A week to the west

[whole diary]

[grahame]

14 pictures - that's 2 a day - over the last week

Can you place the (please give everyone a chance - one each for the first 24 hours)

1 Lynmouth - AMLAG
01:

2 Woody Bay - AMLAG
02:

3 Woody Bay - BigNoseMac
03:

4 Bude - Ellendune
04:

5 Carbis Bay - Plymothian
05:

6 Between Penmere and Falmouth Town - SandTEngineer
06:

7 St Erth - Richwarwicker
07:

8 Hayle - Bradshaw
08:

9 Taunton - Rob T followed by AMLAG
09:

10 Truro - Marky7890
10:

11 Penmere - Old Original
11:

12 Falmouth Town - Old Original
12:

13 Falmouth Docks - SandTEngineer
13:

14 Keyham - InTheSidings
14:

[AMLAG]

1 Lynmouth - Lynton Cliff Railway

[InTheSidings]

14: Keyham

[plymothian]

5. Carbis Bay

[grahame]

1 Lynmouth - Lynton Cliff Railway

Correct (picture taken at Lynton)

5. Carbis Bay

Correct

14: Keyham

Yes, that's right.

[old original]

11.  Penmere

[LiskeardRich]

7 st Erth

[grahame]

11.  Penmere

7 St Erth

Two stations both very well worth a visit.   Fascinating to observe crowd control at St Erth on Friday morning.  Passengers in remarkably good humour seeing as many of them were going to be arriving into St Ives 90 minutes late (one main line cancellation from Plymouth, following main line train delayed and just missed the connection)

I wonder if the chap in the picture was supporting the post, or the post supporting the chap.  Always though such things were there to hold up signage, but perhaps they're dual use! 

[ellendune]

4 is the Bude Harbour Tramway that used to bring sand up from Summerleaze beach to the Canal and later to the LSWR^▸ (London South Western Railway) harbour branch. I have a very similar photo from a couple of weeks ago.

[SandTEngineer]

13. Falmouth Docks

[bradshaw]

8 Hayle, part of the old Cornwall Railway system.
It is well worth a visit, part towards Angarrack can be walked.

[grahame]

4 is the Bude Harbour Tramway that used to bring sand up from Summerleaze beach to the Canal and later to the LSWR^▸ (London South Western Railway) harbour branch. I have a very similar photo from a couple of weeks ago.

Yes, that's Bude - photo taken yesterday. 



When I meet people, they tend to think I'm a train zealot and wouldn't countenance any other mode of travel; that's far from the truth (more about that at another time).  Last week, we (that's Lisa and me, Gypsy and Billy) hired part of a cottage above the beach on the northern flank of Hayle.  We drove down and back, the rationale being the weight of stuff to carry, the availability of a vehicle for local / emergency use while in an unknown location, and not fancying buses on the way back into Melksham.   And that did give us the opportunity on our return yesterday to take in some places such as Bude which would otherwise have been difficult.

Bude was busy!  I'm not a great fan of playing "hunt the car parking space", nor do I think that the large area of car parking that's there adds to the attractiveness of the town.   And I wonder if - had the railway not closed in the 1960s - whether it would now be much the better for having a St Ives style shuttle ... would we be seeing trains from Exeter every 30 minutes, alternating after Yeoford to Barnstaple, and to Okehampton and Bude?    I am aware of the proposals / suggestions for re-instating the rails to Bude, and just how much into the mists of the future such plans are regarded, and I'm very much aware that I have no quantitative evidence having just seen in on one busy Saturday ... just wonderin' ...

[AMLAG]

2 Transhipment siding, Woody Bay stn L&BR^▸ (British Rail(ways))

[grahame]

13. Falmouth Docks

Yes, it is ... What's the signalling background to having a "Train Ready to Start" at the terminus stub end?  Is that something that's there but I've missed at other termini, or something that was needed in the days of the freight connection to the docks which has been removed with sad tracks in the undergrowth ... and as still shown on the station map:

[grahame]

8 Hayle, part of the old Cornwall Railway system.
It is well worth a visit, part towards Angarrack can be walked.

Yes, it is ... I wonder how much those particular rails and wagon turntable outlines set in the quayside are part of the original, and how much they are a replacement added during works to note the presence there previously of the railway.  A little to the south, there are certainly some remnants which are "well old" - a weigh bridge, and the bridge towards the current station which from its curved ends looks like it used to swing at some point.

Could have done with another week away ...