'Momentous day' as rebuilt line links with Shillingstone station
Work to extend the track a further 400m north of the station began in 2021 with the diversion of the North Dorset Trailway.This was followed two years of earthworks, before the first sleeper could be laid in November 2024.The project was made possible by supporters who bought the land, donated materials and loaned machinery.The final "golden screw" was put in place by operations manager Phil Jacques who described the final day of work as a "Herculean task" involving "12 volunteers working a nine-hour shift in 26°C, continually supplied with water and other drinks, and food by another group of five volunteers". Mr Jacques said there was still "many more weeks" of work ahead, with the next milestone being an inspection by the Office of Rail and Road.
Shillingstone station closed in 1966 when the nationalised railways were restructured but, in 2005, a group of locals took on the lease and began restoration work.Over the years, volunteers have repaired the platforms, re-laid the tracks and restored the station building.The signal box, which had been demolished, was completely rebuilt, and members have been carefully restoring a growing collection of wagons and locomotives.There are now more than 100 volunteers who help run the cafe, tend the garden, renovate stock, build infrastructure, and provide technical and administrative services.
You can follow BBC Dorset on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
16 minutes ago
- The Sun
Hundreds of flights cancelled across Europe this week – with up to 36,000 Brits affected
FLIGHT cancellations across Europe are set to affect thousands of Brits heading abroad this week. Airlines including easyJet, Ryanair and Air France have been forced to cancel flights today and tomorrow due to French ATC strikes over working conditions and pay. 3 This means that as many as 200 flights to and from the UK will be impacted each day on July 3 and July 4, according to AirAdvisor. This works out to as many as 36,000 Brits. Ryanair has cancelled 170 flights in total, which is expected to disrupt over 30,000 passengers. The airline has also claimed that the strikes in France will disrupt passengers flying over French airspace too, en route to other destinations such as Greece and Spain. Ryanair's CEO Michael O'Leary said: "Once again European families are held to ransom by French Air Traffic Controllers going on strike. "It is not acceptable that overflights over French airspace en route to their destination are being cancelled/delayed as a result of yet another French ATC strike. "It makes no sense and is abundantly unfair on EU passengers and families going on holidays." In comparison, easyJet has been forced to cancel 22 UK touching flights today and 38, so far, for tomorrow. Across Europe the airline has made 124 cancellations in total for today and 150 so far, for tomorrow. An easyJet spokesperson said: "As required by the French authorities (DGAC) easyJet proactively cancelled some flights in advance and customers were contacted directly with options to transfer to another flight for free or a refund. "While this is outside of our control, we will do all we can to minimise the impact of the strike action. Flight cancelled or delayed? Top tips for handling travel disruptions "On behalf of our passengers we are extremely unhappy with the strike action, particularly given the current performance of French ATC which has been the leading cause of airspace delays in Europe this summer. "Long term solutions must be found for our customers and crew who suffer repeated disruption." The strike, which is being led by UNSA-INCA and SNCTA unions, will involve 60-70 per cent of ATCs. Anton Radchenko, aviation expert and founder of AirAdvisor explained that the strikes will also cause the airspace to narrow, and as a result the backlog will spread quickly to hubs like Heathrow, Gatwick, and Manchester. He said: "What many travellers underestimate is how vulnerable short-haul schedules are to even minor disruptions. 3 "Unlike long-haul routes, where airlines often have contingency buffers, short-haul flights operate on tight rotations." For example, one delay in Lyon or Marseille could lead to a ripple effect that cancels a Stansted departure six hours later. He continued: "My top advice is to travel with full situational awareness. "If your itinerary connects through France or overflies its airspace, even to destinations like Italy or Spain, check with your airline daily, not just the night before. "Take screenshots of every notification, keep every receipt, and escalate immediately if your flight is cancelled. "Under EU261, you're owed assistance even if you're not owed financial compensation, but you have to know how to ask." New EU rules also mean Brits will now get less compensation if their flight is delayed. Plus, Ryanair has warned of record flight delays this summer. 3
The Sun
19 minutes ago
- The Sun
All my little-known tricks for cheap tickets that top UK attractions DON'T advertise
THE summer holidays are just around the corner, and as the queen of money-saving mums, I've compiled a list of my favourite tricks for saving cash on day trips in the UK. Like lots of parents, I love to treat my three boys to fun family days out over the long summer break - but budget constraints mean I have to search for the best value passes and tickets. 5 From twilight tickets to summer passes, here are a few hidden hacks that I've used over the years to make our money stretch further. Twilight tickets With the long summer days in full flow, sometimes it makes sense to head to an outdoor attraction later in the day. Often, there are fewer visitors and the sun isn't at full strength, especially as daylight stretches well into the evening now. This makes it less hot and sweaty, and much better if you have young children or babies with you. We love a trip to Gulliver's, which offers rides and play aplenty at four sites in Derbyshire, Milton Keynes, Rotherham and Warrington. Depending on the site, tickets in the summer holidays can cost £22.50 to £24.50 per person. But, if a full day out is a bit too much for your family, you can get an afternoon ticket from 2pm to 5pm for £15 or £16. At Milton Keynes, there's also the option of paying £18 to visit the dino and farm park next door from midday and then go into the theme park from 2pm onwards. This is ideal if you are in a group with different-aged children. Norfolk Museums have cut-price twilight tickets for the last hour of opening at places like Norwich Castle or the Elizabethan House in Great Yarmouth from £1.50 to £2.50 per person. We love popping into the atmospheric Time and Tide Museum in Great Yarmouth, which has loads of hands-on activities that tell the town's tale of fishing, seafaring and tourism. A twilight ticket means a family of four only pays £10 for a visit instead of £28.40 - perfect to while away an hour after spending the day on the beach. Puxton Park near Weston-super-Mare offers a £6 twilight ticket for its last two hours of opening, giving access to its soft play, adventure zones and animal park. A family of four normally costs either £46 or £62 for a full day in the summer holidays. Summer season tickets Lots of visitor sites now offer summer passes that include unlimited entry over the long school holidays, which can be excellent value for money if you're planning to make repeat visits. At Statfold Country Park in the Midlands, the new steam into summer pass costs £70 for a family of four and covers train rides, entry to the National Fairground Museum, soft play and mini golf until the end of September. To visit for a day in the summer holidays would cost £57.50, so it's well worth buying the pass, even if you'll only use it twice. Farm parks can be a fantastic choice if you're looking for a summer pass. At Lee Valley Animal Adventure Park in Essex, two adults and two children can visit unlimited times from July 5 to August 31 for £62.97, compared to paying £42.96 for entry for one day over the school holidays. And we've also had great value passes in the past for soft play centres, which tend to be quieter in the summer months when people are outdoors more. If you live near one of the 70 pubs that host a Wacky Warehouse, you can buy a month-long pass for £14 per child for access to the soft play, with discounts if you buy more than one pass at the same time. 5 Weekly or fortnightly passes If you're holidaying away from home, some attractions in tourist hotspots offer weekly or fortnightly tickets to encourage families to make return visits while they are in the area. Down in Cornwall, you can upgrade a day ticket to visit the Lost Gardens of Heligan into a weekly pass for free on arrival at the ticket office. A ticket booked in advance for a family of four costs £75.50, so you'll want to make the most of your entry fee by visiting several times if possible. If you're heading to Scotland for your holidays, the Historic Scotland Explorer Pass is £100 for two adults and up to three children aged 7-15 for 14 days. It covers entry to lots of sites such as Skara Brae in Orkney and Edinburgh Castle, which by itself costs £74 prebooked or £82 on the day for two adults and three children. So if you're visiting the castle and a couple of other sites, the Explorer Pass could be the perfect way to save money. In Devon, Woodlands theme park offers a seven-day wristband for £123 for a family of four, compared to £86.72 for one-day entry. 5 End of summer sale When my boys were young, we used to love chugging around the tracks at Audley End Miniature Railway near Saffron Walden in Essex. But with tickets costing £18 per person this August, it can be quite an expensive day out, especially towards the end of the school holidays when funds are dwindling and you'll need to buy new school uniform for the academic year ahead. Last summer, the visitor attraction offered 30 per cent off for the last week in August, making a final day of family fun before the kids go back to school more affordable. It's worth waiting to book your tickets to see if a similar discount code is available this year, as it could take tickets for me and my three boys from £72 down to £50. Another place I like to look out for discount codes is at indoor attractions like waterparks or adventure golf. These tend to be quieter over the summer months while people are out and about in the warm weather, so they sometimes do discounts at the end of the summer to get visitors back in before the autumn. We often visit Moorways Sports Village in Derby using discount codes, which can take the price for a waterpark session down to £8 per person. That's a similar price to a round of indoor adventure golf near us, which sometimes offers a 20 per cent discount code towards the end of the school holidays. Sign up for the social media pages of your local attractions to make sure you hear about these offers when they are launched. It's also a great time to look at venturing further afield to places where term time has already begun and prices have returned to off-peak. If you live south of the Scottish border, it could be worth heading north at the end of August as schools in Scotland start back in the middle of the month. Here in Leicestershire, we have a similar situation, with prices dropping for the last week of August once term has begun, even though all the children in neighbouring counties are still off school. So make sure you do your summer holiday maths and work out what ticket works best for your family before you splash the cash. Waiting until the last-minute to book a twilight ticket or use an end of summer discount code could be better for your budget. Paying a bit more upfront could end up saving you a pretty penny in the long run. 5
The Sun
27 minutes ago
- The Sun
Ryanair couple banned from boarding their flight and left £500 out of pocket due to confusing passport rule
A COUPLE with a sick child have revealed they were banned from a Ryanair flight, and forced to pay £500, due to a confusing rule. Christina and Cameron Finn travelled with their young son to London from Belfast for a CBeebies event. Unable To Check In They had no issues entering England, but on the way back, they travelled via Dublin and were met with a series of problems. The couple were unable to check in for their flight on the Ryanair website due to technical issues, meaning that when they arrived at Stansted, they had to pay a £55 fee for not checking in online. Then Ryanair asked for the couple's passports, which were both expired, as they had been waiting for their son to arrive before renewing them. On their easyJet flight to London, they had used their driving licenses, with no issues. However, Ryanair staff allegedly refused to accept their driving licences, stating that because Christina is British, she needs a visa to fly to Dublin because the Republic of Ireland is in the EU. Christina argued with staff that under the Common Travel Agreement, passports and visas are not required by British and Irish citizens travelling between the two countries. Banned From Flight However, she claims that Ryanair staff said that she would be stopped by passport control in Dublin who would fine the airline "between £500 and £1,000" for letting her on board without a passport. The pair, whose five-month-old baby was sick and required medication, were informed by staff that their only option was to buy last-minute flights to Belfast, which set them back £500. Confusing Rule Christina phoned her mother to ask her for help with the hefty cost, and her mother quickly checked the government website, where it states that no visa or passport is required by British and Irish citizens for travel between the two countries. "I decided to ring the British embassy in Dublin who directed me to call the Irish embassy in London and the woman on the phone was horrified", Christina told Belfast Live. Passengers injured on Ryanair flight after being thrown against the cabin roof as plane 'flew into supercell storm' "She said there was no need for a visa." However, the embassy worker added that airlines are allowed to impose their own strict ID policies. Ryanair has defended its actions, telling the Irish Mirror: "These passengers failed to check in online before arriving at London Stansted Airport (5 June). "Therefore, these passengers were correctly asked to pay the required airport check-in fee (£55 per passenger), however refused to do so, and became aggressive towards the agents at the check in desk at London Stansted Airport." Advice for flying with Ryanair All Ryanair passengers can bring a small personal bag on board but this must fit under the seat in front of you, but it must be no bigger than 40cm x 20cm x 25cm Any over-sized cabin bags will be refused at the boarding gate and put in the hold for a fee Ryanair also charges passengers up to £55 check-in at the airport Anyone who loses their card at the airport will have to pay a £20 reissue fee Book to sit in the front five rows if you want to head off the plane first Extra legroom seats can be found in rows 1 A, B, C or 2 D, E, F as well as row 16 and 17 near the emergency exit The worst seat on Ryanair's Boeing 737-800 aircraft is also 11A because of its lack of window. The Irish airline added that their terms and conditions state that all passengers must carry a valid passport when travelling between the UK and Ireland. Christina said that the ordeal made her feel like a "second-class citizen." Ryanair has been contacted for comment.
