Lynton and Barnstaple - Operations and Development

I think there is simply a "personality type" and style issue here which is causing unnecessary anxiety. I am a farmer, and I work with, and for farmers, as well as for normal folk. Farmers are different, generally old school. Most are not internet/facebook people. We tend to be of a more "leave me alone and mind your own cattle/plough your own furrow" sort. Most farmers are fatalistic optimists, are used to having to wait and hope, never admit mistakes and think that the towny obsession with what is going on elsewhere is bizarre. If Lyn were a sick cow, the farmer would treat the animal, possibly call in the vet, and worry until the animal got better. That's what we do. Pestering every five minutes really doesn't help, and after replying "be better soon , I hope" a couple of times, the farmer's patience is exhausted.

Many of the L&B folk seem to be farmers. All credit to them.

In contrast, the A1 lot seem to be an urbane, business minded team of townies, well aware of the value of information and public profile. All credit to them, too.

The difference in style is all too clear when comparing the recent failures of locomotives. Lyn has a relatively small design fault which should be reasonably simple to fix- and confidence in the L&B has been rocked. Tornado suffered a catastrophic failure at high speed on the main line-and confidence in the A1 team has reached new heights. Just because they posted a few pictures.

Sometimes urbane and articulate people can do the impossible because they believe it can be made possible.
Sometimes intransigent stubborn people can do the impossible because they refuse to accept it is impossible.

Try to admire people for their strengths and achievements, rather than tearing them down for what you perceive as failings. What you perceive as a failing or weakness might actually be part of, or a side-effect of their strength

 

Crickey, with supporters like Meatman, the L&B doesn't even need the Grobs!!!

 

i fully support the l&b project,every saturday and some sundays,rain or shine im on various sections of the line doing what i can which in turn brings me into contact with many people and i hear many issues and frustrations that a lot of you dont hear about,i get fed up hearing about people being treated badly or having doors slammed in their faces when they try to offer their services in different ways,im not a member (A,because after a director had a rant at another volunteer and myself ,through no fault of our own but because of his own failings to ask and inform others and B because £30 saved on membership is £30 on materials to do another job on the line),over the last 3 years ive spent over £1000 of my own cash(as a donation) on a personal project,that might not be very much to some of you but its a lot to me,so not being a member i cant go to agms ect so i try ,maybe not in a good way to get the frustrations i feel from what i hear,usually 1st hand,over to others via public forums,if you dont like it thats up to you,if you dont want to hear criticism of the actions of others then the bad things may not change,i wont appologise because ive always been a firm believer in' say it as it is' but please dont put me down as a bad supporter when you dont even know how much i put in,some of you want to get off your high horses

 

Trust me but issues like those you describe are quite common on every line I've come into contact with.

Sawdust.

 

These totals relate to the entire length of the line.
However, I think another poster had asked specifically about figures for ownership of trackbed covered by the current extension proposal (i.e. Woody Bay to a "temporary" terminus at Wistlandpound reservoir).

I couldn't find a way to extract these figures directly from Chris' map (possibly my lack of knowledge of Google maps!) but with a bit of messing around I was able to come up with the following figures:

Total Route: 8347m
L&B owned: 3829m 45.87%
EA owned: 1411m 16.90%
Private: 3107m 37.22%

These figures are based on Chris' excellent map, but any measuring or mathematical errors are entirely my own!

 

That seems to be a lot for the l&b figure, there is a stretch highlighted in the middle of the route that could be misunderstood to be l&b colour which is in fact a back road built over the route I think its a total of about 7 miles owned between both groups

 

More than possible, I'll have a closer look a bit later on and see if a revision is in order!

Just to clarify, those figures include Woody Bay to Killington Lane, which boosts the L&B total of course...

 

Is this not covered by the statement on the original map info panel viz?

The total route owned by statutory bodies is 0.69 miles / 3.57% of the total route.

 

Meatman, it looks as if the totals calculated by AD29935 are just for the current line and the extension to Wistlandpound, ie. 8.3km, so presumably he is not adding in any trackbed South or North of those points. I don't know if he could confirm that?
by the bye, I've put two and two together from what you've told about yourself, and I'd like to say I think you've done an absolutely brilliant job on the platelayers hut at Snapper. I've also picked up on your enquiry about a family member working on the tracklifting gang in 1936. Interesting to think that he would probably have been one of the last gang to actually use that hut for PW purposes, at least.
I'm sorry if I may have sounded a little harsh to you in previous posts, but it's just that when something is out there, I really like to get to the bottom of it! ☺

 

I would imagine that the last gang to use the PW hut at Snapper, although not for PW purposes, was the LAGs. That's the London Area Group of the Festiniog Railway Society when they collected what is now the FR's Buffet Car No.14.

 

The fr guys painted on the door 'fr Co mess hut' that can be seen in one photo

 

Sorry for the delay, yes, that's correct.

A question had been asked which I interpreted as referring specifically to the sections of trackbed covered by the recent successful planning applications, rather than the route as a whole.

This seemed a very relevant question to me because the ENPA conditions require the Trust to have ownership of the entirety of the trackbed covered by the applications, but not the entire original trackbed.

 

The short length from Pilton to the original Barnstaple station certainly doesn't account for the remaining one-third of the total, so where was that?

 

I believe the ENPA planning only covers the line from blackmoor gate to woody Bay , blackmoor gate to wistlandpound comes under North Devon District Council and was passed within months of the planning application going in although I don't know what conditions were put on that, if any

 

This is correct. Full details of all the applications to ENPA and NDDC are listed on the L&B website, with links to all the documentation, including approval conditions. Beware though, it may take a few days to work through everything! See this link: http://www.lynton-rail.co.uk/story/press-release-planning-applications-approved

 

Indeed; I took the picture when I walked the line in 1961. The pictures I took are on Flickr and I have posted a link to them in the past. However, newer members may not have seen them so, for their benefit, here's the link again:

https://flic.kr/s/aHsjv7eu1Y

 

I've looked at them many times, Ron. They are an invaluable record of the line in its years of obscurity, and thank you for making that decision all those years ago to go there and photograph the line on that delightful summer's day

 

I just wish that I'd taken a few more! Why the Pictures stop just short of Parracombe I don't know. Maybe I ran out of film?

Little did I imagine that it would ever be possible to ride on even part of the line again.

 

Without coming across as too adulatory, I just wanted to say that, Ron, your photo archive in general is a wonderful historical resource and that we all owe you huge thanks firstly for taking so many photos when you did and secondly for making so many available online now.

 

A further breakdown of the figures I originally posted, reflecting the two phases currently under discussion, and the two administrative planning areas:

PHASE I & IIA (the entire reinstated route, from Woody Bay Station to Wistlandpound Reservoir)
Total: 8347m
L&B: 3829m 45.87%
EA: 1411m 16.90%
Private: 3107m 37.22%


PHASE IIA (the proposed extension from Killington Lane to Wistlandpound Reservoir)
Total: 6847m
L&B: 2329m 34.01%
EA: 1411m 20.61%
Private: 3107m 45.38%


PHASE IIa ENPA (the proposed extension falling within ENPA jurisdiction, so from Killington Lane to Blackmoor Gate)
Total: 5233m
L&B: 2329m 44.51%
EA: 504m 9.63%
Private: 2400m 45.86%


PHASE IIa NDC (the proposed extension falling within NDC jurisdiction, so from Blackmoor Gate to Wistlandpound Reservoir)
Total: 1614m
L&B: 0m 0.00%
EA: 907m 56.20%
Private: 707m 43.80%

I'm now taking a moment out from measuring google maps to go and look at Ron's 1961 photo album, a link to which has just been posted, and which I haven't previously seen!