Welcome to the Trouble on the Watermeadow Line Website.

Thanks for visiting my site. I am Simon Hall, the author of a series of children’s books centred around Tom and Holly and their adventures aboard heritage trains up and down the country.

After the success of my first book, Trouble on the Watermeadow Line, I have been continuing to write further books in the series, and my fifth, “The portal of time and Strawberry Line“ is now available.

Taking an autumnal holiday break, Holly, Tom, Pip the cat and Boo the toy giraffe (along, of course with their ever-patient Mum and Dad) are looking forward to a quiet steam train journey starting at Cranmore in Somerset. Nestled deep in the Mendip Hills are the East Somerset Railway and the famous Cheddar Caves but also the infamous prison at Shepton Mallet. Yet little did the children know that the magicians from stories past have a new quest for them to undertake.

They must travel back in time on the Strawberry Line and board the dastardly Bertie Von Trotter’s circus train. Will the family find the four portals of time the magicians have told them about? Will the circus animals evade the dreadful Von Trotter and get back to their homes in Africa and India? And will the family ever cycle the Strawberry Line as it is today and arrive home in time for tea?

Keep your eyes peeled for dates and my latest news!

Watercress Line, Ropley Station – 25th & 26th May
East Somerset Railway Cranmore Station – 28th May to 2nd June – Book Launch

Bluebell Railway – 15th & 16th June – Dinosaurs at Sheffield Park

Didcot Railway – 22nd & 23rd June

Swanage Railway – Road to Rail 28th to 30th June 2024

Swanage Railway, Dinosaur invasion, Corfe Castle Station – 5th to 7th July

Watercress Line Ropley Station – 20th & 21st July
Bluebell Railway – July 26th & 27th 2024 – Reptiles at Kingscote

Shepton Mallet Jail – 3rd, 4th & 5th August – Book Launch
Cheddar Caves – 6th, 7th & 8th August – Book Launch

East Somerset Railway Cranmore Station – 10th & 11th August

Watercress Line, Ropley Station – 17th & 18th August

Shepton Mallet Jail – 23rd & 24th August

Swanage Railway – Classic Steam car Gala 6th to 8th September

Blue Bell railway – 5th & 6th October – Sheffield Park Station in the Steam Works

East Somerset Railway, Cranmore Station – 26th & 27th October

Watercress Line Ropley Station – Wizard Week 30th & 31st October, 1st & 2nd November