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DIXE Wills’s latest whimsical journey around Britain encompasses some 38 of the island’s 150-plus railway request stops, those remote outposts of our network which rally forlornly against the sad, gradual decline of trains – post-Beeching, postprivatisation – in their service, value and cultural eminence.
Wills does their history great credit with careful research and lovingly rendered pen-portraits, teasing out idiosyncrasies and shaggy-dog stories in friendly prose to leave us invisible and willing co-passengers on services from Cornwall to Scotland’s extremities, in a style incorporating poetry, heartfelt celebrations of language and gentle flashes of romance and humanity.
While occasionally let down by many stations’ repetitious backstories – request stops are only created for a painfully limited number of reasons, it transpires – the continual rediscovery of vanished Victorian industries and Second World War infrastructure adds to a sepia hue, making the whole escapade an enjoyable but ultimately rather melancholic trip around a disappearing world.
Michael Anderson
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