The ‘Corkscrew’ line

11:41am Tuesday 3rd June 2008

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IMAGINE taking the train from Weymouth to London and instead of going via Upwey and Dorchester your train took you through Preston, Osmington, Poxwell and Warmwell before joining the main line east of Moreton.

It sounds peculiar but this route was considered during the construction of the Southampton and Dorchester Railway in the 1840s.

It didn't happen of course but in the period known as Railway Mania' every town and village sought a connection with the system and economic benefits were seen in a link to the port of Weymouth, which was without a railway at that time.

This and other little-known facts are contained in a fascinating new book about the development of the Southampton to Dorchester line called Castleman's Corkscrew by Weymouth transport enthusiast and author Brian Jackson.

Named after the Wimborne solicitor who promoted the railway and for the line's many twists and turns, the book uses 175 pictures and illustrations plus more than 30 maps and diagrams to tell the story of Dorset's first railway which celebrated its 160th anniversary this year.

Much of the line remains although the middle section which originally went via Wimborne and Ringwood has disappeared and since been replaced by a route through Bournemouth. In 1844 when the route was planned Bournemouth was left out because it hardly existed as a town.

Mr Jackson describes the line as a classic of its age', a 60-mile line through a predominantly rural area with little hope of obtaining revenue from industry along the way. It was also unusual that all the original directors and most of the shareholders were the gentry. Most other early lines in Britain were promoted and controlled by industrialists who saw the railways as a method of transporting their materials and products.

So the question is why build a railway at that time in such an area?

Whatever the answer, and Mr Jackson explores some of these, we are grateful to them for building Dorset's first railway.

Castleman's Corkscrew including The Railways of Bournemouth & Associated Lines Volume One; The Nineteenth Century, is now on sale priced £15.95. Copies can be obtained from Books Afloat in Park Street, Weymouth and RT Cards in Easton Shopping Centre, Portland.