Lynton and Barnstaple - Operations and Development

shouldn’t remotely present a problem looking at @DaveE ’s list.

key stage 1:

• significant historical events, people and places in their own locality
• 
  key stage 3
• • ideas, political power, industry and empire: Britain, 1745-1901

It would come down to what individual schools are actually teaching locally but really it’s not all WW2 these days

 

And you never know when one of the kids may want to get involved more, could be a future driver, catering staff or even manager!

 

It’s one small part of it, and nowhere near as much as it was ten or twenty years ago, yes. Here’s the history curriculum for up to but not including GCSE in England:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...iculum-in-england-history-programmes-of-study

 

Maybe, but at least it is being discussed openly from different viewpoints and in a friendly manner.

 

The technology for raising steam with electricity certainly exists and in the right circumstances can be a good economic choice. The Swiss have the advantage of an abundance of cheap, clean, hydro-electric power which is simply not the case in Britain. Never particularly a coal producer, when electricity came along at the turn of the last century the clever heads of Switzerland decided to use their geography to their best advantage and invest in hydro-electric dams.
They have more than 550, and the last Swiss coal mine closed over 70 years ago.

 

Now, wouldn't that have been interesting when I was a school ? My parents were blitzed in Coventry and I learnt all I knew about WW2 from them, and played Monopoly over Christmas which they had learnt in the shelter. (and was produced when it was clear we were eventually going to win). All we had was boring Henry V111 ! I recall Vera Britain had the same problem when she went to study 'Modern History' at Oxbridge in the 20s. We had to learn about WW1 from chaps supervising the butts in the cadet corps who had been gassed on the Somme. At least we learnt about all the arguments about who shot down Baron Richtoven and about all the English flyers (including my namesake) instead of much else during Geography lessons complete with lantern show ! So it wasn't all dull.

 

At least you didn't have the Corn Laws ! Utterly tedious reams of political shenanigans with no interesting characters to alleviate the boredom !

 

A good idea Dave. In fact much better than 'harping on' about the war. It finished eighty years ago. It's (well past) time to move on I should say.

 

Perhaps that's why I gave up history as soon as I could. Venerable Bede and Diet of Wurms left me cold. All that transcribing tosh from the blackboard: words written from teacher to pupil without passing through the minds of either! Much later, long after I left school, history became more interesting as I found out things for myself. More recently I read Christopher Dyer 'Everyday Life in Medieval England'. Pity we didn't have books (or teachers) like that back then. End of rant. Back to north Devon...

 

I have found recent posts very entertaining. Talk of old white men being redundant and out of touch (OK, I paraphrase broadly here!)... Then my mind returns to north Devon...
We certainly could do with a healthy dose of younger, female and, dare I say, more open-minded individuals on the Board down Woody Bay way, could we not?

And then, how can anyone at this time in human history not be a greenie? If so, I wonder what planet they are living on? Why should anyone need to claim that they are not greenies either? Do they enjoy wearing this badge of dishonour? Yes, we only have one planet (in spite of the techno-musings and actions of some of the world's most cashed-up)!

The rebuilt L&BR can really only be a tourist attraction, though it might be able to drive (sic!) some visitors away from their cars especially if summer restrictions on vehicular access could be brought in to prevent over-touristifying (yes, I invented this word) Exmoor National Park. Yes, I'm serious. It will eventually happen, for what is the point in visiting a scenic attraction if it is blighted by an excess of visitors?

 

There is no doubt we should be looking at things from a green point of view, but in reality the pollution we produce at the L&B is minute compared to some other industries.
I'm not going to go into depth here as tbh it's a topic almost in its own right but elsewhere where I have been involved in conversation on climate change its not quite a clean cut as it seems and it's not all about CO².

This year we have seen some pretty odd weather patterns across the world and in the media you would be led to believe it's all caused by humans and that CO². In fact there are four events that don't get talked about much. The cleaning up of marine shipping pollution (IMO 2020) and a drastic reduction of P2.5 particulates and sulphates from that shipping since 2020 (alongside the more distant past of the Clean Air Acts of the 1950s), the rather unique volcanic eruption of Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai volcano, the current El Nino and the changes in the AMOC (Atlantic Meridional Overturning Oscillation or Gulf Steam).

The climate and weather of our planet is a chaotic system and has been changing ever since it started. Humans have only been on this planet for a mere blink of the eye in comparison to the age of the Earth. We have also lived, and are still living in, a relatively benign cooler period of the Earth's history. As such we expect things not to change, and if it does we look for something to blame. That's the nature of humans.

But Mother Nature herself can change much quicker than we realise and I think this year she is showing us who really is boss.

Of course we should be more mindful of our pollution, humans are a filthy species, but there are many other areas we need to look at before we worry about the minute pollution the L&B produces which if shared between all the visitors who enjoy the railway is a tiny tiny slice of people's pollutant quota per year. Let's look at materialistic waste, replacing perfectly good furniture, clothes and things like kitchens and bathrooms on a whim, because we don't like the colour, or its over say 5 years old or we have just got fed up with it. Air travel, one of the biggest polluting industries in my view, and the CO² offset thing is very questionable.

There is also some argument for some types of pollution for the health of the planet, not humans, the planet, sulphates and things like smoke particulates actually have a cooling effect, not warming, hence after a volcano such as Krakatoa we see a volcanic winter, thats until you have a volcano like Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai.

This whole subject is extremely complex, and to be honest warrants a completely separate debate.

 

It does, and I agree that the contribution of the L&B would be minimal at most. However, that's to some extent a side issue, because what will matter are a combination of government policies on pollution and net zero, combined with the perspectives on how these are to be met from planners and councillors, plus the views of those in the local community.

I'm not going to comment on whether I agree or disagree with those perspectives and views, or whether I consider them accurate or false - that is almost completely irrelevant. What does matter is that those views do exist, and that those who hold them have to be persuaded to support or at least not block the project. That means taking them seriously, including not using language they would consider pejorative.

 

To me your main priority has to be to change the way your organisation's communicate to the local population and local government, over such things as planning and how you get the local population on board, start by being good neibours, by engaging, talk to those who might be swayed by misinformation, and sort your own house out, people who can not put the railway first, or want their own little empire, are not the ones who can carry you foreward, you need people who can bring people together, who see the bigger picture, who remember they are servants, not masters, you imho, need a new simplified structure, leave land purchase to those who have a proven track record, pardon the pun, leave the negotiations those who are good at it, who don't antagonise people, you need to bring people with you, not make enemies of them, if your going to lay track elsewhere, especially at the Old station pub, can it be done to increase the attraction of the pub, and to earn money? have a picnic area that can only be accessed by train, and offer picnic hampers, and drink packages, as a side line, something with low cost, to operate but returns maximum profit, it could if done in a way that does not impede on the operation of the main business,

 

I absolutely agree it must be taken seriously and I haven't said otherwise. What I am saying is there is more to it all than we are perhaps led to believe.

I do not think badly of anyone who takes a green viewpoint, it's right we should be concerned.

I am a greeny myself, I use public transport wherever I can or I cycle (I don't drive), I recycle as much as I can, I have trees in my garden I planted 20 years ago to help the planet years before mainstream offsetting (I've done it, not just said I would), I am mindful of the energy I use and the water, I don't replace things just because, I make them last. (Just as an aside, it takes 2.2 million litres of water to produce 1 ton of lithium, that's nearly 26,500 litres of water for the 12 kg of lithium in the average Tesla, that's just for the lithium alone)

In my mind I've done enough to mitigate my visits to the L&B and the relatively minimal pollution it causes or which hasn't been offset by the trees etc on land we already own.

Let's view it another way, if all the visitors to the L&B were to pledge not have one BBQ in the coming year that they would normally have (and do, not just say they will) it would probably offset all the pollution the railway produces and more besides.

Eventually I expect we will have battery powered engines, or maybe hydrogen, once the technology advances, and the steam heritage side will be for gala days, event days and special days. And that's fine, as long as we keep the image of the original L&B, the look and feel, of any new stock, and not degrade into some tacky theme park type attraction, then we will do fantastic. It will address the green issue but also make sure we keep as much as we can to try and recreate the experience and quality education for visitors of that bygone age.

 

You miss my point - it's about how we communicate with stakeholders given how the views of those stakeholders are changing.

 

Communication is absolutely key, but while we address the concerns of pollution, we do also need to address the concerns heard previously of becoming a theme park attraction. The way do do that is promote the recreation of the L&B in as close a format as possible with mitaged steam, but perhaps later ensuring we would have engines which although look steam, underneath have battery banks or hydrogen fuel cells to address the environmental concerns.

Addressing and balancing both the green issue and expected authenticity is important.

The technology at the moment is I think is still very much in its infancy, as time goes on and that technology advances it will be easier to do.

 

On a different topic, I see that the L&BR has a mention in the press:-

https://nationalhighways.co.uk/our-...98yMjyuAneM9F9m4wbIVBj1PKJRpIcBfBJRDmYLFs4Inw

Quote: "We're working with Lynton and Barnstaple Railway to reopen a number of structures for use by a heritage railway. ...."

 

I agree on addressing environmental concerns, though am much more sceptical about whether these should be the focus, rather than something that is acknowledged and seriously engaged with as the planning processes are engaged.

 

Well, a footnote... I wonder for whom this gem was written? I await with bated breath, news from Woody Bay about what exactly they mean. (It's probably a tangential reference to Chelfham Viaduct.)

 

The article was written in February this year. It also mentions Holsworthy Viaduct, which is not on the L&B route and other bridges in Devon. I doubt if the L&B would comment and a deeper perusal of the web site would reveal that other activities in parts of the UK are also shown.
Another dig at the L&B perhaps?