Barnstaple and Yeo Valley Railway Trust - B&YVRT

As you may know, the shareholders of Exmoor Associates, the little company that is buying back the trackbed pieces of the Lynton & Barnstaple railway below Wistlandpound reservoir, recently voted to transfer the company's assets to the Barnstaple & Yeo Valley Railway Trust, a charity.

At the most recent regular meeting on May 16th at Chelfham, it was suggested we have a regular blog of our activities. We hope this will increase interest and help, both physical and financial. Contributions can now be gift aided at last.

So here it is, the first B&YVRT blogpost:

https://yeovalleylines.blogspot.com/2026/06/welcome-welcome-to-yeo-valley-lines-new.html

Hope you like it !

 

Just to be clear, does this mean Exmoor Associates will merge fully into the Trust and cease to be a separate organisation? I’d like to hope so, since this would reduce unnecessary complexity.

 

EA will no longer be active, but the company will continue to exist legally for a while, as things are wound down. The B&YVRT will now do the land purchases, and more that EA could not do. We had a shareholder's meeting, and the vote to transfer the assets was practically unanimous.
EA was the vehicle at the start many years ago, but over time it became apparent that a private Ltd company was not the ideal vehicle, so the Trust has now taken over.

 

Yes, that is the plan

 

The first update to the BYVRT blog has just been posted:


https://yeovalleylines.blogspot.com/2026/06/first-update.html

Enjoy

 

My employer has decided blogs are not suitable uses of corporate equipment. Any chance of actually summarising the news here?

 

Yet they let you access Nat Pres?

Could you view it on your phone?

 

The update shows work being done to clear the trackbed near Snapper and the work on the Bratton Fleming goods shed. Lots of good news.

 

Yes, they do. And yes, I possibly could, but it's a right old faff, a tiny screen is rubbish for looking at pictures, and the phone constantly runs out of space. So I won't.

 

That's a shame, you're missing out but if someone has already made the effort to provide an update they can't be expected to double their workload by posting another version too

 

Yes, I take your point. Although I would point out that the general purpose of publicity is to try to reach as many people as possible, not just those who make an effort to go looking for it.

 

There is, of course, the law of diminishing returns. If, hypothetically, 50% of the available publicity effort reaches 90% of the target audience, and a further 50% is required to possibly reach the remaining 10%, is it more cost-effective to concentrate on improving the delivery to the 90%, or to expend it all on that elusive 10%, who aren't sufficiently motivated to make an effort themselves?

You can lead a horse to water...

 

I've just published the July blog update.

https://yeovalleylines.blogspot.com/2026/08/july-update.html

It contains an open invitation to the next track walk, and subsequent info meeting in Barnstaple on Saturday 26th September. You don't have to be a member or shareholder, just interested. Come along ! Hear what we are doing at the bottom end of the Yeo Valley

 

Thanks for posting these links to the blog updates, much appreciated and it is great to see the work being done in the various areas along the route.

 

Slightly random question - I watched Little Train to Lynton several hundred times on video when I was a lad… I remember a 7.25” line was laid on some of the trackbed - does that still exist? Which section might that have been on? The skew bridge in the blog above looks familiar, but I’m sure all the bridges were similar style!


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I took a couple of pictures of this way back in the 1990's

 

I believe it was to the north of Bratton Fleming, and was lifted a decade or so back

 

I agree on the location, though I think it was relaid as 2' gauge several years before it ceased to be used, and I have a suspicion that 2' gauge track is still there. Google maps street view certainly seems to suggest so - https://maps.app.goo.gl/s9mRUKt16niu84xL9?g_st=ac

 

Very interesting, thanks! Is that section one that the trust now owns?


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Yes. I believe it's section 32 on here - Ownership – Exmoor Associates