THE West Somerset Railway marked the 150th anniversary of its trains steaming a path to Watchet with a host of celebrations at stations along the line last Saturday.

The harbour town was given its first link to the national railway network at Norton Fitzwarren in 1862 and the 21st century celebrations paid homage to those Victorian roots.

Watchet hosted the major commemorations with a Victorian themed day of activities that saw passengers and railway staff alike dressing in period costume for the event.

And history repeated itself as a brass band - this time the West Somerset Band - greeted the arrival of the first train on the anniversary day.

Watchet town crier Alec Danby opened the celebrations and station master Dave Simpson-Scott gave a welcoming speech.

Local poet Pete Stevenson composed a railway-themed rendition for the occasion, while West Somerset Council chairman Cllr Tony Knight - who represents Watchet - recalled how his grandfather and father had worked on the railway and talked about his childhood memories of travelling to Taunton on the train.

Other entertainment included guitar playing by Watchet 150 organiser Steve Sutherland, who also sang one of his own songs, Riding on the WSR.

And the crowds also had the chance to dip into a Victorian market on the Esplanade organised by Molly Quint.

At neighbouring Williton, local artists Tad and Brenda Mandziej unveiled the results of months of work on a celebratory mural which they designed and painted with the help of Ian Barrett.

The six panels at the station depict historical events from the railway and the village and feature rail company logos, steam trains from different eras, a former stationmaster, the 1877 flood, 1914 troops, 1939 evacuees and a local highlight - The Beatles who used the line for the filming of their 1964 movie A Hard Day's Night.

Meanwhile, at Crowcombe Heathfield where work began on the construction of the Taunton to Watchet link with the opening up of the cutting in 1859, staff also sported Victorian dress.

And at Stogumber, a special memorial stone was unveiled and dedicated by local vicar the Rev Val Plumb.

The day of celebrations were completed with an evening photographic shoot at Crowcombe Heathfield station which was attended by Sheila Dibnah, widow of the late steeplejack and TV presenter Fred Dibnah.

She joined the crew on the footplate of the Great Western Railway express steam locomotive "King Edward I" and did the honours by cutting a special birthday cake - there was not room on it for 150 candles.

The original West Somerset Railway was engineered by the renowned English civil engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

But as the great man was busy with the Saltash Railway Bridge and the Great Eastern steam ship at the same time, much of the construction of the branch line was left to two of his assistant engineers and the rest of the team required to get a railway built in the mid 19th century.

Many of the original buildings survive to this day, notably the station buildings at Bishops Lydeard, Crowcombe Heathfield, Stogumber, Williton and Watchet.

Minehead, now the end of the line, had to wait until 1874 to be served by trains.