HISTORY
The days of rail travel from Okehampton to Bere Alston Although you can still travel from Plymouth to Gunnislake by rail, the last Plymouthto-Exeter trains travelled the route via Bere Alston and Okehampton on 5 May 1968. The latest book in the series by Bernard Mills about the railways serving Plymouth, takes the reader on a nostalgic journey of the former railway’s history, and the route as it looks today. The London and South Western Railway (LSWR) line from North Tawton reached Okehampton on 8 January 1867, and then Lydford in 1874. By then the Great Western Railway from Plymouth to Launceston via Tavistock (South) and Lydford, was already in service. However the Okehampton to Plymouth route wasn’t fully completed until 1891, after the Plymouth Devonport & South
The last T9 at Meldon 27 April 1963, Bernard Mills collection
Western Junction Railway (PDSWJR) developed an independent route from Lydford to Tavistock, and then via Bere Alston to the LSWR terminal in Plymouth - in 1923 LSWR and PDSWJR were absorbed into Southern Railways (SR). Bernard’s comprehensive history of the route covers a wealth of detail, such as Bridestowe Station’s importance in transporting products from the Rattlebrook Peat Tramway and the Sourton Ice Factory, started by James Henderson in 1875 in pre-refrigeration days; while sidings were installed at Lydford in 1943 to store ammunition trains – as a damage limitation scheme in case they were bombed. From the 1950s, Bernard Mills worked at the stations in both Bere Alston and Tavistock and his book includes invaluable insights into station life such as the following section: As at Bere Alston, the Tavistock booking clerk was required to collect tickets from those leaving the station on
the down side. There were two middle-aged ladies who travelled almost daily from Bere Alston and always had a bag of sweets to share with the station staff. Then there were enjoyable duties like lighting the coal fire in the waiting room, cleaning out the grate. Each platform had a canopy… supported by cast-iron columns cast in M/S Matthews & Co Tavistock Foundry. Truly this was an elegant railway station of the late Victorian era. As you would expect Bernard also relates a number of anecdotes about his experiences over the years, such as the Soho stripper who arrived on the 01:10 from Waterloo to visit her husband at Princetown prison – you can read the full story in Bernard’s book! He also describes how conveyance of all manner of livestock on passenger trains was commonplace until the mid-80s. On one occasion a North Brentor farmer arrived with a live pig in a crate just as the train was pulling into the station. The pig was quickly transferred to the guard’s van and the train left on time. A few days later the station staff received a letter of complaint from a lady passenger stating: As I left my compartment to be ready to light from the train as it approached Okehampton, I was rather alarmed to see a pig walking in the corridor.
1624 to Bere Alston at Tavistock North May 1968, B.Mills
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