The S&D at Bason Bridge & Edington

After visiting Burnham on Sea to discover what remnants there were of the S&D there, we retraced the course of the branch line; first to Highbridge, which became the terminus of the line following the closure of the Burnham extension. 

However, there was no sign of the former station here, which boasted five platform faces. The entire site was covered in a new housing estate with the only nod to its railway past being the naming of two roads: Somerset Way and Dorset Close.

The site of the former Highbridge Works is now a large industrial complex thus obliterating any signs of the railway at this location.

Moving on to Basin Bridge - and suspecting that, here too, nothing would remain - we were pleasantly surprised to see that the single platform still survives.

As you can see from the above photos, the platform is somewhat dilapidated and covered in vegetation and could not be accessed without getting pricked, sticked or stung.

Unsurprisingly, there was no sign of the former station buildings although the Station Master's House is still there with current work on extending it subject to a Stop Order, if the notices on the fencing were anything to go by.

On the other side of the road, behind the photographer in the photo above, we have the site of the former United Dairies milk factory.

Following closure of the branch in 1966, the factory continued to be served by rail, via a spur from the GWR main line at Highbridge. This, however, stopped in October 1972 when progress in the construction of the M5 motorway closed the spur.

The factory itself closed in 1987 but is still in use today for industrial purposes.

In the two photos above, the branch line was squeezed between the River Brue and the factory with sidings serving the former milk depot.

The next station on the line, heading towards Evercreech Junction, was Edington. This station had three different names over the years. 

It began life as Edington Road, a nod to the fact that the village of Edington, which it supposedly served, was about a mile away!

Its name changed in 1890 to Edington Junction, when the 7-mile branch line to Bridgwater was opened.

It changed its name for the third and final time to Edington Burtle in June 1953 following the closure of the Bridgwater branch, which closed to passengers in December 1952 and to goods in October 1954. Burtle being the name of the tiny village in which the station was actually located.

Curiously, a signpost in Edington, which originally pointed to Edington Station and to Burtle, still exists,, although the word Station has been painted over in white!

Clearly they must be proud of their railway heritage here because, in Burtle, there is still a sign, albeit a bit wonky, proclaiming Station Road.

Sadly, though,the new owners of the adjacent pub, which was previously known as 'The Tom Mogg Inn' in honour of the former station master, have refurbished it and renamed it 'The Duck'. 

Having sampled a pint here, I can affirm that it is a very nice pub, too, however I much prefer its previous name. "Let's go to the Duck for a pint" just does not have the same ring to it somehow.

As for the station itself, the site of which was but a few yards from the pub, again very little seems to remain except for the former Station House, which is in private ownership now and which has been extended and modernized.

The old line would have crossed from left to right here, in front of the fence, and over the road to the right, via a level crossing, towards Shapwick, following the course of the old Glastonbury Canal, now known as the South Drain.