Dilton station sign rings up £2,700 at railway heritage auction

The railway station sign for Dilton Marsh Halt, that inspired a classic poem by poet laureate John Betjeman, has been sold for £2,700 at an auction in Chippenham.

The rare sign for Dilton Marsh Halt, the station whose threatened closure in 1969 prompted Betjeman to pen his famous poem named after the station, was part of a huge collection of railway heritage that sold for over £93,000.

The sale included many signs from railway stations that closed during the ‘Beeching cuts’ of the 1960s, when a report by Dr Richard Beeching prompted a major reduction in Britain’s rail network. Among the 14 lost railway stations whose signs were sold were Greatstone-on-Sea in Kent (£2,400); West Weybridge in Surrey (£2,400) and North Tawton in Devon (£2,300).

A rare London Underground roundel for Bank station sold for £1,600.

The sale at Chippenham Auction Rooms included railway staff uniforms, badges, clocks, lamps, platform furniture, advertisements and other equipment.

The collection was sold following the death of its owner, an elderly former railway worker from Wiltshire, who amassed the collection over six decades, storing most of the signs in the garage of his semi-detached house. His widow was delighted with the result saying, “The sale was a fitting tribute to my late husband and his love of this country’s railways.”

Principal auctioneer Richard Edmonds said, “This was an exhausting but wonderfully uplifting sale. 500 lots in four hours. I’ve never seen our auction room so packed. It’s wonderful to know that so many people still care passionately about Britain’s railway heritage. With pretty fierce bidding, every item was an adrenaline rush.

“Many bidders travelled 3–4 hours to be with us. We also had phone and online bidders from Scotland and even Australia.”

For more information on the auction please contact The Chippenham Auction Rooms on 01249 444544 or visit www.chippenham   auctionrooms.co.uk.