PENSIONER Ruth Fletcher has switched tracks in later life to move into the crossing keeper's cottage that belonged to her grandparents.
The 70-year-old has moved from Southport to Soudley to live in the cottage she remembers as a child.
Her war veteran grandfather Cyril Robathan took charge of the line after losing a leg on the railways and being transferred to lighter duties.
Ruth lived with her grandparents for several years as a child and recalls living in the cottage when the Forest mines were thriving and trucks arrived every morning from Bullo Pill.
After moving to Liverpool to be with her parents, she spent most of her life in the North West.
Beeching destroyed the line but the cottage stayed in the family and last year she decided to move to the Forest of Dean for good.
She is now sharing her memories of living there all those years ago with film makers who have produced a documentary about the Great Western Railway Forest of Dean branch.
"The cottage is exactly the same," she said. "The washhouse is still there, the old fireplace is still there, all the windows are still there."
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