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Lynton and Barnstaple - Operations and Development

Discussion in 'Narrow Gauge Railways' started by 50044 Exeter, Dec 25, 2009.

  1. H Cloutt

    H Cloutt Member

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    I read on the L and B website that there is a lot of work needed to get under the A39 at Blackmoor and that this might be done by a short tunnel.
     
  2. Biermeister

    Biermeister Member

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    Congratulations are in order to the Trustees, especially Ian Cowling, for the prospective purchase of OHSI Blackmoor Gate. This will make another and dare I say huge piece of the L&BR puzzle slotted into place. I wonder how many parcels of land between the end of the trackbed at Parracombe and Wistlandpound still remain to be purchased? Does anybody on here know? Obviously the fewer that there are the easier the task remains to initiate Phase IIa of the rebuild. (Yes, I do know about the immediate problem south of Parracombe!)

    I recently looked at the OHSI website, particularly the drinks list. Now, this is where it gets a trifle tricky. We all know that posters (well, some at least) like to bang on, so, in the spirit of (temporarily) joining that happy band I am about to, well, bang on!

    The draught beer (sic) list looks decidedly dodgy. The only draught beer is specified as Sharp's Doom Bar (brewed in Cornwall) or a guest ale. (The others are a Sharp's keg beer and some inconsequential keg lagers, namely Carling, Cobra and Madri. I know some people might drink these too, but heaven knows why!)

    In my capacity as a beer person, I would like to suggest to the new manager that Devon draught beers are introduced, and 'i' the heat'. I don't know whether there are one or two hand pumps at OHSI but two would seem to fit the bill for such an establishment. I would suggest replacing Doom Bar with an Exmoor Brewery Ale and an Exeter Brewery Ale.
    Exmoor Brewery might supply Exmoor Ale Classic Bitter (3.8%abv) and Exeter Brewery Ferryman (4.2%) or County Best (4.8%). In the cold weather Exmoor Brewery's Beast (a Dark Porter at 6.6%) might be very well received. I only wish I lived a lot closer because I would happily sup any of these.

    Anyway, Jolly Good Luck to the Landlord and Good Luck to the OHSI.
     
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  3. Glenmutchkin

    Glenmutchkin Member

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    Debate. " Is beer froth preferable to livery froth."
     
  4. Meatman

    Meatman Member

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    Whilst i wouldnt want the OSHI project to fail simply because it is linked to the L&BR and that could be looked on as negative for the railway, there's lots of detail in the terms and conditions that have been done to get to this point of sale and it seems that's where the devil is, but then only time will tell, the shareholders certainly haven't asked enough probing questions and those that i know who have, have been immediately shut down by I.C. There is a member on here who enquired about investing in the LBBC, replies were quick until he asked for some more detail and has not received any response since and that was a few months ago, alarm bells would certainly start ringing, in the initial prospectus the land for the new station was included but that has now been purchased by the trust under a separate deal meaning the Blackmoor company is technically worthless to the trust, i can see the two founding directors resigning within a few months now that they have others on board so that they are not directly linked to it, the shareholders need to up their game and get more involved with their representative director to make sure their investment is looked after in the best possible way
     
  5. 35B

    35B Nat Pres stalwart

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    Possibly; you’ll notice my questions were about the future. I’m uncomfortable about shares being issued against a prospectus and then something different being done, but without knowing what was discussed and agreed by those shareholders, I won’t draw conclusions. Similarly, the ransom strip in front of OSHI will have some impact on value, but I’d be surprised if it made the pub “worthless” - not to mention that from a railway perspective, it mitigates a significant risk if the pub were, for whatever reason, to change hands again.

    As for the level of information provided, reasonable views may vary. I didn’t like the way @Tobbes was fobbed off, but if the necessary investment has been secured to make the purchase and negotiations were locked down, I’m not convinced that it was critical.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
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  6. RailWest

    RailWest Part of the furniture

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    Sorry, but I do not understand that claim. What planning process and for what? AIUI the L&BRT already has planning consent from NDC for the section from Blackmoor to Whistlandpound and that has been secured by the work on the two bridges, so what more do you see is needed?

    Are you talking perhaps about PP for going northwards under the road to the new Depot site? In that case I would agree that new PP will be needed, but.....until such time as we know what plans the Board have for the future, it might be the case that they have ideas for a temporary interim facility somewhere south of the road within the NDC area (tho' I can't see where).
     
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  7. 21B

    21B Part of the furniture

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    I think many of the points you have made about the way this overall project is being managed are valid and clearly come from a position of both a lot of knowledge and wanting to see success. It may be the case that there are changes needed to the way it is run for it to be successful. Not everything being done is evidence of failure though and to read that into this particular announcement and situation seems a bit mean minded to me.
     
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  8. mdewell

    mdewell Well-Known Member Friend

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    Only in Yorkshire. ;):D
     
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  9. RailWest

    RailWest Part of the furniture

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    I see from a news item yesterday that apparently a German brewery has developed powdered beer - just add water and stir!

    That would make an interesting USP for the OSHI - "bring your own beer" and they just sell you the Exmoor spring water to fill our glass. Would you need an on-licence if you were not actually selling/serving any beer, just water?
     
  10. lynbarn

    lynbarn Well-Known Member

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    Thank you it is the hardest thing to see the project which I have supported for so long struggle to get to the next base when I see other projects which by comparison are much younger, yet they go from one to ten in what appears to be a matter of months or just a few years. the dreamer in my still hopes that before I die, I can travel from Lynton to Barnstaple on the railway, the realist tells me otherwise.

    I don't expect anyone of you to believe me when I say yes I am pleased that we have just brought the Pub but there is a 20 mile railway to build so there is not time to stop. we need to continue while the happy feeling is still about success brings success.

    Sure we had a set back at Parracombe and yes there will be time to reflect on this and I am sure others will continue to ask and want to find out who what and where it went wrong. I have also come to the conclusion that some (not all) of the regular volunteers think that anyone from outside Devon is just a hindrance, which is not the case.

    My feeling is that if we can all be allowed to contribute to the project in our own ways this will be such a better place, as I have admitted to one Devon volunteer yes I am jealous that I can't be there to 'play' with the railway as much as they do, but I do get frustrated when I can see that this project also needs to raise lots of money, yet when ever in the past I have brought up the subject I am looking at blank faces it is almost as if talking about raising money is a dirty thing or as some one once put it, my view will turn it in to a commercial enterprise! Isn't it one of our core values to make a project commercial enough so other people can enjoy it but at the same time they are also willing to pay for our hobby to survive?
     
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  11. Thomas Woods

    Thomas Woods New Member

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    I imagine you were greeted with blank faces because massive amounts of effort were/are already being put into fundraising. And as for your claim about "that some (not all) of the regular volunteers think that anyone from outside Devon is just a hindrance" is absolute rubbish. As someone who works with the regular volunteers I can safely say that this is not the case.
     
  12. RailWest

    RailWest Part of the furniture

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    Maybe these are not entirely visible to more distant members? Are the results commensurate with the efforts being expended?

    On the basis of the progress to date (until it was stopped), I wonder how long it would have taken the Parracombe Appeal to have reached its target?
     
  13. Mark Thompson

    Mark Thompson Well-Known Member

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    As a remote Trust member (which is most of us), then frankly Thomas, that comes as a revelation, because it hasn't been apparent outside of Devon, at any rate.
    Return to Parracombe, I decided very soon that it looked like a "last chance saloon", with little likelihood of making a difference, so I decided not to invest. In that I was proved correct.
    If "massive amounts" if effort were being put into fundraising before that, then they were conspicuous by their apparent absence. At least to an "average " Trust member.
     
  14. Matt37401

    Matt37401 Nat Pres stalwart

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    I believe you are allowed at least 10% of your beer to be froth under weights and measures last time I checked…
     
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  15. Matt37401

    Matt37401 Nat Pres stalwart

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    Much as I admire your enthusiasm for wanting to stock up on a cellar full of Exmoor, there are a whole other things for the new manager to consider, reps from other companies when they hear this pub has changed hands are going to be wanting to get over to flog their wares, and under cut each other and it’s not just beer.

    Greene King were pretty good with things like Wine with myself some time ago, we also had things like cellar services that they provided, soft drink supplies, again then there’s also going to be things like who supplies things like C02, who supplies the kitchen?
    Cleaning supplies and staffing? Where are they coming from?
    Is the cellar going to need a refit? What’s the situation with previous contracts?
    Are lines going to need to be replaced?

    Hate to be the cloud on your sunny horizon my friend but this is what I do for a living.
    I really can’t see a 6.6% beer really being popular in a rural community when you have to drive.
    Whilst I admire your optimism and enthusiasm I’d just hang fire a bit before you start picking the beer list. :)

    Matt,
    Cellar and Dispense Manager
    Calverley’s Brewery
    Cambridge
    (Also featured in between about 5 or 6 Camera good beer guides) o_O
     
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  16. Biermeister

    Biermeister Member

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    Err, I think I said I was banging on, didn't I? Pick the beers and everything else will follow... especially after a coupla pints of Beast, eh?
     
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  17. Meatman

    Meatman Member

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    It has been said that a senior trustee suggested to someone i know that 'once we announce the news about the pub they will forget all about the failed planning and the money will come rolling in' so not only does it sound like they don't think they have to look too hard for funds but that there's been a cunning plan on how to bury the bad news especially when some people couldn't figure out why the OSHI deal hadn't been done when it had been ready for weeks, couple that with the constant shutting down of comments on the 'unofficial' FB page to stop people discussing the planning issue and it all seems to have worked, everybody's talking about the OSHI and the failed planning has been forgotten
     
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  18. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

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    Is that for people who like taking photos of their beer? :)

    Tom
     
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  19. Mark Thompson

    Mark Thompson Well-Known Member

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    If there really is a perceived belief that "the money will come rolling in", then I do wonder what for, as at the present time, the direction of the Trust is unclear. The delay in announcing OSHI to provide the proverbial "squirrel" to distract from the planning issues does, however, seem to make sense of the unaccountable delay, at least in this cynical, political world we inhabit nowadays. I would love to be proved wrong, if just once:(
     
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  20. RailWest

    RailWest Part of the furniture

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    With regards to 'delay', I was a little surprised actually that the announcement had been made anyway before completion. I am reminded of the saying about 'many a slip...'. I am assuming therefore that at least contracts have been exchanged now, although that is another one of those things that the L&BR's announcement does not actually mention specifically, merely saying that "an agreement has been reached".
     

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