Ed Perkins, Daily Echo, January 15th, 2000
Ronnie Barker somehow squeezed his ample frame into a carriage for one TV comedy programme, Alexei Sayle plonked himself in another... and Matthew Kelly took a ride with Father Christmas."
Since it opened 50 years ago, Poole Park Railway has been a magnet for all sorts of people. Apart from the celebrities, hundreds of thousands of local people and holiday makers have taken a trip round the lake in the miniature train.
The railway's story is told in a book by Keith Guy called "Poole Park Railway, the First Fifty Years.
The railway has featured in many radio and TV spots starting with "The Good Old Summertime" on the old wireless Home Service in 1954. But the high spot, perhaps, was the visit of The Two Ronnies for the comedy called By the Sea. How did Mr Barker fit into the little carriage? Well, one had to be specially widened.
From the Author
The task of putting together this brief account of the birth, and progression toward maturity, of Poole Park Railway has been immensely enjoyable. The background research and subsequent assembling together of some 15,000 words proved an absorbing task and I hope that you, the reader, will enjoy the fruits of my labours!
I am not a professional author: although a lot of my working time is spent assembling words together, these are usually in the form of legal documents. Writing to inform and entertain is a different art altogether, and I quickly found that to create a book in readable and, hopefully, entertaining form requires a completely different approach. I hope the end result is to your liking and that it proves to be both informative and reasonably entertaining.
Whilst watching the train moving sedately around the lake in Poole Park, it is easy to overlook the long hours of dedicated care and attention needed to keep the train in good running order. George Vimpany, Brian Merrifield and their respective wives and families have much to be proud of in keeping this valuable local amenity running for half a century.
I am grateful for the facilities afforded to me by my fellow officers at the Borough of Poole, without which the task of writing this book would have been so much more difficult.
My family, Irene, Stella and Mike have been very supportive throughout this exercise and I dedicate this book to them, with my love.
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