo was before my time but his books and films are what drew me to the subject in detail other than my father placing me infront of his stereo at age 2 to listen to Peter Handford recordings of steam and watch me mesmerised by the sounds, happy times.
@Novak Ingood Oh yes indeed they are, if good, the builders of a sturdy base upon which a child's mind can grow through shared experience and love for common likes. Pity these days and not to get to political but men are derided especially as fathers. Still time is a circle and one day will return to the fold... we can but hope.
Today the BBC are an utter she to what was once a Great Britain. Ok, I needed some intense orchestral music for that line, but my point remains. The BBC used to be something that British folk could be proud of. Now they are a national embarrassment and utterly shameful.
Looking at that fantastic old Gentleman's eyes come alive, and the way he simply got right down to it as if it were only the day before that he had retired was very moving. Like the Miners, when the Railways were emasculated a whole way of life, traditions, and skills vanished for good.
The "modern" Intercity locomotives we see in some shots in this documentary are older now than the steam locomotives Ivo Peters was filming were when he was filming them. They're the new vintage trains now. It's strange to think that at the time this documentary was made these men were reminiscing about an older time now gone. Because watching this I'm reminiscing about the time at which it was filmed, back when we had a rail network that served the public good instead of merely serving private profit.
The look in the old drivers eyes had to be one of the most beautiful looks I've ever seen, it was as if he was seeing an old girlfriend he hadn't seen in many years and the way he just climbed up into the cab and sat down in the driver's seat and literally the driving the engine as if nothing had changed
Ivo Peter's films are far better and more pleasing to watch than today's digital camera clips where people can't keep still or quiet at all when filming trains.
Magnificent memories, superbly presented by the legendary Mike Arlett. Mike is undoubtedly the best ever narrator of steam railway films. Old film brilliantly brought to vivid life by a very skilful commentator.
From 1985...and the narrator is Mike Arlett, he is quite superb. He has provided commentary on several commercial DVD's of especially 1960's steam railways. If you ever treat yourself to one such DVD, then buy ''Branch Line to Burnham''..Mike narrating. Cost..£19-99. Should be able to buy it on-line. It is my all-time favourite, vividly takes you back to a bygone era.
So good to see these programs again. My great grandfather was a driver on the S&D based at Highbridge(for Burnham on Sea). I can clearly remember the branch being used for milk trains to Basonbridge right up to the early 70s.
Having grown up in Wincanton I've always wondered how much easier my life could've been had the SDJR stayed open, I'm currently gathering information on the route so I can try and trace what little of it is still publicly accessible.
Return and All Change are superb documentaries I well remember at the time of broadcast.Wonderful Donald Beale and Peter Smith.Great men from a time long gone...
The death of this wonderful railway always brings tears to my eyes. If only Beeching had never been born or SOMEONE had the foresight to preserve this line for todays generation of steam locos. So lamented the dear old S&DJR. The destruction of our beloved railways began the slow demise of Britain, today our loco factories are no more, no more British cars, steel, coal, you name it. All thanks to BEECHING! Think about it.......... :...(
Keyboard Krazy The irony is with traffic congestion, pollution, and overuse of Petrol and prices that the railway would thrive today. Yes they would use Electric and Diesel but the rail line would be thriving today. Over here in the USA the railway is a major part of moving goods from one part of the country to the other but is behind in people transportation compared to Europe. I used to live in Spetisbury next to this wonderful line. Great film.
Imagine if that line were open now. Imagine the tourism traffic. It would be like the canals now, which have more traffic on them than every before. The Midford Signal Box on its own should have been a Grade 1 listed building. A piece of social history destroyed. It's tragic.
Theres a Lane at Worrhy Farm of famous Glastonbury which was the old trackbed of the S&D talking to one the farm workers Worthy Farm had its own milk dock siding when the line was running.
wonderful, I actually walked across Midford viaduct in September 2015. to think in 1963 Sir John Betjimin made Branchline railway and he said how hellish the roads would be in 10 years. Well 53 years later Britian is totally ruined by cars and the vain attempt to keep building more roads. it is simply criminal that so much victorian engineering was destroyed by short sighted pollies like Beeching. its funny Britain ripped up so many lines, when you go to France they seem to have kept them
And the majority of the lines on the Beeching Report, were closed under the auspices of Barbara Castle, despite a broken promise, in the 1964 Labour manifesto, to at least review said act.
***** miney corrupts. So many people in politics do this. I think many lines had to shut as they never made money. The tragic thing is not closing the line bur selling the rail corridor. So many lines would now be viable.
***** if you check out my RU-vid channel I am building in O gauge in the garden a model of West Green station on the old Seven Sisters to Palace Gate branch. It closed 7th Jan 63 and had been going downhill since the Piccadilly line was extended to Cockfosters. Crossrail two has a planned link between WoodGreen and Seven Sisters which is the route of the old line
Absolute classic. Wonderful memories of the S&DJR brought to life and everyone's to keep. This is an object lesson in social destruction. The railway was for many the sole means of communication in this stunningly beautiful but savage landscape, terminated like so many things railway years before it's time. A much loved friend lost for ever to the god of car parks and Tesco. (Other supermarkets are widely available - unfortunately) Most of them built on derelict branch lines or disused engine shed sites. Nostalgia? you bet!
Bath Green Park station has a vintage market on I think the first Sunday of the month (might be the last) but most of the time, it's just a Sainsbury's car park, what a shame
It doesn't matter how many times I watch this (first saw it in 1986 on tv.,) it still gets to me. I am reminded of Houseman's poem: "Into my heart an air that kills From yon far country blows; What are those blue remembered hills, What spires, what farms are those? That is the land of lost content, I see it shining plain, The happy highways where I went And cannot come again."
Hello My Friends To my way of thinking it's absolutely heartbreaking that this magnificent railway is gone. We are fortunate that Ivo had the foresight to capture it on film. His wonderful films bring into focus what once was, and also, what we have lost. Jack
The ex driver Ray, with the thin moustache, was filmed on the footplate, in the BBC 1963 John Betjeman film, "A Branch Line Railway", which features the old S&D branch , from Evercreech Junction, to Burnham On Sea..
Yes, I regularly watch ''Branch line''......it's a wonderful, evocative film of a golden age of Olde England. Mike Arlett, narrating here, also commentates on my favourite ever steam DVD, ''Branch Line to Burnham''. Get a copy if you can, it is a gem, an absolute classic.
@@StormBlazePegasus However not from Taunton. Have to bus the first part. Hope they don't cut the bus service or I won't be able to get to the line at all.
I only wish I could have met Donald Beal, a true gentleman. If only there were more people like him now, the world would be a far better place. A true gentleman of the iron road, sadly missed. Does anyone have any information about Peter Smith . When i worked on the railways in signal boxes and crossings a freind of mine was a train driver and one day he gave me a poster of a train coming out of Combdown
A bygone age when men used to dig their gardens and mow their lawns dressed in shirt and tie and on Sundays most streets were empty and the smell of a home cooked roast dinner drifted over rooftops......where is my steam punk time machine??!!
@@GreatBarrWolf Because that was the only day many people had free - it was quite often a 6 day or a 5 and a haf day week, especially for manual workers.
Can we please stop blaming Dr Beeching for the railway closures, he only wrote the report. The final decision on any line closure was the Minister of Transport, one Ernest Marples, whose construction company was actively bidding for road & motorway government contracts.
That is remarkable - thanks for sharing. So this government minister basically used his position to make loads of money for himself, at the expense of the country. terrible! And they're still at it...
Marples put his road construction company in his wifes name so no hidden agenda there. Some of the closures came long before Beeching. We have Beeching to thank for the Intercity service we have. I think what was wrong wasn't the closures but how it was done, they should have been mothballed not torn up
@@richardwestwell4902 that is correct...Beeching did indeed recommend some of the land be kept for possible re- use in the future but of course over time many of the routes have been built on😥
I remember when this programme was transmitted. The technical quality of Ivo Peters' camerawork is remarkable. Dare I say it but it looks better than the modern footage shot for the programme 20 years later! To be fair it was a pretty grey day, though.
Back then the guys treated their jobs as vocations... they loved what they did and were proud of it. Now it seems railway workers are in it for what they can get out of it. Traveling by train is the most enjoyable way of getting around, unfortunately now you are restricted by the unions as to when you can use the service.
Don't tell the kids but their futuristic phones' electricity might be from nuclear power stations, but it's a steam engine that makes it. They'd implode if they knew!
I can't understand why anyone should dislike any video. I have never pressed the dislike button. If I don't like the video then I simply stop watching it and switch to another. I hate the dislike button.
+microbusss None of it remains in "normal service". See the excellent Wikipedia article en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somerset_and_Dorset_Joint_Railway, which gives you an overall history of the line, including the various current restoration schemes. Very best of luck to the "New Somerset and Dorset Railway", www.somersetanddorsetrailway.co.uk/, which aims to restore the whole line, but I fear this is a forlorn hope.
Pity they didn't cover Radstock which is the start of the climb to top of Mendips and just further on the 5 arches viaduct! I occasionally traveled the line from Radstock to Bath to attend school in the 1950's when buses weren't running because of snow.
I have a Hardback DORLING KINDERSLEY DK EYEWITNESS GUIDES Book of TRAIN. Discover the story of railways - from the days of steam to the high - speed, sophisticated trains of today. In association with THE NATIONAL RAILWAY MUSEUM.
I wish i was born in 49 not 59 😢 I HATE THIS MODERN WORLD and its terrorism and cruelty and global warming 🤷🏼♂️ REOPEN THE S&DJR! BLESS Dear Ivo Peters, without whom none of this footage would be preserved! RIP Donald Beale, luckily I managed to get a copy of his book which are sadly now all gone.
The road sin the area are all now gridlocked. I travel them regularly and have to sit in massive queues down past Sedgemoor etc the train flew past all this.@@lennylaa1686
I vaguely remember this documentary - in the days before the BBC became 'woke', biased etc - I've a few videos with MA looking a little older too. He's a great presenter and superbly knowledgeable. Can't help but remember better times in the past, not just nostalgia per se, just better times - bittersweet. Great documentary though. Beeching et al deliberately misused the Pareto Theory, with a fat pay cheque, links to the RHA, to pander to government policy. The S&D was treated in a slipshod under hand, fraudulent manner and cruelly with it too. And let us not forget that Beeeching killed off communities as well!
