Back when the BBC made documentaries we wanted to watch and weren't bias towards old fashioned values, how far has the BBC fallen. Loved the film and made me recall my first book I got way back in 1980 from my local library in North London by Ivo Peters about the S&D which went on to spawn my love of steam, wonderful stuff to watch ;-)

Looking at that fantastic old Gentleman's eyes come alive, and the way he simply got right down to it as if it were only the day before that he had retired was very moving. Like the Miners, when the Railways were emasculated a whole way of life, traditions, and skills vanished for good.

A wonderful and historic programme, which should be preserved for future generations to show what we had and threw so carelessley away.

The "modern" Intercity locomotives we see in some shots in this documentary are older now than the steam locomotives Ivo Peters was filming were when he was filming them. They're the new vintage trains now. It's strange to think that at the time this documentary was made these men were reminiscing about an older time now gone. Because watching this I'm reminiscing about the time at which it was filmed, back when we had a rail network that served the public good instead of merely serving private profit.

What an incredible guy! The amazing collection he’s left behind & the legacy he’s created will be with us forever!

Program was made in 1984. That is now longer ago than when the program was made and the line closed...

The look in the old drivers eyes had to be one of the most beautiful looks I've ever seen, it was as if he was seeing an old girlfriend he hadn't seen in many years and the way he just climbed up into the cab and sat down in the driver's seat and literally the driving the engine as if nothing had changed

This film fills me with sadness on 2 counts 1. It should never have closed . 2. I was never lucky enough to visit the S and D

Great documentary 👍👍. It’s such a shame that such a beautiful line closed down. Imagine if even a short section was rebuilt. Cheers from 🇦🇺

What a totally enjoyable half an hour. Thank you for posting this article. Beautiful but sad at the same time.

Ivo Peter's films are far better and more pleasing to watch than today's digital camera clips where people can't keep still or quiet at all when filming trains.

What a film. The winter shots at the end are elegaic.

Magnificent memories, superbly presented by the legendary Mike Arlett. Mike is undoubtedly the best ever narrator of steam railway films. Old film brilliantly brought to vivid life by a very skilful commentator.

Omg!!! Love how old this is!!! Even by the BBC logo and the way the narrator talks!!!

What a fantastic documentary. What gentlemen. And what mechanical marvels steam engines were.

A full-on nostalgic look at this delightful railway - most interesting!

So good to see these programs again. My great grandfather was a driver on the S&D based at Highbridge(for Burnham on Sea). I can clearly remember the branch being used for milk trains to Basonbridge right up to the early 70s.

What a treat to watch this film, well done.

Having grown up in Wincanton I've always wondered how much easier my life could've been had the SDJR stayed open, I'm currently gathering information on the route so I can try and trace what little of it is still publicly accessible.

Return and All Change are superb documentaries I well remember at the time of broadcast.Wonderful Donald Beale and Peter Smith.Great men from a time long gone...

I was born in Dorset. What an amazing film, thank you.

The death of this wonderful railway always brings tears to my eyes. If only Beeching had never been born or SOMEONE had the foresight to preserve this line for todays generation of steam locos. So lamented the dear old S&DJR. The destruction of our beloved railways began the slow demise of Britain, today our loco factories are no more, no more British cars, steel, coal, you name it. All thanks to BEECHING! Think about it.......... :...(

Excellent film made and first broadcast in 1984.

Theres a Lane at Worrhy Farm of famous Glastonbury which was the old trackbed of the S&D talking to one the farm workers Worthy Farm had its own milk dock siding when the line was running.

Really enjoyed this film,so good to see something from before the music pandemic and actually hear thing clearly.

Bloody love the 9Fs. Loved watching them as wellas 8Fs as a tiny kid on goods trains in the late 1960s

It doesn't matter how many times I watch this (first saw it in 1986 on tv.,) it still gets to me. I am reminded of Houseman's poem: "Into my heart an air that kills From yon far country blows; What are those blue remembered hills, What spires, what farms are those? That is the land of lost content, I see it shining plain, The happy highways where I went And cannot come again."

such a great joy to go to midsomer norton last weekend and ride on the s and d

Hello My Friends To my way of thinking it's absolutely heartbreaking that this magnificent railway is gone. We are fortunate that Ivo had the foresight to capture it on film. His wonderful films bring into focus what once was, and also, what we have lost. Jack

wonderful, I actually walked across Midford viaduct in September 2015. to think in 1963 Sir John Betjimin made Branchline railway and he said how hellish the roads would be in 10 years. Well 53 years later Britian is totally ruined by cars and the vain attempt to keep building more roads. it is simply criminal that so much victorian engineering was destroyed by short sighted pollies like Beeching. its funny Britain ripped up so many lines, when you go to France they seem to have kept them

Absolute classic. Wonderful memories of the S&DJR brought to life and everyone's to keep. This is an object lesson in social destruction. The railway was for many the sole means of communication in this stunningly beautiful but savage landscape, terminated like so many things railway years before it's time. A much loved friend lost for ever to the god of car parks and Tesco. (Other supermarkets are widely available - unfortunately) Most of them built on derelict branch lines or disused engine shed sites. Nostalgia? you bet!

Ivo Peters was my Mothers younger Brother.

Bring back the line between Frome and radstock...it’s crying out to be reopened...

16:36 was a blast from the past for me - Peter Cattermole was my Chemistry teacher at school!

The ex driver Ray, with the thin moustache, was filmed on the footplate, in the BBC 1963 John Betjeman film, "A Branch Line Railway", which features the old S&D branch , from Evercreech Junction, to Burnham On Sea..

Fantastic doco, thanks for uploading it

What a Godsend the S& D would be now..! I am a GWR Man by Birth..What a mess now..!

The railway from Taunton to Minehead needs reopening and also the line from Barnstaple to Ilfracombe too for holiday makers

Most of the section between Bath and Radstock is now a cycle path, including through the two tunnels.

A bygone age when men used to dig their gardens and mow their lawns dressed in shirt and tie and on Sundays most streets were empty and the smell of a home cooked roast dinner drifted over rooftops......where is my steam punk time machine??!!

I only wish I could have met Donald Beal, a true gentleman. If only there were more people like him now, the world would be a far better place. A true gentleman of the iron road, sadly missed. Does anyone have any information about Peter Smith . When i worked on the railways in signal boxes and crossings a freind of mine was a train driver and one day he gave me a poster of a train coming out of Combdown

Drivers of cars prefer a fully functioning railway, because it means open roads.

9F Evening star pulled the last pines Express in September 1962 over the S & DR

What wonderful old gents

WONDERFUL.

marvellous

Tack me back i don,t belong in this age

I remember when this programme was transmitted. The technical quality of Ivo Peters' camerawork is remarkable. Dare I say it but it looks better than the modern footage shot for the programme 20 years later! To be fair it was a pretty grey day, though.

i like this video

Back then the guys treated their jobs as vocations... they loved what they did and were proud of it. Now it seems railway workers are in it for what they can get out of it. Traveling by train is the most enjoyable way of getting around, unfortunately now you are restricted by the unions as to when you can use the service.

Can we please stop blaming Dr Beeching for the railway closures, he only wrote the report. The final decision on any line closure was the Minister of Transport, one Ernest Marples, whose construction company was actively bidding for road & motorway government contracts.

Wow. Interesting.

If anyone has information on a Arthur Peters who lived near Shepton Mallet viaduct let me know. He drove trains

19:30 "what you are filming is doing the moving, you are not." Many KZfaqrs could take note of that!

Sweet,a joy.

You've burst your safety valve. You can't pull the train anyone.

Evercreech is an ancestral home going back to 1630.

Fascinating. Steam locomotion changed the world.

Needs a 2k remaster from original film elements.

Pity they didn't cover Radstock which is the start of the climb to top of Mendips and just further on the 5 arches viaduct! I occasionally traveled the line from Radstock to Bath to attend school in the 1950's when buses weren't running because of snow.

A very big reason why everyone tortured dr beach

ivo the man

I have a Hardback DORLING KINDERSLEY DK EYEWITNESS GUIDES Book of TRAIN. Discover the story of railways - from the days of steam to the high - speed, sophisticated trains of today. In association with THE NATIONAL RAILWAY MUSEUM.

Oo

so how much of this railway exist now?

why would 5 people dislike this????

Ok

1984 the film.

Bath the dampest overpriced dump in the whole of somerset.

Can't even buy a lump of proper coal in England now. Thanks, Boris... What we've become...

What an awful life

I wish i was born in 49 not 59 😢 I HATE THIS MODERN WORLD and its terrorism and cruelty and global warming 🤷🏼‍♂️ REOPEN THE S&DJR! BLESS Dear Ivo Peters, without whom none of this footage would be preserved! RIP Donald Beale, luckily I managed to get a copy of his book which are sadly now all gone.

3@@@❤

Is it a model railway?

The BBC used to make great comedies, dramas and documentaries. The modern BBC has become unwatchable.

I vaguely remember this documentary - in the days before the BBC became 'woke', biased etc - I've a few videos with MA looking a little older too. He's a great presenter and superbly knowledgeable. Can't help but remember better times in the past, not just nostalgia per se, just better times - bittersweet. Great documentary though. Beeching et al deliberately misused the Pareto Theory, with a fat pay cheque, links to the RHA, to pander to government policy. The S&D was treated in a slipshod under hand, fraudulent manner and cruelly with it too. And let us not forget that Beeeching killed off communities as well!

For those who haven't heard of David Shepherd... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Shepherd_(artist)