Oppressive staff management may not just consist of using disciplinary process improperly as set out in the previous Chapter but can also consist of denying an effective grievance process to those who have been badly treated. Regrettably, this has also been a feature of JJP’s Chairmanship of the West Somerset Railway plc.

Particularly stark examples focus on the behaviour of Chris Pratt, JJP’s father, in his role as signalling inspector. Chris has many good qualities and knowledge of GWR signalling, but regrettably his personnel management has been poor, to the point of bullying.

I could write about his treatment of a member of staff over the ‘two santa trains in a section’ incident, or his browbeating of a volunteer signalman who then resigned, or the interference with the Minehead level crossing renewal but there are two incidents which demonstrate how volunteers are denied proper process on ‘JJP’s Railway’. We will come back to the level crossing renewal in a later chapter.

The first of the two incidents occurred in the early summer of 2019. A volunteer was on duty performing safety critical duties. Let’s call him ‘Q’. Chris visited Q and lambasted him for an event which had occurred many months before. The volunteer wondered if he were fit to carry on. Fortunately, a friend calmed him down. Q approached me (given that JJP had had all HR policies removed from the HOPS staff system, including the grievance procedure). I helped him formulate a complaint. It was submitted. The volunteer was then suspended from duty by Chris Pratt!

I contacted WSR plc Director Martin Brown, who was said to be working on new policies. He then told me that he had been appointed to deal with Q’s complaint and met me and Q. Nothing happened for a considerable time.

I asked Martin Brown why. He told me that progressing the grievance had been blocked by JJP and it would make no progress. MB also told me that he was trying to introduce a ‘behaviours’ document for WSR plc staff and managers as a solution, but that was also being blocked by CP and JJP. He acknowledged that the volunteer should never have been suspended but he was powerless to do anything about that.

The grievance was never allowed to progress. Many months later, after CP had resigned as signalling inspector, Q was allowed to return to duty.

Many more months later Martin Brown resigned as a WSR plc Director having worked hard on new policies having been led to believe that they would be adopted but finally being told ‘not wanted here’ by JJP and the remainder of the crony Directors.

I acted as Responsible Officer for every WSR special event and many weekends in 2019. That included the ‘Winter Steam Festival’ after Christmas of that year. We had some engine problems because the coal for ‘santa’ train that year had been delivered onto open ground at Norton Fitzwarren and the last JCB scoop included a lot of ballast and clay covered in coal dust. This is difficult to spot in the tender but doesn’t burn particularly well (!!!) and we had a couple of engine failures in traffic, including one at Williton. It took a lot of hard work by the staff on duty to use S&DRT 53808 (remember her?) to work the remainder of the train around the failure and then after the service to rescue that loco with its train and get it to Minehead for the fire and tender to be cleaned out thoroughly for the next day. But good teamwork got it done.

On that next day I started my day as Responsible Officer at Bishops Lydeard as more trains started from there. When I arrived, Chris Pratt was standing on the platform close to the train loco among the public. I was then subject to a barrage of abuse about the decisions I had made the previous day and my competence as Responsible Officer. His text appeared to be that I should have checked my decisions with him. (As R/O I report to the Duty Officer, not him.) JJP had been the Duty Officer the previous day but I had been unable to raise him as he was doing something with a lorry at Norton. Quite what training JJP had to be a Duty Officer was never clear to me).

I invited Chris Pratt to talk to me quietly away from the public if he had concerns about my decisions. He continued to shout at me at the top of his voice with bemused members of the public standing around. This could not continue so I left and went for a cup of tea in the café in Bishops Lydeard village. I was really shaken, which is not like me. I telephoned Martin Brown, Duty Officer on that day, and explained I wasn’t sure I felt able to carry on as R/O. He suggested I see how I felt in 30 minutes and after that time I had calmed down and did contue as R/O for the rest of the day but did the duty from home (I live alongside the line) rather than visiting stations as I had planned. I did not feel I would be positive about the Railway if I spoke to other staff and volunteers.