There have been a few lines that have inspired the S&D, and I suspect one of the most surprising ones is the Lynton and Barnstaple. In fact there's a pretty strong case that the closure of the L&B inspired the WHOLE heritage railway movement. The picture above is of Woody Bay in 1980, a station perched on top of Exmoor and converted to an attractive house. There was at the time a small preservation group, but they hadn't made a lot of progress and the 'it'll never happen' lot were having a field day mocking them.
But persistence paid off and they now have fully restored a section of the line at Woody Bay. But more to the point, through their Exmoor Associates company, they own good stretches of the route distant from Woody Bay, including Chelfham viaduct and station. They are in for the long haul and have been persistent and patient from the start. They want nothing less than a full restoration of this most important route, and have even planned an extension at Lynton to meet the funicular down to Lynmouth.
I'll be visiting the line next month and I'm really looking forward to it! Oh yes, the shot below is of the line as it is now!
2 comments:
Neither the L&BR Trust nor Exmoor Associates own Chelfham viaduct, which remains in the possesion of the BRB Residuary Board (or whatever it is called now).
Sorry, thought I'd read that somewhere! Must be just the station. This is of course sensible - no point in exposing yourself to unnecessary expenses until you're actually using the thing for trains! We have the same attitude at the New S&D which is why we haven't been tempted by 'cheap' viaducts and tunnels!
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