Would that be Seend Twined with the Island of Sodor ?
I seem to remember reading somewhere that the Rev W Audrey lived not far away.
I know someone who may know a bit about that. I'll find out.
My expert writes ...
Wilbert Vere Awdry was born 15 June, 1911 in Romsey, Hampshire. He died 21 March 1997 in Stroud, Gloucestershire.
English clergyman, railway enthusiast and children's author, better known as the Reverend W. Awdry and creator of Thomas the Tank Engine, who starred in Awdry's acclaimed Railway Series.
In 1917, he moved with his family to Box, in a house called ^Journey^s End^, which was only 200 yards from the eastern end of Box Tunnel. (The home was renamed Lorne Villa.) There the Great Western Railway main line climbs at a gradient of 1 in 100 for two miles, and a banking engine was kept there to assist freight trains up the hill. These trains usually ran at night and the young Wilbert could hear them from his bed.
The train characters that would make Awdry famous, and the first stories featuring them, were invented in 1943 to amuse his son Christopher during a bout of measles.
I should have added the Melksham/Lacock links^Not really a Seend link, but yes, close by.
Vere Awdry, Rev W Awdry^s father, was born in Lacock. John Hilliar Wither Awdry (father of Vere Awdry) was born in Swindon and owned Melksham House, though he did not live there. John Jeremiah Awdry (father of JHW Awdry) was born in Melksham.
