Lynton and Barnstaple - Operations and Development

You say "pedestrian access is limited". I am afraid there is actually no pedestrian access at all to CFL, other than either walking along the track bed or across private land.

 

If - and it's a really BIG if - the Trust is able to build the missing link from KL to BR, then why would it not want to re-open a station at PE?

The problem that I see at the moment is that the Board seems intent on pushing on with the idea of building from KL to somewhere in/near CFL/PE almost concurrently with doing BR-WD (that's WhistlandpounD not WashforD ) and certainly before 'filling in' between PE and BR.

 

As a non-member I hesitate to get too involved in analysing the planning failure and its fall-out.
However, the very description of this proposed strategy as a 'pincer movement' already has me riled up, and I'm generally in favour of extending the L&B and don't live there. If I did, and owned one of the potentially affected sections, this sort of approach would make me dig my heels in ever further.
Like it or not, the L&B isn't going to be extended by riding roughshod over the neighbours (even a minority of them). Diplomacy is key, and lots of it, and slowly if necessary. And if all else fails, being able to demonstrate that all feasible alternatives have been explored and all reasonable steps to negotiate have been exhausted.
Personally, I would focus on the bit you already own, and not even necessarily worry too much about running on it.

 

But...if it's a 'lane' then human nature is that people will walk along it....

 

From my reading of the 'legal opinion', one argument was that the provision of a turntable (or more accurately a sector table) at PE was not an historic feature.

Fair enough, but then how come the ENPA deemed it OK to give planning consent for a pseudo-Pilton loco and carriage depot at Blackmoor, given that that was not historic either?

 

If I remember correctly 'historic feature' is a phrase used in the local plan. I suspect that the fact that it was temporary was a part of the problem.

 

I have a feeling that may be up for review as well

 

I've often thought that this hypothetical branch looks feasible on a map. However, others have posted about how un-feasible it may be on the ground. Not knowing the potential route intimately, I wouldn't know, but it certainly isn't as easy to build a brand new railway as it is to reopen one which previously existed (and right now, that doesn't exactly look easy, does it?).

I have been to Exmoor zoo; it was a nice day out and my son loved the big cats especially, but it didn't feel to me like a zoo missing a train ride. It's probably not big enough to support one - quite apart from which, if memory serves me correctly, it is also built on an extremely steep hillside. If we consider other zoos with train rides, at one extreme you have Whipsnade (a much, much bigger zoo), which really is the exception, with live steam and historic locos (and even then the ride just goes around in a circle), and at the other you have places like Dudley which have binned their miniature railway altogether (Throwback Thursday – Dudley Zoo and Castle). And the one thing all of these have in common is that the railway is/was completely internal to the zoo (even if independently operated with an add-on fare) and provided for existing zoo customers. I can't think of anywhere that an independent steam railway actually taps into visitors at a neighbouring zoo-type attraction or similar, and takes them on a ride away from it. (For research purposes, it would be instructive to ask the Severn Valley railway how many of their Bewdley customers originate at the adjacent West Midlands Safari Park. My guess would be 'none'. I notice they haven't bothered to provide a halt on the edge of the safari park grounds, which they easily could.)

So, moving beyond the facts that building this branch might not be feasible anyway given the topography, that it has no historic precedent when considering the aims of the L&B, that the zoo probably don't want it and that their customers probably won't use it, what is the "commercial opportunity" I'm missing? Binliner trains?

 

Deleted -Sorry H Cloutt, I should have read the previous post before responding!

 

My note to Tony Nicholson; a response is awaited with interest.
_____________________________________

Dear Mr Nicholson,

I am simply an ordinary member, and received my AGM pack in the post yesterday. As I understand that Anne Belsey validly filed nomination papers to become and L&B Trustee, I was surprised to see that her name was not on the ballot.

As you will know better than I, all valid nominations need to go to the Members for a vote, and so if Anne's nomination was validly filed, the ballot without her name cannot be valid and must be re-run.

I would be grateful for an early reply; in the interests of transparency, I am copying this to Anne.

Yours sincerely,

Toby

 

As I understand it, when the original line was built, the denizens of Parracombe wanted little to do with the railway, so they were not provided with any station facilities in 1898. Once the line opened, the locals campaigned for access, hence the halt was added in - I think - around 1903, Could history repeat itself?

 

>>>>I can't think of anywhere that an independent steam railway actually taps into visitors at a neighbouring zoo-type attraction or similar, and takes them on a ride away from it.

Possibly the Rare Breeds centre at Totnes Riverside on the SDR ?

 

Was not the Halt added in 1899?

 

As I read the original posting the intention was not a dead-end branch off the main L&B, but rather using a route that passed close to the Exmoor Zoo as the basis for an alternative through route to bypass the reservoir. Maybe the OP can confirm/deny ?

Actually, apart from this forum I have never heard of the Exmoor Zoo before, not do I know where it is

 

The problem with this is that the Local Plan specifies that the railway will follow the original route as far as possible. Obviously there will be a bit of re routing round the reservoir.

 

You could be right, Wikipedia says 1 May 1899 but it definitely wasn't there when the line opened.

Wikipedia also says:
The village of Parracombe was the second largest intermediate settlement along the route of the railway, however its population was less than 400 souls. There was local opposition to the line by one landowner, Mr. Charles Blackmore, of Court Place. However, he was the only detractor. His younger brother Mr Henry Blackmore, the proprietor of the Fox and Goose Hotel was actively supportive. The railway company was so short of money that no station was built here, despite meetings to decide a location for a proposed station. When the Halt opened it appeared in timetables as Parracombe Churchtown. Tickets were dispensed by the local Post Office. Even though it was a halt most trains stopped at Parracombe as there was a good water supply at the station, and the water supply often failed at Lynton and Lynmouth due to the height of the latter station.

 

The membership are aware that it is not possible to rebuild the railway on the old route around Wistlandpound so a new route has to be worked out, one suggestion is to rebuild that part of the line as a long lazy S shape or another alternative which has been suggested is to build a twin spiral, now I am not a civil engineer nor do I know the state of the ground in that area and even if it could support either of the above, It could also end up with a Darjeeling style Z route. There are more civil engineering based questions that need to be answer before any plan can be drawn up.

Also the most important factor to take into account is just how much land take is the proposal going to take and also how much is it all going to cost?

Many on here have mention about Parracombe and not selling tickets at that end of the Woody Bay extension, but building the line towards the Zoo which may not be popular with some, but it would be a destination for the railway to get to. It also happen to share the same contour line as that at North Thorn Farm (around the 250m mark I think it is).

Also don't forget that when the old railway was open it was proposed to build a new halt in the area, but it never happened. Regarding the route protection in the local plan is one thing, making it happen is something totally different. Yes it does stop development across the trackbed but it doesn't stop development say 10m away from the trackbed itself, but hopefully common sense will have prevailed and the developer will realise the possible rebuilding of a railway may just put some people off of buy the new home next to a railway.

Coming back to the proposal about the Zoo and the Railway if it was marketed correctly everyone can be a winner, even the local environmentalist will be happy that we have helped to reduced the amount of cars visiting the Zoo (be it that they will all be parked at Blackmoor instead).

On yes this is not meant to be a terminus, but in time will just be a passing loop on the route from Blackmoor to Bratton Fleming.

 

is cricket field lane private? because there is a foot path that goes right over to it

 

I should add that the above was just phase one of three to get to Chelfham. Phase two would be the civil engineering project to get the railway back to Bratton Fleming and phase 3 Bratton Fleming to Chelfham.

This proposal was put to the the trust but it looks like it was rejected.