Termination at the Halt is a biographical story about one man's re-creation of a disused station interwoven with a fictional tale of a murder mystery, paranormal goings-on and historical facts.
Published in January 2022 by WTSMP Publications and written by Yvonne Marrs, this paperback book measures around 14 cm x 21.6 cm, and has 180 pages.
It has a published price of £10.00 and can be purchased from Amazon.
The story revolves around one man's efforts to renovate the disused railway station at Nast Hyde Halt on the former branch line from Hatfield to St. Albans in Hertfordshire.
The halt was named after the nearby manor house Nast Hyde House, which is rumoured to have been the setting for Charles Dickens's Bleak House.
With a passion for the ‘Golden Age of Steam', Mike Izzard decided that bringing the past into the present at Nast Hyde Halt must be done, and undertook a four-year renovation of the halt, which through his blog, amassed him a worldwide following.
Tantalised by his efforts, author Yvonne Marrs created a website for Mike about the St. Albans to Hatfield branch line. Realising this would make a great plot for her 40th book, Yvonne has woven together a biographical story of Mike's work with paranormal goings-on, historical facts and fictional elements.
As well as his work at Nast Hyde Halt, Mike also re-laid a half-mile section of track bed up to the St. Albans boundary at a place known as ‘Deadmans Crossing'. By 2019, the icing on the cake arrived with a donation of track from the Nene Valley Railway to mark the 50th anniversary of the line's closure and the completion of Mike's restoration project.
Mike has made this project a reality through his numerous fundraising efforts. He still uses the Halt and his role as the ‘Station Master' to support various good causes and charities.
Nast Hyde Halt is located along the Alban Way which is also part of National Cycle Network route 61. Anyone walking the trail will often see Mike tending to the bird boxes and feeders and keeping the foliage cut back.
The book is currently only available to purchase from Amazon.
RailAdvent would like to thank WTSMP Publications for providing it with a copy of the book for review.
