The Last Narrow Gauge Railway Adventure: The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 ก.ค. 2024
- Please SUBSCRIBE SHARE and COMMENT You can also FOLLOW on Instagram @rediscoveringlostrailways. Exploring what remains and what there is to rediscover of the remarkable Lynton & Barnstaple Railway.
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THANKS
Foremost, I must thank Mr Keith Vingoe for sparing me his time and imparting his extensive knowledge of all things L&B, together with the many superb photos of the railway which he has supplied. I could have made this film without him, but it would not have had the substance, accuracy or detail that he has leant to it. For his help, I am immensely grateful.
Many thanks also to those subscribers named in the credits who have contributed money to this channel. These funds helped me to make this film - it is as simple as that. Thank you kindly.
00:00 Introduction
01:57 The Background
03:09 Barnstaple Junction
04:19 Barnstaple Town
05:37 Pilton Yard
06:18 Farewell Barnstaple
06:50 Snapper Halt
07:42 Drone Footage - Farewell Snapper
08:20 Drone Footage - The Onward Journey
09:07 Chelfham Viaduct
09:43 "The Flemish Farm"
10:32 Chelfham
11:51 Death on the L&B
13:25 Lancey Brook Viaduct
14:36 Bratton Fleming
16:10 Trackbed journey
18:00 Wistlandpound Reservoir
18:59 Drone Footage - Into Exmoor
19:30 Blackmoor
20:16 Parracombe Bank
21:00 Parracombe Halt
22:05 Drone Footage - Farewell Parracombe
22:21 Killington Lane
22:42 By train to Woody Bay
24:12 Woody Bay
25:50 The Onward Journey
26:31 Caffyns Halt
27:00 Dean Steep
27:48 Lynton & Lynmouth
28:43 Why did it close?
30:21 A Bright Future
CORRECTIONS & NOTES
Whilst I have tried to ensure that the archive footage is location accurate, there are a couple of moments where I have had to use it for illustrative purposes (e.g. to suggest the onward movement of our journey along the line). I hope this does not cause anyone too much distress.
One example of the above is at 28.17 - the platform here is, in fact, Blackmoor, but it helped to illustrate passenger movement at this point in the film. - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
As an elderly viewer, I wait with much anticipation for your next video, and I am never disappointed. This episode was beautifully, filmed and narrated, as usual. The use of original film, harks back to bygone day’s, when travel was an adventure and England was a much gentler place. Keep up the fantastic work, and I await your next video with baited breath.
Thank you very much for your kind and generous remarks!
RDLR has the best content on YT with regard to lost lines in the UK.
And I say that even as a steam loco scrapper and Beeching fan.
I think Beeching should be given a fair hearing. After all, without him, you would have far fewer lost railways to rediscover!
@SteamlocoScrapper you're very kind and, yes, that irony has not been lost on me!
I like everything - research, photos, video clips, drone footage etc. - apart from the narration, which I find mannered, pseudo-John Betjeman and hard to listen to. I wish he'd speak in his normal voice, which we hear from time to time, and throw out the thesaurus.
Despite the fact I'm a foreigner to England, I share the passion for the Beauty in such a pure form, as nearly everything had been built, constructed, and manufactured even after the end of Belle Époque - including railways, especially alike this particular one.
Be thanked all the people, given by such a bright, and clear taste for Beauty, reasonable enough to have and show the respect, and dignity to what our parents and grandparents were able to create, and leave for us here. We are obliged to handle it properly, which is particularly what volunteers, and all involved do.
I should love to see, meet those of my own species, and help by my own hand. My best wishes everyone, and thank for such a biggerating video.
Many thanks for your thoughtful remarks and kind comment about my film
@@RediscoveringLostRailways You're welcome, dear Sir; my pleasure. I have entirely forgotten to mention, how I've enjoyed not the film itself, its subject, and content, but also the language. I was given some talent on languages, as well as the privilege of the possibility to study only those, which had attracted me, amongst them your one. It's pure joy to me, to listen English, spoken in such a wonderful manner - and if you allow me to say, by extraordinarily likeable voice. I do highly appreciate people, who do something, what undoubtedly contributes entire society, requiring such a great deal of work - without any expectations, like some personal profit.
I've seen a few o your films this afternoon, and am about to see at least one, or two more. It's wonderful, and sort of self-torture in one time, as to watch so many of useful, and beautiful destroyed, often in cruel, barbaric way, that the only purpose becomes apparent - destroy, so as it doesn't exist any longer, hence couldn't be used, it is heavily painful. Similarly painful, as in my Bohemian homeland I'm often forced to see by own eyes.
Thank you again, Sir, and have my best wishes.
Greetings sir my name is Jeff Evans I live in the state of Victoria here in Australia my nearest narrow gauge railway is the Puffingbilly Railway in Belgrave I am watching your last Narrow Gauge Railway adventure at the Lynton and Barnstaple Last time I saw a TH-cam of this Railway Cheltenham railway station was still in private hands but now I see it’s been cleaned up and ready for trackwork absolutely marvellous I will still endeavour to keep an eye on this beautiful Narrow Gauge Railway I was at Woody Bay station back in 2000 when they were cleaning up the station at the time the pit was all cleaned up but there was no trackwork at the time yours Jeff Melbourne Australia
Always happy to hear from an Antipodean cousin - I'm glad this film managed to show you how much has changed for the better!
A brilliant railway documentary. Britain never cared for it's railway heritage until more recent times. So much has been lost that could have been massive money makers. I could never understand the vandalism done to the Isle of Wight railways. If British Railways had left it as it was in 1965, it would have been a huge success.
Yes, there are certain lines such as this and those on the IoW which would have been remarkably successful heritage lines today!
As a member of the now defunct London L&BR Group inthe 60's it gives me such personal please to see so much achieved, It is a tribute to so many un-named enthusiasts, financial contributors and volunteers that we so much restored and can be enjoyed again. Long may it continue.
Couldn't agree more!
Hi, Let me Thank you for showing this lost era, I think it's a crime, and a great loss, ( as where I live in Seaton we lost our line, from Seaton junction, the junction is becoming alive again by volunteers, we have a tram line narrow gauge, from Seaton to colyton , along the old track bed,) again thanks for the ride very enjoyable, next please 😮, all the best Brian 😃
My pleasure, thank you!
Excellent as always, wonderful viewing...
🚂🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃
So glad you think so, thank you!
Thank you. Just thank you! As an L&B supporter for over 40 years, I think I can say this excellent video truly encapsulates the passion that this line generates in so many of us.
Wow, thank you - I'm honoured, truly - and I the effusive praise I have for this railway and its volunteers is sincerely meant - it is I who should thank you!
@@RediscoveringLostRailways I've just watched this again, and this time noticed that my name appeared a couple of times! Thanks for including my photos, and also for acknowledging them! :)
@@martyndeyoung8207 you are very welcome, sir! I'm very grateful you made these photos available!
My wife and I had the pleasure of travelling on the restored part of this railway in 2016. I had spent many vacations at a nearby hotel from 1981-2005. Unaware that it was operating, we saw the smoke path from the Heddon Valley Coast Path, and had to investigate. It was fantastic to get a glimpse of how beautiful it must have been to travel on this line. Many thanks for the superb video.
My pleasure, thank you!
As a North Devonian, thanks for this delightful compilation
I'm glad you think so - yours is the first comment on here by the way!
I really enjoyed your latest film my freind.
I had some nice holidays in Devon in my childhood and look forward to getting down there again one day.
Your film shows the volunteers have done a sterling job so far on the restoration of the line and buildings.
Thankyou very much for all the work you put in to make these films for us to enjoy.
All the very best
☕👍
Glad you enjoyed it - thank you so very much for your support, thoughts and memories!
Good morning what a fantastic video so very enjoyable and interesting
Glad you enjoyed it!
The efforts of those volunteers to bring this long-lost railway back to life are nothing short of phenomenal. Already they've made outstanding progress at Woody Bay, with beautifully recreated coaches and loco running along a small portion of restored trackbed. Their first extension southwards to Blackmoor is to be followed by one northwards, to a more conveniently-situated new terminus at Lynton. Further expansion south is assured through Chelfham and Snapper, although only time will tell just how far the new line could reach into the heart of Barnstaple. Returning to the old interchange station would require considerable redevelopment of the present town layout, so more likely a new terminus would be built a little short of the goal. Never-the-less, given how much the new railway has achieved so far, and the great benefits it would bring, local authorities may be willing to support its return with some road realignments to clear a workable course for the trains.
Many thanks for your thoughts!
Thank you, another lovely video
So nice of you, thank you!
Thankyou. This one has always been a favourite of mine. Hoping to model it one day.
I can imagine it would be a very involving one to model and you're spoilt for choice when it comes to stations!
The quality of this is unbelievable. The quantity of clips from the past coupled with many current views really did enable the imagination to fill in the rest. I have never seen the line and few people alive would ever have seen it in operation and yet after this I feel as if I HAVE travelled upon it. I was unable to stop watching even a moment of this film.
Thank you for your generous review, I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
My interest in railways is driven by my steam era O gauge model railway hobby. However, I always feel a great sense of excitement when I receive your notification, I get this with greater relish than even my favourite hobbyist channels notifications. I have followed your channel from the very beginning and could never choose a preference between the melancholic classical music soundtrack based style of your earlier videos or your later, narrative based videos, both are such an absolute delight. The contrasting ‘then and now’ images of Barnstaple station are so extreme, very moving. Thanks for taking the time to produce and post, it is greatly appreciated.
Thank your for your very kind and generous remarks, they truly mean a lot and only spur me on!
That was the best way to start a sunday , fantasitc as always !
Glad you enjoyed it!
What a wonderful way to start a Sunday. If only someone told us then, it was the best of times before we left them. Thank you for all your hard work.
My pleasure, thank you!
It got a little disty in here. Been there several times, Lovely line, lovely folk.
It really is!
They should do a ‘Welsh Highland Railway’ job with this line. Reopen the whole line in full.
I believe they would like to - unlike the WHR, the L&B land was sold off piecemeal, so it is that much harder to reacquire it...
Many parts of the trackbed no longer exist (e.g. many bridges plus a large viaduct) or are privately owned.
Best yet. Wonderful cinematic presentation. Look forward to the next installment. Thank you.
So glad you think so, thank you!
I really enjoyed that, thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Another wonderful episode, sad the line closed but maybe one day the L&B heritage will connect more links up, but like most heritage steam it all comes down to £££££.
Yes, agreed!
And enough volunteers, and the public's interest in riding on the railway. The demographics of Britain are changing and whether the new British people will have any interest in railways, other than as a means of getting from A to B, is doubtful.
Superbly done with old film and a war film added for some excitement. Totally enjoyed drone footage as well.
We have several members in our Reading Society of Model Engineers and I had a friend at work in Exeter who was a member from 2005 and kept me informed of his steamy weekends. Wonderfully but at a cost you can now get a Tank and coaches for your model. BUT at £400 for and £100 for each. Love David and Lily
Many thanks for your thoughts and kind words!
Thanks for showing us the history of the line ....and what's left of it.
My pleasure
A magnificent documentary of the history of this narrow-gauge gem and the efforts to bring it back to life. The blending of archive footage with video of present-day realities, shows what has been lost and the immense challenges facing restoration. But, it also vividly conveys the enthusiasm and determination of volunteers and supporters in reopening a section of the line and restoring some of its architectural heritage from stations to viaducts. Overall, I think your superb video makes a compelling case for the restoration and reopening of this unique railway.
Many thanks indeed!
The original complete railway once had 100,000 passengers a year and still made a loss, so how would a heritage railway be economically viable? That is a big question.
I completely agree - the economics is the key challenge, especially given the railway's rural isolation and problems of access at either end. I know nothing of railway economics, though presumably the operation of the present section, might provide some indicators as to whether further extension is economically viable. But, the severance of the line by housing and other developments at the Barnstaple end and the precipitous terrain at the Lynton end are major obstacles in the way of a complete restoration. @golden.lights.twinkle2329
Fantastic production quality and great research
Glad you enjoyed it!
Utterly brilliant! Thank you.
You're very welcome!
What a lovely reminder of life many years ago... Thank you for providing it...
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great way to start a sundaymorning! Beautiful video with a nice mix of past and present. Good research and lovely comment. Thanks very much for this film. 🚂
Thank you so much for saying so!
😊 such a beautiful legacy and so worth reopening I think the future is going to be railways 😊😊😊😊
Agreed 👍
What an utter fantastic video (and production). One of the best things I’ve seen on you tube! Thank you! 🎉🎉🎉👍
That's a great honour, thank you for saying so!
I just love finding videos on Englands lost Railways.I watch Martin Zero and trekking Exploration, but shows what it looks like now. Thanks again for a wonderful look back at what it looked like then.
I'm so glad you enjoyed the film. Do subscribe if you've not already done so and enjoy my other films in the series!
It's would be lovely to ride the whole line from end to end in the future and I hope that the volunteers carry on with their amazing work for many years to come
Agreed!
Another excellent video - thanks for all your hard work.👍
My pleasure, thank you!
Brilliant documentary, a friend of my mother used to live by this railway when it was open, she used it weekly as owned a B&B which my mother stayed at on here holidays in Devon, she said it was very rough and bumpy ride down from her home at Bratton Fleming, to Barnstaple , she knew all the drivers, guard's and station staff...
When the railway closed she had to travel by bus which was a terrible slow and dangerous journey, as most of the roads were just dirt tracks ...
Many thanks for sharing these illuminating stories 🙏
One of the best documentaries I’ve seen about this iconic railway, sadly I was born too late to see it in action but know the line well from being born and brought up in Lynton.
Many thanks indeed 🙏
Brilliantly put together and narrated! "Many Thanks"
Thank you, sir 🙏
Just magnificent! It's an absolute treat to watch. The skill with which you research, produce, and narrate the film is admirable. I will watch this many times. Thank you so much for the immense pleasure your work provides.
You are very welcome and thank you for your generous remarks!
I always look forward to your videos. Research top notch, perfect voice for narration, and a treasure of both your own current video and historical photos.
Wow, thank you indeed!
Thanks once again for a great video, with your usual lyrical commentary. Many of us have explored the remains of this famous line, but not so comprehensively as this.
Glad you enjoyed it - I felt that a railway such as this needed to be fully explored!
Lets hope the L&B heritage lot can join up more dots. Where there's a will ... Thanks for another excellent film
My pleasure!
Thanks for your fascinating video of bringing the forgotten past back to us. Much appreciated
My pleasure, do like, share and subscribe if you've not already done so!
Such excellent presentation and narration, a wonderfully interesting documentary of a (sadly) long lost narrow gauge railway.
Very kind of you to say so, thank you. Do subscribe if you've not already done so and enjoy my other films in the series!
Brilliant, compelling viewing. A landmark documentary, which breathes hope for the future of this unique heritage narrow-gauge railway line. Fortunate for the making of this film is the existence of archive black and white footage of the line's pre-1935 operation - your story was so well told. Although the original railway - nobly patronised and supported though it was by one of Britain's great publishing names - was doomed to financial failure and arguably deserved its fate, its fabulous scenery, remarkable architecture and tourism prospects make it more than worthy of resurrection. Hats off to the dedicated, enthusiastic and businesslike resurrectors of the 'new' L&B!
Many thanks for your generous review and thoughts!
Another beautifully presented film from Rediscovering Lost Railways. Deeply researched, much good archive footage and wonderful photography from the present day. As usual the commentary was a joy to listen to. Thank you.
Chris Davies
Many thanks - very kind of you to say so!
Another brilliant programme, so well researched and presented……as always .. many thanks 🙏.
If only all of these amazing lines had been kept as footpaths and cycle trails we would have a virtual greenway through our beautiful countryside. If only Sustrans had come along 30/40 years earlier. As time goes by I’m sure the nostalgia will continue to grow, your
Videos will help to sustain that interest. If you ever get the time, I would love you to cover my favourite lost line from Ruabon to Barmouth Junction, or Morfa Mawddach as it’s now known. Best wishes Geoff. 🚂🚴♂️😂🇺🇦
Many thanks for your thoughts, kind words and recommendation!
what a brilliant long awaited vid thanks
Glad you enjoyed it
Welcome back it seems so long since your last video and I'm sure like me many have been looking forward to this.
Sadly I have mixed feelings about this, its a great production as always and in that respect very informative and enjoyable, but I have an even greater "lump in the throat and tear in the eye" over this one. Every lost railway is a waste, a tragedy, but for some reason the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway seems more so. Perhaps its the countryside, or maybe its uniqueness or the knowledge of how well used and popular it would be today had it survived?
Thank you for taking the trouble to produce this, as always it is excellent.
You're very kind - yes, bittersweet is the word I think - what a great line it would be to ride in full!
I think Snapper Halt (but not after dark) goes straight into the top ten of railway station names ;)
Yes, just so!
A beautiful railway lost in history.😥
Exactly so!
Do leave a *comment* below and let me know what you think of this railway and the film - if you wish to *support* my work, do please like, subscribe, share and maybe even Buy Me a Coffee (www.buymeacoffee.com/rediscovering ) ☕May I *dedicate* this film to *Mr Keith Vingoe* and the *volunteers* of the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway? Making a film such as this is very challenging and complicated, but not as challenging as running, restoring and rebuilding England's finest narrow gauge line.
This lovely railway closed before I was born and looks likely never to be more than an embryo of its former self by the time I pass off this mortal coil as I am past 80 now. It has, however been a source of much interest to me for more than 60 years. I hope that in the fullness of time ALL its delights will be available to be enjoyed by the visitors of the future. Good luck to all those who are making the effort to restore it to some of its former glory. As to the filming, I could never have gained so much knowledge of the railway without it. Good luck to all the volunteers who put in so much effort.
Beautiful video of the l&b railway
@@user-ie1lz4oi3o thank you!
Thank you, I enjoyed this. I do hope there is more opened over the coming few years
I hope so too!
For the future I'd recommend the Wye Valley railway argubly one of englands most scenic, and with quite a lot left to see.
Many thanks for the recommendation!
Yes, I did enjoy that video. A beautiful railway which will expand back soon!
Glad you enjoyed it
What an excellent documentary - thank you. If only the main TV channels would produce such interesting and engaging content with no dumbing-down.
I visited Woody Bay Station a few years ago and was much impressed by the quality of the restoration. I also tried tracing some of the trackbed to the west, so this video brought back a few memories and filled in the many gaps.
Wow, thank you!
Brilliant as per normal, would expect nothing less!👍
Many thanks indeed 🙏
Excellent. Your best yet.
Glad you think so!
This elderly viewer also heartily agrees with the comments expressed by the previous viewer. This beautifully crafted video is full of interesting details, lovely scenery and archive footage bringing much pleasure to one who well remembers the days of steam. Thank you so much! Mike.
Thank you very much!
What a lovely production. I visited Woody Bay in 2000, before the railway really got going again. Nice to see the progress.
They have done an incredible job!
Exemplary and fascinating in equal measure. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it!
One of the most enchanting videos of the L&B i have seen. Absolutely delightful and journeying through parts of the route i haven't seen before. Bodes well for my annual visit in a couple of week's time !
Thank you ever so much! And I would heartily encourage visiting some of its lesser known quarters!
I always wonder when the next upload will be and the wait is always worth it. These videos are amazing and the quality is great. Keep it up
And I'm always grateful for your support and kind, generous remarks!
I have the bound Railway Magazine of its closure 1935. It is very matter-of-fact with not a hint of preservation, merely details of auction notices. Photos and their reproduction in 1935 were very good. I intended to move here before prices sky-rocketed (and, sadly, where I live, they did not).
Many thanks for your thoughts!
That genuinely felt like watching one of the old documentaries on bbc or channel 4 back in the 90s. Absolutely stunning work of one of the most beautiful railways in England. Can't wait for the next project
Glad you enjoyed it!
Superb video as always!
Always a real pleasure to watch.
Again thank you for the credit.
Your efforts in making these films is appreciated. 👍🙂
My pleasure and your support is very gratefully appreciated!
Thanks for another brilliant video. This line no longer sleepeth
Glad you enjoyed it
I must say you're films are enchanting and it makes a change not see you tubers faces on every waking second. Both you and 'Pastfinder' are unique to this style and both of you make superior quality films. Appreciate your efforts Sir.
Wow, thank you indeed and delighted to be mentioned in the same sentence as my fellow TH-camr!
Excellent account of the line and footage. I really hope this wonderful route can be fully reopened before too many more decades pass.
I hope so too!
Must say . Better than any BBC program. A very BIG thank u for all your up loads . As some of your vids are near to where I live and some are still there. In Essex.
Glad you like them!
It's always a good video to watch history of your line.
This yank thanks very highly of it
Glad you enjoyed it, always pleased to hear from an American cousin!
I love your videos. They rival the quality of a Nova documentary with wonderful footage and intriguing commentary.
Bravo. Keep up the good work. This is why I subscribed to this channel in the first place.
Thank you very much!
Having recently thoroughly enjoyed the gala day of the L&B rly the friendliness and enthusiasm of the volunteers really shone through. This video is by far the best I have seen on the L&B skillfully blending archive video with current scenes plus helpful drone footage. Well done Brian and thank you for all the hard work put in both on the ground and such good video editing. I hope this video will extend interest in the L&B far and wide...and bring in more volunteers and finances to get the line extended. I just hope I will see one day trains running into Barnstaple again.
Really glad you enjoyed the film, thank so much for your kind remarks. The only thing is that Brian didn't make it, I did! Once again, very kind of you to comment so generously.
You have a splendid use of language and pronunciation. Your recordings are a delight.
Very kind of you to say so, thank you!
A very beautiful production you’ve made here. Thank you. Joachim
Many thanks!
So well researched and lovingly filmed. I visited the railway a couple of months ago and enjoyed filming and riding this brilliant little railway. Thanks bringing the railway a alive.
Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for your kind remarks about my film!
Another excellent film, thank you for sharing! 😍👍
Many thanks!
What a magnificently researched, filmed and narrated video.
Very kind of you - do subscribe if you've not already done so and enjoy my other films in the series!
Thank you for another beautifully researched, narrated and filmed video. It's such a shame but understandable I suppose why these lines had to close, thank you for bringing them back to life. I look forward to another film soon.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great film! Thank you. I walked this line in the 1960s over 2 days - difficult in places but a memorable experience. I seem to remember that Chelfham was then pronounced Chillum! Well done to those who are restoring it.
Glad you enjoyed it! And i loved your story!
You excel yourself, one of your very best.
Wow, thank you!
Also at 30:52 the subtitles refer to the "London and Barnstaple railway" which speaks to a higher level of ambition altogether :)
Whoops! Yes, I think I overstated their aims there...I'll make the correction!
But that railway really existed - the LSWR line from Waterloo via Barnstaple to Ilfracombe direct. It ran (latterly with Warship class diesel locos) until the end of the 1960's.
Sure but that isn't the subject of the video, or this particular subtitle. @@1258-Eckhart
Outstanding presentation, as always. Many thanks for your dedication to a much loved and treasured heritage. Let us hope the L&N Railways does indeed awaken.
I hope so too!
Well worth waiting to see, many thanks. Great filming and commentary will recommend to friends.
Thank you so much!
This is really professionally done, better than many documentaries at television.
The journey trough past and present clarifies many details of the line which are not so clear to find by following the old track bed on Google maps.
The standard gauge line crossing the river and connecting to the Barnstaple Town Station was something I didn't know, but when you look it up on maps certain things you see make sense, like the angled sides of some of the houses on the old terraces on the south bank of Taw River just north of the station.
This must be this way because the line curved around these terraces before crossing the river, all the roads and retail parks erected in this area make this a bit more difficult to comprehend.
Very glad you enjoyed the film and that it helped to make sense of things!
Thank for an excellently produced and most informative video. It would indeed be good for the line to be reopened but I fear that much of it has been built over or returned to agriculture such hope remains just that - hope. The line would benefit from tourism as do many other preserved railways and so we look forward to restoration over as much of the line as possible.
My pleasure and I agree with all your remarks!
Brilliant piece of film. Lets its expansion continue! Brian
Thank you! And agreed 👍
Another super explore of such a pretty line(just watched through a second time). By chance I'd watched a visit and trip there a couple of days ago, and had been to their website to learn a bit more about the original line, Amazing that so much actually remains after nearly 100 years. The viaduct is a beauty. Loved the old photographs and footage. How good that someone had the foresight to film that! Beautiful little engines and 19thC carriages which just add to the charm of the current incarnation. I hope as the trusts buy up more land and properties that restoration work can progress. Excellent research, filming, particularly the drone shots, music and narration. Already looking forward to the next one!
So glad you enjoyed the film, thank you so much for your ongoing support 👍
Brilliantly put together film of this very charming Line, and very clearly narrated.
Thank you. It was a joy to make this film.
Best video on this line that I have seen. Delightful.
Wow, thank you!
Wonderful film - congratulations on a job very well done.
Very mixed feelings watching this. I remember vividly my disappointment when discovering what was left of the L&B back in the mid-70s, by accident, when on holiday in Ilfracombe (much more was still visible then), and realising what could have been, had it survived into the 50s. Surely, if ever a line deserved to survive, this is it? What a magnificent restored railway it would have made - England's Ffestiniog. And what a tourist attraction. But also my complete surprise - and stunned joy - a few years ago, many decades since last visiting Devon, when using Google maps and Streetview to take a virtual tour of the route, I (again accidentally) discovered the rebuilt line at Woody Bay!
Having not been involved in the restored railway scene for 30 years or so, I knew nothing of this project. I literally couldn't believe my eyes, when, using satellite view, I saw what seemed to be a track next to the road near Woody Bay, and then, further along - to my utter amazement - an actual train running along the track! I then discovered just how much the volunteers had done and how much of the old track-bed and stations were back in L&B ownership - and I immediately started researching just what exactly was left. Could the railway actually be rebuilt all the way back to Barnstaple??
The news was good and bad. Chelfham viaduct was not only still there, but had been refurbished (I once walked over that viaduct - a brave thing, even for the much younger me, as I'm not at all good with heights, and, if memory serves, the sidewalls had been removed!). Nearly all the stations still existed, much of the route could be (relatively) easily restored, even the reservoir could be bypassed.
But then I discovered that there had been another viaduct, which I’d known nothing about, and which no longer existed. And, once I got to Barnstaple (via Google maps), there was nothing left at all. The whole of the route seemed to have been built over, Pilton yard had been utterly erased - only the station building was still there. The last time I had visited that station, trains were still running to Ilfracombe, so the bridge was still there, and I could stand on the old narrow-gauge platform (no track, but otherwise pretty intact) and easily picture an L&B train pulling in.
Given the amount the new L&B have achieved in such a short time, I can easily imagine them managing to get the line back to Blackmore Gate, and maybe building back to Lynton. Perhaps even skirting the reservoir, replacing the 'other' viaduct, and getting to the outskirts of Barnstaple, where a new terminus would need to be built. Having seen what can be achieved (eg the Ffestiniog restoration and the recreation of the Welsh Highland Railway), one day we may once again see L&B trains steaming over Chelfham viaduct. Unfortunately, at 70, I doubt very much if I will see it. But at least now I can believe in what, back in the 70s, seemed an impossible dream.
Many thanks indeed for your thoughts, very interesting 👍
Fascinating presentation..always something to learn. What a shame that we lost so much infrastructure,that could be useful today if we really wished to revitalise public transport.👍
Glad you enjoyed it!
I have a Post Card. Franked at Goodleigh, dated 1910. My Gt Gdma, of Northleigh, wrote to my Gdma to say that she would be met off the train at Snapper.
She would have travelled from Swansea by Paddle Steamer from Swansea to Ilfacoombe, or Barnstaple when the Fair was on. There was in my day a Devonian Society in Swansea. Many Devonians settled here, others came to work in the Town.
A comment below talks about 'money makers'. Some NG railways in Wales have two and a half million passengers a year.
Many thanks for your thoughts and memories 🙏
Very interesting video, love the beautiful landscape and seeing some if the railway relics 👍🏻 Greetings from the Netherlands
Thank you very much!
This was a thorough piece of research and very well presented with present and archive material. I've visited the L&B whilst visiting family nearby and the scenery is the best I've seen from a heritage railway.
Glad you enjoyed it! And agreed, the scenery is just delightful!
What a fantastic video. In my opinion, the best one you've ever made. The use of yesteryear film material with the views of the same sites today, make a brilliant production. Beautifully filmed with a superb commentary, make an old timer like new very content.
Bravo to all the volunteers who have brought back to life many parts of this gorgeous railway line.
Should it have closed? Probably yes as Southern Railway treated it as a main line and not a narrow gauge line of beauty serving a rural community and growing tourism area.
Can it be reopened? Not totally as there are too many missing structures and land has been reclaimed for other purposes. Reopening to the reservoir from Woody Bay is certainly possible.
Once again, a million thanks for this brilliant video.
Many thanks for generous remarks and thoughts!
I'm addicted to your brilliant videos! Beautifully filmed and narrated with a lovely soundtrack. I would love to see you do some of the small branch lines around Hertfordshire.
Open to suggestions, I've done the Buntingford branch line and the Hertford Luton and Dunstable railway...
Maybe the Alban Way, or St Albans to Hatfield branch line, lots of stations on the line with a few stories attached to them. Check it out. Keep them coming, your videos are great!
Another superb video thank you so much for taking the time and effort to make such a wonderful video !!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great video. I have travelled twice on this railway this year. What a gem. I was delighted to see the old film of the line. Let’s hope they get too restore some more.
Many thanks!