ONE of the most haunting Charles Dickens ghost stories will come to life on Minehead Station for two performances on September 4 with the legendary author’s great-great-grandson in the leading role.

The Lynton-based Pleasure Dome Theatre, which specialises in outdoor entertainment, will stage afternoon and evening performances of ‘The Signalman’, a horror-mystery story written by Dickens in 1866 and set against the workings of a Victorian railway.

As well as Gerald Dickens, the play also stars Ben Fensome and a cast of professional and community performers.

Direction is by Scott Le Crass and the adaptation of the story is by Jonathan Holloway.

It is a chilling tale of the paranormal, featuring a railwayman in a lonely signal box who receives phantom warnings of danger which are followed by a terrible collision between two trains in a nearby tunnel.

Minehead’s Victorian station will be an apt backdrop for the play, which will be performed at 3 pm and 8 pm.

Like many other eminent 19th century figures, Charles Dickens travelled frequently by train, and railways figured in several of his stories.

Dickens himself was involved in a serious railway accident in 1865 in Staplehurst, Kent, when a special boat train on which he was travelling derailed.

Ten people were killed and 40 injured.

The author was not hurt, and he helped tend the injured but seems to have suffered from long-term psychological problems and was described by friends as ‘never the same again’ until his death five years later.

The production of ‘The Signalman’ will come as part of a busy five weeks of special events on the West Somerset Railway, including ‘Diesels at 65’, its popular ‘1940’s Weekend’, and an autumn steam weekend.

More details and how to book can be found on the WSR website or by calling 01643 70499.