Lynton and Barnstaple - Operations and Development

Times have, of course, moved on - but not in all areas! The VoR with wealthy support is not the same as the L&B in that respect, but another important point of difference is that the VoR never closed and had naturally made the transition to being a tourist line, and people had come to realise its value as such from an early stage. I don't think that, in its operating days, the L&B ever really made that transition and hence it is not really remembered and appreciated for its tourist potential - the potential is only now being recognised and realised, and its influence as such is, in reality, very limited. Hopefully, as it grows and develops, that potential will be far more widely recognised and will become more exploitable, but at the moment its proponents haven't really generated the momentum necessary to make it more compelling, especially to some of the local population.

 

I think you have also hit on a point which many within the L&BR family have yet to acknowledge, and that is the difference between the underlying argument of commercial development versus authenticity, which would not be new to anyone else who has volunteered over the years at a railway.

As I have said before, I don't have a problem with the L&BR being authentic, but I do think it needs to be better run along commercial lines, and sometimes these viewpoints will clash.

One of the weaknesses of the railway is that it is still seen by some in North Devon as a toy for the boys and old men playing trains at weekends. That said, I need to make it quite clear that I do appreciate the amount of hard work put in by all the volunteers and the staff, but part of the problem, I think, is the image which has been projected in the past mainly by the then management team.

Sure, in hindsight it is very easy to be critical, but we are where we are due to that image which is still seen by many people around Devon and to a certain extent by some on this very forum.

A book which I have only just obtained has the title 'Holding the line' Preserving the Kent and East Sussex Railway by Nick Pallant, and what I have read so far, you could so easily substitute the L&BRT for the K&ESR. So I feel there is nothing new in the railway heritage world (It's well worth the £15.00).

 

AIUI the NYMR is planning to use rapeseed oil as a fuel which is widely grown in the UK, it would also seem that their oil conversion is designed to run on a range of oil fuels, like it or not these alternatives to coal must be explored alongside modern eco coal fuel

 

On the contrary, I think the tourist potential of the L&B was realised and used - within the context of the tourism of the period (there is then also the question of the true motives behind George Newnes’ support of the railway!). A century later, our understanding of the role of tourism is very different, and hence of its potential.

However, that then raises a different issue. North Devon is a low waged area, where many jobs are very seasonal, and with deep poverty. In other words, it’s already very dependent on tourism - many suggest over-dependent.

That means that an extended and reopened railway would be both a provider of new jobs (good) and deepen the area’s dependence on seasonal work (bad).

Authenticity and commerce are not mutually exclusive; I’d suggest that they are actually complementary and can allow more to be achieved than a single minded focus on commercialism. @60044 has made that argument well over the teak carriages at NYMR, other examples exist in the sector.

It should not be conflated with the alleged attitudes of some, and/or the perception that the railway is for old men to play trains at weekends. That may be a factor in the restricted growth of the railway over the last 20 years, but that is a different and backward looking conversation.

I don’t know how a significantly longer reopened L&B would plan, or quite where demand would be. But where those arguments for change are made, including but not limited to those mentioning Statfold and/or Collection X, there tends to be a “playing trains” focus on locomotives and train lengths, with corresponding heedlessness to the infrastructure constraints. Visit Chelfham or Bratton Fleming, and you rapidly see how those are fundamental to the character of the railway, in a way that’s not true of Woody Bay or, probably, Blackmoor Gate.

Better by far to look at how the NT or English Heritage maximise tourism potential at their properties while maintaining authenticity of the core parts of those properties than going “commercial”. Otherwise, maintaining the historic buildings comparison, the risk is that you end up with the theme park experience of an Alton Towers or Watermouth Castle, rather than anything recognisable. Or, in railway terms, you end up with a tripped down PDSR experience, or the unsatisfactory no-man’s land that is today’s NYMR

 

The L&B undoubtedly needs to win support from locals and to some extent that support will come in part by creating the year-round jobs as well as the seasonal ones. The argument about authenticity is a different, but I think we can all agree that a reproduction (which in all honesty is what it is, there's very little preservation going on there) that is as true as possible to the original will be more attractive than the stripped down no-man's land.

 

I agree that some smart thinking is required regarding alternatives to coal, although I am sceptical of the claims that this years weather is to be the new normal. Last spring we were told confidently that global warming would cause warmer wetter summers in Britain. In the southwest, the current summer spell is quite similar to 2021, but in that year other parts of the country experienced flooding, iirc.
Rapeseed oil cannot simply burned, it requires preheating at the very least, and usually is blended to produce a rapeseed biodiesel, which has about 38,000Mj/tonne. Unfortunately that tonne costs about £1,100-£1,200, so 30% more than ordinary heating oil, and 2 1/2 - 3 times the cost of coal.
Due to the extended dry period this summer there have been issues with low moisture content in rapeseed. Farmers are harvesting between 10pm and 0500 in the hope of some moisture content. Less than 5% moisture and the crop is worthless, although the millers will take it (at £0.00/tonne) for use in cattle cake, so at least the farmers are not having to pay to get rid.
If we get a wetter summer next year, then there will be more rapeseed oil, but less fire risk. If we get the same summer next year, it will be a long time before any one plants rape again.

 

That I have no doubt; however, I would suggest that it is just as important not to destroy the USP of the L&BR, but we also need to take into consideration what the general public thinks about the railway. At the moment, the ride is very short, but how many people would be willing to travel L&BR-style 3rd class over, say, a 10-mile round trip? As enthusiasts, we are more than likely to rough it; the other half might not want to. I know mine would object in no uncertain way and would make sure everyone knew about it as well, and this is where the fine balance comes into play to maximise bums on seats; it is, I guess, one of the oldest questions in the heritage railway playbook. I noticed the other day that the Brecon Mountain Railway has now had three consecutive days of every ticket being sold out, so they must be doing something right.

 

BMR is doing quite a lot right, they are welcoming and friendly. It is a picturesque run, of about the right duration, with steam on the front making plenty of noise. They run just 3 trains a day, one loco in steam, and keep you captive at Pontsticill for half an hour and nothing to do but buy an ice cream and look at the dam. Its a two hour show, for reasonable money, What's not to like?
Then you go up the A470, have a gander at Pen y fan, then left, over the pass, run the kids legs off at Cadair Fawr then Hirwaun for fish and chips, and a quiet drive home.
Heritage it is not.
Oh, and there about 3million people within an hour's drive.....

 

The difference is quite staggering, really; according to official statistics, only around 101,000 people live in North Devon, so your pool for volunteers is even smaller.

However, if you widen that up to include all of what is traditionally called the West Country, then that climbs to around 5 million

 

Just looking online, the average tourist footfall for North Devon over the last five years has been around 5 million.

 

1. People do also holiday in Wales, and the BMR located just off the heads of the valleys, can make a good mid-journey stop.
2. Of your 5 million Devonish tourists, what proportion are in the 5 week summer holiday.
3. The 1 hour catchment of the BMR are potential passengers on any mid-term weekend, not just in the longer school holiday.
BMR is great, but is catering to a somewhat different market and situation that the L&B

 

Which reinforces the challenge faced by the L&B (and also other remote railways) - they lack the local catchment for either volunteers or customers.

 

I agree the L&BR is a go-to location and not an on-the-way location, which I think makes all the difference.

Also, tourist movements largely depend on the weather: in good weather, people visit the beaches; in not-so-good but changeable weather, the railway and other close-to-home sites do reasonably well.

It is in the latter condition, which is why I am convinced that a museum and the hub at Blackmoor are required. I am not sure if the figures have been broken down before, but it would be interesting to see if, during both the spring and autumn periods of the season (when the weather is not so settled), how the railway fairs passengers number wise?

I have also been looking at one of the Launceston railway videos, and I noticed that even during the summer months they are closed on Fridays and Saturdays. Which may be something to think about.

Also, something else to consider is obtaining a second powerful diesel loco just in case Pilton fails for whatever reason and the need to have a backup just in case a steam ban is in place over Exmoor.

 

We visited the Launceston Steam Railway a couple of weeks ago and noticed that in their timetable - essentially they are a Sunday - Thursday operation. I suspect it is because for many local holiday lets, they run on a Friday - Friday or Saturday - Saturday cadence, i.e. Fridays and Saturdays are the day when most tourists are either arriving or packing up to go. I'm pretty certain from a holiday a couple of years ago that the Dartmouth Steam Railway (and associated boat services) was much reduced on Friday, and no doubt for similar reasons. Those are the days when you might be less likely to choose a day out.

You suspect that a well-run tourist attraction will have plenty of historic visitor data on which to make those decisions.

FWIW, we visited the L&BR the other week on a Saturday on our way home - we'd stayed near Bude, had to leave by 10am and that gave a fairly relaxed journey to Woody Bay (1.5 hours) for the service before lunch, before carrying on home later in the day. It was a diversion that added just over an hour of driving to what would have been a 3 hour trip by the most direct route. Which was fine for us as we had no especial reason to want to be home by 1pm (as we could otherwise have managed by driving direct). Had our direct journey been nearer 5-6 hours, maybe we would have ensured that any stopping place on the way would have been much closer to the direct route.

Tom

 

I am sure there are several factors which influence the opening/closing dates of 'railway attractions' and I suspect you will never please everybody.

For example, in pre-retirement days I never went anywhere on a Sunday, as Sunday afternoons/evenings often saw me taking infrequent train services to elsewhere in the country in readiness to start work at one of our other offices first thing on a Monday morning. Visits to places such as the WSR or Swanage etc therefore always took place on a Saturday. Old habits die hard, which is why I rarely make the short trip to the S&DRHT at Midsomer Norton, because they usually open on a Sunday but not a Saturday. Ironically my 'preferred day' for visiting the L&BR is Wed, as I can enjoy the delights of Chelfham without the crowds

 

I don't think this has ever been a problem for the Talyllyn and Festiniog railways in terms of voulnteering and they have a little populated catchment area, 50% of which is sea.

 

Indeed - but it needs thinking about

 

I know someone who once lived in Sussex and was a regular volunteer at the FR