Lilla, visiting from the Ffestiniog Railway, was the star attraction at the 2011 L&BR Autumn Gala last weekend. Double- and even triple-headed trains in abundance!
Plenty of videos and photos of the event are online HERE
Here are a few:
Lilla leads Sid and Axe on the approach to Woody Bay
Lilla, Sid and Axe, all steamed up and ready for business
Lilla on the goods train
Joint Statement from the Chairman of the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Trust and the Directors of Exmoor AssociatesThere are a number of items of misinformation being circulated in various media concerning the Lynton and Barnstaple project and the relationship between the L&B Trust and Exmoor Associates. We would like to clarify the position in order to put to rest the corrosive misinformation that is being circulated which is harming the future of the project and undermining the efforts of everyone working hard to see the rebuilding of the entire Lynton and Barnstaple Railway.
Dealing first with the relationship between the L&BT and EA. Considerable activity has been going on behind the scenes to resolve the differences that existed between us. With the aid of mediators the current trustees are now more able to understand and appreciate the actions that were taken when the directors of EA were directors of the L&B. Time and ongoing liaison is repairing the rifts that have existed in the past and corporately we are working closely to secure the land and rights to extend the railway.
It should be remembered that the L&B Trust and the majority of its trustees are shareholders in EA and in some cases are founder members of EA and it is in all our interests to foster close and productive working arrangements.
With regard the speculation over the financial position of the L&BT much has been made over the loans made to the railway. Many of these loans are several years old and were made when funds were very tight in the early days by benefactors who have not made any request for repayment. However, in the absence of agreement under present accounting rules these have to be shown as being repayable within one year. It is a mark of the confidence in the project that no-one has yet asked for repayment.
The L&BT and EA are likely to remain separate entities for some time to come. The reason for this is that our two organisations have different, although complimentary, objectives. The L&BT continues to focus on the operation of the railway, its heritage and its reconstruction, initially to Blackmoor Gate, using some of the land that has already been acquired by EA. Meanwhile EA will continue to buy trackbed as and where it can and hold this in anticipation of future extensions. This demarcation of roles is agreed and respected by both our organisations.
L&BT has started the process of fundraising to acquire the remaining land between Killington Lane and Blackmoor Gate and to start the essential tortuous legal and administrative process involved in getting the consent to reconstruct the railway. We would both strongly urge you to support this in the confidence that we are working together to see the rebuilding of the railway with all the satisfaction this will bring all our supporters and benefits this will bring to Exmoor and North Devon.
Lyd at Pont Croesor WHR - Photo courtesy Andrew Thomas, Ffestiniog Railway
Travelling on Sunday 22nd May over the Welsh Highland Railway from Porthmadog to Caernarfon and back, hauled by Manning Wardle ‘Lyd’ with four (maybe five) coaches, including No.14 and No.102, both of which visited Woody Bay with Lyd in September 2010.
This is a splendid opportunity to enjoy the magnificent scenery and witness the operation of a Manning, Wardle locomotive at the head of a train resembling a Lynton & Barnstaple service for the first time since the L&B closed.
Leaving Porthmadog at 10.30, the round trip will take two hours each way, and includes two hours at Caernarfon
Early booking is advised with a limited number of seats available.Tickets are just £33.00 each.
For more details please contact Peter Miles peter.miles@lynton-rail.co.uk – telephone 01442 826206 or go HERE
The new roof felt is in place, Saturday 26/02/2011
Purchased by Exmoor Associates in December 2010, Snapper Halt had remained virtually untouched since the Ffestiniog Railway team collected the remaining parts of L&B Coach 15 and took them back to Wales for refurbishment.
This weekend however, saw a team of volunteers from EA working on the site. The 700 yards of trackbed has been cleared of 70-odd years’ accumulated vegetation, trees have been cut down, the platform revealed, and a new tiled roof fitted to the Shelter. The road entrance has also been tidied up and enlarged to provide parking for several cars.
More work will be carried out in future, but Snapper Halt now is a sure sign that the L&B is indeed, “not dead, but merely sleeping”
For more info, see the L&B Website and the EA Website
Lyd simmering at Woody Bay
Well, it’s all over for now! LYD, coach 15 and Coach 102 have returned to North Wales, and the L&B staff, members and volunteers are reflecting on a great weekend. The 2010 Autumn Gala has been judged a great success, and everyone is looking forward to another great event next year – and who knows, maybe LYD will be back again! Plenty of photos and videos on the website; HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE!!!
The Ffestiniog Railway’s newly completed, full-sized L&B Manning Wardle replica LYD is coming to Woody Bay in North Devon – accompanied by original L&B coach No.15 (now FR No.14) and Ffestiniog Railway 1st class carriage No.102 to form a heritage train especially for our Autumn Gala.
How many of us thought that, 75 years after the L&B’s closure, everyone would now have the opportunity to ride into Woody Bay behind an engine of the type that was used on the L&B and in the last carriage to leave Woody Bay Station on 29th September 1935?
As well as the visiting L&B steam loco replica LYD, our resident steam locos, AXE and SID, will be in action and there will also be Real Ales, a Hog Roast, Model Marquee and free entertainment for the kids, and maybe one or two surprises as well.
LYD and the heritage coaches will run alternately with AXE and the resident coaches during the day.
The ‘first ever’ LYD train will be on Saturday 26th at 9 am. Tickets for this unique occasion will be £20.
Tickets to ride in the Heritage Train are only £5 at other times during the Gala Weekend and seats will be allocated in the L&B Coach first and then in the Ffestiniog coach if the L&B coach is full.
LYD tickets can only be purchased with Gala Entry tickets. With fewer than 40 seats on each heritage train we strongly advise booking your seat in advance.
Park & Ride will be operating from the market site at Blackmoor Gate and from Caffyns Halt with only Blue Badge parking available at Woody Bay Station. There is no parking at Woody Bay.
Gala entry tickets cover Park & Ride, entry to the site and all-day travel behind AXE (subject to capacity).
If for any reason we cannot operate the heritage train, refunds will be available on entry.
Locomotive LYD
Built largely at Boston Lodge, and destined for service on the Ffestiniog and WelshHighland Railways, LYD was first steamed in June 2010, and is the culmination of a fifteen years plus project to build a replica L&B locomotive. These fine engines were last seen in operation in 1935, after which the line closed and the locos were scrapped – with the exception of one which was exported to Brazil and never seen again.
In the early part of the 20th Century the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway formed, arguably, the most sophisticated development of the British narrow gauge. Its story has been told in numerous books and articles, culminating in the unhappy closure in 1935. It was a line connected in many people’s minds with Sunny West Country holidays. This may account for the enormous nostalgia on a par with other lost lines such as the Somerset and Dorset, and for the large number of period amateur photographs. These often featured the three elegant locomotives purpose built for the line in 1897, followed by a fourth in 1925.
One or two of the project supporters actually rode on the line in their childhood. Many who missed the opportunity dream of recreating similar scenes from the past for the benefit of present and future generations. These ambitious proposals have now becoming reality.
http://www.ffestiniograilway.co.uk/lydproject.htm
Ffestiniog Railway Carriage No.14, Ex-L&B No. 15
One of 16 carriages built especially for the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway in 1897 by the Bristol Wagon & Carriage Co. L&B No. 15 was delivered as a brake third, but was soon altered to a composite. When the L&B was sold to the Southern Railway in 1922, this carriage was renumbered No. 6993. As part of the last train, it was the last coach to leave Woody Bay at approximately 8:20pm Sunday 29th September 1935. After closure the carriage was purchased by a local farmer who kept it on a short length of track on the trackbed north of Snapper Halt. It was used by evacuees during the war, and later as a hen house, before being bought by the Ffestiniog Railway in 1959. It was transported to Boston Lodge where it was rebuilt into a buffet car. It has now operated in North Wales for longer than it operated on the L&B. Returning to Devon for a brief visit after more than 50 years.
Ffestiniog Railway Carriage No.102
As the profile of this and other centenary stock is based on that of the former Lynton and Barnstaple Carriage 14, combined with the spacious interiors, significantly larger than previous FR carriages, they were given the affectionate nickname, “The Barns”.
A First Class Observation carriage similar to 100 and 101 – No.102 entered service in August 2005 – the 50th anniversary of the restoration of passenger trains in 1955. Fitted with moveable seats and tables in the observation end to allow wheelchairs to be accommodated, it is sumptuously appointed and also provided with heating.
The visit of this loco and carriages – the first time ever to another railway – has only been made possible through to the massive support and assistance given by Paul Lewin and his team at the Ffestiniog Railway as well as from the FR Company and Trust. The L&B wishes to express their heartfelt thanks for this unprecedented show of solidarity by one of the “old guard” to one of the newcomers.
More Information:
Ffestiniog: http://www.ffestiniograilway.co.uk/carriages.htm
Lynton & Barnstaple: http://lynton-rail.co.uk (for details of how to book online – coming soon)
Yesterday, for the first time, the replica L&B Manning Wardle 2-6-2T LYD moved under her own steam.
Roger Dimmick has posted this brief, tantalising glimpse of those first, tentative moves on YouTube…
Like many others, I can’t wait to see the loco when it visits Woody Bay later in the year.
Jack the Station Cat
August 14th/15th
This famous children’s book character will visit Woody Bay Station, which features in one of the books in the series.
The Jack the Station Cat series of books is 10 years old this summer. Alan Cliff, the author, was shortlisted for the annual Goodchild prize for excellent English in 2003 and elected to the Welsh Acadamy in 2006. There is a new book being launched this summer, “Jack the Station Cat and the August Day”.
On the L&B’s August Day (the weekend of 14th/15th actually) Jack will be visiting Woody Bay, and likely to be seen travelling on the trains, or elsewhere around the station. Children are encouraged to bring their families for a great family fun day out in the beautiful Exmoor countryside…
A one-third scale Manning Wardle 2-6-2 has arrived at the new 7¼ in gauge railway at Woody Bay Station.
Owned by the railway’s Chief Mechanical Engineer, Stuart Wells, “Yeo” was built by Milner Engineering in 1979 and is 8′ long, 26″ wide, with 11″ wheels, and weighs 15cwt.
The 762 Club has started to build the replacement Baldwin 2-4-2 Lyn for the L&B. A small start so far, but patterns for the wheels were recently on show at Woody Bay. More info on the 762 Club website
Martyn de Young