Almost the best use for the station! Beeching's closures, whilst many were necessary, were often acts of vandalism. This is a case in point. The wholesale slaughter of the Somerset and Dorset was a tragedy inspired by regional jealousies and politics. Enough of that, this isn't what this review is about.

I remember Bath Green Park as an abandoned place in the 70s and was glad to see the station building restored and worked in Sainsbury's there in the 1980s. The restoration is sensitively done and in comparison with the sterility of the place when I pushed trolleys there, is now a hive of boutiques and stalls. It is lovely, and actually, the restoration replaced the panes of glass in the roof which were destroyed by Hitler's luftwaffe in 1942 and never replaced by BR.

My main regret is that there is no overtly railway related item like a restored steam loco or carriage anywhere to be seen as a reminder of its past. I don't know if the ghost of the old station master still haunts the buildings as was once said, but if he does he should be moaning and rattling his chains until that happens!

Ultimately though, the station building on its own without the ancillary stuff like bonded warehouses and train or goods sheds, all of which were demolished in the early 80s is like preserving the chassis of a car with no engine, wheels or doors.