The South West Film and Television Archive (SWFTA) is the regional film archive for the South West of England. Established in 1993, SWFTA's core collection comprises of the combined programme libraries of Westward Television and TSW (Television South West). The archive also cares for a significant number of donated film collections, both amateur and professional, dating back to the early 1900s.
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The Inauguration of the Dart Valley Railway by Lord Beeching
Lord Beeching inaugurates a privately run Dart Valley Railway
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Overview
Lord Beeching is at the inauguration of the Dart Valley Railway at Buckfstleigh Train Station. Dr Richard Beeching, a physicist and engineer is the chairman of British Railways in 1961 and becomes known for his report The Reshaping of British Railways. Almost a third of all lines at the time seen as unprofitable, close. Some survive today as heritage railway lines and the Dart Valley Railway is now the South Devon Railway operating between Totnes and Buckfastleigh.
Buckfastleigh Train Station originally opens on 1 May 1872. The Buckfastleigh, Totnes and South Devon Railway amalgamated with the Great Western Railway in 1897 which was then nationalised into public or state ownership in 1948. The line closes to passengers in 1958. It opens again in 1969 as the Dart Valley Heiritage Railway and the South Devon Railway Trust takes control of the line in 1991. From 1971 the line terminates at Buckfastleigh allowing for improvements to the A38 road to go ahead.
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