Somerset & Dorset Railway Heritage Trust

The Somerset & Dorset Railway Heritage Trust is a charity based at the Midsomer Norton station on the historic and lamented Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway. Originally the line connected Bath with Bournemouth and was used for both freight and passenger travel. Locally it was used for travel over the Mendip Hills and at weekends and during the summer its primary customers were thousands of holiday-makers heading to the coast in Dorset. The railway was created in the 1860's and closed in 1966 as part of the Beeching Railway cuts. Since 1995 the Trust has been working to restore the site at Midsomer Norton along with around a mile of railway line and provide both a local community asset and a visitor attraction. Today the site comprises partially restored station buildings, signal box, goods shed and also two museums including one in a WWII Pill Box (a candidate for the smallest museum in Britain).