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In the beginning, and what followed- the early days of the Weston-super-Mare Railway Society

Introduction....
With 2007 marking the thirtieth anniversary of the Society, it is perhaps an opportune time to recall how the society came into being in the 1970's.

Back in February 1977, the cold winter evenings were enlivened by one of John Huntley's popular programmes of steam railway films at Weston Playhouse. In those days before videos and DVDs, digital or Sky TV channels and the internet, it was rare to get the chance to see films of railways and a good house was assured. Those attending found a "flyer" on their seats advertising the inaugural meeting of a Weston-super-Mare Railway Society, which was to be held at a club room in the back of Carlton Street Car Park, and so it was that the interested and inquisitive amongst us made our way to the NALGO club on Tuesday 8th March 1977, for the 8pm meeting.

Those attending such as myself heard proposals for the new society and discussed suggestions for its future. Volunteers were invited to help form the new committee (which was to meet for the first time a week later). The Weston Railway Society was born!

The licensed club premises made a welcome change from premises used by many other railway societies, such as draughty church or community halls, without proper refreshment facilities, where the caretaker would come round to lock up at nine-thirty or ten o-clock on the dot. (In fact there had been a railway society in Weston some years before which had met in exactly such premises- the Weston & District locomotive Society which was eventually wound up in the mid 1970's).

Our founders….
So who were the people behind the WsM Railway Society in those early days?

David Huntley and Martin Hillier, together with Cliff Bracey (of the NALGO Club) were the early pioneers, and in fact David became the first Chairman of the Society. However, he shortly afterwards had to move away from the Weston area because of work commitments, and a certain Roy Patterson took over as Society Chairman at the November 1977 Annual General Meeting. Roy went on to remain Chairman until Lionel Jones took over in November 2005.

Over the years, other former committee members who have made valuable contributions have included Brian Sharp, Ken Baker, John Lickfold, Norman Ashman, Gordon Gravett, Chris Perkins, Mark Bride, Phil Bidwell, Dave King, Phil Wright, Charles Thackray, and David Hicks.

Our meetings…
The Society has always met on the first Tuesday of the month (apart from any special events) and only had two permanent venues for its meetings, but has been very lucky that both have been centrally sited and with good facilities. From the start, the NALGO club was used until it closed in 1998, when we moved to the upstairs (Duncan Grey) room in the Conservative Club in Weston.

We have always managed to attract high quality speakers for our meetings, whose photographs regularly appear in the various railway magazines and railway press, and have built links over the years with other railway societies in the south west to share the names of potential speakers who give quality rail presentations so that we can bring them to Weston, sometimes from as far away as the North West of England, East Anglia, Midlands or Lincolnshire! Also, of course, we feature presentations from our own members, several of whom also give slide shows to other Societies in the region. Topics are been very wide ranging- a mix of steam, diesel, electric, industrial, foreign, preserved, narrow gauge- in fact, anything related to railways, from any era!

Some particularly memorable meetings over the years have included The Impossible Dream (The "Duke of Gloucester" story, the AI Pacific "Tornado" new-build steam engine project, Terry Nicholl's evocative cine of Chinese steam locos filmed in sub-zero temperatures, or video of up to six American diesel locomotives hauling intermodal container trains through the Mojave desert in America. Some of the most unusual have been about Railway Weapons and Hitler's Railway Gun! In the last year or so we have fully moved forward into the digital era, with a number of meetings in 2007 featuring projected digital images, and the launch of the Societies new web- site in November 2007.

Our visits and excursions…
For most years throughout our thirty years the Society has tried to run at least one day trip each year by coach to a preserved railway/ location of interest, usually in June, plus also an evening excursion in place of the July indoor meeting. Over the years, the rising cost of hiring a coach has made it increasingly difficult to offer affordable excursions, needing over forty participants to be able to offer a day away below £30 each. In recent years we have tried to overcome this by broadening the appeal of the trips and welcoming members from other societies. In this way we have not only included families and friends to our trips, but also shared them with local members of the National Trust, Nailsea Model Railway Society and the Cardiff & Avonside Railway Society.

In order to reduce the cost of evening trips in recent years we have travelled to several locations by car, offering car sharing to members for what are usually relatively short distance trips. However, if the opportunity does arise to use a coach or bus at an affordable rate then we've always done so.

A first for a Society trip was in 1984, when for our evening visit we had our "own" train, albeit a diesel shunter giving brake van rides at Bitton Station of the Avon Valley Railway. A year later and we went one better, when at the East Somerset Railway we had a steam-hauled train with Jinty 47493 and two coaches.

Since those days we have increasingly managed to hire our own "Society" train for an evening, and the Committee is always on the lookout for different and unusual Railway-related locations to visit which are within easy reach of either a full day trip, or an evening excursions. If you have any suggestions, please let us know.