How one man’s dream saved a railway and created one of the West Midlands’ top tourist attractions

Tributes have been paid to Keith Beddoes, the "founding father" of the Severn Valley Railway, who has died.

He came up with the idea to revive the closed SVR line and was the pivotal driving force as he and other steam enthusiasts strove to make it happen, laying the vital groundwork for the creation of what is today one of Shropshire's most popular attractions, running steam trains between Bridgnorth and Kidderminster.

Keith, from Randlay, Telford, was also a railways historian and author of a number of railway-related books.

Keith Beddoes at Bridgnorth station in 1970 | Shropshire Star

placeholder image — Keith Beddoes at Bridgnorth station in 1970 | Shropshire Star

Paul Fathers, vice chairman of the SVR Charitable Trust and former chairman of Severn Valley Railway (Holdings) Plc, who was a teenager when he first met Keith in 1967, said: “No one person has done more towards the Severn Valley Railway than Keith.

"He will always be the ‘Founding Father’. If Keith had not called together like-minded people at the Coopers Arms, the Severn Valley Railway would have been demolished and consigned to history. Bridgnorth Station would no doubt have become an industrial or perhaps housing estate, and only memories and photographs would remain - nothing else.

"Instead, because of Keith, the SVR was saved and has risen to become one of the most respected heritage railways, as well as a leading West Midlands tourist attraction, with visitors from all around the world.

“Keith was the instigator. It was his vision that produced the idea of operating a private railway during a period when railways and many other industries had been nationalised only 20 years before. He was in effect, ‘a rebel with a cause’. And because of his vision he was the catalyst of a revolution which has positively affected thousands of lives.”

The funeral is at Holy Trinity Church, Dawley, at 11am on Friday, June 26.

One of a number of steam galas held at Bridgnorth station by the SVR volunteers on Bank Holidays between 1968 and 1970. | Peter Hayward

Keith's love of steam trains was sparked as a five or six-year-old in Kidderminster during the Second World War when his father took him to the railway station near their home and he saw loco 5110.

"That's how it started, the sight of this smarting monster. I was hooked," he would recall.

As a young man working as an engineer in Kidderminster in the early 1960s he became increasingly incensed by the run-down of the railways by British Railways.

He fumed about it to his workmates saying "we ought to reopen a railway line." He mentioned attempts to open the Bluebell Line in Sussex, and wondered whether something similar could be done locally.

His brother, who worked with him, said: "Why don't you do something about it?" Keith decided he would, and a number of them held a meeting at the house of work colleague Tony Tuite and decided to "go for it."

Keith Beddoes with stalwarts of the Severn Valley Railway, pictured here in July 1986. Pictured from left are the five founding members: John Garth, Chris George, Keith Beddoes, Bert Cleaver and Columb Howell, with Major Peter Oliver. At the rear is station master Malcolm Broadhurst.

The Kidderminster Shuttle report was headlined They Want To Run The Severn Valley Railway Line — in fact the enthusiasts had not decided which line to run at that stage. That initial gathering led to a historic meeting at the Coopers Arms — since demolished — in Kidderminster on July 6, 1965, at which the Severn Valley Railway Society was founded with the ambition of reviving the SVR line south of Bridgnorth, which had seen its last passenger train in September 1963.

The volunteers had to act quickly to stop a major setback.

Talking to Bridgnorth historian and researcher Chris Magner, Keith recalled: "An inspection of the line from Hampton Loade to Bridgnorth was made by several members of the newly-formed group on Sunday, July 11. To our dismay, we found track lifting operations had reached Bridgnorth Station.

"Later that evening, an emergency meeting of the committee took place at the Coopers Arms, when it was decided to send a telegram to BR informing them of the group, its intentions, and for an immediate cessation of track lifting while negotiations took place.

"Once BR realised we were serious, they allowed us to occupy Bridgnorth Station where we set up our headquarters."

Triumph as the first passenger train on the revived SVR leaves Bridgnorth station in May 1970 | Wolverhampton Chronicle

BR sold them the line and, thanks to the efforts of those early pioneers, after various trials and tribulations it reopened to steam-hauled passenger trains running from Bridgnorth to Hampton Loade on May 23, 1970. Trains ran to Bewdley from May 1974, and later to Kidderminster.