Royal Corps of Signals commemorative stone at Herston Halt

Photo report - dated 20th June 1999 - all photographs are copyright Andrew P.M.Wright.

Soldiers from across mainland Britain, Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Germany and Cyprus have made a pilgrimage to the Swanage Railway to witness their former Master of Signals unveil a large commemorative stone marking the 15 year association between the Royal Corps of Signals and the relaid Purbeck Line.

A former top officer of the Army's Royal Corps of Signals based at Blandford has travelled from Yorkshire to make a piece of Dorset history - unveiling a large memorial stone to mark the 15 year association between his soldiers and the volunteers of the Swanage Railway.

Retired Major General Archie Birtwistle CB, CBE, DL, carried out the ceremony in front of more than a hundred specially invited guests - both military, civilian and civic dignitaries - at the Swanage Railway's first ever restored station, Herston Halt, one mile outside the seaside resort.

The inscribed Purbeck Stone from Bonfields Quarry near Worth Matravers has been paid for by members of the Mercury Group, soldiers who have taken part in more than 20 Royal Corps of Signals exercises on the Railway since 1984 and have liked the family feeling of the steam railway so much that they have stayed involved; 130 becoming Swanage Railway Premier Life members.

The special day saw the guests - including Lieutenant Colonel Terry Canham, commanding officer of 11 Signal Regiment at Blandford - ride the Purbeck Line on the Swanage Railway's luxury dining train hauled by 1948 Brighton-built steam locomotive Battle of Britain class Bulleid Pacific No. 34072 '257 Squadron' with a Royal Corps of Signals and Mercury Group headboard proudly on the front.

Over 15 years, the Topham Hatt exercises have seen around a thousand Royal Corps of Signals personnel carry out a wide variety of tasks on the Swanage Railway, the railway volunteers paying for all the materials needed and also laying on special engineering trains and accommodation.

"The soldiers have gained valuable experience, developed their leadership qualities, gained a sense of pride and job satisfaction as well as enjoyed a break from their very busy and hectic working routines. Their work on the railway has also benefited the community by helping such an important public and tourist service," said exercises co-ordinator Frank Roberts of the Royal Corps of Signals.

Topham Hatt exercises have involved the Royal Corps of Signals men and women installing lineside and underground telecommunications cables between Swanage, Corfe Castle and Norden's park and ride station. They have also helped install telephone exchanges and refurbish telephones.

Three short exercises have taken place on the railway this year because normal Royal Corps of Signals exercises were suspended as the troops waited to go out to Kosovo - men and women working on the Swanage Railway only a few weeks ago now helping to keep the peace in Kosovo.

Two major Royal Corps of Signals units who carried out Topham Hatt exercises on the Swanage Railway earlier this year are playing a major role in NATO's move into Kosovo - No. 3 (UK) Division Headquarters and Signal Regiment based at Bulford in Wiltshire and the No. 30 Signal Regiment based at Nuneaton in Warwickshire.

A major project on the Swanage Railway by the Royal Corps of Signals men and women has been the restoration of Herston Halt which the army troops have adopted. Herston Halt is important historically to the Swanage Railway because it was the first station built by its volunteers in 1984 when they had hand-laid their tracks to a point one mile out of Swanage.

The first Royal Corps of Signals exercise was in 1984 when its soldiers helped transport and install trackside telegraph poles between Swanage and the then new Herston Halt for the railway's first lineside telephone system.

Recently, the Royal Corps of Signals men and women have tidied up and cut a quarter of a mile of trackside embankment at Herston Halt as well as repaired fences, rebuilt a foot crossing for passengers, repainted the station, installed a new station fence as well as creating a new storage and collection base for telecommunications equipment and lineside poles.

The troops have even been green-fingered - creating eight new flowerbeds edged in Purbeck Stone at Herston Halt, filling them with plants kindly donated by the Purbeck Hotel in Swanage, the Royal Corps of Signals' favourite watering hole while staying in Swanage.