28th September 2026: Making Tracks in the Yeo Valley
The Barnstaple & Yeo Valley Railway Trust (B&YVRT) has embarked on an
ambitious project to relay 730 metres (almost ½ mile) of track on part of the
original Lynton & Barnstaple Railway trackbed through Snapper Halt.
(The line was closed by the Southern Railway on September 29th 1935 and the
track was removed by the ‘demolition train’ in 1936 – 90 years ago.)
The cost of the project is estimated to be £150,000 – £206 per linear metre of
brand new railway. Each new hardwood sleeper will cost £30, all the new steel
rail required will cost £36,000.
An appeal was launched at the autumn meeting of the B&YVRT held in Barnstaple
on Saturday (26th) which was attended by almost 100 members. Chair of the
charitable organisation, Bruce Knights said “this is an ambitious plan for 2027 but
very definitely achievable. We have already made preparations for doing this,
with essential physical work on the ground carried out by willing volunteers. And
we have had positive pre-planning dialogue with the local authority – North Devon
Council. The track will be laid to a better standard than the original line and fully
capable of handling full size recreations of the engines and coaches which ran on
it.”
Donations – large and small – to support this project, will be welcomed by
B&YVRT. Supporters can buy a track screw (£10), a sleeper (£30) a length of rail
£250 or give whatever sum they are able. A ready-to-run metre length of track
costs £206. Giving is easy and can be made through the Trust’s website
www.byvrt.org.uk or by sending a cheque made payable to Barnstaple & Yeo
Valley Railway Trust to The Treasurer, Barnstaple & Yeo Valley Railway Trust,
Windswept, 27 Ruden Way, Epsom Downs, KT17 3LL
Each donation of over £500 – individual or corporate – will be recorded on a
‘Benefactors Board’ which will be placed at Snapper Halt.
Notes for Editors
Contact us
Call us : B&YVRT Chair Bruce Knights : bruce.knights@byvrt.org : 07919 212658
Email : Press@byvrt.org.uk
About the line : The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway was opened as a private company in 1898
and absorbed into the Southern Railway in 1923. With operating losses mounting, the
Southern railway closed the line in 1935 with the last train running on September 29th – 91
years ago. The most obvious lasting memorials to the line in the Yeo Valley are Chelfham
Viaduct (owned by the Highways England) and former station Snapper Halt which is owned by
the Barnstaple and Yeo Valley Railway Trust.
Video : A short video about the current proposal can be found at
https://byvrt.org.uk/projects/making-tracks/ or https://youtu.be/4HXyXkPvGFo
About the Barnstaple and Yeo Valley Railway Trust (B&YVRT) : The B&YVRT is a Charitable
Incorporated Organisation (CIO) registered with the Charities Commission under Charity
number 1202037, specifically aimed at restoring the former Lynton and Barnstaple Railway in
the southern section from Barnstaple north to Wistlandpound Reservoir. The Trust has
comprehensive charitable objectives which include the preservation and restoration of the
southern section of the line including trackbed, stations, bridges, viaducts, other infrastructure
and rolling stock as well as educational aims related to the railway and the relevant local
history.
Further north on the line : The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Trust (L&BRT) based at Woody Bay
is actively pursuing extending its short (1 mile) line south to Parracombe and then towards
Wistlandpound Reservoir. The B&YVRT has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the
L&BRT aimed at developing co-operation and working together on the overall project to restore the whole of the line, from Barnstaple to Lynton. Most, if not all of B&YVRT’s volunteers are also members of the L&BRT.