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News update May 10th 2026

DATE POSTED: 13 May 2026

On May 10th, NDR held its Annual General Meeting at Durweston Village Hall. Chairman Gavin Collins reviewed the past year and thanked the volunteers (160 of them had clocked up nearly 30,000 hours of work, both on and off site in 2025). Looking ahead, Gavin mentioned discussions with North Dorset Council about the possibility of a southern extension and the plans for a new repair and maintenance structure to be installed where the current containers and restoration tent are currently located. This will need new pointwork at the northern end of the station.

While the pair of Victorian coaches are due to head off to Ffestiniog for repairs, Gavin was pleased to announce that NDR had successfully bid for a 48 seat Wickham railbus currently stored at Isfield on the Lavender line in Sussex … with a spare engine. It’s planned to be used as a coach initially until mechanical repairs have been carried out and it’s hoped to be on site in six weeks or so.

 

 

 

During the meeting, Will Applebee was voted back in as trustee after a year’s sabbatical and Graham Cooke was re-elected as trustee. NDR is still in need of a Secretary – could this be you?

After the meeting closed, Alan Whiffen led interested members on a track walk at the station, explaining progress over the past year, including a look at the environmental work along the extension.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In other news, it’s great to finally see proper ‘heritage attraction’ signage on the approaches to the station.