17th December 2008

Travel journalist Simon Calder takes to the road in a journey to discover the legacy of the controversial Beeching railway cuts on the West region's train network.

Beeching's Tracks with Simon Calder went out on  BBC FOUR, Thursday 27 November, at 8.30pm.

The film, produced by GRACE Productions, is one in a land-mark series of BBC programmes marking the long-term effects of Dr Richard Beeching's programme of branch closures on Britain's railways in the 1960's.

Part of Simon's journey takes him on the West Somerset Railway out to Minehead. The Beatles famously took the same train ride out to the seaside, during the filming of their movie A Hard Day's Night, in 1964.