Speaker event: ‘Against All Odds’
The story of the Axminster to Lyme Regis Railway
Thursday 3 April 2025 - 7.00pm
Bradshaw Room, Axminster Heritage Centre EX13 5AH
A speaker event you won’t want to miss, told by one of our own gifted volunteers. Tessa Leeds explores the fascinating history of our much loved local line using some images that have only rarely been seen before. It’s a story that started in 1845 when the first attempts were made to find both a route and funding. Over the next 60 years, the railway pioneers of the time failed on both fronts until finally a change in Government policy facilitated a much less expensive ‘light railway’.
However, building it on the cheap created serious handicaps. Bedevilled by serious geographical challenges, the line suffered steep inclines, tight curves and a dodgy viaduct that together necessitated a 25mph speed limit. Such were the problems that the operators spent ten years trying to find locos that didn’t damage both the track and themselves. Finally, they turned to hand-me-downs that managed to work the line for the next 50 years. But even they couldn’t win the constant battle for financial survival.
Photo: C F Verrall Collection
OUR SPEAKER
Tessa Leeds and husband Richard are both volunteers with ‘For the Love of a Railway’. Tessa grew up in Kent in a family with a history of railway building. She moved with her family to live near Chard 14 years ago. A long-term local and family historian, Tessa holds a BA in History and has been published on railway construction. She has researched, written and presented talks on a variety of historical subjects for over 50 years, during which time she has built many models in N, OO and other gauges and has done extensive work on dolls houses and their contents. She has a love of social history and in particular Victorian Engineering.
The event is being held in the elegant Bradshaw Room, which is on the first floor above Axminster Heritage Centre and has the benefit of lift access. Tessa’s talk will be in two parts - 1 the long road from 1845, when the line was first proposed, to 1903 when it was finally opened; 2 the story of the line from its opening until closure in 1965. We will have a 20-minute interval between the two parts and expect the event to last a total of just over two hours.
The room capacity is 50. We expect a lot of interest and urge you to book early.
£10 per ticket + booking fee