Lynton and Barnstaple - Operations and Development

Other locations and indeed lines are available as examples.

 

I take it then Paul you haven't come across the family who won't touch the leather strap because of where it came from in the first place.

Getting back to the main thread here, as far as I am aware there has been a discussion between Lynton council and the L&BR Trust as to the possible location of a new Lynton station, from what has been verbally agreed the new station could go near the current football ground as that is a lot lower and closer to the town that the station at the top of the hill.

Like so many villages in North Devon, Lynton and Lynmouth are under pressure to increase the housing stock, but because it is in a national park these things take time to work out. It is the same for the new station in Lynton.

For what it is worth I would love to see a new Woody Bay size building in Lynton as building space will be tight, but if we have to include such things a tea room and book shop then we need to look at having a building the size of Blackmoor as it was.

I can see that in time once the L&BR is open to Lynton, the Woody Bay station site will need to find a new use for itself, Golf anyone?

Colin

 

How much lower? A ruling grade of say 1 in 50 would require a mile of track to lose 100 feet. I wonder what is actually feasible as an aspiration?

I'm sure your near neighbours in Minehead could recommend a suitable developer for such an amenity ...

Tom

 

One suggestion that I have been told about and that was to go around the hill (where the old station is) on the other side by dean steep and come out in the valley of the rocks, the suggestion is that there is enough space to drop down to that level from that point,. continuing the 1 in 50 drop from Woody Bay.

But the proviso for this is that it will still need to be checked from an engineering point of view before any final decision is made.

For what it is worth I think there is a case to route the railway into and loop back on itself through the valley of rocks before getting to Lynton as there are no other ways to see parts of the valley of the rocks unless you do it by train.

 

Except of course to walk - I wouldn't hold my breath on running a new rail route through a local beauty spot it's as likely as finding intelligent life on the moon.

 

I can open doors and double-declutch. Is it my age?

 

Indeed.

I can drive a steamroller and there is not a lot of call for that either.

PH

 

You will find that the Local Planning Authority will be relaxed/enthusiastic about relaying the railway on the original solum but very twitchy indeed about any new route, unless of course someone has the money to construct it in tunnel. Nothing is impossible but it is probably just as difficult as reaching Barnstaple Junction.

 

That is true, but at this stage the dance has only just began, as until Woody Bay to Blackmoor is up and running, I can't see any progress being made on this for a while.

 

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Many years ago now I was shown a photo of the saloon on Britannia - no not HM Yacht but the altogether superior P&A Campbell steamer built in Ayr in 1896.

The area under the seats was curtained off to conceal a supply of - yes chamber pots, not for those caught short but sufferers of 'mal de mer'

 

When I visited a few years ago, I saw map with a proposal to extend the line to Lydiate Lane, a short distance before it meets the end of Station Hill. It would be no more than 10 minutes walk to the centre of Lynton, but would be uphill from where Lydiate Lane meets Station Hill to the station.

 

My personal favourite is watching folk trying to get Mk1 doors to open by pressing the rubber bump stop....

Robin

 

Note to self............

If I ever see Robin on the platform, start jabbing the Door Stops frantically......

 

Don't forget to make a buzzing/swooshing noise....

Keith

 

I was in Lynton for a bit of business (and pleasure) last week and the topic of the L & BR station and location came up. I was told that the business stakeholders would probably pay for a free vintage(?) bus connection between the original station and town if the railway brought additional people to the to the place. Whether the enthusiasm for this would translate into reality, I don't know.

 

Not to mention how to flush a toilet fitted with a high level cistern and chain...

 

Do you think Lynton is going to need a tea room though? I've never been there but I imagine that it will be well served by such things already; if I arrived there by train I imagine I'd be heading straight to the beach, and if I was heading back by train I would know the train time and aim to arrive at the station 10 minutes before then, possibly via a leisurely stop at a tea rom in the town. The most I might buy at the station would be a cup of tea. I'd have thought the place for a decent sized tea room is (a) not where it's competing with other nearby tea rooms and (b) where you want to encourage people to get off and break their journey, such as where your engine shed ends up, or where you want them to start from, such as where your main car park is (i.e. Blackmoor Gate in both cases).

 

If we're talking the old station site, I'd suggest looking at a map and thinking about how people will get between Lynmouth, Lynton, and Lynton station before jumping to conclusions. If I were doing the trip with the family, I'd be quite grateful for a tea room to aim for after the ascent from the beach while waiting for the train - if only as an incentive to keep climbing.

 

I have heard a complaint that there was no "way out" sign on a lavatory door. Absolutely so!

PH

 

May is getting long in the tooth now. I had a quick look on the planning website, this seems to be the latest report from one of the ENP officers:
http://www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov....ed 2017.05.22- Historic Buildings Officer.pdf
Sounds like an expensive bit of surveying; whether the request is a reasonable one I don't know; I find it hard to see why you need a 3D model when you could just go there and think "hmm, a building there would block the view of that" or whatever. Anyway if this is a serious request then I doubt it will be approved by the end of May. Though I say that from a position of pure ignorance.