{"id":4096,"date":"2018-02-02T12:05:00","date_gmt":"2018-02-02T12:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.teignrail.co.uk\/scouting\/?p=4096"},"modified":"2025-10-20T10:46:47","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T09:46:47","slug":"devon-somerset","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.teignrail.co.uk\/scouting\/devon-somerset\/","title":{"rendered":"Devon & Somerset"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The scout’s route refresher over the Devon & Somerset began in August, 2011, when he joined the Railway Ramblers\u2019 visit to Dulverton. They walked the line from there to Exe Bridge and parts of the line, through Nightcote Tunnel, to East Anstey, where the owner had kindly laid on tea and cake.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The task, laden with sadness, was continued in 2017, following the line between East Anstey and Barnstaple, and finished in 2018, revisiting what is left between Taunton and Morebath Junction Halt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The photographs are arranged in line order but they were taken on a number of rides in either direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When at Taunton School in the early 1970s, the scout got as far as Wiveliscombe, where railway stationery was still strewn around the booking office. He remembers looking at Milverton Station from the road bridge. In the late \u201870s, he rode from Barnstaple to Taunton but remembers very little of it and took no photographs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This little album is not intended to be a complete study of the line\u2019s remains, only of those features that caught his eye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Norton Fitzwarren<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The rebuilt station consisted of two island platforms. The main lines are at left and both branches are hidden from view by the train. As at Tiverton Junction, the footbridge was the only passenger access to the station; it also led to a footpath on the Downside.
Copyright: Roger Joanes. Shared under Creative Commons. +<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Looking towards Taunton, the surviving footbridge can be seen beyond the end of the island platform.
Copyright: Roger Joanes. Shared under Creative Commons. +<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Exeter to Taunton.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first underline bridge on the branch, Allerford, is evidence of the 1937 doubling of the line from Norton Fitzwarren to Milverton. Only one abutment remains and it is clear that widening took place to the north to carry a new Up line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n