West Somerset Railway General Discussion

We've been lucky with the weather the last couple of years but just think what chaos might happen in the showground and car parks if there had to be some heavy weather ? Sorry to be so negative .

 

More to the point what about hiring the site to 3rd parties who might want to run an event?

 

Indeed so. Other railways find this to be most lucrative. Including, dare it be said, for motor shows.

 

That, maybe, is because they hold it on the same day as the Torbay three day Steam Rally, when it very rarely rains.

 

Just dont hold an event on World Naked Gardening Day - the weather is guaranteed awful!!

 

Revised timetable due to problem with points at Crowcombe.

1630 MD-BL departs Williton 1719, Stogumber 1730.
1655 BL-MD departs Stogumber 1718, Williton 1730.
Interesting?

https://www.west-somerset-railway.co.uk/timetables/view/118

 

True , but by multiplying the events in a grassy field and maybe not always such a traditionally fine weather period , fate is being tempted .

 

Fantastic idea , no risk and just the income and possibly free advertising .

 

A couple of points about the Rally field.

Firstly it is available for hire by others and has been rented out on this basis in the past.
Secondly it is rented to a local farmer for much of the year.

It should also be remembered that it's a flood plain which limits it utility in anything but dry weather.

 

is there any chance of rare track DMU bash. I’d pay.

 

Don't say that too loudly, or you'll get developers wanting to build a housing estate on it...

 

I recall it being said that the most lucrative crop a field could have was caravans. By the same token, if demand for it can be worked up, it might well be more lucrative if your rally field was not let for grazing at all, saving the area having to be cleared of "certain substances" before other uses. Of course much will depend on the terms of the grazing licence..

 

There are developers hovering with ambitions for much of the land around Norton Fitzwarren and have been for many years. There is an element of ‘developer chicken’ being played because the first to build will have to construct considerable flood mitigation works meaning that it is hard for the first developments to be profitable.

Robin

 

Given all the talk of climate change and sea level rise I would hope that a local council would object to housing. Parts of Somerset are no stranger to flooding.

 

No chance of that council officers need holiday homes too you know

 

Given the Quantocks and the Brendons to the north and the Blackdowns to the south, I doubt that sea level rise will be the issue at Norton Fitzwarren.

Robin

 

Judging by my little bit of central southern England, the modern equivalent of that might be “the most lucrative crop a field could have is solar panels”. I suspect you could probably engineer them to be quite resilient to flooding as well.

Tom

 

Maybe, but if it is a flood plain the water has to come from somewhere. It is suggested that, as we have seen in recent times on our tv's, more than a usual amount of rain fall, in a short time, is no longer uncommon. Just in over a week - in August, a summer month, has had serious floods in Lancashire. Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Scotland and to a lesser degree in a couple other places.

 

If it's anything like here, getting permission to put solar panels on the roof of an industrial building (otherwise wasted space) is hard, but covering acres of prime agricultural land with them seems to be easy...