Memories shared as event marks 50 years since Launceston lost its railway

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Cornish & Devon Post, a fascinating and very detailed article by Zoë Uglow.

It is a relatively long article, so rather than quote it here in full on the Coffee Shop forum, I would like instead to encourage those of our readers who are particularly interested in the subject to please click on the link. 

[onthecushions]

Launceston of course suffered from the twin drawbacks of the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)/SR^‡(resolve) cold war and of the limited passenger and freight business on offer in the West Country.

If the two companies had shared routes (e.g. having a joint line to Lydford) then perhaps the town's rail link might have survived and even prompted the retention of the Exeter - Okehampton - Tavistock - Plymouth line.

The crocodile tears of the WC^▸ (Wiltshire Council (Unitary Authority)) Local Authorities are unconvincing. They have allowed rights of way to be needlessly lost in spite of their expensive (non-) planning departments and achieve near zero in practical reinstatement.

OTC