Long-time museum volunteer Graeme grew up locally and has vivid memories of travelling on the tivvy Bumper on local branch lines. We’re delighted to share some of his recollections as part of the Tivvy Bumper’s 90th birthday celebrations.
‘When I was four years old my parents and I moved from Cullompton to Willand. I was often taken by my mother to watch trains at Tiverton Junction. I remember riding on the train from the Junction to Halberton Halt to visit my grandparents who lived a mile away at Ash Thomas. My grandfather would come to the Halt to help mother with my brother’s pram, which at the time had to be carried up a flight of stairs to access the public road.
In 1952 we moved to a new Council House near Ash Thomas. In 1954 I became a pupil at Tiverton Grammar School. All pupils of the Grammar School and Heathcoat Secondary Modern who lived in the Ash Thomas area were issued with railway season tickets to be used on the Tivvy Bumper from Halberton Halt (valid Saturdays too and used to get to Saturday morning pictures at the Tivoli). Halberton children, and for that matter most adults from that village, travelled by Devon General bus. We walked or cycled to the Halt to catch a train to school at about twenty past eight and returned from Tiverton some time about four o’clock. If you had to stay behind for any reason (eg. detention) there was another train at four forty-five.
Unsecure bikes were left on the short station platform all day long. There was a windswept shelter for passengers, which had many hole in it, under a bridge carrying the minor road from Halberton to Ash Thomas. The shelter was eventually replaces with a new one of the same type and the station steps were replaced by a graded tarmac slope. It was not unknown for the odd child to cycle right on the the platform.
The passenger service was provided by an auto train, i.e. the coach or coaches were pulled from Tiverton to Tiverton Junction and pushed in the other direction. In the early fifties the coaches were old and varied, but in mid-decade some brand new ones of a similar style turned up. I think some of the old ones still had gas lighting. Both old and new had a large open saloon, a smaller one which took 16 passengers and a parcels compartment. A porter from Tiverton Junction would travel in the coach to sell any tickets at Halberton Halt and he travelled in the vestibule between the two saloons. In wintertime he would bring paraffin or Tilley lamps to provide some light for the platform. Two porter names I remember are Dick Dunne and Joe Diggle (of the linear orchard family). When going in the Tiverton direction the train driver sat in a cabin at the front end of the coach where he had access to a duplicate set of controls linked to the engine, which was at the Junction end, coupled coal bunker next to the coach, and a large warning gong.
The locomotive was alwasy a 14xx class provided from the main engine shed in Exeter, sent to Tiverton Junction for several days at a time. In the fifties, Exeter had eight different engines of this class and all would appear at sometime or other. Our Tivvy Bumper loco was a relatively late-comer, not arriving until the early 60s.
There was a sub-shed at the Junction where the engine was serviced overnight, along with the Culm Valley branch engine. I think the man who usually undertook this task was called Sleeman and his overalls showed obvious signs of his dirty job. There were four engine crews allocated to the Tivvy Bumper and Culm Valley routes and I can remember seven of the eight names as follows; Hawkins & Jim Rice, Miller and Charlie Clist, Fewings and Gerald Veysey, ?? and Ron Tripp. The latter in each pair named was the fireman. I believe the museum has a recording of Jim Rice and Charlie Clist reminiscing.
On many occasions during my Grammar School days I was privileged to travel on the footplate in an unofficial capacity (in school uniform). A childhood highlight. I’m very grateful to the individuals who made it possible.’
These memories are shared just as Graeme remembers them, offering a personal glimpse into local railway history.
Do you have memories of the Tivvy Bumper or other local trains? We’d love to hear them. Share your stories by emailing us at info@tivertonmuseum.org.uk