BURNHAM jetty has made news recently after being damaged in heavy storms which have lashed the area - but how many people in the town know of the structure's fascinating history?

John Smith, museum curator, with the Somerset & Dorset Railway Trust, takes the Weekly News on the trip through the past THOSE over 60 years old will have their own memories of Burnham Wharf, so this article is written for the younger ones who may have read recent articles and seen photographs regarding the damage which storms of recent weeks have caused to Burnham jetty.

This jetty was 900 feet long, built by the Somerset Central Railway (which later became the Somerset & Dorset Railway) and opened on May 3, 1858.

The railway itself had opened in August four years earlier to run from Glastonbury (by Snows Timber Yard) to Highbridge, terminating at the wharf (by the Cattle Market).

Those instrumental in getting the railway built were George Reed, a prominent Burnham resident, George Warry, of the Manor House, Shapwick, and James Clark, the shoemaker at Glastonbury.

The railway was extended in 1859 to Wells, Priory Road, terminating opposite the Sherston Public House, and the other end of the line was in 1858 extended to Burnham, the station being built behind Abingdon Road.

The holiday traffic necessitated the building of a second platform, long enough to accommodate ten coach trains.

From this station, track was laid across the Esplanade, on to the jetty, with a point laid on the wooden part of the pier, allowing two sidings to run down the jetty.

The majority of the jetty was constructed of stone and the top covered with cobbled stones.

The down gradient was 1 in 23, making it impossible for locomotives to run down this jetty, especially when the rails were wet. So railway rolling stock was lowered up and down the jetty by a wire rope through a ring set in the stonework at the top of the pier - in 1884 rollers were ordered laid between the rails for the protection of the wire rope on the jetty.

The railway ran a passenger service to South Wales from 1858 to 1888, using a purchased paddle steamer, the Ruby.

Alongside the jetty a large sluicing pond was built which filled up on every full tide. After the tide had gone out, gates were opened, allowing the water to flow down the south side of the jetty, washing the mud and sand away to maintain a deep channel for the boats. The pond gates were then closed, enabling the sluicing pond to fill again on the next tide.

However, the unsuitability of the jetty for large boats to berth was soon brought to the railway's costly notice when in 1863 the Ruby, which was trying to berth in the river mouth at the end of the jetty, got its bow stuck in one river bank and its stern in the opposite bank.

As the tide fell, the inevitable happened: the boat broke in half and was a complete wreck.

Between 1884 and 1888, the railway owned a large wooden paddle steamer, the Sherbro, which carried cattle and market produce as well as passengers to and from Cardiff.

The railway then suspended these operations although occasional pleasure steamers berthed at the jetty for many years.

There are photographs of, among others, the Waverley, part of the Campbells Fleet. Cargo boats from other companies, however, continued to use Highbridge Wharf until about 1950.

At some time in the 1970s or 1980s, after they had survived in place for about 100 years, the rails and cobbled stones were removed and the top of the jetty levelled and tarmac laid.

The last resurfacing, between tides, took place only last year.

For those visiting Burnham now, the jetty remains in place, although much of the tarmac has been lifted. Many of the large wooden mooring posts can still be seen but all traces of the sluicing pond have gone.

At the top of the jetty on the Esplanade, the Reed's Arms can be seen. This was originally built by George Reed for the benefit of railway travellers visiting the town.

Carved in the stonework at the rear of the building was The Reed Arms but this is now covered by an extension to the building.

A little further inshore, at the end of Pier Street, we find on our left hand side the Somerset & Dorset public house, which has pictures of the old station hanging on its walls.

Opposite, behind Somerfield, next to the gates to the lifeboat yard, is a small white building with a hipped roof which is currently being refurbished. This was originally the lifeboat house where the Philip Beach was housed.

This lifeboat was given to the RNLI by Mrs Beach, in memory of her husband.

The lifeboat was moved on a trolley mounted on rails. The rails from the lifeboat house were joined by a point to the railway line between the station and the jetty, enabling the lifeboat to be pulled from the lifeboat house on to the main railway line and then pushed across the Esplanade.

Providing the tide was right, the boat was launched down the railway jetty.

What would the Health and Safety Executive say today about this bizarre arrangement of the lifeboat and passenger trains sharing the same length of railway track?

More about Burnham and the railway can be found in the Museum of the Somerset & Dorset Railway Trust, at Washford on the West Somerset Railway, or from the SDRT's website www.sdrt.org.uk.

* And if you've got any memories of Burnham and Highbridge to share with our readers - particularly pictures - we'd love to hear from you. E-mail your memories to newsdesk@burnhamnews.co.uk.