July update.

July update.

It's been about a month since the last update on the new blog, so here is a round up of activities on the different sites of the lower Lynton & Barnstaple railway line. 

 

 

One big activity of the small team doing work on the ground (as opposed to behind the scenes, such as running the 200 club, land purchase, legal stuff etc) is managing the land that we own. 

Here we have the stretch by Raleigh Weir - section 2, 418 metres long). The river Yeo is on the left, behind the trees.

 

 

 

Also at Raleigh Weir, this view is looking north, the opposite way.

The picture was taken after the section was strimmed, which took 2 days.

Note the typical angled cattle creep posts on the right, and in the first picture, the concrete fence posts. We have a proposal to cast our own, if enough moulds can be made. 

 

 

 

 

The team then moved on to Snapper halt, a bit further up the line (sections 7 and 8).

 

 

 

The station bench was repainted. This area is getting attention now, as it is the first place where we intend to lay track, 700 metres, when planning permission is obtained. It'll go right round the bend, and out of sight.

 

 

 

 

 

Repair of one of the two benches at Snapper halt.

 

 

 

 

 

Here you can see the results of strimming around the running in board, revealing a big bunch of Hydrangeas.

A short stretch of demonstration track already exists here. 

 

 

 

 

Further along from the halt a new drain was laid in. The trackbed runs in between the road and the river, so during heavy rains a lot of water tries to run across it.

 

 

Here, at the end of section 8, just before the river bridge to the scout camp, the culvert, reported dug out in the last blogpost, is having levels set out for base fill. Then the concrete segements for the culvert can be laid in.

 

A simple sighting rail and traveller process was used to get the level. 

 

 The bottom of the culvert after ballasting and compaction.

 

 

Ballast was delivered by lorry, then transported to the site, numerous times, by this small tracked machine. A solution for transporting ballast in greater volumes has now been found - more news of that in the next blogpost, if things go well.

3 tonnes of 20mm sub base were used, and tracked to site in 500kg loads. How the heavy concrete segments will be lifted in remains to be seen - another thing for a future blogpost.

 

Boots on site remain very modest, so any new volunteers would be very welcome. Andy Hearn is the man to contact. The blog can provide a contact number, if you send a message via the blogger contact form.

 

 

 

Strimming also took place on section 11. This is a lovely area, under the road, but overlooking the Yeo below.

 

The curve leads up to the skew bridge under the road. It was partially excavated a few weeks ago. 

 

 

 

 

This is bridge 24, the main road bridge for the road from Chelfham to Bratton Fleming. Executed in Marland bricks and natural stone, and on the skew too. The strimmers have just arrived here.

This area, also strimmed in the last 30 days, is on the S curve out of Loxhore bank and leading up to Chumhill (behind the camera).

It is the site of the only fatality on the railway, when a single wagon with workmen riding on it failed to slow and came off on the curve by the tree. 

It's section 21 here. 

Moving on to Bratton Fleming station, a sylvain piece of track with a lovely view across a valley.

We intend to rent out the station building, but that's pending the completion of the work to build the goods shed. 

On the subject of the new goods shed, the gang helped with moving the white Marland bricks under cover for drying out and easier use.

These bricks were recovered by volunteer Anne in the cutting south of Chelfham viaduct, where they had been dumped years ago when the old parapets were taken down. Now they will find a new use as the lower quarter of the future side walls. 

Pictures by Quentin McGuinness and Andy Hearn, with thanks.

The last shot is of the bricks, neatly stacked inside. The first two bays are for rolling stock storage, the second two for office, messing and toilets. The project is currently looking for a volunteer bricklayer. Is that something you could do? Contact through a blog message.

A BRATTON FLEMING sign has been made. 

A wish expressed in the last blogpost for a small diesel loco to support track laying trains has come through. The B&YVRT has purchased a Ruston & Hornsby loco, and we await further news of which engine it actually is.

 

The section 27 purchase at Mill Lane

Announced in the last blog, we've come across a black & white picture of a train actually crossing it:

 

Section 27 that we just bought is the one with the train on it, this side of the bridge. We're looking down towards Barnstaple here.

 

The bridge is No.32, seen here in a recent picture from the upper part of the road. The train was located on the right hand side of the picture, travelling downhill towards the left.

 

There's no news of further track purchases yet, but several in the pipeline. The biggest holdup seems to be not land owners, but solicitors and government agencies. Patience is required.

Hopefully we will hear more at the next B&YVRT meeting in September (see last item below). Will you be there? Everyone, shareholder, member, or not, is welcome. It's open. We've booked a bigger room in Barnstaple itself, as the Growforward room, lovely as it was, could no longer cope with the growing number of attendees. Sort of good news, eh? But we will miss the rural settings of Goodleigh, Chelfham and oh so remote Loxhore.

 

 

 

A bit of history.

While researching the GWR bus service from the temporary terminus at Bishops Cleeve (today's GWSR), which started in June 1906, we read that GWR buses were a new thing, and started between Helston in Cornwall and The Lizzard in 1903. The earliest buses were Milnes Daimlers, and were numbered from 1 upwards.

1904 Milnes Daimer Reg No AF74.

 

In the picture above you can see one of those very early ones, waiting at Winchcombe in 1905, when Winchcombe was the temporary terminus. It's No.11, painted on a little plaque by the driver.

The GWR branch line from Gwinear Road terminated at Helston, but was designed to go further, to The Lizzard. That proved to be rather expensive, so the GWR put a toe in the water and bought 2 early second hand buses, to avoid the capital cost of building a railway line. The L&B connection in this case is that they were sold by Sir George Newnes!

 

AF 37, GWR fleet No.1. The very first one.

 

AF 36, GWR fleet No.2, outside Helston station.                     LTHL Collection

We have found two early photographs of these buses, which started a Helston - The Lizzard service in August 1903. They were of the charabanc type, a version of the french name char-a-banc, or lorry with benches. You can see how No.11, outside Winchcombe station, is already a lot more sophisticated.

The first two were 22 seater ’wagonettes’ (like a char-a-banc) by Milnes-Daimler. They were purchased second hand from Sir George Newnes, well known to readers for having the Lynton & Barnstaple Rly built. Sir George sold them in disgust when he was fined in Lynmouth for exceeding 12mph in one of them. Also, any vehicle exceeding three tonnes in weight had to be preceded by a man with a red flag, so the GWR removed some equipment and carefully labelled the chassis with ‘2tons 19cwt’. No harm in that, all perfectly legal. More buses were soon bought, and GWR services extended to other communities in Cornwall. Sir George started it all!

 

Housekeeping.

Two things which might interest readers.

Firstly, with the help of Martyn, we have added a' Follow.it' button to the top corner of the blog. This will enable you to get email advice when a new blogpost has been posted on line.

Secondly, we were curious as to why the first two blog posts hadn't attracted any readers' comments. A month later we found out why - they were being stored in a separate section of the blog, without advising us as administrator to clear them for publication. So there were 11 comments in suspense, all published now. So please accept our apologies for the delay.

 

 

 

An invitation to all to the next meeting

You are cordially invited to join us for the final Exmoor Associates Trackbed Walk and General Meeting, to take place on Saturday 26^th September, 2026 celebrating the achievements of the past 23 years, and looking forward to future progress.

The Trackbed Walk will commence at 10:30am, from the car park at Barnstaple Croquet Club, Raleigh Meadow (see Map 1)

The meeting itself will take place at:

Roundswell Community Centre

Gratton Way

Roundswell

Barnstaple

EN31 3NL ( see Map 2)

Doors open at 1pm, when coffee, tea along with a buffet lunch will be served. The cost is £10 pounds per person, if you are having lunch please let Mike Buse know you are coming by email at: mike.buse(at)byvrt.org.uk

Everyone is welcome to come along - bring a guest or two!

Order of the day:

• Trackbed walk in the morning 10.30am at Raleigh Weir (see Map 1).
• Roundswell Community Centre 1pm (see Map 2).
• Buffet.
• Meeting starts at 2pm.
• Short farewell from Exmoor Associates thanks for all the support over 23 years.
• Welcome to the B&YVRT that will take us to the next level.
• Hall booked until 5pm.

 

Map 1: Start of the trackbed walk - Croquet club car park.

 

Map 2: To the Roundwell Community Centre.