A beer and cider festival is being held at Washford railway station to replace the beer festival held in previous years at Minehead station.

It will be held in the sidings, yard and restoration shed on Thursday June 20 (midday to 8pm) and Friday and Saturday June 21 and 22 (both midday to 10pm).

There will be special late trains to get festival-goers home to Minehead and Bishops Lydeard.

The event is an important fundraiser for the West Somerset Railway following its winter of intensive and expensive track repair work, but it is also targeted at local residents whether they be train enthusiasts or not.

It is being organised in partnership with the Somerset branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) and there will be 24 beers and six ciders - all produced locally.

Admission to the festival and the whole Washford station site will be free, and and the event will run alongside the WSR’s diesel gala weekend, which means there will be more regular and more varied trains on the timetable.

The original festival at Minehead proved so successful that it ended up attracting more people than the venue could cope with, hence the move to Washford.

There will be additional entertainment on the Saturday afternoon from the Watchet Community Choir and the West Somerset Morris.

For more details go to the WSR website ) www.west-somerset-railway.co.uk or the Somerset CAMRA website www.somerset.camra.org.uk.