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Lynton and Barnstaple Railway


darren01
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Hi all

I thought I would share with you a day out I had up at the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway.

A good friend of mine had booked me on as a cleaner for the day, starting at 7am!

I had to get up at 5am to get over to him and then on to the railway for the day, on arriving to our loco for the day was waiting in its shed.

The loco was brought out with the help of a small shunter, and we set about getting her ready with me cleaning all the paint work and brass.

This took around an hour to do, while the fire warmed her up and the driver went round oiling up.

The smell of coal, steam and smoke early in the morning on a spring day was wonderful.

The rest of the day was spent going up and down the line and on the last few runs I had a go on my own at firing “AXEâ€, so here are a few photo of the day, and I would like to thank all the people at the Lynton and Barnstaple railway for giving me such a good day out……I think I will be going back for a bit more of this….

All the best

Darren

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I can vouch for the management of the L&B, a number of them have been in the preservation movement a long time at the Isle of Wight Steam Railway. They seem to have migrated via the WHR, helping to lay track there as well! Glad you had a good day out. :drinks:

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Hi Darren,

 

Looks like you had a great day. Photos look good, did you get a photo of yourself doing the work, always handy to show others?

 

I enjoyed the article about your layout in the recent Model Rail. I picked up my copy while I and my wife were in the UK. We even stayed in Devon (around Spreyton) and had the option of heading to the L & B, but chose to use our full day as a rest day (and washing clothes) and just went into Exeter for an outing (shopping and sight seeing).

 

So may put it on the 'to see' next time.

 

Mark in OZ

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Visited the L&B yesterday with Helen, both really enjoyed it, fantastic views (and I manage to get something rail releated into our weekend away.

Would definitely recommend the 1st class upgrade with it's comfatable seats and curved observation window

Looking forward to visiting again in the future (hopefully it wont take too long to extend it further

 

Best thing to come out of it is that ive been told I have to make a model of the station....

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I did some exploring of the abandoned bits of the line back in April while on holiday that way. I'll post them up if anyone is interested.

Yes please, it's always interesting to see and perhaps some of them will see trains again one day?

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Sounds like you had a great day Darren!

 

There are a few parts of the line that you can get to fairly easily and others are on private land, so obviously not possible. Also, part of the track bed is submerged under Wistlanpound Reservoir!

I have walked on parts of the line in the past. One part that I walk on frequently is the section in the Scout Camp Site! The access road runs along some of the old track bed and there is some minor evidence of ground works at the far end of the camp site.

Quite a bit of work has recently been carried out at Snapper Halt, clearing the overgrown foliage!

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There has just been a piece on the local spotlight news, about a planning application for an extension to Blackmore Gate. There seems to be a public meeting on the subject, with a number of local objectors, one is complaining about the pollution it will cause and one local land owner telling them to go and play trains elsewhere. She apparently owns some land at Blackmore Gate, which she won't sell to the railway.

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It will be on the BBC spotlight news, shortly. I think that for a short while it will be available on the iPlayer after the news finishes. It's just come on. So a few minutes in.

Hopefully this link works

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-england-devon-43238857?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=5a9ed372b94027067b7c8ccd%26Lynton%20rail%20plans%20passed%26&ns_fee=0#post_5a9ed372b94027067b7c8c

 

Here's the report

 

 

"46

Lynton rail plans passed

 

Kirk England

BBC Radio Devon

Plans to extend a steam railway on Exmoor have been described as "environmental vandalism" at a public meeting today.

 

The Lynton and Barnstaple Railway closed in 1935 but a mile-long section of the narrow-gauge railway reopened in the 1990s.

 

Railway

BBC

Today, plans by enthusiasts to reinstate another five miles across Exmoor were agreed.

 

Eventually they want to rebuild the whole 19-mile route between Lynton and Barnstaple.

 

Some homeowners are furious as the line would cross their land."

 

Cheers,

 

Keith

Edited by tractionman
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More here. Note the main objector issuing what can only be described as a threat to the members of ENPA.

 

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

Nimbyism is alive and well and living on Exmoor. As JDCA Prideaux pointed out, the economic benefits of any sustaining tourist attraction are enormous in the wider community. (Devon Live didn’t mention either his authorship of a number of railway books, or his former roles as head of InterCity or Angel Rosco!) And this is restoration of a link, not invasive construction of a new road.

 

Having, in all honesty, been a trifle underwhelmed by our visit to the line last Autumn, I am delighted to see this news. More is better.

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It says that four of the five applications were approved, but one - the demolition of a bungalow on the trackbed at Parracombe - was refused. I wonder to what extent this will hamper the reinstatement.

 

I don't think that's quite right Andy. The application refused (62/50/16/005)  was for the building of pair of semis at Parracombe to replace the bungalow. The first of the 4 applications approved (62/50/16/001) was for the re-instatement of the line between Killington Lane & Blackmoor Gate - which includes the demolition of the bungalow.

 

Martin

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I don't think that's quite right Andy. The application refused (62/50/16/005)  was for the building of pair of semis at Parracombe to replace the bungalow. The first of the 4 applications approved (62/50/16/001) was for the re-instatement of the line between Killington Lane & Blackmoor Gate - which includes the demolition of the bungalow.

 

Martin

That's good to know. Thanks Martin.

 

The Devon Live website must have got it wrong as they state: The first four were approved but the final application to demolish a bungalow at The Halt in Parracombe to make way for the rail line was refused.

 

The railway's own website http://www.lynton-rail.co.uk/ has not yet been updated with this news.

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Some homeowners are furious as the line would cross their land."

 

Cheers,

 

Keith

 

If the line doesn't own the land its going to cross then it won't get built. Unless rights were retained at the time the trackbed was sold off, which seems very unlikely.

 

Its a funny thing with our planning laws that you don't have to own the land to apply for planning permission on it

 

I'm all for this, and must surely be a beter way of getting tourists to enjoy Exmoor than having them drive all over it.

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If the line doesn't own the land its going to cross then it won't get built. Unless rights were retained at the time the trackbed was sold off, which seems very unlikely.

 

I think that the Transport & Works Order, when they obtain it, will include powers for compulsory purchase.

Edited by Andy Kirkham
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I think that the Transport & Works Order, when they obtain it, will include powers for compulsory purchase.

 

Afraid I'm not up on rebuilding preserved railways and wasn't aware that was a possibility. I'd always assumed that preserved lines had to negotiate with any landowners to buy the trackbed.

 

Well good news for the L&B then :-)

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Just goes to show how poor journalism is sometimes - the reports make it sound like Lorna Doone was written in the bungalow due for demolition (the book was written long before the line was originally built, and so even longer before the bungalow was built), and it is far from clear whether the railway has permission to demolish the bungalow. If it hasn't, then there is a big problem.

 

I also found that the Exmoor National Park planning website has also not been updated yet.

 

A while ago I was looking to support the new railway, but the rather labyrinthine organisational structure that has been buying up bits of trackbed put me off somewhat.

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... and it is far from clear whether the railway has permission to demolish the bungalow. If it hasn't, then there is a big problem.

 

 

A while ago I was looking to support the new railway, but the rather labyrinthine organisational structure that has been buying up bits of trackbed put me off somewhat.

 

I don't think there's any doubt about it - permission to demolish the bungalow has been granted by the approval of Application 62/50/16/001.

 

I'm not sure it's labyrinthine - but may be it's because I'm a member! The L&B Trust is concentrating on buying land from Lynton down to Wistlandpound which is needed for the first re-openings. A separate company, Exmoor Associates,  is buying land south of Wistlandpound which is needed in the longer term. Having said that the Trust does own some land further south (it was specifically offered to the Trust) & EA does own land in Parracombe which will be needed in the short term. In order to buy the Old Station Inn (& associated property & land) at Blackmoor Gate & run it on  a commercial basis the L&B Trust has set up a company L&B Blackmoor Coy. plc in which the public are invited to buy shares. It is proposed that a dividend will be paid if the company is profitable.

 

Go on - join us!

 

Martin

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You  dont  need  planning  permission  to  demolish  a  modern  bungalow,  you  would  of  course  need  to  own  it.

You  do  need  planning  permission  to  build  the  replacements.  The  requirement  for these  is  to  fund  the  purchase / demolition.

Great  news  for  the  L&B  regarding  planning  however  its  a  long  way  from  reinstating the  line.

The  next  stage  is  the  TWA,  as  stated  this  could  include  Compulsory  Purchase  Powers  but  this  is  not  a  given.  To  be  granted  these  it  must  be  shown  that  the  requirement  for  the  properties  is  essential  and  that  the  overall  scheme  has  such  a  public  benefit  that  it  over-rides  the  property  owners  rights. 

The  desires  of  such  as  ourselves  to  see  the  line  relayed  is  irrelevant.

Regardless  of  how  individual  property  owners  are  seen  (some  probably  rightly)  as  unreasonable,  it  is  actually  their  land.

Worst  case,  you  wait;  as  long  as  it  takes. 

Other  railway  extensions  had  similar  problems,  a  change  of  ownership  of  the  problem  property  soon  resulted  in  a  ready  agreement.

 

Pete 

  .

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