THE Launceston Railway Circle was approached last summer by ‘1st Take’, a film company from Bristol, about the possibility of them providing images of old railway lines in the area.

1st Take is a film company with specialist knowledge of making films on the topic of transport and the wide range of interesting places across the country.

It approached the chairman of the Launceston Railway Circle, Les Whaley, to see if they were able to provide photographs of old railway lines around Devon that lead into Launceston to be included in a film 1st Take are making — the sequel or ‘volume two’ of ‘Branch Lines of Devon’.

The circle was able to provide a number of images, including photographs of the old line and bridges at Polson.

Dave Rogers, of 1st Take, approached Mr Whaley to ask it if they would be able to help provide images for the new film ‘Branch Lines of Cornwall’, with the added bonus of promoting the Launceston Railway Circle and railway attractions in and around Launceston and other parts of Cornwall.

Mr Whaley said: “We agreed to help. Filming started last week at Gunnislake, with the filming of the first working station and line in the area, taking in photos of the old bridges and track beds and mines that can still be seen today from Gunnislake to Kelly Bray.

“Dave and I, along with Andy the cameraman, went on to take up an invitation from Nigel Bowman of Launceston Steam Railway to spend some time filming him and his wife, Kay, at the narrow gauge railway. We received a warm welcome from Nigel and his staff, with a nice cup of tea.”

Explaining what filming involved, Mr Whaley said: “We spent a few hours filming in and around the station area and had a ride on one of the steam locomotives on a fine sunny day along the Kensey Valley to Newmills, where there is a farm park and a children’s play area.”

Mr Whaley added that the tourist railway extends 2.5-miles along the former LSWR/SR mainline, which in the days of steam from Launceston station would have gone onto Wadebridge and Padstow.

Mr Whaley and the 1st Take crew continued around the town, documenting areas of interest within the town for possible inclusion in the film.

Mr Whaley said: “We went on to the Lawrence House Museum to film the Launceston name plate that was off the Launceston Steam locomotive. While there, we went on to film Launceston Castle and the town to include in the DVD.

“The next visit was to the Hidden valley Discovery Park, an extraordinary place to visit for all of the family, with gardens, cottage and a chance to catch a train at Mansion House Station for a ride around the park. After, we had a Cornish cream tea in the restaurant, which is a must!

“Later that afternoon we went on to film the old station at Tresmeer and Otterham, along with the RAF Museum at Davidstow.”

Most recently Mr Whaley said they had spent some time at the Bodmin and Wenford Railway, the old mines at Caradon and the station and lines for Liskeard and Looe. Later in May there are plans for the film crew to go west to cover Newquay and down to St Ives and Helston.

Mr Whaley said he wanted to thank to Mr Bowman and the steam railway for helping make the film.

An article has been published about Launceston Steam Railway’s working model in OO9 by Richard Holder in the ‘Railway Modeller’ this month with five pages of colour images of the railway and the fine detail of buildings.

The film, Branch Lines of Cornwall, will be available for purchase from Launceston Steam Railway station shop once it has been completed.