History of the WESSEX WANDERER RAILWAY WALKS
Walks led by members of the Ramblers starting from and finishing at railway stations along the Bristol/Weymouth Railway Line known as the Heart of Wessex Line.
1994
With the Bristol/Weymouth railway line from Westbury, Wiltshire, down to Weymouth, Dorset, under continual threat of closure the Heart of Wessex Rail Partnership (HoWRP) was formed. This followed a decision by the relevant local Authorities along the line to do whatever they could to promote, support and enhance the line.
1995
Peter Gould, Avon Area of the Ramblers, organised half a dozen summer walks from stations south of Westbury based on the southbound railway timetable.
These were led by Ramblers Members from Avon Area and were incorporated into Bristol Group’s walks programme.
These walks were the first major promotion of the line.
1996
A leaflet called ‘Something for Everyone!’ was published by the then Train Operating Company (TOC), Wales and West Passenger Trains.
This included details of eight Sunday ‘Wessex Rail Rambles’ using Bruton, Castle Cary, Chetnole, Maiden Newton and Dorchester West stations, again organised by Peter Gould.
The TOC issued Leaders and Co-Leaders with rail tickets to use for undertaking a pre-walk and leading on the day of the walk.
1997
A simple one page programme, headed ‘Wessex Wanderer’ was produced. This consisted of seven walks organised by Peter Gould and seven walks organised by Susan Blake of Dorset Area. These were shown separately based on the southbound timetable (from Bristol) and the northbound timetable (from Weymouth).
1998
This format continued but with a double-sided publication which included additional information.
The programme consisted of ten walks based on the southbound timetable and five walks based on the northbound timetable.
Twelve walks from stations along the Bristol Temple Meads to Severn Beach railway line (covered by the Severnside Rail Partnership) were included which Peter Gould also organised.
1999
Susan Blake, Dorset Area of the Ramblers, took over as Programme Co-ordinator.
The HoWRP Officer, Catherine Phillips, with the support of the TOC, arranged the design, printing and distribution of the programme and continued to cover all the costs involved. The programmes were distributed to railway stations along the line, as well as many other outlets.
Both the southbound and northbound departure and arrival train times were included for each walk, thus combining all the walks into one programme of nineteen walks. June to September.
This added to what became (and still is) quite a complex and time- consuming exercise having to take into account the departure and arrival times of trains from Bristol and from Weymouth.
By now Ramblers members from each of the four Areas along the line – Avon, Wiltshire (now Wiltshire & Swindon), Somerset and Dorset - were leading walks. People from along the line were coming on the walks, usually travelling outside their local areas.