Why I Made This Site

 

              I'm not a trainspotter and I never have been and I couldn't tell you the difference between various trains,tracks or carriages.I didn't start this site out of any interest in trains whatsoever.If you're looking for technical information,this probably isn't the site for you,this site's not about that.This site is about a dream,a feeling,a sense of almost being able to feel the past and an interest in history and a sort of sadness that things that once were,are no more.It's also about remembering the past so that things are not just lost,for it is the doom of men that they forget!  

                   I live in Bampton and for years I had heard people say things like,"yes,the old station is under the car park" or "the platforms are still there you know" and I'd think about this for a moment or two and then just walk on,soon forgetting about it.This same sort of scenario reoccurred many times over the years and each time I wouldn't pay it too much thought.Then one night, I was lying in bed in the early hours suffering from insomnia as I do, when I suddenly said to myself,"What do you bloody mean the station's under the car park?"

                    After having a couple of hours sleep I awoke still tired,but with a passion and a drive to find out all I could about the station at Bampton.I spent hours on the internet researching and then walked around Bampton looking at things in a totally different way.I couldn't believe that all of this had once been there,hidden under all this earth and tarmac.I sat in a daze,mesmerised by the magical feeling that the old pictures made me feel.What a beautiful line the Exe Valley must have been.

                Being in my 40's I never got to see any of it and this made me feel sad and strangely,even more romantic about it all.Yes I know,it probably wasn't always great sitting in a bumpy,cold,carriage on a slow train, when you were in a hurry and I have always been prone to wearing rose tinted glasses,but I am sure that there were many hot summer days,when travelling through Devon's green and pleasant softly rolling hills,on a steamy,tooting,slowly moving engine, was simply glorious.

                     So that is the main reason for making this site,as a sort of outlet for all my interest and imagination and to be able to express my sorrow and disbelief that this line was destroyed.What an unbelievable shame.How amazing would it be for locals and tourists alike,to be able to explore the beauty of the Exe Valley,by such a complimentary form of travel.What a loss it has been to local economies.What a loss it has been to generations of children.What a loss it has been to all our lives in general.

                      And this brings me on to my secret reason for making this site.Kept secret because I know it's probably not possible.Kept secret because I don't really want people to know that I believe in the impossible.And the secret is a question that I would like to put forward on this site.Could the Exe Valley Railway not be rebuilt?Is it really impossible that I will ever be able to take a train journey down this line? 

                      Anyway,I hope that you enjoy the site and please feel free to ask me any questions.

     train34   L.Hayton

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Memories of the EVR

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