Lynton and Barnstaple - Operations and Development

I know exactly where "Lew" is - sharing an engine shed with "Surrey" and "Thames"

Tom

 

Mystique. That's what keeps allure alive and well, much like the L&B itself, closed so long ago that hardly anyone can remember it. And I believe that even when the line is rebuilt, that mystical allure will still be there, because the "old" L&B will still remain that unattainable thing- not just a lost railway, but a lost way of life, too.
And we will still look at those old photographs and dream of the distance enchanted, and that strange, storied world before 1935.

 

What if? What if the L&B claimed to have found it. Borrow a lump of rust off the Rampton collection, send it to Wales for "restoration", we just need a million to make it happen. Bingo, 3 new Manning Wardle's for the price of one.
I'll get my coat

 

From this morning . At last its great to see "Under Offer"

 

AMAZING! Well done to all concerned!

 

Great - have been looking out for that!! We gave the agents evidence of our funds the other day, so it's good to see they've been convinced!!

 

Good - I was surprised that it wasn't shown as 'Under Offer' once the offer had been accepted but maybe the vendors wanted to keep it on the market given past experience with purchasers pulling out.
I won't be really happy till they show it was 'Sold' which they should do when contract are exchanged. I assume that this can happen quickly.
Are the vendors purchasing something else? If so, hopefully the upward chain can move quickly.

 

I have wondered if the sale previously kept falling through, when searches conducted for prospective buyers revealed the local authority's support for rebuilding the line.

Sawdust.

 

Probably partly that, and partly a large price tag (approx £16k) to redo the septic tank to modern specifications (requiring digging through solid bedrock) ..... And, yes, partly the cost of removing Lew from the shed at the bottom of the garden ....

 

I can imagine the startled looks on the estate agents faces" Umm, you know there are plans to run a railway through the flower bed," " Yes that's why we want to buy it" , Whats your plans for it, extension, add extra bedrooms, " " No put it back as a railway station"

 

I would imagine that will be the plan, as there is still several plots of land to buy before the track laying gangs can start , but saying that i suppose a short section of track, some static externally restored wagons, to add to the ambiance, a repaint into 1930's colours for the station building , " stay at an restored 1930's Southern railway station, at Bratton Fleming , in splendid isolation,

 

AIUI the TWAO will give the railway the power to seek a CP. Whether that would be granted is a different issue. However, I would guess that use of a CP is very much the 'weapon of last resort' and hopefully the matter can be resolved to the satisfaction of both parties by careful discussion. It just may take time....

 

Agreed. I'm sure all of us would wish to see matters resolved without recourse to such a blunt instrument.
Perhaps once the TWAO is granted, and the playing field is well and truly leveled, this will serve to focus minds towards a positive and mutually beneficial outcome, rather than the adversarial one which, at least, seemed to prevail at the time of the planning enquiry.

 

As far as I’m aware the only way a private railway company is likely to obtain CP powers is to include them in a TWAO application. Therefore the public inquiry would have to consider this issue as well as all the others, and that would be the landowners’ main opportunity to object. Of course applying for CP powers doesn’t mean you have to use them if you can obtain the land by negotiation. And the more land you can obtain by negotiation beforehand strengthens your case at the TWAO inquiry and reduces the number of possible landowner objections.

 

.........I thought that the problem with the septic tank came from having the Lew?

 

What, are you now saying that when they dig up the septic tank , and drain it they will find, covered in muck but completely preserved Lew?

 

Sorry Martin, nothing so esoteric .....it was a play on Lew = loo

 

Compost/Dry Toilet anyone? They have one at Dolgoch

 

Okay maybe if it were an uninhabited station, but not as a holiday home - which it should be until the railway gets to Bratton!!