Great Western Coffee Shop

Today, 10th September 2020, bobm, Finn and I took a drive to the Avon Valley/Somerset Coalfield area to scout out a couple of locations used in the Ealing Comedy, The Titfield Thunderbolt. A perennial favourite film of bobm and I. Finn has yet to give a critique although he is sat here with me watching it as I type.

First off we went to Monkton Combe Halt, which was a small station on the Camerton Branch of GWR's  Bristol and North Somerset Railway (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_and_North_Somerset_Railway). This railway was built in the late 19th century predominantly to serve the Somerset coalfield. Passenger services very much an afterthought, with Monkton Combe Halt only seeing passenger trains between 1910-1925. The station building survived into the 1950s and was used as 'Titfield Station' in 1952, the year after the line closed to all traffic.

First up, here's a picture of Finn and I on the road to station, similar to that seen in the opening few minutes of the film. With me looking at a screengrab from the film I was able to direct my cameraman, bobm (admittedly, I'm no Charles Crichton!), to get in a position to closely match that of the film.

2020
(https://i.ibb.co/4MbKPcg/15997696225621.jpg)
1952
(https://i.ibb.co/QmgQwSP/15997696010250.jpg)

Looking at this part of the Camerton branch today, its hard to believe that, first, a canal, then a railway, ran through here. Behind the station entrance (pictures below) the land has been quite considerably raised and leveled to provide a sports pitch for Monkton Combe School, an independent boarding/day school for 2-18 year olds.

1952
(https://i.ibb.co/2gPPmfF/15997675708490.jpg)
2020
(https://i.ibb.co/cyQxCv6/15997676135111.jpg)

Looking the other way, towards Camerton, the route of the railway is now a private drive. Just off which, today, someone had a bonfire going. Just briefly bobm and I imagined the smoke from said fire was an approaching steam train!

2020
(https://i.ibb.co/3dtCryJ/15997706740142.jpg)
1952
(https://i.ibb.co/B45jLdc/15997730548440.jpg)

The above two images are from slightly different angles but you can match the line of the distant hill off to the left, and the tree on the right.

After looking around the site of Monkton Combe Halt we drove over to the nearby Brassknocker Basin (great name!) to walk to Dundas Aqueduct for some non Titfield Thunderbolt related transport views and photographs. My second trip report post will cover that. Then it was on to lunch and another film location. Covered in my third trip report post to come.

Lunch at the Cross Keys?

Close-ish...

BNM, did you notice that the gate posts of MC station (AKA Titfield) in both your pic and the screen grab are the same?I

I've done a similar pilgrimage and some of the scenes filmed in Freshford are strikingly similar to today.....and I only realised that after going there then seeing the film.  My CD of TTT  has a brilliant "then and now" extra feature but it's also available on YouTube.

Edit, On arse, I've just seen the other thread that talks about this. Should have guessed you'd know.

So much for the poorly named 'permanant way' huh.

I'm not sure if I've ever seen the Titfield Thunderbolt... But I am familiar with Monkton Combe and Freshford, having relatives there, so I'll have to investigate.

There are scenes filmed in Freshford (then & now pictures to come). The film is available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video on Smart TVs. You can also watch it for free on Roku streaming devices on the channel 'Comedy Flix'.

I have seen the film, the bits I remember are that if you blow the steam whistle for to long it drains the boiler! and you can get a drink on a train when the pubs are shut?

A more civilised age.

That did always depend on who the drinkers were, though.

two things
1) Wonderful pictures,possibly the best then and now pics I have ever seen.

2)The titfield thunderbolt was one of the free DVD films given away in the news papers a few years back.
If any one is not desperate to buy the film,
I still see the free DVD in charity shops and at boot sales,let me know if anyone want a free copy,(subject to me finding it)

Part two of our trip round the Avon Valley/Somerset Coalfield saw us at Dundas Aqueduct where the Kennet and Avon Canal crosses the River Avon and the Avon Valley railway line that runs between Bathampton and Westbury. This is also the site of the canal junction between the Kennet & Avon and the Somerset Coal Canal. The latter is now just a stub between the junction and Brassknocker Basin next to the A36. This is the only remaining navigable stretch of the Somerset Coal Canal. Beyond the A36 large stretches of the canal were subsumed by the Camerton Branch railway line.

(https://i.ibb.co/CnpzkGJ/15998239593280.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/S391nHf/15998240038331.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/hmfdr6F/15998241757284.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/n60cVYz/15998241179272.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/WnhTKPC/15998242125765.jpg)

Back on the trail of the Titfield Thunderbolt, here is another then & now comparison. Again, from near the beginning of the film, there are scenes of people walking through Titfield down to the station. These scenes were filmed in Freshford. In the film people begin their walk to Titfield Station in Freshford, then end up in Monkton Combe!

bobm, Finn and I didn't actually visit Freshford yesterday. However bobm did go there himself in 2014 and one of the pictures he took that day matches a scene in the film fairly closely.

1952
(https://i.ibb.co/tYmrrbV/15998339933130.jpg)

2014
(https://i.ibb.co/WWztTR6/15998340187311.jpg)

More from the final stop on our trip later.

(Pedantry alert)

Somersetshire Coal Canal

(/Pedantry Alert)

Wikipedia suggests 'Somersetshire' was its former name. A quick Google also suggests the legal entity dropped the '-shire' during its lifetime.

Fair dinkum BNM although the Somersetshire Coal Canal Society, of which I'm a member, still uses the original name.  I say I'm a member but you've reminded me to check that my subscriptions are up to date.

Our final stop on the morning out was Midford. Lunch was partaken first in the Hope & Anchor, whose car park is on the former trackbed of the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway, just before it crosses the road, Midford Brook and the Camerton Branch. Nice food, friendly manageress. I had a Provencal fish soup, followed by a steak & mushroom in ale pie. bobm had baked Camenbert followed by a chicken curry. Finn had what I dropped on the floor!

Here's the opening scene of Titfield Thunderbolt, with a Bullied locomotive crossing the viaduct. First building you see as the camera pans right is the pub - soon obscured by steam.

https://youtu.be/-pRrTlOZyqM

And a then and now comparison:

1952
(https://i.ibb.co/CQXBYb8/15998461318830.jpg)

2020
(https://i.ibb.co/NZPBhMn/15998462146492.jpg)

Really not possible to match the first shot more closely. It was likely filmed either from a dolly or a crane. I had to stretch over the parapet.

There is some remaining evidence of the Camerton Branch in Midford. The abutments where it crossed the road remain. As does part of its viaduct over the Midford Brook. You can access some of the remaining infrastructure below the S&DJR Midford Viaduct, but it's very overgrown and as it's always in shade its invariably muddy. bobm and I decided against. This was probably one of very few locations where a railway viaduct crossed a railway viaduct. The GWR Camerton Branch viaduct running through one of the S&DJR Midford Viaduct arches.

Finally, I'll finish with a few photos of what remains of Midford's S&DJR station.

(https://i.ibb.co/KKfT0MJ/15998468482305.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/F5Y6bSD/15998468245664.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/NxZCJgh/15998468024193.jpg)

Nice report of a grand day out!

I tipped you off to the film being on TV early in the Days of Lockdown, and recorded it myself. I still haven't gotten round to watching it, although it won't be for the first time.

Ah yes, I have ridden my bike along that platform! And the track bed. Neither of which would have been possible in 1952, obviously.

Well, you could have tried out running the Pines Express. Bit bumpy over the sleepers though!

That latter point is a major plot point of the film. The residents of Titfield want to run the railway as a going concern but they realise the costs of doing so will require raising something in the region of £10,000. Step forward a local benefactor who is something of an old soak. He's persuaded to invest in the railway when it's pointed out that he can get a drink (or four) on board the train outside of normal licensing hours. 🍷🍺🥃🥂

You correct BNM at your peril! He is the source of All Things Titfield!

To be fair, my knowledge is only coloured by what I can research on t'internet.

A couple of years of so ago, I walked a good deal of the Limestone Link trail from Radford, near Timsbury, through Camerton, Dunkerton, Combe Hay (including the lock flight) and Midford, then through the 2 tunnels/Linear Park in Bath.  The walk has the advantage of including a good deal to see of both the Camerton branch and the old canal set in almost unreasonably lovely scenery. There's even the occasional mining relic/memorial such as around the now wooded spoil heaps....one of which can clearly be made out, minus the trees, in the Titfield Thunderbolt.
For anybody thinking of having a stroll there,  there are 2 things that I think are worth a mention.
The path from Radford, just before Camerton is/was perhaps a little confusingly marked as it is accessed though a garden (the owners were very helpful and friendly people). If in doubt you can regain it a short distance later by continuing along the country lane.

A little further East the path goes through another private property where the gate was guarded by a pair of visibly and audibly unfriendly dogs. It seems the owner here is cynically trying to stop people's right of access. This required me to make a modest detour North by road and footpath adding about 15 minutes to the walk. Perhaps they've been tied up and removed now....and the dogs as well....but I thought it worth a mention.

Note: Near Radford, my starting point, you can take a short detour West to view where the canal society have restored a section including the impressive basins and the unusual bridge over the entrance to one. If it's not been too drought like, it usually is quite well in water.  A keen eye and OS map can also just about facilitate making out the course of the railway there.

It was a good day out, made even the more enjoyable by being accompanied by a guide who had obviously done his research.

Also pleasing to note that, should I want to go back, the sites are easily accessible by public transport.

This iconic film had its London premier on 5th March 1953. It is now 70 years old!

Seems appropriate then to link back to this thread.

On the trail of 'The Titfield Thunderbolt' (http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=24007.0)

T'was a grand day out.