WIREDGOV

Giorgia Tolfo continues her trip along the South West Coast Path, exploring the rewards of combining archival research and walking.

Having completed the first part of my journey, from Hartland to Clovelly, I was ready the next day to walk to Westward Ho! and travel onward to my accommodation in Bideford.

I had planned my journey in advance and knew I would get a bus, the journey being quite short but tiring after 30 miles. What a surprise to discover that until 1917 there was a railway station connecting the towns!

A disappeared railway

ZSPC 11 is an extensive collection of books, magazines, cuttings, photographs, timetables, maps and tickets compiled by the late W E Hayward of Weston-super-Mare, also known as the W E Hayward Collection.

The main subject is railway history but there are also a few books about the mines of Cornwall, canals and steamers. Each piece is a work of art of archival work. Ring binders are divided by area and include well-organised information on types of trains, tickets and timelines, and local photographs with and without trains.

I opened the record referring to 'Bideford, Westward Ho! and Appledore' and found a collection of old tickets, articles and photographs. I turned the pages carefully and stopped to read an article called 'Ticket Spotlight', from 1961.

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