Alex Coomber
Somerset Central Railway. Evercreech Junction to Burnham On Sea. Opened in 1854. Closed in 1966. Evercreech Junction, Pylle, West Pennard, Glastonbury & Street, Ashcott, Shapwick, Edington Junction, Bason Bridge, Highbridge and Burnham On Sea. Opened between 1854 and 1862. The western half of this railway closely followed the course of the moribund Glastonbury Canal. The line was relegated to branch line status once the company's main line to Bath opened in 1874 and both were later to become part of the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway. The Railways Locomotive, Carriage and Wagon Workshops at Highbridge were closed in 1930 with the branch lines to Wells, Burnham On Sea and Bridgwater following in the early 1950s. Steam worked until the end. The remaining railway soldiered on from Evercreech Junction to Highbridge. But with ever decreasing traffic closure was inevitable and it finally succumbed in 1966. Today the section from Glastonbury to Shapwick is a popular footpath and cycleway that bisects important nature reserves.
