I believe they are one of the methods used to protect engineering work sites.  I'm not sure about protection of failed trains on running lines these days, for which the 1 at a mile; 1 at half a mile, and 3, 10 yards apart at quarter of a mile was (if I remember right) was the rule dating back almost to antiquity.  Having a member of traincrew doing a track walk on what would be a "live" railway is probably not favoured these days

Hal;f a mile or so away from the wonderfully named Black Monkey Bridge.  None of us had any clue about where the name came from

Unread Posts is always my starting point

Is the star straddling the river a reference to Starcross?

I think the folks at Stogumber you mention would have been Mr & Mrs Harry Horne.  Harry was a signalman at Williton when BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) shut the branch.

Saturday 28th March 2026 marks the present West Somerset Railway's 50th anniversary of getting back into business

Trains started running between Minehead and Blue Anchor.  The first departure was at 1000 from Minehead.  0-6-0ST "Victor" hauled six coaches, some of which had arrived from the Big Railway only two days before and were still in BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) blue and grey

I'm pleased to say the anniversary will be marked suitably, and full details will be made known on the WSR^▸ (West Somerset Railway - heritage line between Minehead and Bishops Lydeard) website and supporters' websites

I didn't know that.  And neither did the local police, it would appear.  A neighbour had £10,000 fishing gear lifted from his garden shed a few months back.  Our shed was broken into at the same time, but nothing taken.  Zero interest from the police for either of of the break-ins, apart from a crime number, and the arrival a couple of weeks later of a PCSO to drink tea and supply a crime prevention leaflet

Amongst local facilities/services lost to my home town of Evesham in the last 25 - 35 years that come immediately to mind:

Hospital services including Casualty and Maternity; Magistrates Court; County Court; Driving Test Centre; Ambulance Station; Police Station.  All centralised "to reduce costs and improve service"  The NHS even had the gall to sell off for housing a hospital that was not their property but held by a trust on behalf of Evesham people.

I am not alone amongst residents of what was once a lovely town that has lost so much who have seen neither a reduction in cost or a better provision of services

From my perspective, we've lost what's gone because the organisations concerned have looked too much into their own processes and empire building, and not enough at doing what they are handsomely funded to do

Before 1967, there was Worcestershire Constabulary.  That was merged with Shropshire and Herefordshire to form West Mercia Constabulary.  The new set up has seen nothing but reductions in police stations and police presence, year after year.  Have a burglary, and the best you can expect is a crime number to go on an insurance claim form.  The only place there isn't a shortage of police is at the doughnut counter of Lidl

Further merging police forces will save not a single penny, and will probably cost a fortune in reorganisation cost one-offs that will become permanent.

My father in law was a village bobby who retired after a lengthy career when he saw the deluge of paperwork that centralised "efficiency" seemed to produce and riot training became mandatory.  "Not what I joined for" he would say

"In order to increase effectiveness, efficiency and accountability we are centralising the police and making the service even more remote from people and from democratic control"

The Peelian idea that the police are simply good citizens who take an oath and wear a uniform seems to be very much dead-and-buried, along with policing by consent

Big Government's distrust of it's citizens being able to arrange things for themselves locally in a way that suits them best continues

So GasCo, TeleCo, LeccyCo, WaterCo etc etc etc dig up your road and then add a bit to your bill to cover the cost that the council is imposing on them.  Great idea!

The rail nearest to the camera appears to have a welded joint at a point opposite the gap in the opposite rail.  These welds are usually made at the same point on both rails.

What an awful sight that gap in the rail is   

Utterly horrible event

Talk of a 30cm gap in a rail is very alarming - a gap of a foot seems so wild

May those lost rest in peace, and those who have survived recover well

Past Participle of "To Forecast", surely?

"The Met Office forecasted a plague of frogs yesterday"

I think it's possible that the proposals could be realised at a fraction of the cost-per-mile that's being poured into HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) (which has all the signs of being a money pit with now bottom)

The cost of not making the south-west more resilient and better connected also needs to be weighed

A great picture memory and reminder of the damage done by singling.  I wonder if the singling had already happened by the date of the photo?  Either that, or the D800 is on the rear of a train, or the D800 is at the front of a train running bang road

If I remember well, the redundant track was recovered several months after the operational singling of the line