Recording An Alternative History Of Warminster

Saturday 13th September 2025

At dannyhowell net we don’t always go for the obvious when it comes to preserving photographs of Warminster. Here’s a prime example of an unusual view but it does show something that might have otherwise gone unrecorded.

It’s a photograph taken in 1995, of the view south-west from the footbridge at Warminster Railway Station. On the left is the Baden Powell Scout Hut. Adjacent is a building (black sides, white doors and windows, and a grey roof) in the north east corner of the grounds of the Avenue Primary School.

This particular building I’m told was the dining room/ sandwiches room at the Avenue School, where children ate their lunchtime sandwiches. The building burnt down in a fire (started accidentally) circa 1997. In the background can be seen the drill tower at Warminster Fire Station.

I suppose the questions we should be asking about this pic are: Did you attend the Avenue School during the 1980s and early 1990s up to 1997 and if so did you eat sandwiches in the building pictured? What was in your favourite sandwiches? Who prepared the sandwiches? Who were the “dinner ladies”? You get the gist, we’re trying to record an alternative history – the nitty gritty – of our hometown and what really went on.

Locally Valued Heritage Asset ~ Warminster Railway Station Buildings And Bridge

From Appendix 7.8 – Warminster’s Heritage Topic Paper. Additional information to support the Warminster Neighbourhood Plan. Produced in 2024.

Locally Valued Heritage Assets (LVHA)

Map Ref. No. 5

Database Ref. LVHA1

Asset Name: Warminster Railway Station buildings and bridge.

Description: Iron and wooden station buildings and footbridge. The station opened in 1851. These buildings replaced a train shed which covered tracks and platforms.

How asset met Historic England critera –
Rarity (R)
Architectural or Artistic Interest (AA)
Group Value (GV)
Archaeological Interest (AI)
Historic Interest / Association (HI/A)

(R) Cast iron columns on bridge and girders on station buildings.
(AAI) Decorative wooden eaves on south side.
(GV) Group of buildings (main station and waiting room on north platform) and bridge.

Additional comments:
Group value as part of the 19th C railway heritage of Britain and the world.

Nothing Has Changed With GWR

Monday 15th November 2021

Late Western Snailway @Late_W_ Snailway has tweeted:

I had to use @GWRHelp today for the first time in nearly two years. Nothing has changed. The ticket machine on Platform 2 at Warminster station was bust, on-train announcements couldn’t be heard and hardly any coaches on said trains.

and

My return train was (guess what) delayed and then cancelled. I do not miss @GWRHelp AT ALL and praise be I am only using them for a week. I have more pleasure with a prostate exam.

Totem Sign From Warminster Railway Station Sold By Auction

Lot 342 in a GW Railwayana Auction, held in November 2020, was:

Totem BR(S) HF WARMINSTER from the former Great Western Railway station between Westbury and Salisbury. In Very good condition with minor edge chipping, a rare totem and only the 3rd to appear at auction the last being 8 years ago.

It sold for £3,100.

https://www.gwra.co.uk/auctions/totem-br-s-hf-warminster-from-former-great-western-2020nov-0342.html

GW Railwayana Auctions Ltd., The Willows, Badsey Road. Evesham, Worcestershire, WR11 7PA. simont@gwra.co.uk 01386 760109 07718 211445

Lidl Tote Bag – Containing Make-Up, A Sid Vicious Book And Clothes – Found At Warminster Railway Station

Sunday 23rd February 2020

shania @nash_xoxox has tweeted

@GWRHelp lidl tote bag found at warminster station with makeup, a Sid Vicious book and clothes inside, ive searches the bag for id but had no luck, i have taken it home, hoping to get in contact with the owner!!!

Casper – The Much-Loved Cat At Warminster Railway Station Cat

Tuesday 25th June 2019

Earlier I featured a photo of Pongo for all the dog-lovers who visit my Facebook page. So I guess I had better feature on my Facebook page a feline pic too for all the cat-lovers. And the photograph I’ve chosen, which I made on Saturday 16th May 2015, is of a cat who was very well-known. He was much-loved by not only his owner but just about everyone who used Warminster Railway Station at that time.

It’s Casper, pictured outside Casper’s Cafe (where else!) run by Casper’s owner Jane Ham. Sadly, Casper used up all of his nine lives when he died peacefully on Sunday 13th March 2016. He was 22 years old.

And you can read more about Casper, including how he quickly recovered after being hit by a taxi on 11th November 2013, by clicking on the same link above to Danny Howell’s website. Following the accident with the taxi, Casper and his owner Jane received many good wishes (mainly via the Spotted In Warminster Town facebook page).

Casper was also mentioned on the Purr ‘n’ Fur website, in the section on Rail Station Cats 4.

www.purr-n-fur.org.uk/featuring/wk-rail04a.html

They noted how Casper had been keeping his eyes on the comings and goings at Warminster Railway Station since at least 2010. “In 2010 and certainly as recently as 2012, Warminster station in Wiltshire had a cat called Casper, who although he didn’t live there but in a nearby home, seemed to spend a lot of time there and enjoyed ‘meeting and greeting’ travellers.”

(The last time I looked the Purr ‘n’ Fur website was “temporarily unavailable).

But there are also photos and a few more details about Casper featured on the Cat Party website:

http://miaowmix.blogspot.co.uk/…/cat-pap-warminster…

Among the comments received on my Facebook page when I shared the news that Caspar had died, were the following:

Rachel Lee: “My buddy who would talk to me one day and totally ignore me the next . . . . . unless I had cheese.”

Joanne Thompson: “Loved Casper.”

Jenny Firth: “Oh bless Casper, miss seeing him xxx.”

Maz Levy: “So loved Casper. Used to greet me everyday when I got off the train from work and would run to meet me if he saw me coming towards the station.”

An Inspector Barked At Warminster

Monday 4th February 2019

Bien Soeur @BienSoeur has tweeted:

Gosh, how rude was the female ticket inspector at Warminster station on the 7:23 to Great Malvern! There was still a queue in the ticket office and the machine was out of order and when I asked if I could get buy a ticket on the train she barked “I suppose you’ll have to then!”

GWR Water Inspection Cover Outside Warminster Railway Station

Friday 1st December 2017

An iron inspection cover in the tarmac outside
(south side) of Warminster Railway Station,
Station Road, Warminster.
It is inscribed: “GWR N932 Water”

Photographs taken by Danny Howell
on Friday 1st December 2017.

Casper At Warminster Railway Station

Saturday 16th May 2015

Casper, a cat who lives near Warminster
Railway Station at Station Road.

Caspar has become a familiar sight
at Warminster Railway Station,
where he spends a lot of time,
perhaps because he enjoys the attention
he receives from
those waiting for or alighting from trains.

Photographs taken by Danny Howell
on Saturday 16th May 2015.

Footnote 1:
Casper was hit by a car on the morning of 11th November 2013 but he made a quick recovery thanks to many Warminster well-wishers (mainly via the Spotted In Warminster Town Facebook page). Casper’s owner Jane Ham later commented: “Thank you soooo much people of Warminster, Casper is now asleep on a fleece blanket on the sofa after eating some of the chicken people have dropped in this afternoon. He is a bit sore and stiff but was very lucky only a small cut on his ear, the vet at Garston was outstanding and very understanding as I was a wreck. Thank you again for all your kind messages. xx.” 
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=654241971286526&id=622407337803323

Footnote 2:
Casper has been keeping his eyes on the comings and goings at Warminster Railway Station since at least 2010. This is noted on the Purr ‘n’ Fur website, in the section on Rail Station Cats 4. They noted: “In 2010 and certainly as recently as 2012, Warminster station in Wiltshire had a cat called Casper, who although she [sic] didn’t live there but in a nearby home, seemed to spend a lot of time there and enjoyed ‘meeting and greeting’ travellers. We don’t know if she [sic] still takes on this role.”
http://www.purr-n-fur.org.uk/featuring/wk-rail04a.html

Photos and a few more details about Casper feature on the Cat Party website: http://miaowmix.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/cat-pap-warminster-train-station.html