have been interested in the Somerset and Dorset since I was a child, recalling reading about double-headed steam locomotives storming over the Mendips with summer Saturday holiday expresses. Ivo Peters’ wonderful photographic albums rekindled this interest when they were published in the 1980s. At the time, I was working in Ipswich, and a friend and work colleague (ex-BR surveyor), Mike Beckett, was experimenting with EM gauge. His well-laid and painted soldered track looked so much better than the standard plastic OO gauge at the time. Mike was a strong influence and, at his invitation, I exhibited a OO9 layout at one of the first Stowmarket exhibitions. For the following year’s exhibition, I built a small EM gauge layout, which was the first ‘Midholme’. Mike helped me operate the layout and we ran a combination of his stock and
