Welcome
Welcome to Yeo Valley Lines, the new blog about the activities of the Barnstaple and Yeo Valley Railway Trust, and what progress is being made on rebuilding the Lynton & Barnstaple railway up the Yeo valley.
This new blog is made by a B&YVRT volunteer, and gratefully receives contributions from other volunteers on the ground. The first contribution is from the GWSR's Heritage Herald, and it's useful as it sets the scene.
This was a dual meeting, to inform stakeholders of progress at the level of both EA, and the supporting charity Barnstaple and Yeo Valley Railway Trust. (B&YVRT). Three trustees of the LBRT also attended from Woody Bay, which was good to see.
Outside the meeting room (at Growforward, under the viaduct) was a casting of a brand new conrete fence post, a copy of an original L&B post which was displayed alongside. A wooden mould was used. So far just the one sample has been produced, but a rate of 10 a week, or 500 a year, was thought to be possible.
There was a 'guess its weight' competition to raise funds. The first guess was 5Kg - we think it might be rather more than that...
Many of these concrete posts are still in situ from L&B days in the 1930s, so they certainly last. Far better than treated softwood posts people often use nowadays, which seem to have a life expectancy of just 10 years.
The EA newsletter Trackbed Trails had informed us a few weeks ago of the acquisition of a parcel at the southern end of Twitchen Lane, that part of the railway which was converted to a country lane to allow milk tankers to reach a farm. So this lane is now owned at both ends, with parcel 40 at the north end, and new parcel 38 at the southern end. During the meeting a second new acquisition was revealed, that of parcel 27 at Mill Lane, just south of Bratton Fleming.
The blocks on the diagram are all the same size, and not to scale. Actual parcel lengths vary considerably.
The latest acquisition is 366m long, and ends at a missing bridge over Mill Lane. (see pictures below)
That leaves essentially two parcels to go to reach Bratton Fleming, where a goods shed is being recreated, to house i.a. a small Ruston diesel shunter and a carriage.
Actual running is not anticipated.
The other side of Bratton Fleming is in the hands of the L&B, but has been leased to a local resident. It is safe, but not accessible.
The Mill Lane parcel is not suitable for a track walk, but the bridge end is visible from one of Devon's famously tiny lanes.
It's the bit on the left, a high embankment surrounded by barbed wire. The road ahead leads to the southern part of Bratton Fleming.
Looking the other way, downhill. On the corners of the abutment you can see the typical white Marland bricks used by the L&B on many of its bridges, including the well known white Chelfham Viaduct.
Just a quiet shot of the beautiful valley landscape aroud the L&B. This is a tributary valley of the Yeo.
The trackbed leading away from the bridge, at a steady 1 in 50 uphill. Next stop: Bratton Fleming.
Back to the Chelfham meeting of EA, and the B&YVRT. The latter name is quite a mouthful, and some wags now refer to it as 'Beaver'. Three parcels of land have been acquired since the last meeting in September 2025 (Scout camp, Twitchen Lane and Mill Lane), and the B&YVRT is on a bit of a roll here. Several others are reported to be with solicitors, but as a precautionary measure nothing can be revealed until each deal is signed. There seems to be quite a bit of community support for the reinstatement, certainly in the valley of the Yeo.
For the B&YVRT Bruce Knights introduced himself as new chairman, with a definite timeframe of 2 years. During this period he has 3 goals:
1. The B&YVRT is to be come a track builder (not an operator of services, he underlined). The acquisition of the route through the scout camp has given the Trust critical mass (almost 3 miles of through trackbed) and it is now time to put some track down. This track does not have to be continuous; rather the plan is to follow the idea of the canal restorers, and build those sections that are possible, and deal with the more difficult sections at a later date.
There is interest in a small 2ft gauge diesel shunter, if anyone has one?
2. Rebuild the relationship with the LBRT at Woody Bay. People, he said, are not interested in old issues, they want to see progress in rebuilding the L&B.
3. Widen the membership support base, currently a modest 480. The practical gang on the ground has only a handful of volunteers. A membership total of 5000 would be much more appropriate, and a great deal of funding is also required to deal with the reinstatement. Recent land purchases have depleted cash reserves, so we may expect an appeal by September.
Stakeholder meetings have been held since September, mainly with North Devon Council, who are very supportive. A pre-application is with the planners to lay further track at Snapper, from Yeotown to bridge 16, opposite the southern end of the scout camp section. This will be in 50lb rail, strong enough for engines from the LBRT if so desired.
There's a target to acquire 6 more sections within the next 12 months, so increasing the through-owned stretch from 3 miles to 4 1/2 miles. Eyebrow raising stuff ! The aim is to get back to Barnstaple, a plan colloquially known as 'B to B'.
Bruce Knights stressed that there is no intention to run a railway at this stage, although there might be an annual open day over a section of track, with people bussed in from elsewhere. (Car parking being practically non-existent in the Yeo valley)
We also heard that the Highways would repair frost damage to the tops of the viaduct parapets. From personal observation we would say that the waterproofing also needs to be renewed, as there are clear traces of running water, even little stalagmites, and abrasion of the corners of the piers.
The next meeting date is September 26th, this time at the larger Roundswell Community Centre, next to Sainsbury's at Barnstaple.
After the Chelfham meeting a walk was arranged along the newly acquired section through the scout camp. Parking was predictably difficult here, until a friendly member of the scouts offered their own spaces inside the camp, which we gratefully accepted.
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| Supporters walk the newly acquired section in the scout camp. |
Along the first part of the scout camp approach road (actually the old trackbed itself) the road will be widened we learned, to accept the railway next to it.
In the latter half of the 718m acquired (beyond the post in the distance) the B&YVRT will own all of the trackbed, as well as the land around it, currently mostly jungle, up to the abutments of bridge 16.
This is the view across the river Yeo (just visible in the centre) across the abutments of bridge 16 to the curving patch of grass that is the section from Snapper Halt.
We also had a quick recce of Bratton Fleming station, where the replica goods shed is being built. The project is expected to be completed within the next 12 months.
The station building is still not in use, due to ongoing refurbishment, and as such has received a double council tax bill as an empty building. That was quite a nasty surprise. The intention is to rent out the station, and receive an income. (not an extra tax bill!)
This is the current state of the replica goods shed. The foundations are in, and the basic steel structure is up. The corrugated iron roof is on, including insulation underneath. There will be a single track inside it for half of its length, and a siding alongside.
In the foreground is a pile of cleaned white Marland bricks, which will be used for 6 courses around the base of the building. They have been recovered from the cutting south of Chelfham viaduct, where they were dumped after the (earlier) removal of the parapets, since restored. The bricks were painfully cleaned of mortar by a volunteer, and many cut in half (as at Broadway...) to make short headers.
This sideways view shows the future workshop area, occupying half of the length of the building.
This last shot at Bratton Fleming is taken from the road over rail bridge, and shows how the building fits into the landscape.
BTW, the B&YVRT have a superb print for sale of Bratton Fleming station, which shows i.a. the spur that leads to the goods shed.
Send a message via the Blogger contact form if you want to buy a copy. You will be supporting the B&YVRT that way.
Progress at Snapper.
The small B&YVRT team on the ground have been working on section 8, which is the one just beyond Snapper halt, leading up to bridge 16, the one south of the scout camp. You can check out the location on the section maps on the RH side of this blog. It's about 40 metres up from the start of the section.
The intention is to get some demonstration track on the ground, building on the short stretch that is at Snapper itself. The works here are in preparation for that; for example, the correct drainage has to be reinstated.
Many years ago road drainage improvements had been made and they had been fed through the hedge into a small sump with clay pipes running down to the side of the track bed. Over time these clay pipes had sludged up and the water was running over the surface, so the decision was taken to lay a new ground pipe and a substantial sump is now being built to catch the runoff water from the road drain pipes.
The new culvert under the trackbed will be a modern reinstatement of an old culvert. From what remained pre 2015 it looked like a simple cut made through the trackbed. It had low stone walls on either side, no more than 3 ft high at most. The makeup and design is unknown but the cut through the track bed is marked on at least one old map.
We have no photos of the remains but volunteers remember having to get down into the old ditch and back up the other side to continue walking that section. The remnants of low stone walls were still visible.
A lorry dropped the new concrete culvert sections off at our storage site close to the main road, from which there is an access track down on to the track bed.
These are the concrete culvert sections being delivered.
The culvert cut across the track bed in the wooded area south of bridge 16 and was originally a stone faced affair which had collapsed over time and was filled in around 2015 to allow vehicular access to that part of the track bed for clearance purposes.
It has been decided to replace the culvert with a modern equivalent, to futureproof this part of the line, and permit a section of track to be laid.
The next pictures show the old culvert itself being dug out again.
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| Starting to dig out the infilled culvert. |
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| A big hole has been dug, but they're not there yet. |
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| Volunteers digging, now in the wet. |
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| Finished! |
With the culvert sections now on site the old culvert site had to be dug out by hand. Work is ongoing, but within a week significant progress has been made.
Note that the B&YVRT has very little trading income, and precious funds from donations are being saved up for further trackbed purchases. This work has been funded by passing round the hat at the Chelfham meeting. Yes, it's as low budget as that !
If you want to support us, you can do so with a donation to the B&YVRT, which is a charity:
More volunteers to bolster the small team on the ground are always welcome. If you are interested, drop us a line via the blogger contact form above.
We expect this new blog to post perhaps monthly, depending on events and contributions received from working members. There are several things in the pipepline, so subscribe (link on the side) or bookmark the blog and check in regularly.