Lynton and Barnstaple - Operations and Development

Jo has several blogs covering activities on the GWSR stemming from the building of Broadway and the laying of the extension. All worth reading for clear explanations of construction, track maintenance and heritage preservation / reproduction. The publicity value alone is worth many thousands for the railway.
A lesson in publicity for some of the more reticent lines !

 

I find it strange, though enjoyable, that I learn more quickly from Jo Roesen's Heritage Herald blog about EA goings-on than the source itself! Thanks Jo.

 

To be fair to EA, Budd's Wood was purchased back in June, and was reported in Trackbed Trails no. 33, which is archived, and accessible from their website https://www.exmoor-associates.co.uk/news/

 

Knock me down with a feather Mark, you're right! Please don't ask me what I had for dinner last night!!
Even though I had seen this before, I think in my eagerness to find what the latest trackbed purchases might be I assumed that Budd's Wood was it!!
I must keep up and pay more attention.

 

Lol!
No, the others are still pending, but "imminent".
Good news about the Bratton goods shed, though, isn't it?

 

Re the Parracombe situation, I'm sure that I am not the only person to be perplexed by the irony of some local residents raising concerns about the activity of a terminal station when the Railway is being forced into have such a facility because, at present they are unable to continue through Parracombe to a much better terminal station by Wistlandpound..... Very frustrating for nearly all concerned.

 

That shows a place where there was a road over rail bridge, now demolished, with the road straightened to run across the trackbed at an angle on the level. Sooner or later that will need either a new bridge or permission for a level crossing, neither of which will be easy.

 

Later. A lot later.

 

Still, good to know that there is a potential way around the trackbed bottleneck if the ability to acquire a certain stretch is not forthcoming. One assumes the 'powers-that-be' know of this and know who the land owner(s) is/are, and that have a draft planning emendation ready just in case?

 

Skew bridge near Collard (Bridge 19) was designed, like the others on the line, by the Engineer, Frank Chanter, who had spent his career on canals in India up until 1895 and seems to have been unconcerned about the inconvenience the S-bends created in public roads such as this. Members of Barnstaple Council objected in 1896 when they saw it built but were told that nothing could be done to force the Company to change them because Parliament had approved the deposited plans (with the 1895 Act) which gave basic details of deviations over public roads. There was only legislation forcing road crossings to be the same width as the existing roads. Pressure resulted in most road bridges being widened to 19 foot, but not rebuilds of them. Bridge 24 further along under the Bratton Road was fortuitously in a cutting at right angles to the railway, and therefore no inconvenience to traffic and remains unaltered to this day. A similar situation became even more dangerous with motor traffic and improved roads in the 20s with other under bridges on the line (notably at Bridge 56 at the Blackmoor Gate cross-roads where there was motor-bike fatality when the rider collided with a lorry). Also Bridge 76 at the top of Dean Steep just beyond Caffyns Halt which had the southern parapets replaced by post and wire in the 20s, and the other one similarly treated after the line closed, to provide some sighting for motorists. There was an horrendous accident at the Skew Bridge in 1936 when a bus went down the bank and the bus was only prevented from going in the river by hitting a tree (it was reported), resulting in several injuries. Not surprisingly the local authorities did away with all three bridges after the line closed. Replacing Skew Bridge near Collard will represent an engineering (and an expensive and aesthetic) challenge for the future).

 

Really? Is there? I know that a few posts ago someone speculated about a possible method, but IIRC the general view seemed to be that it was not practical.

In any case, given that the inability to purchase a stretch of the trackbed is one of the major stumbling blocks towards complying with the Grampian Conditions, surely if a practical alternative existed then the Trust would have been pursuing it already? Any 'draft planning amendment' submitted now (or later) is highly likely IMHO not to meet the March 2023 deadline :-(

 

I hope the L&B succeeds but the present inability to continue through Parracombe is, I am sure, not the fault of most of the people who are entitled to object, now, to something the railway (and the planning authority) previously agreed would not happen.

 

At the rate EA are going Barnstaple to Bratton Fleming is going to be more viable then Lynton to Wistlandpound

 

EA have no operational plans, it's just an opportunistic trackbed acquisition vehicle.

 

....but the YVT may be a different matter

 

I suspect that a TWAO is going to be the only way that this particular piece of trackbed will be acquired.

 

But let's be honest - a TWAO is not a 'given', nor would be any subsequent application for a CPO. Not trying to be pessimistic, just realistic.

 

Sure, I don't think any of us here expect anything as a "given". Perhaps we're just going a little bit stir crazy at the moment, I don't know about you, but I know I am. There's nothing worse than waiting, and those of us who are closely following "progress" here, or for the outcome of the RVR's TWAO, the word "patience" is beginning to aquire a Sisyphean dimension!

 

behind the hanging post of the left hand gate in that photo is the remnants of a brick wall, made of yellow marland brick, reportedly part of the old bridge

 

If you have a look here you can get an idea of what's going on with the old and new road alignments.

I always have trouble getting my head around the changes here and at Dean Steep!