Creech St Michael and the railway
The village of Creech St Michael is divided in two by the Taunton & Bridgwater Canal and the Railway which runs between Taunton to Bristol/London.
The railway may seem an insignificant part of the village but Creech once had its very own station called Creech Halt.
The railway first opened in July 1842 with Taunton being the terminus of the Bristol & Exeter Railway. It wasn’t until 1844 that a further extension saw Taunton connected with Exeter. In 1860 a further branch line was constructed from Chard, this joined the Taunton – Bristol mainline at Creech Junction adjacent to the Paper Mill. The remains of the Chard Branch can still be seen today when exiting the village towards Ruishton.
Steam Train Charters are often popular with villagers, they are quite regular during the Summer months. 5051 'Earl Bathurst' is seen working Bristol - Kingswear charter in July 2004.
Creech Halt was opened on the 13th of August 1928 by the Great Western Railway. It cost £628 to construct and lasted until the 5th October 1964 when rationalisation of the railway network was in full swing. The station was situated just north of Creech Junction so was only served by trains working to Yeovil and Bristol, services to and from Chard would diverge before reaching the halt.
The former site of the station can no longer be seen, but if you were to look over the main road bridge in the village towards Taunton this would have been the former Creech Halt site, opposite Laburnham Terrace.
Today the nearest mainline railway station is Taunton, where services connect villagers to London, Wales, Scotland, Midlands, and Devon/ Cornwall.
Two train passenger operating companies First Great Western and Virgin Trains operate services through Creech St Michael to and from Taunton.
There are also several freight operating companies which operate through Creech St Michael providing long distance, regional and semi local freight flows.
Railway operations through the village of Creech St Michael are wide and varied; it’s not uncommon to see special passenger charters, Steam Train Excursions, The Orient Express, Heritage Locomotives, and even The Royal Train pass by, providing you’re in the right place at the right time.
During the summer months, Past Time Rail operate ‘The Torbay Express’ Steam Train Charter every Sunday during July, August and part of September from Bristol to Kingswear in Devon. It stops at Taunton to pick up passengers who have pre booked, allowing them to sample the delights of travelling on the mainline behind a steam locomotive.
If you are interested in railways or would like to know more then please visit www.tauntontrains.co.uk. The website covers all modern and heritage workings in the Taunton area, and has large sections dedicated to the history of the railways in Taunton.
Perhaps you may just want to know when then next steam train will be passing by. The Forthcoming Workings page on Taunton Trains provides timings of all special charters due to pass through the village.
We would like to thank Brian Garrett of Creech St Michael for supplying this article. Brian can be contacted at b.garett@tiscali.co.uk