Lynton and Barnstaple - Operations and Development

Thanks - exactly our long-term plan in the Blyth Valley. Many question the point in putting down track where it cannot be used for some years - but the rails at Halesworth now not only look as if they were never taken up, but feature in the tourist info the council puts out! And, as you say again, our idea is to celebrate the 2029 centenary of closure by running something - even if only our collapsible PW wagon - on each bit of track we have. Nothing to stop the L&B from doing that kind of thing too on owned sections (although planning permission is obviously a problem, the local authority MAY accept effectively unusable short lengths of track as a historic remembrance of the line)
James

 

There are some good ideas here; maybe you should all join the L&BR Trust before the AGM to make them happen

Seriously, for a moment, haven't I been banging on about a hub and a museum at Blackmoor? It doesn't need to be a running/working railway, but it would allow for the collection, assembly and display of the equipment required to build the railway when the time comes.

 

Maybe Parracombe is akin to Passchendaele. Possibly the Woody Bay section is like Market Garden- great idea if it had worked, but the SS Panzers...
Woody Bay- Killington Lane is boxed in, apparently checkmated by slick planning lawyers. Breakout has been attempted, and thwarted. They won't let you go south, and you can't go north. Right now, the opposition claim that it is a small number of middle-aged trainspotters playing about and who will never actually restore the railway is appearing all too true.
Projects succeed by making progress. Maybe slow progress sometimes, but consistent, persistent progress makes a thing seem unstoppable, which is how things appeared in 2013. Those days are long past.
A new 'front' in the south, gradually extending northward to eventually connect up at Killington Lane is, I believe, the only way of ever delivering the stated intent to restore a decent stretch of the L&B. Go where there is less opposition, work hard and make progress.
The trust keep on re-enforcing the position at Woody Bay, -canteen, carriage shed- but that money is not spent moving forward.
The reckless purchase of the pub has not, it seems, brought rails any closer to Blackmoor-quite the opposite, as the Trust now seems to be in a precarious financial position without the resources to carry out any sort of campaign to breakout from the current confined site. The spectre of 'costs awarded' makes any legal challenge of the status quo a terrifying prospect.
I'm not saying 'give up', I'm saying give up on this front for now. Go and make a decent showing somewhere else. Take the best toys there. Make some progress. Regain trust and support, and maybe, just maybe, there will be another chance at waking up the L&B.

 

Would the prospect of the L&B moving elsewhere on the line get any response from the local authority or National Park?

 

I am an L&B Trust member, but my personal opinion is that we need a base on the outskirts of Barnstaple (with good road connectivity, car parking and storage space) before trying to build a railway in the south. If we can get that, then I'm all for it (even if it means mothballing Woody Bay once it is open).
However, that will take a lot of time and money, so I'm all for trying to get to Parracombe and also doing something at Blackmore (even if it's not initially authentic L&B rolling stock).