12/06/2026
A little bit of history. 🚂🚂
West Bay station in Dorset was opened in 1884 by the Great Western Railway as the terminus of the Bridport branch line, the name chosen specifically to encourage holiday traffic to the coast, though the line was plagued by closures and reopenings throughout its troubled history.
Passenger services were withdrawn in 1930 and the line continued as a goods-only route until final closure in 1962, with the station spending several decades afterwards serving as a boat yard office before being restored in 1995 with a short length of track reinstated at the platform.
The station building and two restored vintage railway carriages now house Platform Restaurant, a multi-award winning dining venue which has held two AA rosettes and been voted Best Restaurant in Dorset on multiple occasions, serving locally landed seafood and Dorset produce in one of the county's most unusual settings.
One carriage, named Brunel, dates to 1911 and served as a hospital coach during the First World War, while the other, named Beeching after the man whose cuts ultimately closed lines like this one, was built in 1958, a fittingly ironic tribute in a building that owes its survival to outlasting his legacy.
