Latest news with #WestSomersetRailway
BBC News
11-07-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
Headlines: 'Flying Scotsman trips cancelled' and 'amber heat alert'
Here's our daily pick of stories from across local websites in the West of England, and interesting content from social media. Our pick of local website stories A car park at the rear of the Broadwalk Shopping Centre in Knowle, Bristol, will never reopen because of structural concerns.A Conservative councillor has won a seat on Burnham and Highbridge Town Council, beating the Reform candidate by 14 votes at a by-election held on ongoing heatwave and an amber heat health alert are being widely discussed, as temperatures are expected to reach 32C (89F) in parts of the country. Our top three from yesterday What to watch on social media An investigation is under way after a sinkhole appeared on Whitehouse Road in Somerset Railway has cancelled all services, including trips on The Flying Scotsman, due to operational issues.A teacher is taking on a 10-hour cycle challenge to raise money for a girl in his tutor group who has been diagnosed with cancer for a second Museum is celebrating 25 years of its Millennium Wall, which was created by almost 4,000 children from schools in the Donkey Sanctuary is closing to protect the animals from the extreme heat expected over the coming Tim is celebrating 50 years working as a qualified veterinary surgeon at Langport and Street Veterinary Centre.
BBC News
04-07-2025
- BBC News
Flying Scotsman: 'iconic' locomotive arrives in Somerset
An "iconic" locomotive has arrived on the West Somerset Railway for the Flying Scotsman pulled into Somerset on Saturday and will stay until 14 July, running services between Bishops Lydeard and was designed by Sir Nigel Gresley and performed the first ever non-stop London to Edinburgh trip in 1928, cutting the journey time to eight hoursDriver, Stuart Nelhams, said: "It's always a special day to be driving steam locomotives but especially to get on one that is considered a national icon. It's become a bit of a pop star, people seem to know the name." Kerry Noble, general manager at the West Somerset Railway, added: "It's great to have it here. It's a very iconic locomotive so it comes with a lot of additional requirements. It's a massive amount of work for the railway."We are more than aware of the cost of living at the moment, so we have tried our best to create many opportunities for everyone to see the Flying Scotsman to suit all budget types." It is visiting the area on a tour of the UK's heritage railways to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the modern are being held all year as part of Railway 200 to mark the anniversary of the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway on 27 September Somerset Railway last hosted the Flying Scotsman in West Somerset Railway stations will be closed to the public for the duration of the operating days of the Flying Scotsman, with access to Minehead or Bishops Lydeard by ticket only.
BBC News
23-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Funding bid for Somerset Heritage Railway link rejected
Efforts to connect a heritage railway with mainline services have hit a snag after the government refused to fund the West Somerset Railway (WSR) runs between Bishop's Lydeard, a few miles outside Taunton, and Minehead via numerous small stations in west Council and West Somerset Railway had submitted a business case asking for £137,000 from the Department for Transport (DfT) to connect the line with mainline great Western Railway services at department has now announced it will not be providing funding for the project, but will hold discussions with the council to see what improvements can be made locally. Rachel Gilmour, the Liberal Democrat MP for Tiverton and Minehead, raised the issue with Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander in the House of Commons on 15 said people in Tiverton and Minehead face "many challenges when it comes to transport connectivity" and that the railway connection would allow students to access the sixth form facilities in Taunton and boost tourism. Ms Alexander said the department "does not currently have any plans to take forward a development link between Bishop's Lydeard and Taunton".A spokesperson for Somerset Council said: "We are disappointed this link is not being considered, having worked closely with WSR on the business case."We look forward to the DfT reaching out to discuss this further and will continue to lobby for better regional transport connections with our partner authorities in the Peninsula Transport sub-national transport body." This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.
