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West Somerset Railway Heritage Trust WSRHT

Roll of Honour Rededication & Act of Remembrance 2023

Lest we forget

Bishops Lydeard Station on 11th, Nov, 2023
Soilders from 40 Commando standing guard at Bishops Lydeard Station
The West Somerset Railway Heritage Trust is proud to be the custodian of one of, if not the only, original roll of honour commemorating the 2500 GWR (Great Western Railway) staff who made the ultimate sacrifice during WW1.
 
101 years ago, on Armistice Day 1922 the chairman of the Great Western Railway, Viscount Churchill, unveiled the bronze war memorial on Platform 1 at Paddington Station. At the same time as the memorial the GWR produced lithographed Rolls of Honour mounted in wooden frame and these were put up at the principal station. Just 4 of these survive today, at Bristol Temple Meads, Taunton, Exeter St David s and Newton Abbot, but these rolls are replicas. The one here at Bishops Lydeard, in the Gauge Museum, is an original.
 
By 2002 the rolls were in a very poor condition, and they were carefully removed by expert conservator and facsimiles were produced with these going back to above mentioned station with the help of the Railway Heritage Trust. When the Gauge Museum was refurbished in 2019/2020 the plastic frame and perspex were replaced by a wooden frame and glass. The wooden frame was based on the one at Exeter St Davids with the GWR coat of arms on the top. Our frame was made by an apprentice at a joinery in Isle Abbots. Due to Covid intervening we were unable to dedicate the memorial at the time, so we held our service this year.
L-R: Bishop Nigel Stock, Sergeant from 40 Commando, Deputy Lord Lieutenant Clinton Rogers and WSRHT President Chris Austin OBE
We were very honoured to have the presence of Deputy Lord Lieutenant Clinton Rogers, the Deputy Lord Lieutenant represented the sovereign and Bishop Nigel Stock conducted the service whilst 40 Commando provided an honour guard of a sergeant and 4 men, 3 marines and one seaman. The 40 Commando team laid a wreath on behalf of the regiment and lit the candle of remembrance. John Leach played his trumpet to sound the Last Post and Reveille.
 
The Trust had previously invited family members of those fallen listed on the Roll of Honour to attend and were very pleased to welcome Laurie Hockley with his wife and father as relatives of one of the soldiers mentioned on the GWR Roll of Honour.
 
West Somerset Railway Heritage Trust
 
November 2023
Roll of Honour located in the Gauge Museum Bishops Lydeard
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WSRHT IGGY Day | 21/06/25

WSRHT IGGY DAY | 21.06.25

The WSRHT in conjunction with Emerald Ant CIC were delighted to welcome visitors to the Gauge Museum on Saturday 21st June, but with the added attraction of IGGY in the car park.

What’s IGGY

He is a large dinosaur who provides the backstory and stage to the history of fossils. Dramatised by a very small but talented team of actors who introduced us to historical figures such as Charles Darwin, Mary Anning &  through the two performances that were enjoyed by children and adults alike. www.emeraldant.com

The WRSHT were also further wonderfully supported by the SW Heritage Centre, who very kindly provided a wide selection of fossils for visitors to the day to handle. The fossils included ichthyosaur, ammonites, plant and bivalve fossils. These were of great interest to all our museum visitors not just those there for the IGGY event.  www.heritage.org.uk

Further support came from Jack Wichard & his partner Dylan who brought along a display of life size dinosaur skulls which they had 3D printed.

Circular writing, using the various fossil shapes were on offer in the main museum, along with cutting out fabric ammonites, decorating them ready to go onto the wall hangings designed and made by our education officer Helen Anson. The wall hangings will be on display in the museum.

Also grateful thanks go Pam Anson who made “dinosaur” cakes & biscuits plus museum team of Rob, Alan& Pauline, & Tony for their support on a very hot day.

A thank you to the friends of Bishops Lydeard Station(FoBLS) for the loan of their gazebo and  safety barriers.

In closing again many thanks to the following:

Emerald Ant CIC, SW Heritage Centre, Jack & Dylan, FoBLS.

Ian Camp

Curator

Volunteer as a Communication Assistant – Join the WSRHT

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Voluntary Role Opportunity

We have a new voluntary role within the Heritage Trust to support the day-to-day management and development of the Trust’s electronic communications – including the website, social media accounts and corporate email – and associated IT solutions. It will involve day-to-day administration but progressively technical development and implementation.

Communications technology has developed at pace over the last few years and, although the Trust is a small charity with limited resources, the Board of Trustees wishes to ensure that its electronic communication is as accessible, user-friendly and informative as possible. This requires hands-on management of day to day activity, and we are planning several exciting innovations to be introduced over the coming year.

We are therefore looking for a person with suitable skills and enthusiasm to work with the Trustee with responsibility for Communications and IT, and with the Website Manager to ensure that our communications strategy can be delivered.

This role has a flexible time commitment and will be generally home-based.

If you would like to find out more, please contact

Chris Darke, Trustee – Communication and IT darke_chris@hotmail.com.

For an application pack please contact John Robinson, Trustee- Safeguarding and People jwrobinson01@talktalk.net.

Completed applications should be forwarded to him by email as above or sent to West Somerset Railway Heritage Trust, The Railway Station, Bishops Lydeard, Somerset, TA4 3BX to be received by not later than 15 August.

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