Many of you may have already seen Shillingstone Station on the old Somerset & Dorset Railway or remember it from when it was open. However, I was surprised by the number of residents of the Shillingstone area who never even realised that Shillingstone HAD a station.

During its heyday it was a busy station and even in the early 1960's on a Saturday in the summer, a train would pass through Shillingstone every 20 minutes, bringing hundreds of people on holiday to Bournemouth and Poole from Bradford, Manchester, Liverpool and further afield.

As with the case of so many lines and stations it was closed in 1966 and the line taken up the following year. The station building remained in use by various firms until about 6 years ago when the The North Dorset Railway Trust was formed to preserve the building and establish a museum. We were eventually granted a 99 year lease and have set about restoring the station, relaying track and rebuilding various structures.

The volunteers have restored the main building, opened a small café and shop, started the museum and relaid some of the track. This is just the start of a very exciting development project for which we have received planning permission and I am pleased to be able to tell you more over the coming months.

The photgraphs above show how the station looks now. If you visit us you can see photographs from 50 years ago and you can see how little the station has changed.

We are open on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays and we will be pleased to see you. if you are hungry or thirsty, pop in for tea, coffee, cold drinks, ice creams, chocolate or a freshly-made sandwich - we would love to see you.

Tony Ward, Publicity officer.
www.shillingstone.addr.com