BG John Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 These are fantastic and certainly bring back some memories. ........ As for date, they are post 1973 as that is when the goods shed was demolished. Jerry They are all I took unfortunately. For some reason we didn't go on the platform. I think they must have been taken in 1974 or 75. One day I'll dig out my mostly dated index of slides, and get it on the computer! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold queensquare Posted November 26, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted November 26, 2012 They are all I took unfortunately. For some reason we didn't go on the platform. I think they must have been taken in 1974 or 75. One day I'll dig out my mostly dated index of slides, and get it on the computer! They are fantastic John - my interest in spotting was probably at its height in 74/75. I'd love to see any others you took in the area around this time, Jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG John Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 They are fantastic John - my interest in spotting was probably at its height in 74/75. I'd love to see any others you took in the area around this time, Jerry I suspect I was on holiday at Grately on the LSWR with my parents, and we went through Warminster on the way to visiting relatives in Bath, so just quickly stopped off at the station. We must have gone to Salisbury on the same holiday: I've got more of Salisbury from a couple of visits, and apart from that I think I just have a few of Wilton and one or two other stations long after closure. I've still got a lot to scan, and then I need to sort them out and index them properly. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HGT1972 Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 Hi! I've only just seen this topic and can add a bit about banana traffic from Barry. By the later 1960s the Geest traffic for Warminster left Barry on an evening trip to Severn Tunnel Junction. It regularly conveyed traffic for Taplow (20 vans) and Heathfield (10 vans) alongside 20 vans for Warminster. At Severn Tunnel the Warminster traffic moved forward on the daily departure for Salisbury. On one Sunday during November 1970 three trains ran from the docks, the first for Severn Tunnel Junction with 10 vans each for Spalding, Easton Lodge, Lingfield and Taplow plus 15 vans for Warminster. The third of the trains left very early the next morning with 15 more vans for Warminster and picked up the 15 vans left at Severn Tunnel to form a 30 van train for the depot. The longest train for Warminster I've seen reference to is those 30 vans, the shortest just two! However, the rail traffic from Barry ceased from the end of 1971 so the vans in the post-1973 picture are not bananas. Maybe they were for the military or perhaps fertiliser? Hope that adds a bit to your picture? Hywel 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold queensquare Posted November 26, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted November 26, 2012 I suspect I was on holiday at Grately on the LSWR with my parents, and we went through Warminster on the way to visiting relatives in Bath, so just quickly stopped off at the station. We must have gone to Salisbury on the same holiday: I've got more of Salisbury from a couple of visits, and apart from that I think I just have a few of Wilton and one or two other stations long after closure. I've still got a lot to scan, and then I need to sort them out and index them properly. More memories - great stuff, I remember the coal yard. We didn't go to Salisbury that often, Westbury and Bristol in the other direction held more attraction for us spotters. That said, my Mum liked Salisbury for shopping and was quite happy to leave me at the station whilst she went round the shops in peace. There was also a good model shop just down the road from the station. Jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold queensquare Posted November 26, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted November 26, 2012 Hi! I've only just seen this topic and can add a bit about banana traffic from Barry. By the later 1960s the Geest traffic for Warminster left Barry on an evening trip to Severn Tunnel Junction. It regularly conveyed traffic for Taplow (20 vans) and Heathfield (10 vans) alongside 20 vans for Warminster. At Severn Tunnel the Warminster traffic moved forward on the daily departure for Salisbury. On one Sunday during November 1970 three trains ran from the docks, the first for Severn Tunnel Junction with 10 vans each for Spalding, Easton Lodge, Lingfield and Taplow plus 15 vans for Warminster. The third of the trains left very early the next morning with 15 more vans for Warminster and picked up the 15 vans left at Severn Tunnel to form a 30 van train for the depot. The longest train for Warminster I've seen reference to is those 30 vans, the shortest just two! However, the rail traffic from Barry ceased from the end of 1971 so the vans in the post-1973 picture are not bananas. Maybe they were for the military or perhaps fertiliser? Hope that adds a bit to your picture? Hywel All useful stuff, thanks. At the time we just collected numbers and rode up and down on our bikes, pulling wheelies and generally larking around. As I said we were usualy there in the evenings and there was little activity in the yard. I can remember getting a clip round the ear for watching the military traffic being shunted at Battlesbury Barracks - you could see it out the window of the 'tower block' where we had double geography! Jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted November 26, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 26, 2012 Hi David, I've no idea. If its not a banana train that makes it even more intriguing. Where's Mike the stationmaster when you need him, he worked at Westbury around this period:-) Jerry You rang sir? I went to Westbury in the spring of 1974 and we didn't have any banana traffic going to Warminster by then (you already know that from another post of course) so I would say they are most likely for 'military stores' traffic and might be for loading/unloading in the goods yard but the number suggests to me they were being held there to be tripped into Beechgrove when required for loading (or unloading). The stores traffic was very variable and depended very much on what was going with a lot more movement when the Infantry Demonstration battalion changed over or prior to big exercises although the latter was usually the sort of things which went bang and those vans don't appear to be labelled for that. With increased activity by some folk of the Irish persuasion around 1974/5 the bangers were increasingly dealt with at Westbury which was more secure than Warminster yard; the army came over to unload it and move it forward by road to their storage facilities. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold queensquare Posted November 26, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted November 26, 2012 Thanks Mike and Hywel, that all makes sense. The reason we never saw any banana traffic is because it ceased in 71 then, before my spotting days although if I ever get round to building a model of Warminster I think that may be one of the areas where I stretch reality a little! Regarding the military traffic Mike. What would have tripped the traffic. Would they have sent whatever was available at Westbury up as required or would the train loco have done it? I know a lot of the military traffic came down from Chippenham via Westbury but I seem to remember stuff coming from the Salisbury direction as well. Presumably that would have gone to Warminster as well before being tripped back to the barracks. Battlesbury Barracks had its own shunter, a little four wheeled diesel if I remember, but that wouldn't have come out on the main line. We had a couple of big bombs found in Warminster around that time but thankfully they were found before going off. The Irish Rangers were stationed here at the time which probably made us more of a target. Jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted November 27, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 27, 2012 When I was very young my dad told me that they used bend the bananas at the Geest factory!! Jerry According to the Daily Mail, that activity was banned by the EU. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted November 27, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 27, 2012 Thanks Mike and Hywel, that all makes sense. The reason we never saw any banana traffic is because it ceased in 71 then, before my spotting days although if I ever get round to building a model of Warminster I think that may be one of the areas where I stretch reality a little! Regarding the military traffic Mike. What would have tripped the traffic. Would they have sent whatever was available at Westbury up as required or would the train loco have done it? I know a lot of the military traffic came down from Chippenham via Westbury but I seem to remember stuff coming from the Salisbury direction as well. Presumably that would have gone to Warminster as well before being tripped back to the barracks. Battlesbury Barracks had its own shunter, a little four wheeled diesel if I remember, but that wouldn't have come out on the main line. We had a couple of big bombs found in Warminster around that time but thankfully they were found before going off. The Irish Rangers were stationed here at the time which probably made us more of a target. Jerry I think there was a Severn Tunnel Jcn train which dropped off and picked up at Warminster on its way south at one time. Later (can't date it offhand but I reckon c.1975 or 76 there was as STJ - Westbury which conveyed the Warminster traffic and it was tripped forward from Westbury by whatever was to hand. The situation with bangers changed drastically c.1975 for security reasons and only a limited number of places were permitted to hold wagons underload overnight and that list did not include Warminster (BR yard) or Westbury - if the army weren't in the mood to come and collect we had to send the wagons back to STJ to come forward again the next day, and so on. It was of course a time for the boyos and we were probably far too careful about overall security in view of what had happened in Warminster - to the extent that we were more or less on first name terms with the bomb disposal teams from Warminster; but they always said if there was any doubt at all to call them out, maybe they enjoyed the drive to Westbury or they liked our tea but I still didn't fancy their job one bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium mezzoman253 Posted November 27, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 27, 2012 I usualy go down to Taunton for the day and meet my old mate John Greenwood who comes up from Cornwall. The station buildings at Frome and Warminster (both still exist) are indeed very similar, even more so when Warminster had its overall roof until the late 1920's. Frome still has its roof, and I believe is listed. Jerry Not sure if this will be of any use, it's Frome taken 13/05/2012 at 15:02, next train was around 20:00 I think. Rob 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clachnaharry Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 Great topic and great pictures. I passed through Warminster a few weeks ago, and I was surprised to see the military sidings still extant. Are they still in use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG John Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 I've just come across this book (paper and ebook) on Wishford. I don't know if everyone knows about it, or if it's just me being out of touch! http://bretwaldabooks.com/book.php?p=105 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG John Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 I've just discovered that the photos in Post #20 were taken in July 1975 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Curiously, I recollect there being banana vans there at Easter 1974, when getting the train from Bristol to Fareham; presumably their swansong? Whilst Barry had stopped dealing in banana traffic, Avonmouth was still sending some traffic by rail when I worked there in 1976. I think Southampton might also have dealt with some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold queensquare Posted May 16, 2013 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted May 16, 2013 A quick bump for the thread and an aerial view of Warminster c.1929 from the superb English Heritage 'Britain from the air' collection Tim V, did you find any shots of Warminster in the 70's in your collection? Jerry 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 It looks as though there's an overall roof in the style of that at Frome; when did that go? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold queensquare Posted May 16, 2013 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted May 16, 2013 It looks as though there's an overall roof in the style of that at Frome; when did that go? Warminster and Frome station buildings are very similar. I have some pictures of Warminster from the mid 30s and the roof had gone so sometime in the early 30s. Jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim V Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 A quick bump for the thread and an aerial view of Warminster c.1929 from the superb English Heritage 'Britain from the air' collection Tim V, did you find any shots of Warminster in the 70's in your collection? Jerry There are some, dated around March '78. Currently I'm working on digitising my black and white negative collection. I'm on sheet 30, but Warminster is on sheet 125, it was my first trip out with my Olympus OM1 - it's going to be a while. There are a couple of earlier ones from around 1975, I'll come across them whenever. I hadn't forgotten your request, but I thought Warminster was a long term project? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold queensquare Posted May 16, 2013 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted May 16, 2013 There are some, dated around March '78. Currently I'm working on digitising my black and white negative collection. I'm on sheet 30, but Warminster is on sheet 125, it was my first trip out with my Olympus OM1 - it's going to be a while. There are a couple of earlier ones from around 1975, I'll come across them whenever. I hadn't forgotten your request, but I thought Warminster was a long term project? 1975 and 1978 is bang on the money Tim. It is a long term project so no rush - when their turn comes is fine. Look forward to seeing them mind!! Jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim V Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 Finally got to the pictures of Warminster dated 24/04/1978, taken with my brand new Olympus OM1. More to follow. I did take some earlier pictures, but the negatives for those are lost. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold queensquare Posted December 9, 2013 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 9, 2013 Finally got to the pictures of Warminster dated 24/04/1978, taken with my brand new Olympus OM1. More to follow. Warminster 24 April 1978 120-1.jpg Warminster 24 April 1978 120-2.jpg I did take some earlier pictures, but the negatives for those are lost. These are great Tim, many thanks for taking the trouble to post them. I was fourteen in 1978 and down the station most evenings. I don't remember the sidings getting much use although that maybe because we were rarely there during the day. On weekends and school holidays we usually headed off to Westbury, Bristol or further afield. The crossover was regularly used by the bankers from the stone trains - usually a pair of 37's with a Wezzie or Duff on the front. I also seem to remember there was a passenger train that terminated at Warminster in the evening which crossed over before dropping back down the bank to Westbury. We regarded DMUs in such low esteem that we didn't even bother to collect their numbers. It makes me smile when I think that I now get all nostalgic when I see, and particularly hear, one of these old 'bog units' or'fart carts' on a heritage line! Jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim V Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 Some more: More to follow. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim V Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 Further Pictures 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim V Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Final batch. Is that a Vauxhall Chevette and a fast back Marina in the picture? 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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