2-913-681 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Opening of the Central Somerset Railway - Procession in the Abbey Grounds, at Glastonbury, 1854. The line '...carries a road of iron into the very heart of pastoral Somerset...It is a single line, and about twelve miles and a half in extreme length, connecting the port of Highbridge on the Bristol and Exeter line with the ancient and pioturesque town of Glastonbury...The station...was gaily decorated with flags and banners...A procession was then formed of the railway officials, clergy, and gentry, and the Mayor and corporation, accompanied by banners and music...the procession wended its way through the ruins of the Abbey, from which it crossed by a temporary bridge to a spacious tent, in which a splendid cold collation for near 500 persons had been provided...About 800 of the working classes of Glastonbury were entertained at dinner in another large tent'. From "Illustrated London News", 1854.