Budleigh Past and Present

Nearly 70 Budleigh Salterton children gained first-hand knowledge of the town’s now vanished rail links when they met two former British Railways employees during a visit to Fairlynch Museum.  Yettington residents Colin Yeats, pictured above, left, and Roy Letten both worked on the Budleigh branch lin e railway until it was closed in 1967.  Both are seen in the photo here with children who were accompanied by their teachers and support staff.  And here are more photos to show you some 'interractive' - hate that word - aspects of the visit.   “We’re really grateful to Colin and Roy for giving up their time,” said Fairlynch volunteer Kate Somerby, who had organised the visit to the museum by Key Stage 1 pupils from the town’s St Peter’s Church of England Primary School.  “It was a very special expe...

Isn’t it frustrating   - and sometimes embarrassing - when you try to remember a name of someone you met, and just can’t manage it. Photos in museum collections can be just as annoying when only a few of the faces have been properly identified, or when names have been misspelt.   So it was a pleasure to meet former Drake’s School pupil Michael Adams when he called at the Museum recently, helpfully  providing some missing names of his friends from over 70 years ago.  Amusingly, one of these turned out to be a young Roy Letten, a former British Railways employee who sold the last ever tickets at Budleigh Salterton station on 4 March 1967. Here he is, in a photo which I’m going to use in the new edition of Fairlynch Museum’s booklet The Budleigh Salterton Railway.   In the school photo seen above,  Roy is fifth from the left, in the middle row. Now in his eigh...