The West Somerset Railway Association have published the agreed Minutes of the Board Meeting of 12 January 2021 and a synopsis of the more recent Board Meeting held on 9 February 2021. Click or tap the buttons below to load the documents from the Association's website.

Members of the Somerset & Dorset Railway Trust have received an update regarding the Notice to Quit received for the Washford site from the West Somerset Railway on 10 February 2020. The Notice to Quit gave the S&DRT one year to leave the Washford site, so the Notice Period has now officially expired. The Trust has also issued a press release - tap the button below for further information.

Staff and volunteers have been invited to join the next Zoom online event. Topics for this session include Operational Safety and ROGS, along with other updates. It will be hosted by Andy Castledine, Operations Director, on Wednesday 24 February 2021 at 6pm. Login details will be sent the day before. The Railway add:

Thank you to all those who attended our first zoom session for staff & volunteers, it was great to see so many of you. Moving forward the sessions will be held on a Monthly basis, each meeting will focus on a different topic, with a different lead director.

West Somerset Railway Plc write:

The Board has been going through a process of corporate restructuring as a result of which we are looking to fill the following Director vacancies on a voluntary and non-executive basis:

• Director Mechanical Engineering
• Director Infrastructure Engineering

For an application pack, please contact Sam Eastaugh, HR Administrator, direct dial: 01643 704996, email: hr@wsrail.net

For an informal discussion about the WSR and the Plc, please contact Jonathan Jones-Pratt Plc Chairman on 07525-761791 or email jon.jones-pratt@wsrail.net

Closing date is 14 March 2021.

Update: On 5 February 2021, the Plc announced the following vacancy for a Safety & Compliance Lead Volunteer Manager (closing date for applications of this vacancy is 14 March 2021); further details from Sam Eastaugh (contact details above).

The Rally's organising team have just reviewed the plans and can confirm that the 2021 Steam & Vintage Vehicle Rally - planned for 7 and 8 August at Norton Fitzwarren - will go ahead, provided it is safe amp; sensible to do so. The team say:

Normally, in January and February, we would be contacting exhibitors and traders inviting them to book their places. However, because of the current lockdown, which has no firm end date in sight, the team have decided to put off issuing invites for the moment and review the situation in late February or early March, when the situation becomes clearer.

Ideally, we hope to be able to provide a full Rally with all the exhibitions and entertainments loved by our many visitors. However, if social distancing remains, it might be necessary to plan a smaller event. The worst case would be a continuing lockdown, which would result in cancellation. All we can do at present is wait until we have enough information to start making plans. We will keep everyone updated when we can.

The minutes of the recent board meeting of the West Somerset Railway Heritage Trust reveal a welcome outline of the Railway's thinking on possible train services in 2021.

The plan, at the moment, is for a regular red timetable to operate from 1 June until the end of October.

In April, trains may run between Bishops Lydeard and Williton, and in May, possibly, between Bishops Lydeard and Watchet or Minehead; however, all April and May services are very uncertain.

There will be no Spring Gala.

At the time of writing, none of the above has been confirmed by WSR Plc and, in these difficult times, is rightly subject to change.

The West Somerset Railway Heritage Trust (formerly the Steam Trust) is looking for two Trustees to join the Board. In addition to their corporate responsibilities, each Trustee will lead on a specific portfolio. These are safety management and heritage carriage restoration. The charity has a full programme of work derived from its Business Plan and is in the process of completing a Natural Heritage Lottery Fund project on the Gauge Museum at Bishops Lydeard Station. More details on the Trust website - click the button below.

Another new item on the Trust website are the minutes of their Board meeting held on 21 January 2021.