AN appeal has been made for volunteers to help restore an historic railway station in West Somerset.

The West Somerset Railway (WSR) wants to restore Dunster Station, which marked its 150th anniversary last year.

New station master Angie Skutt has been overseeing helpers who have been painting and decorating and generally tidying up the station and now the push is on to have it looking again as it did in the 1950s.

Enthusiast Joanne Crawley said on social media: “This once forgotten little gem is getting the make-over of a lifetime.

“We are looking for volunteers to help.

“There is much to be done to get her and her surroundings looking as she deserves.

“Spring has arrived and we are working like busy bees to get Dunster Station back on the map, 1950s style.

“There are no age restrictions, and do as much or as little as you can.”

The stone-built station building is grade two listed with a design showcasing its status from the past.

One of the Dunster Station volunteers is Ms Crawley’s father Fred, a 75-year-old carer who works on the railway as a way of taking time out for himself.

The station opened in1874, as part of the Bristol and Exeter Railway, which then became the Great Western Railway in 1876.

The Taunton to Minehead line fell victim in 1964 to ‘Beeching’s Axe’, when goods traffic stopped and a gradual winding down process began until its closure in 1971.

It was reopened under the WSR in 1976, although the station’s signal box was relocated to Minehead.

Today, the station still sees small numbers of passengers, some of whom are walkers attracted by nearby Dunster marshlands.

Ms Crawley said it was also a bird spotters paradise, with falcons, owls, waterbirds, and others which could be seen in their natural habitats.