Lynton and Barnstaple - Operations and Development

Those wondering about the plans for a new Lynton station might check out the map and photos on the actual L&B site?? Here's the link: http://www.lynton-rail.co.uk/page/woody-bay-station-lynton

 

I have already posted a link to that page, on the previous page, and it is also quoted at the top of this page.

 

Here is an image in Lydiate Lane at around the site of the proposed new station (on the right of the lane). You will notice the rooftops within the town of Lynton below this site. I must disagree with the suggestion that it would be possible to walk into the town in 5 to 10 minutes. It is more likely to be a 15 to 20 minute walk back to the area of the Town Hall ot Cliff Railway, and perhaps even longer walking back uphill towards the station.



According to what is printed in the top left corner, Google took the image in 2010 and you will see the hedging has been freshly cut back. I last visited the site during the autumn of 2016 when the hedging had become very grown and the lane looked more like a rough farm track.

Chris

 

Most of the railway is currently a rough farm track. Hedges cannot be cut during the bird nesting season, so by the end of summer they are all pretty much overgrown. That be Devon for you

Ross

 

Ross, I think that's clear. All I wonder - and how I've interpreted other views on this thread, is whether this site is much better for access to Lynton than the Old Station, and can it be successfully developed. For instance (and I don't know the area) this image doesn't look like it would be easy to build a car park of any size, not least because the road is a single track lane. Now, this may not matter if there is to be no car parking at Lynton, (in the same way as I don't recall a car park at Beddgelert Station on the WHR), but it does limit the potential usefulness of the railway to the town.

 

Is the station relocation really because Lydgate Lane is thought to be a better location or is it to avoid demolishing a couple of houses south of the old station?

The reference to better road access suggests Lydgate Lane is an alternative to a station on the old tracked south of any houses (the original station appears to have had excellent road access).

 

Increase your suggested "couple of houses" to "seven (7) private properties now standing on or across the former trackbed, platform and goods yard" and your question is easy to answer.

Chris

 

Thank you, I was having trouble working out exactly what was where on Google Maps.

 

This looks like it: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.2...4!1sDOnz5dW7SfSI0BNpquA5ww!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Axe: Is it just a question of finance in buying up the houses, or is it that the new site is actually just a better station site?

 

I think those living in the houses might see it more than just a question of finance.

 

Of course, and no one wants to resort to CP powers - if you were to do this, you'd buy them as they come onto the market - exactly as the railway and Exmoor Associates have been doing very successfully as I far as I can see.

I was just genuinely curious about the relative merits of the two sites, that's all.

 

An alternative station site is necessary as there is no chance of the L&BR ever procuring the former station site.

Chris

 

The red line on the map linked to above deviates to the west of the old route from a little way south of the old station site. But the land at that point slopes up to the west. Is the intention to dig a deep cutting?

 

From the point where the proposed line deviates away from the original trackbed, the new line will essentially follows a contour line until it reaches Lydiate Lane. The small map on the website does not show any detail. There is a larger map displaying the Phase 2A & 2B extensions on the platform at Woody Bay.

Chris
(currently in Lynton)

 

This display panel shows the proposed route a little better: http://www.lynton-rail.co.uk/files/pdfs/Arup/Long_Panel_Map.pdf

Looking at Google maps, there are two potential station sites that look good:
1. Somewhere near the junction of Station Hill/Norman's Cleave
2. Somewhere near the junction of Station Hill/Lydiate Lane (probably the better option)

These sites seem to have the best features in terms of availability of land for a station and car park and better road access.

Obviously it is hard to tell from Google maps whether there would be cuttings/embankments required, so these may not be the best in terms of civil engineering!

Extending further on to Lydiate Lane (as per the current L&B outline drawings), seems to land a station further away from Lynton and also with very poor road access.


Keith

 

I thought from the comments further up the thread that a proposed site other than the one on the L&B site was being considered. Perhaps I misunderstood though?

 

There is a slight problem that these areas are on a steep hillside. http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?...on,+Devon+[City/Town/Village]&searchp=ids.srf https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.2...4!1sbnYbTV8NSqoBAieJEBY4cA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.2...4!1seosu6_QuKfS69JOnM3saoQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

 

Indeed. However if the L&B were planning to divert in this direction anyway then they must've looked at how they overcome the gradients. The station could always be built at a higher level than the road and use a pedestrian ramp to access the building, or the route and site could be excavated to lower it (expensive I know, but hey all of this is hypothetical at the minute!).


Keith

 

Lynton Station is probably a very long way in the future, maybe.

 

Depends what you mean by very long way. This section of the railway is in Part IIb of the development plan (the current extension plan is IIa). Recent newsletters note that the preparations for planning applications etc for IIb is starting already.