I was in Frome the other day, dropping off a car, and had to come back by train. While waiting, I spotted this fine blue plaque proclaiming that in January 1912 Leonard Woolf travelled from this very station to London to propose to Virginia Woolf. A romantic gesture now immortalised for all to admire – except there’s a small, practical problem. Today, this station has about as much operational openness as Fort Knox on a Sunday.
Everything’s locked. The booking office? Locked. The toilet? Also locked – although, reassuringly, you can ask the booking office to open it. Which would be marvellous, except… you’ve guessed it… the booking office is locked. And the waiting room? That’s locked with not one, not two, but three separate locks – just in case a determined traveller might try to sit down somewhere warm. If Leonard had tried it now, he’d still be pacing the platform, checking his watch, and doing that little knee-bob dance we all do when we’ve had one too many cups of tea.
It’s entirely possible the only thing that’s changed in the last 113 years is the addition of a sign saying, “For assistance, please contact a member of staff.” Which is quaint, because there are no staff. You could send a carrier pigeon to London and it’d probably arrive before the next train.
So yes, hats off to Leonard. Not only did he get to London, he got there in time to propose, marry, set up the Hogarth Press, and help establish the League of Nations – all without once being thwarted by a padlocked loo or a triple-bolted waiting room. If nothing else, it proves one thing: romance may not be dead, but station facilities certainly are.
1 comment:
Very familiar with Frome station and all the quirks you mention. On my visits to Frome I have never found a taxi at the station and usually not less than 30 minutes for one to arrive. I thought there was a taxi phone on the station, but don't remember it working. It's now a single line only, with a bypass for fast trains, but with proper planning you can get there direct from London Waterloo, and from other points west the destination is Weymouth. As I recall, the station is a listed building with its own local railway enthusiasts' society, valued as a rare survivor of Brunei's Great Western 'shed' stations: the single track and two platforms (one disused) are all under a single span roof open at both ends. I guess there are other examples, but Frome is unique in my extensive rail travels.
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