Lynton and Barnstaple - Operations and Development

Two things come to mind:-

1) I hope they haven't over paid of it.

2) Where did the money come from?

 

Let's hope so - will the current owners be staying on for a while I wonder? There is a planning application outstanding from before the pandemic - this generated a lot of local opposition from people who thought that the changes would result in the pub's closure. I wonder whether NDC will now determine the application.

 

Until contracts are signed, this is a confidential matter. Let's wait until it is formally announced rather than speculate at this exciting time.

More information about the acquisition can be found here - Become an L&B Funder | The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway (lynton-rail.org.uk)

 

I saw this and entered into a perfectly helpful email exchange with a Mr Cowie, though the momenr that as an (ex- I should stress) banker I asked some perfectly normal finance questions, I've had no response. @lynbarn questions are at the heart of it.

 

Investments of this nature carry risks to your capital, as well as potential rewards.

I think this says it all don't you if I was going to invest, I would want to know a lot more of what was going on.

 

I have contributed to the share appeal.

I am not concerned about rewards. As with most railway shares, I know the money is gone, it's really a form of donation.
My reward is to see the station in the hands of the railway.

IIRC the idea was to raise half the capital in shares, and take a bank loan for the balance. Clearly if a last minute appeal succeeds, then the bank loan will be smaller.
I congratulate the team on getting this far. Fingers crossed.
If it all comes off and there is another appeal, I hope there will be a positive repsonse from us!

 

In reality, that's just as it's been since the time of William Dargan and George Hudson, the difference being today's investors are fully aware, ahead of the fact!

 

I know and understand that people want to see this railway expand (I do for sure) but looking at it from how I see it, there are just too many projects going on at the same time all fighting for the same bit of funding pie.

4 x Manning Wardle 2-6-2T's

The Parracombe extension

Blackmoor Pub site

I doubt if you will get much change out of say £8million Pounds for that lot. It is all very well when money was cheap. But now most of us will need to think about such things like heating and power, food and having a roof over our heads, all this comes before we can put any money into a heritage railway project.

If the Bank of England (Those happy little bunnies) are anything to go by, then we are just about to go into the deepest recession we have seen, so not a lot is going to happen anyway for two years if that is the case. and I doubt very much if there is going to be any Government handouts this time around.

That said there was a guy on TV today that suggested we needed to invest in civil engineering projects to create work and get the economy growing again, any one got a few million down the back of the chairs?

Colin

 

I think it is a misconception that there is a single 'funding pie' and that people are fighting over it. People donate to what inspires them, and if there are several things, then they donate several times. I started by donating to EA, then to Blackmoor Gate when that came along (still supporting EA), and finally to the L&B extension appeal when that came along - I'm not even a member of the L&B!

On the K&ESR I donated to the Northiam and Bodiam extensions, the Norwegian fund, the Terrier fund, and finally to 4253. (I am a member of that railway )
When I got my chequebook out for the first project I had no idea what else would follow on. Who knew I'd help to buy a station in Devon, I'm from the sarf east

 

Another cheery and encouraging post Colin, about the railway you claim to support. This is after all a key piece of the L&B jigsaw that has been sought after for many years.
I do not see how any true L&B supporter turns the news that it might finally be purchased into doom and gloom.

 

I'm not sure who gets to decide who is or is not "a true L&B supporter" - or who would arrogate that role to themselves, @ghost .

I am wholly supportive of extending the railway, but making sure it is at a fair price and with a sustainable business plan seems to me to be essential. If that's what @lynbarn @Meatman and others' questions are testing, more power to their elbows - we'll end up with a better, more financially weatherproof railway, which must be a good thing.

 

I don't think a true supporter would be questioning the railway's every move on a public forum. Others are watching...

 

Paranoia gets us nowhere, Keith (@ghost ). If @lynbarn's questions are so obviously misplaced, then a self-confident organisation would be able to answer them head-on and explain why he is mistaken.

Should I post my questions to Mr Cowie about OSHI here, or is there some chance he''ll get back to me? He was very prompt until I asked some questions, them radio silence.

 

Exactly, where has the money come from and exactly how has it been financed

I question a lot of what they do on public forums, quite simply to try to make a lot of armchair supporters stop and question things themselves, (thanks to data protection we cant contact them directly) WHY, because the newsletter that people receive has more spin than Westminster, the silence is almost deafening when those that do bother to ask anything await for an answer! so im not a true supporter!, i work 5 days a week then spend Saturdays and Sundays on this railway, albeit in the Yeo Valley, myself and others put their hands in their pockets to buy kit to push little projects along and why do we post issues on public forums, because we actually care about how this project is being run, perhaps you have a financial breakdown of how the Blackmoor company is being financed or the costings of running it in the current situation, how exactly will the trust be tied into it, will it just be A class shares or by other means because at the moment none of us know and when we do find out the albatross could have already been hung around the railways neck, lets look at the planning, why has everything been left to the last minute, why was action not taken asap after ENPA passed the planning with those conditions, we are still awaiting a decision on the S73, the November meeting of the park has been and gone, the next i believe early next year and the planning expires March 7,2023, cutting it fine is an understatement, so many people seem oblivious to the situation this railway finds itself in at the moment regards the planning permissions so id say those of us who have raised questions actually do support the railway and have valid concerns for its future, no its not ideal airing the dirty washing in a public place for all to see but its probably the only way some people may be woken up before its too late

 

Don't really understand the negativity on this forum. If you don't like the Blackmoor OSHI project then no-one is forcing you to invest in it.
As for what qualifies as a true supporter of the railway, we all need to do what we can. I'm not local but I do get down to Woody Bay to fire Lyn a few times a year and I was more than happy to dip into my ever-diminishing savings to buy a share in Bratton Fleming and Blackmoor too, as they are strategic sites. If the latter comes to fruition, I will be thrilled to be a part-owner of another L&B station, which is also a pub. What's not to like about that?

 

It's the very fact that no financial information regarding the OSHI is being made available, I know of a few substantial investors who have not had run of the mill questions answered, we don't know how the trust will be tied into the blackmoor company or what/how /if any of those consequences will affect the railway long term, have you questioned how much the two directors of the plc have invested because I'm sure they won't loose anything should it all go wrong, just by doing some basic maths it's eye opening to see what OSHI will have to make per week to pay its way and all of this in the current financial down turn, there has to be value for money and unless a major investor has stepped forward how is the difference between what the business has been valued by the bank and the asking price going to be guaranteed, all simple questions that are not being answered, irrespective of whether or not you are an investor in Blackmoor plc, if the trust is involved in any way every member of the railway has a right to know how this deal is being put together before it actually goes ahead

 

I disagree. The most important issue is securing the Blackmoor site. When Bratton Fleming came on the market, EA started an appeal to buy it and when I asked Mr Cameron whether we were giving donations or buying shares, he genuinely didn't know. With such disarming honesty, I invested anyway, Bratton was secured for the future and the nitty gritty was sorted out later, entirely satisfactorily.
Anyone writing a business plan for the Blackmoor pub would have only authored a work of fiction anyway given that we have had Covid and a war in Europe since the L&B Blackmoor Company was founded.
Securing the pub is vital to the expansion of the L&B and all the details can be sorted out later.

 

There's a lot in that, but "details" have a nasty habit of coming and biting people on the bum.

 

I don't think it's paranoia - there was a poster came on here not so long ago with all sorts of claims about why the railway shouldn't extend. It was very obvious that he was one of the main objectors. Similarly one of the main objectors to the RVR came onto NP some time ago seemingly looking for detail which he could then use against the railway's extension plans. Businesses generally don't reveal all the detail of extension plans/financial arrangements as these could be used against them, and has been shown on here before, use of the wrong word can send people into a tail spin of conspiracy theories.

Is it important to know where the finance has come from? Is that not why the Trust elects trustees/directors - so that they make considered judgements on behalf of the members about the running (and extension) of the railway. Do you ask where the last batch of coal came from, who paid for it, how much it cost, does the coal merchant know anyone of the railway and if so was there any underhand dealing going on? No you don't, because you trust the directors/board to make sound judgements. I don't see why the OSHI is any different.
If these issues are so important to either of you gentlemen, why not pick up the phone and speak to one of the directors? It's possible that they don't want to put anything in writing at present as the deal isn't even finalised and they don't want to jeopardise it.
Just because every detail has not been made public does not make everything suspicious or a conspiracy.

 

Exactly - which is why we have to exercise great care what we say on this or any other forum. It is well know that opposers visit pro-railway forums to get ammunition.

I agree entirely - I am sure that members of the trust will be informed of what they need to know when the time is right.