Calling Wiltshire anglers...

[SussexMan]

As a 'moonraker' myself, thought fellow moonrakers might enjoy this by John B...called Dilton Marsh Halt


Was it worth keeping the Halt open,
We thought as we looked at the sky
Red through the spread of the cedar-tree,
With the evening train gone by?

Yes, we said, for in summer the anglers use it,
Two and sometimes three
Will bring their catches of rods and poles and perches
To Westbury, home for tea.

There isn't a porter. The platform is made of sleepers.
The guard of the last train puts out the light
And high over lorries and cattle the Halt unwinking
Waits through the Wiltshire night.

O housewife safe in the comprehensive churning
Of the Warminster launderette!
O husband down at the depot with car in car-park!
The Halt is waiting yet.

And when all the horrible roads are finally done for,
And there's no more petrol left in the world to burn,
Here to the Halt from Salisbury and from Bristol
Steam trains will return.

[Cane]

That would indeed be a wonderful day, when steam trains return to Wiltshire. I remember travelling from Sussex to Devizes in the late fifties and early sixties, before the lines closed. Not sure what sort of engine was pulling the train at that time though, probably too late for steam. I remember worn wooden floors and the brass counter of the station where we bought our tickets and the smell of the warm woods in summer and the stove in winter. Happy days.

[Moley]

Swindon used to be the big railway centre in Wiltshire. It was built up on the back of railways. Remember it well as a busy place with loads of sidings and yards for repairs and massive piles of coal.

Memories now as it has all gone in the name of progress.

As ever,....

Moley