Michael Walker (also a trustee)

I have always been a "closet" railway enthusiast because that's the way my father brought me up - he was a railway fan from his teens in the thirties, and he brought his two sons up to follow in his footsteps! I was a bit of a disappointment to him, however, because from the age of 10 I switched my allegiance to buses and that is where I spent my career. I was born and educated in Bristol, and although I spent my first year at work with Southend Transport, I returned to work for Bristol Omnibus in 1968, being given my first "command" as the Traffic Superintendent for Weston super Mare and Wells depots in 1974. During the next nine years, Bristol Bus and Coach Station and Bath were added to my portfolio, until by the time of the split of Bristol Omnibus into 4 separate companies in 1983, I was responsible for the operations of 400 buses and around 700 clerks, drivers, Inspectors and managers. The spilt meant a change of emphasis of managerial responsibilities to a more commercial outlook, and although my new position as District Manager at Bristol Bus and Coach Station with the new Bristol Country Bus (later Badgerline) meant overseeing a smaller operation, responsibility was total, extending from service policy to engineering matters and the production of a positive bottom line! This was great training for the deregulated environment that followed the 1985 Transport Act and which gave bus operators previously unknown freedoms to run a business: Badgerline then became one of the first former National Bus Company constituents to be taken nto the private sector in September 1986 with a staff and management buy out, and I became a director of the company. In 1990 I took time out from operating, undertaking special projects and consultancy work for both the Malta Transport Plan and the industry's trade association, the Bus and Coach Council (later the Confederation of Passenger Transport)
A year later I was given time out to undertake a Masters Degree in Transport Studies at Cardiff University, followed by a Doctoral thesis, for which I investigated those factors that
influenced people to seek out public transport information. By the time I had finished the thesis in 1998, Badgerline and I had parted company, and that summer I rejoined the Confederation of Passenger Transport as their Director in Wales, dealing with the problems of bus and coach operators in Wales and promoting bus facilities to the newly formed Welsh Assembly. Since starting my managerial career in Weston super Mare I had always wanted to return to Somerset - even more so because my partner Barbara lives at Langford - and I finally moved to Dinder last September, joining the East Somerset Railway earlier this year as a life member. Last month I gave up my CPT job, and, at the age of 51, have decided to give retirement a go, although in my retirement I am also part owner and director of the Bath Bus Company! (Operating local us services and sightseeing tours in and around Bath).  In addition to my hobbies of photography, travelling and the new garden, I also felt that, as a good public transport man, I may be able to offer something to the Railway - I hope I do not disappoint. 

Kevin Carver

I am 38 years old British Telecom Engineer, and was born and brought up in the village of Chilcompton approx. 6 miles away from Cranmore. I first came to Cranmore in 1976, which involved a walk across 3 fields and 2 bus rides. It was then that I first met Jack Stanaway. Eventually I became a member in 1981 the year we started running steam trains from Cranmore West to Merryfield Lane. On my first day I helped out in the workshop rewheeling Green Knight.  But as the operating staff were short of guards and stationmen I joined that department. (We are still short of volunteers in this department) and have worked in this department ever since. After the EGM in 1996 I joined the committee and also started to make videos to sell in the shop. In 1997 started going to exhibitions to spread the word about us. Since then I have set up and maintained 2 of our websites and still do the occasional guards duty (sorry Dave will try harder). I am also an armchair member of the following groups, Great Western Soc., Somerset & Dorset Railway Trust, Midsomer Norton Station, Glenfinnan Station, Keighley Worth Valley Railway, Friends of the West Highland Line and Bristol Railway Circle.