A pleasant visit to Woody Bay

As we were vaguely in the Westcountry the other weekend, we decided to make a brief foray to the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway to see progress. I briefly trespassed at Woody Bay station aged 19, driving my aged 1978 Honda Civic down to the grassed-over track area - I was anxious to see what had changed in the intervening years. I'd been a member briefly, kept up to date with progress, and now it was time to make a visit. I took some pictures (1999 ish?) of the site with my car there - I must dig them out.

I'd previously visited Exmoor to de-stress from uni exams when I was at Exeter, and now I was visiting to de-stress from work and diploma coursework. The experience of driving those last few miles over Exmoor brought back slightly sickening memories of modules on heritage studies, museum theory and critical dissertations written on the state of Britain's heritage railway movement late at night.

We had a little while earlier sped past the WSR, chased a train and watched a couple of GWR locos at Williton, had our route blocked by a Class 33 and had a crash course in Western Hydraulics. Nice people, there.

I wasn't quite sure where Woody Bay station was; it wasn't on my satnav. I had a vague feeling it was somewhere on the main road from Lynton to the 'gate. Great signs, easy to find in the end.

I was so pleased - the scene has been transformed in those 11 years. Track, stock, sheds, and steam - are all now present. The ambience was superb; it was a warm autumn day. And there was Wales, just over the sea. What a view.

Pleasant staff in the shop and cafe, good shop, and all done very tastefully. Despite the late season, it seemed fairly busy and the volunteers all seemed to be enjoying themselves. There was a working party on the miniature railway, the guard was chatty, and it all looked pretty smart.

Coaches were fine - there's been criticism of them because of their Thorpe Park heritage and their lightweight build, but they're ideal for this railway. Big windows (especially in the end compartment - and the curved seat so you can look backwards easily at the engine was a brilliant idea) mean the scenery is shown off.

Killington Lane is a bit, well, temporary. I hope it's temporary. The line needs somewhere to go, but I'm teaching granny to such eggs here. It's a lot better than many lines' temporary stations.

I'm writing this because I stuck this on FB and a couple of friends suggested that there are probably a lot of people who haven't been able to get there yet. Or they've put it off to wait for bigger things. I urge you to visit - it's a great little line, and there's so much in the area to do (I wish we had longer but I had work to do). And, I'd like to thank openly the L&B team who have made this whole thing happen, and for an ace day out. I don't think my late grandfather who got me hooked on railways would have ever believed that it would one day re-emerge.

The website is great, they're running trains into the winter, the cafe is super, the atmosphere is spot on. If they can get more people on site and more cash to expand, there's magic (and money) to be made here.

Some pics of Axe and Woody Bay: http://www.flickr.com/photos/timmydunn/sets/72157625226338231/

 

The L&B is a stunning place, if only more people would visit, they could extend further!

(Nice car btw)

 

I, too, called in at Woody Bay over the Summer on my way to a holiday in Cornwall.

It was a Saturday but the train was diesel-hauled as a result of steam locomotive failure - the sign said.

Nevertheless, I was very impressed with the railway atmosphere and the friendly staff. The whole L & B is obviously a work in progress but Woody Bay does look attractive to potential visitors and passengers.

I wish them well in their endeavours - it can be done 250 miles away in North Wales so that can be their inspiration.

Not having time to travel on the train our party of 5 used the very nice buffet and I purchased a book about the L & B in the shop - I cannot visit a heritage railway and just take, there has to be give as well or they will all cease to be.

Professionally, I was pleased to see a very workmanlike track layout looking well-engineered.

I would recommend anyone in the area making a point of visiting Woody Bay.