This is an excellent value book!
For those who are interested in the huge closures of the railways in Britain in the 1950s and 60s this book is recommended.
The area of ‘Wessex’ takes in parts of Devon, Somerset, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Hampshire and it was here that railways once traversed many parts of the countryside but alas most are no more. Just the main trunk routes survive.
This book looks at each line that has was involved in the downsizing of BR in the infamous “Beeching Report”. The vast majority of the black and white photographs are historic views of the lines when still open. The text gives a history of the line from opening to closure (or reopening as the case is with the Swanage Railway) and it is supplemented with copies of British Railways timetables from the era and an interesting array of train tickets.
A well published book, quality printing (as I have come to expect from this publisher) and brimming with information.
Wessex is the second in what looks to be a series on different parts of Britain that were affected by the Beeching cuts.
I will certainly be buying others. Fascinating reading. Five stars for me.