Rail group on track for expansion

The Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Trust is two steps closer to restoring the disused line to Blackmoor Gate thanks to a ^36,000 grant and an acquisition of land.

Exmoor National Park Authority announced it was giving the trust ^36,000 out of the Exmoor National Park Partnership Fund at the end of last month.

As well as this Devon County Council has transferred the ownership of land near the Parracombe bypass on the A39.

Tony Nicholson, from the trust said: "We paid Devon County Council a small sum for the piece of track bed at Parracombe but part of the deal was we, at the trust, would look after the picnic site in future. The county council still owns the picnic site, which lies between the trackbed and the A39 and has been rather neglected in recent years."

County Councillor Andrea Davis said: "The Lynton and Barnstaple Railway is a great project and the county council will always try to help the trust where possible, like in this instance."

It is expected the track will be extended to Blackmoor Gate within the next five years and completing this stage of the project is estimated to cost ^5 million.

Mr Nicholson added: "A station at Blackmoor Gate will enable visitors to park their cars there and ride into the national park without damaging in any way the beauty and tranquillity they have come to enjoy. But before the line can be extended the railway needs planning permission to do so and a Transport and Works Act Order from the Department for Transport to allow it to cross any public highway. These permissions in turn require the completion of a number of expensive surveys before they can be approved. The grant from the national park's partnership fund will go towards the completion of surveys such as topographical surveys and environmental impact assessments."

Clearing of the track bed at Parracombe has already begun with the trust's volunteers working hard over recent weekends in order to clear over 75 years of vegetation growth since the original railway closed in 1935.

Michael Portillo backs little line's big expansion plan

Michael Portillo has paid a visit to Woody Bay Station on the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway while filming for his next series of Great British Railway Journeys.

The broadcaster and former Conservative cabinet minister delighted volunteers and holidaymakers with his ^unassuming affability^, according to a spokesman for the railway^s trust.

​
Michael Portillo during a break in filming at Woody Bay Station in North Devon. The programme is scheduled to be shown on BBC2 next January

Mr Portillo also wished the trust success in its plans to extend the line.

The Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Trust is drawing up a planning application to extend the railway from its present one mile of operation to nine miles.

The extended line would run from Caffyns near Lynton to Blackmoor Gate and Wistlandpound Reservoir.

Eventually the trust hopes to extend the line back into Lynton and all the way to Barnstaple.

Drop-in events are currently being held as part of the public consultation into the application. The next will be at the Calvert Trust Discovery Centre on Saturday, June 9.

Did Mr Portillo recognise you, Richard? 

Pleased to be able to report that the L&BR are now in a position to acquire another, significant section of trackbed. Location is members-only at this moment, so you'll get no more from me 

We do not operate trains to either Lynton or Barnstaple. The rail service to these two destinations is currently suspended pending reconstruction of the railway.

It's now unstoppable... it's not 'whether', but 'how' and 'when'.

A landowner is hoping to derail ambitious plans to extend a steam railway.

Louise Grob owns land alongside the trackbed of the old narrow gauge railway on the outskirts of Barnstaple, which now runs between Woody Bay and Killington Lane Halt.

The plans were unveiled at a public meeting last Saturday. The trust would also restore the railway stations at Blackmoor and Parracombe, and create an engineering centre and rolling-stock sheds at Blackmoor Gate. Planning applications will be submitted shortly to the Exmoor National Park and North Devon planning authorities.

The ^16 million project could create about 80 jobs in the area, and is supported by local councillors, businesses and landowners, Ian Cowling, Lynton and Barnstaple Railway trustee, said.

Mrs Grob said: "We are appalled at the idea that not only will they try to compulsorily purchase our land but will also turn the Western Gate to our national park into something more akin to a theme park.

She claimed the supporters were using bullying tactics to try to acquire the properties they need.

Mr Cowling denied he had used bullying tactics. He said there had been three previous public meetings and he had sent out 500 invitations to local residents to last Saturday's meeting. He said he had arranged three face-to-face meetings with Mrs Grob, but she had cancelled them all.

I did a bit of research too .. and found Tam Tim Grob who I thought must be a family member until I clicked on the link.   Couldn't find much on West (or Welsh?) Highland issues.

...soak them in water for 10 minutes first before soaking...

Plans submitted for ^16 million extension of Lynton and Barnstaple Railway


A Lynston and Barnstaple Railway steam engine at Woody Bay

Plans to extend Lynton and Barnstaple Railway have moved one step closer to reality.

As part of a ^16 million expansion of the line, the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Trust wish to extend it by four miles to Wistlandpound Reservoir and restore the railway stations at Blackmoor and Parracombe.

This week, the Trust's outline application, which includes plans for an engineering centre and rolling-stock sheds at Blackmoor Gate, was submitted to North Devon Council.

A spokesman for the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Trust, Tony Nicholson, said: "If the planning applications are approved the extension of the line will provide a major boost to the tourist industry of North Devon. It will directly support 24 full-time jobs and many more in the wider service sector locally.

"Apprentices will also be trained in the engineering centre. The net local economic benefit compared to continuing current operations is calculated as an additional ^62 million into the local area over the first ten years of construction and operation."

The steam railway currently operates over a mile of track between Woody Bay Station near Lynton and Killington Lane and carried a record 48,000 passengers last year.

As part of the plans, The Old Station House Inn at Blackmoor Gate will be redeveloped to include a ticket office and a shop and a bank at Parracombe will be reconstructed with a culvert larger than a double-decker bus.

The project is expected to create about 80 jobs in the area, and is supported by local councillors, businesses and landowners.

But not all residents are in support of the plans, including Louise Grob who owns land next to the trackbed of the old narrow gauge railway on the outskirts of Barnstaple.

Mrs Grob believes that the project will turn the Western Gate into something more akin to a theme park and that many homes will be destroyed to make it a reality.

But Mr Nicholson said that the extension would be "North Devon's Eden Project," only one house would have to be demolished and that the Trust was proposing to build two affordable homes in its place if they could agree a price.

The narrow-gauge line across Exmoor was opened in 1898 and closed in 1935 before being reopened in 2004.

New £600,000 locomotive is ‘returning’ to the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway


The LYN locomotive at Alan Keef's yard in Herefordshire. Picture: Trevor Garnham

North Devon’s biggest heritage railway has made a massive investment with a completely new build steam locomotive to replace the one lost in 1935.

A £600,000-plus investment will see a brand new steam locomotive arrive at a North Devon heritage railway this September.

The Lynton and Barnstaple Railway at Woody Bay will welcome back a new built copy of its famous LYN locomotive at its Autumn Gala at the station on Saturday, September 30.

The engine has been built at the works of engineering contractor Alan Keef in Herefordshire and has been made possible thanks to funding from independent charity The 762 Club.

The famous narrow gauge railway which ran from Lynton to Barnstaple for less than 40 years has £16million ambitions to reopen swathes of track and put North Devon back on the map as a rail destination.

The Lynton and Barnstaple Railway is bidding to be restored to its former glory as a massive boost to the North Devon economy. Picture: Tony Nicholson
It ran from 1898 to 1935 but since 1979 a dedicated band of volunteers has been working tirelessly to reinstate the railway.

The LYN will be a big part of those plans and marketing director Keith Vingoe of the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Trust said the new-build loco is the fastest ever to be built in heritage railway history, at just over eight years.

He said: “Although it looks like the locomotive scrapped in 1935, what’s going on underneath is a very different things altogether.

“Effectively it’s the greenest steam locomotive to be built in the UK and it’s more than £600,000 investment in North Devon and Exmoor tourism.

“The LYN will have a permanent home at the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway, though it may also visit other railways as there is a great deal of interest in this engine.”

The original LYN was a Baldwin 2-4-2 and was commonly referred to by railway staff as ‘The Yankee’.

Despite a few teething problems, LYN was a popular and distinctive engine that was also the most powerful on the line - on occasion pulling five-coach trains, one more than normally allowed.

Closure of the line came in September in 1935, and after the November auction when LYN was sold for £50 it was quickly reduced to pile of scrap with only the nameplates, head-lamp and gauge glass surviving.

The modern railway already has a mile of track from Woody Bay Station, but £16.5m extension plans are in the works to add another four-and-a-half miles to take it to Blackmoor Gate and Wistlandpound.

Final planning permission could be granted as early as September.

The NDJ is Mrs FT, N!'s chip-wrapper of choice, but we are not there this week so didn't see it. Thank you, CfN!

The true situation could be conveyed with a simple one-word edit in the article. Before the words "Mrs Louise Grob" delete the word "including" and replace with the word "namely".

I shall find the outline application, and express my full support. I think it would be an asset to the area for a number of reasons, and not just to me (and my small business interest in North Devon).

Multi-million pound plans to extend a historic North Devon are being recommended for approval – despite running within feet of the house in which Lorna Doone was written.

The application is the first of three further phases which are planned to complete the full reinstatement of the railway from Lynton to Barnstaple and is set to have £10m a year of benefits to the economy.

The first phase would see the reinstatement of 4.5 miles of track which would lead from the end of the existing line at Killington Lane to the north of Parracombe, to Blackmoor Gate, and under the A399 and then outside the Exmoor National Park towards Wistlandpound Reservoir.

A report to planners advises that this phase is the pivotal phase and will establish the railway’s centre of operations at Blackmoor Gate and provide the platform for the completion of the next two phases – the extension from Woody Bay to Lynton and from Wistlandpound to Barnstaple.

But residents are protesting against the plans and say that the line will run with a few yards of the house in which Lorna Doone was written by R.D.Blackmore.

The house where Lorna Doone was written is now lived in by their Louise Grob, and her dad Douglas May said: “There has been tremendous ill will and upset but I have a horrible feeling it’s a fait accompli.”

Mrs Lee, who lived in Parracombe for many years, said: “Everyone is up in arms and no one is listening.”

Mr May said: “It was closed because it goes up such a steep incline that it’s dangerous. There have been tremendous protests and it goes through such beautiful countryside.

“It runs within a few yards of a very famous church – St Petrocs, which people come from all over the world to visit.

“It also is going to be within five or 10ft of the house where Lorna Doone was written by R.D.Blackmore.”

But the planners are asked to back five separate planning applications when they meet on Tuesday at Lynton Town Hall.

An economic impact statement submitted with the application says that the proposals are expected to increase passenger numbers to 70,000 a year and will have a direct economic benefit of £10million per year over the next 10 years.

The report adds that the net economic benefits, when the account of construction cost is added, is approximately £62million and that it will create at least 24 full time jobs.

The original Lynton to Barnstaple railway was opened in 1898 and was built as a narrow gauge railway, but closed in 1935. The current railway reopened in 2004 and operates from Woody Bay Station.

The extension plans advise that the railway would continue to operate for 12 months of the year, and would provide rolling stock that would comprise twelve carriages that would provide capacity for 70,000 passengers a year.

Recommending approval, the report says: “The proposal is not considered to bring insurmountable environmental impacts and while there are some objections to the proposal, there is support, and the various technical experts that have been consulted are satisfied that the proposals are acceptable.

“Officers have concluded that in terms of impact on the landscape and heritage assest there will be minor harm and that other impacts including ecology, flood risk and highway safety are acceptable.

“Officers consider that the proposal will increase recreational opportunities in the National Park and will provide opportunities for increasing the understanding and enjoyment of the national beauty, wildlife, and cultural heritage of the National Park – both through the experience of travelling on the train itself and the opportunities for viewing and better understanding and appreciating the National Park from it.

It was closed because it goes up such a steep incline that it’s dangerous.

It runs within a few yards of a very famous church – St Petrocs, which people come from all over the world to visit.

The L&B rises and falls several times along its length. Starting at 15 feet (4.6 m) above sea level, The first 3 3⁄4 miles (6.0 km), through Barnstaple, and along the Yeo Valley stays relatively level. Collard Bridge marks the start of an 8-mile (13 km) climb, mainly at one in fifty, to Blackmoor Gate. A shallower down-gradient follows, of about 2 miles (3.2 km), towards Parracombe Bank, and the start of another climb, of about 2 1⁄2 miles (4 km), to Woody Bay — at 1,000 feet (305 m), the highest railway station in southern England. The line then falls, again mostly at one in fifty (2%) - to Lynton & Lynmouth station, still 700 feet (213 m) above the sea, and hidden by the landscape from the town of Lynton. The minimum radius on curves was 5-chain (100 m).

Finding a map with the route on it does show just how remarkably wiggly it was.

Looking at old maps, Parracombe is never shown as a having a halt, let alone a station, just Parracombe Siding. Woody bay is shown as a station (though not at Woody Bay, obviously). Finding a map with the route on it does show just how remarkably wiggly it was.

Within striking distance of both the coast and the moor is Court Place Farm, home for the past 15 years of art dealer David Grob and his wife, Louise, the beguiling face of the Gold Blend coffee advertisements in the 1990s.

Although their work takes them to London and America, it is in the small moorland village of Parracombe that they have made their home with their children - 12-year-old William, Ella, seven, and Arthur, three.

Court Place Farm is set in a hamlet called Churchtown, whose name is taken from the 12th-century St Petrock's church. There are no longer regular services there, but it is open and the owners of Court Place Farm have the right to use it.

In a roundabout way - almost out of a scene from a Ronald Duncan play - the Grobs were married there three years ago, followed up the aisle with its box pews by their three children and fox terrier. It was the first wedding in the church for a century.

Many of their friends followed them to north Devon - among them artist Damien Hirst and his wife, designer Maia Norman, Simon and Alice Browne (he was the chef at the deeply fashionable London Green Street Club in the 1990s) and literary agent Sarah Lutyens.

"We feel we were almost pioneer arrivals here," says David Grob, 50, as we sit in the walled winter garden of Court Place Farm, "although Louise's mother had a house in the village, so we were not complete strangers."

When they found what was to become their home, it was really two farm-worker's cottages with a thatched roof and a bigger house in which relations of Lorna Doone writer RD Blackmore had lived.

A carved inscription outside marks the residency of John and Elizabeth Blackmore in 1787, and they are buried in the churchyard.

The old Lynton railway used to run outside and its cutting may still be seen in the folds of lush, rolling grass beyond the lawns. This may also have meant that the farm had railway connections and enthusiasts have dropped in at the house over the years.

...a place where (and I paraphrase slightly, but not much) fuel was put in locomotives' water tanks...

....have been approved:
https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/first-phase-multi-million-pound-1306343

Edit to add: Apologies, but I couldn't seem to be able to copy the article text here

Considering the significance of the approval, it's perhaps a little surprising that the L&B website has not made a song and dance about it. In fact, the news seems not to have reached there at all yet.

Considering the significance of the approval, it's perhaps a little surprising that the L&B website has not made a song and dance about it. In fact, the news seems not to have reached there at all yet.

That was the whole point of narrow gauge - It allows tighter curves to allow the line to cling to contours reducing the need for costly earthworks and structures. 

Members area has been updated

Also the L&B Yahoo group is an up to date forum for all things L&BR

Have to say the fundraising task ahead is massive, and very reliant on Lottery Heritage funding.

Considering the significance of the approval, it's perhaps a little surprising that the L&B website has not made a song and dance about it. In fact, the news seems not to have reached there at all yet.

It's great news, but they still need to apply for a TWAO.

Bratton Fleming, Barnstaple
Offers in excess of £325,000 | 2 bedrooms | 0.63 acres

A charming detached conversion of a former Victorian station in tranquil rural location

I fancy the idea of retiring to a cottage in the countryside - to an old station that's perhaps disused but has trains passing by occasionally, or is open and used by a smattering of passengers.

As your personal Brittany rail properties agent, i can draw your attention to the following 3 opportunities...

[snip]

The choice is yours 

I am very conscious that as a dweller of a building made of the most fragile grade of horticultural glass I am in absolutely no position to start casting nasturtiums, but...

I am very conscious that as a dweller of a building made of the most fragile grade of horticultural glass I am in absolutely no position to start casting nasturtiums, but... my point in posting this was to draw attention to the opportunity for members to help the L&B buy a particularly useful bit of trackbed!

Bratton Fleming Station, on the route of the Lynton and Barnstaple railway, was put on the market in March 2020. Exmoor Associates, who seek to buy land on the trackbed of the L&B to enable it to extend, were unable to come up with the purchase price in time and a sale was agreed to a third party.

That sale has now fallen through, and the property is back on the market. Exmoor Associates have launched a JustGiving page to allow people to make donations. I have chucked a few quid in their direction using this method, and wish them the very best!

If you'd like to support them, the details are here: http://www.exmoor-associates.co.uk/2020/06/justgiving-now-for-bf-station/



If you are a bit more flush than me, you could also consider their share offer, whereby supporters can purchase £500 shares in the property. Details of that offer are here: http://www.exmoor-associates.co.uk/2020/06/bf-station-for-sale-again/

I fancy the idea of retiring to a cottage in the countryside - to an old station that's perhaps disused...

I am very conscious that as a dweller of a building made of the most fragile grade of horticultural glass I am in absolutely no position to start casting nasturtiums, but... my point in posting this was to draw attention to the opportunity for members to help the L&B buy a particularly useful bit of trackbed!

Don't you mean Welsh Highland, Grahame. You've got your countries meddled 

It is so hard to know how far ahead to safeguard - who would have expected the Bluebell to reach all the way to East Grinstead, or the West Welsh Highland to reach all the way to Caernarvon.  Who knows when / if the line from Lynton will reach Barnstaple itself - or even suggest it extends over a re-instated standard gauge route to the Tarka Line on its way from Exeter to Bideford.

Exit to correct "West" to "Welsh"

I don't think it's at all hard to know how far ahead to safeguard: the whole route needs to be in safe hands! The point of Exmoor Associates is to secure the route. If they do their job well, there should be little cost associated with this; they may in fact to be able to run at a profit.

One the other hand, just imagine if some Grobbite were to acquire Bratton Fleming... that could potentially delay the project for years and add a lot to the cost.

But back to the topic, I worry about funding for the first extension, a lot has happened in the near decade since the Welsh Highland was completed and a lot has happened since March. If, as we must all fear, a major heritage line folds in the near future it will send shockwaves through the sector and call into question new investment.

I admire the vision of those in charge of the L&B but i was always for an extension towards Parracombe once the trackbed was purchased in 2009 and some prominent figures such as the FR's Paul Lewin have voiced the same opinion. The actual running line is less than a mile at present and hasn't moved an inch in either direction since 2005.

It's an interesting question: what would happen if a major heritage line folded?

Often a real tragedy of rail closures is that the trackbeds - the routes - are sold off piecemeal and thus lost for other uses. Nowadays it seems unlikely that this would happen if a line, be it heritage or otherwise, ceased to operate.

It's an interesting question: what would happen if a major heritage line folded?

Often a real tragedy of rail closures is that the trackbeds - the routes - are sold off piecemeal and thus lost for other uses. Nowadays it seems unlikely that this would happen if a line, be it heritage or otherwise, ceased to operate.

Who knows what the future holds? Could a failed heritage line re-invent itself as a profitable railbike adventure?

As to the L&B: it has, as you say, been a slow process. They are playing a long game. I really, really hope they win in the end!

I would like to think the line to Okehampton is safe from any adverse development or loss of infrastructure in the short to medium term due to the political will to both restore passengers services on the existing line (feasible) and to rebuild the missing link (medium to long term at best).

Its interesting to look around the heritage railway websites and see which are attracted strong financial support fo their reopening appeals and those that sadly aren't.

All viaducts are beyond repair until someone decides to use them again. The one at Pill went from crumbling ruin to right as rain for £100,000 if memory serves, when the Portbury Dock line was opened.

The examples quoted so far are all masonry, whereas Meldon on is made from iron (or steel?).  I can think of another non-masonry one (Barmouth) but not an iron one.

Ashton Swingbridge in Bristol is a riveted steel structure which had no maintenance for at least 50 years. If you'd asked me a couple of years ago whether it could be repaired I would have guessed not; you could put your fist through the rust holes in the plate girders. It is now fully restored and carries a MetroBus route and cycle path...

...Plus it's not seeing anything like as much use as was envisaged...