“We can’t understand why they are taking so much of our garden to put a fence up”
Bob Baker with pictures of his shed which he faces losing under the plans(Image: John Wimperis)
A man faces losing his beloved shed as Network Rail says it needs to take over the end of his garden to build a new railway station.
The shed at the end of Bob Baker’s garden in Pill, North Somerset, is where he spends most of his time. He said: “I’m now retired and it’s my hobby, I suppose. It’s my space. Four hours a day, 365 days a year I spend in my shed if you ask my wife.”
Their garden backs onto the disused Portishead Railway which runs through Pill. But now that exciting plans to reopen the railway are finally underway, the stretch along the end of the Bakers’ garden is being turned into the village’s new railway station and Network Rail say they need to take five metres off the end of their garden – including the entire shed – until the project is complete.
“They offered to put a container across the road […] for him to put his stuff in,” said Mr Baker’s wife Gill Baker. Network Rail has said that disruption will be mitigated and that everything will be put back to how it was after construction of the new station was complete.
The five metres the Bakers face losing will see them lose their entire shed(Image: John Wimperis)
The work to create the station includes demolishing Station House and some excavation and stabilisation of the embankment along the cutting which runs through the heart of the village. Mr Baker said: “For at least two years we have got to live in a building site. That’s a long time to lose our garden.”
He added: “We are not objecting to the railway. It’s just the fact that we can’t understand why they are taking so much of our garden to put a fence up.” There are about four metres between the end of their garden and the railway.
Meanwhile their neighbour Robert Proudfoot, whose house extends closer to the back of his property, will only be left with two metres of garden. He said: “The only thing that’s going through my mind is: can we get a reduction on our council tax?”
Inside Bob’s magnificent shed(Image: John Wimperis)
Mr Proudfoot and the Bakers were attending a public information event in Pill on March 31 where people in the village could speak to the Network Rail team who are running the project.
A member of the team told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “We do appreciate there is disruption for people and we are doing our best to listen to people’s concerns and mitigate the concerns people have, but generally it’s very positive and we are looking forward to reopening the railway for Pill.”
The Portishead Railway was closed to passengers under the Beeching Cuts in 1964 but after a decades-long campaign, work is underway to reopen the railway with new stations being built in Portishead and Pill and platform three being reopened at Parson Street station in Bristol.
Trains will run hourly between Portishead and Bristol Temple Meads once train services begin, currently expected to happen in 2028 or 2029.
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