Great Western Coffee Shop

Bratton Fleming Station, on the route of the Lynton and Barnstaple railway, was put on the market in March 2020. Exmoor Associates, who seek to buy land on the trackbed of the L&B to enable it to extend, were unable to come up with the purchase price in time and a sale was agreed to a third party.

That sale has now fallen through, and the property is back on the market. Exmoor Associates have launched a JustGiving page to allow people to make donations. I have chucked a few quid in their direction using this method, and wish them the very best!

If you'd like to support them, the details are here: http://www.exmoor-associates.co.uk/2020/06/justgiving-now-for-bf-station/

(http://www.exmoor-associates.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Bratton-Fleming-colourised-1-1024x680.jpg)

If you are a bit more flush than me, you could also consider their share offer, whereby supporters can purchase £500 shares in the property. Details of that offer are here: http://www.exmoor-associates.co.uk/2020/06/bf-station-for-sale-again/



 

Details at https://www.stags.co.uk/properties/12843867/sales


https://mr2.homeflow-assets.co.uk/files/property_asset/image/3994/7177/ViDDRTT1qU6IGeioRJojxw.pdf

Unfortunately there appears to be no facility for gift aiding any contribution. An opportunity lost

Yes, I noticed that... perhaps it will come.

What is the £5,000 pounds for? me peronally I would prefer to have bought the house and then rent it out.

If you mean you want to buy the house and land to rent it to them at a reasonable rate there's nothing to stop you! If you mean that's what they should do then I think that's the aim, with the trackbed eventually rejoining the overall route.

It's not brilliantly explained (possibly all set up in rather a hurry) but the £5,000 appears to be to allow small donations to be made by those who can't afford the larger £500 chunks suggested at http://www.exmoor-associates.co.uk/2020/06/bf-station-for-sale-again/. The home page of that site explains the necessarily quite complex relationship between the current operational railway and the group set up to buy parts of the whole line when they become available, a tricky operation where they presumably have to avoid being held over a barrel by vendors who know they want that specific cottage/patch of land rather than a similar one nearby that isn't on the former route of the line.

I fancy the idea of retiring to a cottage in the countryside - to an old station that's perhaps disused but has trains passing by occasionally, or is open and used by a smattering of passengers.  And, indeed, I declared myself "retired" in March and started to draw a pension in May.   But the head rules the heart, and there's no overnight lightbulb moment that has Lisa and I planning to up roots and move to Bratton Fleming, looking to retire to the fringe of Exmoor and do so with an arrangement with the Exmoor Steam Railway to encourage their trains to return past our door, stopping to drop off / pick up a few passengers, in coming years.

When my Dad retired - and that was now about 40 years ago - he and Mum moved from the London area (Petts Wood) where they had been for 30 years to Devizes.  Dad had commuted into London on a 'classic' daily basis, and I was brought up there on British Rail Southern Electric, community by train to primary school - 7 to 11 and 11 to 16, and into Uni in London thereafter, as well as to part time and work experience type jobs.  I had never imagined they would move on his retirement - they just were so much *in* Petts Wood and its community, and spoke of a dislike of retiring away from everything to the seaside at Worthing or Weston-super-mare.  So I was shocked at their move, and worried;  I need not have been, as they quickly became involved and pillars of certain elements of Devizes, Wiltshire and Wessex life and enjoyed a long and rewarding retirement.

But Melksham is not Petts Wood, and Bratton Fleming is not Devizes.  There is rather more linkage / similarity between Melksham and Devizes and Lisa and I are already knitted into the community here.

The idea of an old station does attract ... Altnabraec or Yetminster or any number (alphabetically) between. A tragedy that so many station buildings from Melksham to Morfa Mawddach were demolished.   And I do recall looking wistfully in through the filthy windows of the approaching-derelict station buildings at Georgemas Junction a couple of years ago.  But it won't happen, and it double-plus wouldn't be Bratton Fleming if it did!

* Heritage Railways that are rebuilding lines start small for the most part, and they extend station by station sometimes with obscure stations as termini for years on end.   Woody Bay to Killington Lane at present. On to Parracombe perhaps, then to Blackmoor and next Bratton Fleming - but could / would our home become the terminus for hoards of tourists in the summer, with us and other residents battening down the hatches and festooning what little bits of privacy we had with "keep out" signs which the vast majority would understand, but a small minority would see as a challenge.   How long of that before the final thrust to Snapper, Pilton and Barnstaple, and only then the passing trains and occasional passenger that the heart dreamed.

* As we get older and less able to get about - what an isolated spot and what a naff public transport service. 3 buses a day to Barnstaple (Town, not current station) - 07:39, 15:17 and 18:23, getting back at 08:24, 11:42, 17:22 and 19:12 (other end of route is Lynton)

* What is there to do in winter ... what community ... wonder what the internet is like.  Having lived at the back end of beyond from 1982 to 1999 as an "incomer", not an experience I would want to share again, though that could be very unfair to the F-lemmings or whatever they call themselves.

Still a nice dream ... and perhaps a holiday beside a quiet station some time.  St Germans or Hayle perhaps.

Edit - grammar correction

Would love to buy the house and you would all be wellcome at any reasonable time of day,but not at the same time.

I can dream,can't I?

As your personal Brittany rail properties agent, i can draw your attention to the following 3 opportunities...

- You have just missed out on the station building at Pont-de-Buis (https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gare_de_Pont-de-Buis) which is open and sees a handful of trains call on the Brest-Quimper line. It was sold for just over €24000 to the local council and is apparently slated to become their new town hall. Mind you, bung them slightly more than that and who knows...

- A rail enthusiast property developer is currently redeveloping the historic station building at Pontivy (https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gare_de_Pontivy), which still sees fairly regular freight trains, and you could view these at your leisure from one of the 4 duplex apartments being built on the upper levels. He is doing this in conjunction with the local authorities, who are building one of your favourite things in the whole wide world - a bus/rail interchange! This will include a new waiting hall, ticket office and retail space on the ground floor, the idea being to integrate regional bus, local bus, cycle routes etc with the revived tourist passenger trains that were due to start this summer but, thanks to Covid-19, are more likely now in 2021 as a first step to full passenger rail reopening - thus creating grahame heaven in the process.

- Or you could go for tonights star prize, which is the former station at Plemet. (https://www.bienici.com/annonce/vente/plemet/maison/9pieces/immo-facile-35439921?xtor=AD-659) This definately has the grahame factor, with many of the original features - including the former station latrines - still intact, whilst looking rather nice inside too. Only drawback is the rails have been replaced by a greenway on the former trackbed, but think of all those lovely walkies...

The choice is yours  ;D

Tempted, but sticking with UK where I know about the jurisdiction.  Not too worried about getting a bus stop at the station ... but worried about actually getting any buses to call there.

Some of my pix from Facebook ... and with confirmation from one of those core rail folks who is an advocate of better public transport even outside the working week.  Bit of a long way, though

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/gjdream.jpg)

I am very conscious that as a dweller of a building made of the most fragile grade of horticultural glass I am in absolutely no position to start casting nasturtiums, but... my point in posting this was to draw attention to the opportunity for members to help the L&B buy a particularly useful bit of trackbed!

Sounds like you could do with a change of abode. As your personal Brittany rail properties agent, i can draw your attention to the following 3 opportunities...

I'm kidding, I'm kidding!

In case it got lost in the Flow country excursion via Brittany:

I did bid at the auction when Great Somerford station house was on the market in 1980 (then owned by Wessex Water), but unfortunately somebody else had £1000 more in their pocket than I did. The hammer fell at £20,600 which, in 1980, was a goodly sum for what was actually on offer

Not that there would have been any trains passing by mind, as the junction for the Malmesbury branch was changed from Dauntsey to Little Somerford c.1933

Mine's made of mud and straw, with a bit of wood. The TV aerial, which is modern and long-lasting, didn't make it through a storm.

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49987953496_846d1aa557_c.jpg)

It was built in the mid-17th century in anticipation of a railway passing by. Only later did they learn that they don't go up steep hills easily.

I fully support the L&B with its current proposal to reopen Wistlandpound back to Lynton with a P&R at Blackmoor Gate and have made financial donations in the past. But its been 14 long years since the railway was extended to its present one mile of running line and I have to question if throwing money at the section South of Wistlandpound is a good idea given the huge costs involved.

Its fantastic that the Chelfham viaduct is preserved, but I just feel that all efforts should be focused on what is being planned for now rather than the romance of buying stations that will cost tens of millions of pounds to reach at some distant point in the future

It is so hard to know how far ahead to safeguard - who would have expected the Bluebell to reach all the way to East Grinstead, or the West Welsh Highland to reach all the way to Caernarvon.  Who knows when / if the line from Lynton will reach Barnstaple itself - or even suggest it extends over a re-instated standard gauge route to the Tarka Line on its way from Exeter to Bideford.

Exit to correct "West" to "Welsh"

Don't you mean Welsh Highland, Grahame. You've got your countries meddled  ::)

Fixed. Thank you.

Edit to correct "exit" to "edit"?

(Sorry  ;D)

I don't think it's at all hard to know how far ahead to safeguard: the whole route needs to be in safe hands! The point of Exmoor Associates is to secure the route. If they do their job well, there should be little cost associated with this; they may in fact to be able to run at a profit.

One the other hand, just imagine if some Grobbite (https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/first-phase-multi-million-pound-1306343) were to acquire Bratton Fleming... that could potentially delay the project for years and add a lot to the cost.

You have good points there.  It is excellent to be reminded just how difficult it can be to re-establish an old route should there be someone who has a different vision with an interest along the way.

If you follow the Gosh*tes err sorry, Grobbites link down to the comments there is a properly unhinged comment from 'you know how' that compares the railway to building 250,000 new homes on Exmoor  ??? :) Protesters really need to learn to stick to the facts, even complaining that its "a railway line between two car parks" is a gross distortion of the reality of rebuilding an historic railway between two of the original stations and running replica trains. Then they wonder why decisions go against them...?

But back to the topic, I worry about funding for the first extension, a lot has happened in the near decade since the Welsh Highland was completed and a lot has happened since March. If, as we must all fear, a major heritage line folds in the near future it will send shockwaves through the sector and call into question new investment.

I admire the vision of those in charge of the L&B but i was always for an extension towards Parracombe once the trackbed was purchased in 2009 and some prominent figures such as the FR's Paul Lewin have voiced the same opinion. The actual running line is less than a mile at present and hasn't moved an inch in either direction since 2005.

It's an interesting question: what would happen if a major heritage line folded?

Often a real tragedy of rail closures is that the trackbeds - the routes - are sold off piecemeal and thus lost for other uses. Nowadays it seems unlikely that this would happen if a line, be it heritage or otherwise, ceased to operate.

Who knows what the future holds? Could a failed heritage line re-invent itself as a profitable railbike adventure?

As to the L&B: it has, as you say, been a slow process. They are playing a long game. I really, really hope they win in the end!

I thought that was the main reason for having a distinct legal entity owning the land, and perhaps some of what's built on it, from the operating one. If set up right, it can't go bust even if it's a an unsatisfied creditor of the operating venture that did.

There are 146 members of the Heritage Railway Association which could be characterised as "operational tracks between places" and looking at the map / list there are some more "destination line" operations which are not part of the National networks.

Almira-6:jun20 grahamellis$ sort hra | grep ^Type | uniq -c | sort -nr
  79 Type: Standard Gauge
  51 Type: Narrow Gauge
  32 Type: Museum
   9 Type: Cliff Railway / Funicular
   7 Type: Tram
   6 Type: Steam Centre

Some have gone already ... though I would not call them "major" ones (some may argue) Dobwalls, Lochy, Isle of Mull, and I seem to recall but cannot quote one or two that have started with ambitious routes and trimmed back.  I am looking to avoid new speculation about any particular line folding, but lines to Okehampton and to Stanhope were going through widely discussed problems even before the pandemic.   I would, I'm afraid, not be surprised to see services ceasing to operate in places and not returning - perhaps some won't return later this year or even next year or ....

I would be surprised if the costs of maintaining a track and trackbed could be met long term from a rail bike operation; I note that many of the examples around the world run steam / diesel trains on peak days and rail bikes on shoulder days, early in the day and in the early evening.

Speculation - longer line trackbeds would probably be protected but lines might well be disused for a long period; I would not expect to see building in the middle of long trackbeds in the short term, though temporary structure to shore up collapsing overbridges could become permanent to start the rot, bridges over rivers be dangerous and removed and the rot could start.  No magic wand of a new operator taking over, even if pre-2020 passenger journeys were into 6 figures per annum.

The station is now under offer again, and fundraising has been suspended at just over £7,000.

I would like to think the line to Okehampton is safe from any adverse development or loss of infrastructure in the short to medium term due to the political will to both restore passengers services on the existing line (feasible) and to rebuild the missing link (medium to long term at best).

Its interesting to look around the heritage railway websites and see which are attracted strong financial support fo their reopening appeals and those that sadly aren't.

I pretty much followed the Okehampton line recently en route to Tavistock from Crediton. I could see little that would impact on the line until Tavistock itself, where I believe the council have some buildings in the way. I have read that they will gladly sacrifice those.

If Meldon viaduct is beyond repair then from my memory of the site it is feasible to build a new viaduct on the Dartmoor side of the existing structure. It will be costly, but then building a new downstream viaduct for Barnstaple wasn't cheap either (never mind HS2).

Not so long ago, as I remember it, Ribblehead viaduct was beyond economic repair...

All viaducts are beyond repair until someone decides to use them again. The one at Pill went from crumbling ruin to right as rain for £100,000 if memory serves, when the Portbury Dock line was opened.

The examples quoted so far are all masonry, whereas Meldon on is made from iron (or steel?).  I can think of another non-masonry one (Barmouth) but not an iron one.

Bridges like the Royal Albert Bridge at Saltash have wrought iron spans (or has the material been changed over the years) and I think the central pier is at least partly metal.

The fact that Meldon Viaduct has not been demolished for safety reasons suggests that it has a certain level of structural integrity. Any structure that hasn't fallen down can be repaired; whether that repair makes economic sense is another matter.

Ashton Swingbridge in Bristol is a riveted steel structure which had no maintenance for at least 50 years. If you'd asked me a couple of years ago whether it could be repaired I would have guessed not; you could put your fist through the rust holes in the plate girders. It is now fully restored and carries a MetroBus route and cycle path...

... although it does demonstrate another traditional issue, that of starting work, drilling the first hole, then going back to the commissioning body to say "It's a lot worse than we thought." It still scrubbed up a lot less expensively than building a replacement would have been. Plus it's not seeing anything like as much use as was envisaged. Always a danger.

There may be fewer buses than anticipated, but an awful lot of bicycles use it.

Cyclists have recently got into the habit of using the guideway, perhaps to socially distance themselves from the pedestrians who tend to fill the cycle path. The other day I saw a cyclist who was evidently shocked to meet a bus coming the other way. If it wasn't for the fact that the buses have to slow down to a crawl to use the guideway, he might not have been able to pull his bicycle out of the way in time...

Sadly, a cyclist died on the Cambridgeshire misguided busway after making a similar misjudgement. The Bristol one is likely to get a lot busier now, with the airport reopening. The smaller supplementary local service that also uses the carbon saving airport route seems to have reopened with a limited 3 bus per hour service, 0600 to 1900 weekdays only.

Presumably this story, from May 2019, relates to a different incident:

Source: road.cc (https://road.cc/content/news/260125-cambridge-cyclist-died-head-crash-after-clipping-kerb-separated-him-guided)

You have to feel for the bus driver, who might have been able to swerve to avoid the cyclist if the bus had been on a normal road.

My mistake - I read a Chinese whisper version. I agree regarding the bus driver.

I had a very good look at Meldon Viaduct about 3 years ago. It certainly looked to be in remarkably good condition. Although there have been various stories over the years that it would need major work to make it suitable for a revived train service. Does this depend on the route being single or double track?

I have always assumed the viaduct was steel and of relatively modern design. So I thought I had better check and no it is of wrought and cast iron and built as the original structure(s) in 1874/1878. It was built in two single track versions side by side and joined up! One can see it has been strengthened at various times with additional trusses. As likely some of this was a wartime measure to carry heavier traffic but other work was done during the BR period. So clearly there is scope for repair or modifications to the structure.

There's a channel on YouTube which follows the story of Leo Sampson Goolden, who is restoring the 1909 wooden sailing yacht Tally Ho (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg-_lYeV8hBnDSay7nmphUA/videos). To date Leo has replaced the keel, frames, knees, floors, beamshelves, bilge stringers, deck structure, stern post and stem. The only original part that has been kept to date is a section of the original transom. I suspect that Leo may have had the benefit of a classical education, because he devoted an entire episode (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW15VnkEmQ0) of his YouTube show to sharing his understanding of the Ship of Theseus (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus). You or I might have referred to the tale of the farmer's broom...

But to paraphrase Leo:


To look at this another way, when GWR locomotive 111 The Great Bear emerged from its general repairs in 1924 with a new name and slightly fewer wheels, the accountants were presumably happy to move a few beans out of their 'maintenance' pot rather than their 'new construction' pot (in those days, one has to assume, maintenance was considered a worthwhile activity). Little else other than the number plates was actually re-used. Nowadays, it seems we satisfy the accountants (and politicians) by pretending that maintenance is actually something worth getting excited about (https://fosbr.org.uk/fixing-the-roof-at-temple-meads/)!

Another reason it hasn't been demolished may be (I think) that its  a Listed structure

I had a quick look on Google this morning to prove or disprove that,  but I couldn't find anything. Mind you I didn't spend that much time looking!

Meldon Viaduct is a scheduled monument or Heritage Asset, under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. I think that trumps listing in terms of protection.

Last I heard it was listing towards Torquay...

From around 10 a.m. on 4th July 2020

https://www.facebook.com/groups/lyntonandbarnstaple/permalink/10163850302805128/

Can I ask a few things? the house is being sold for approx £350,000 so 700 persons at £500 each would suffice.

I think what we should get, is maybe a chance to stay at the location,maybe one night only to those who contributed to the fund

Or if thats not possible  why not rent out the property for a period of a maximum one week to non contributers.

I personally would not be keen on seeing my name on a plaque saying thank you to XXX for helping securing  these premises.

The cheque is already written,but if the house is not bought I would like my money returned.

Surely there must be various grants we could obtain to get all the money? Nathional Lottery and the like.

Unable to find out how long we have to collect the funds.

Can some one give me an exact location of where the house is.

Huge number of shareholders ... practical management issues for decades ...

I suspect the Exmoor Holdings (is that their name?) have skills and ideas that far surpass yours and mine ... and are the people to look at and get in touch with via the "£500 or more" link.    But, yes, there is potentially a hire home business in there.

I wonder if anyone has approached the Landmark Trust?   https://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/about-us/  and asked the $64,000 about how they would feel to covenant to allow a railway to come through?

I can vouch for the quality of Landmark Trust accomodation. We had a family holiday back in the 1960s staying at Fort Clonque on (sort of) Alderney. It's actually built on an off island rock attached by a tidal causeway.  It was like a dream come true for us that our parents had chosen a 'castle on an island' for our holiday.

We might not be the best people to ask, but I'm sure the L&B or Exmoor Associates could quickly answer all your questions. The house is here: https://goo.gl/maps/V9XjxuUA2StETeHt5


The Landmark Trust take on buildings that are in danger of falling down. I don't think anyone's suggesting that that's likely to happen here; it's all about securing the building and trackbed for the L&B.

Yes ... I quoted them as an organisation that takes on buildings for historic purposes but you're right that they tend to go for "last legs" stuff.  Others such as the National Trust also take on buildings as holiday lets with a sympathy to history - even quite close to the L&B.

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/holidays/mortuary-cottage-devon?HolidayMapClick=012002
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/holidays/woolley-lodge-devon?HolidayMapClick=012003

Key here would be heritage v preservation and being sure - should someone take it on - they would ensure trains could pass in due course.

L&B Facepack page reports that the crowdfunding aspect of their appeal has reached £15,000 of their £20,000 (formerly £10,000) target.

I think rolling targets are a feature of JustGiving...

It seems that an agreement has been reached with the vendors to get funds together by the end of the month. There also seem (according to their Facebook page) to have been some substantial donations. It's getting interesting now.

Edit: Developments have even inspired me to dust off the wallet an make a very modest donation a few hours ago.

Indeed. I note that the vendor now has a high-interest property.  Any prospective purchaser will quickly become aware of the very large number of people wanting the house and land they are selling to be available at a future date to a re-opened railway, and that will not be positive on the price offer, I would not have thought - rather like buying a property with planning blight.  Should a prospective purchaser not be aware very quickly in the interest (s)he will be very likely to change his/her decision to offer once (s)he finds out.

On the other hand, it wouldn't be the first time that someone has been able to hold a would-be purchaser to ransom. This happened to Bristol's MetroBust, when someone realised too late that they had forgotten to buy the land need for the second bridge at Bathurst Basin. You can name your price. The chap who built my own house found too late that what he thought was part of the drive actually belonged to a neighbour. He, or rather his negligent solicitor, ended up buying a strip of terra firma at an equivalent price per acre that would not have looked out of place in Mayfair.

With the station, I think there could be a good opportunity to make a return on the investment, subject to a decent rapport between owner and railway.

As a quick update to those following the Bratton Fleming station purchase appeal. The Just Giving part of the fund raiser has passed the 17 grand mark so there seems to still be a fair bit of momentum there.
I'm not completely sure what the overall total is, or indeed where the "winning line" to guarantee the acquisition has been placed so I think the bottle of champagne (or Somerset/Devon cider) is still on ice.

Apparently the Just Giving appeal has passed £19,000 today.

Well the good news from Exmoor Associates and Friends of Bratton Fleming Station is that THEY have now put in an offer for the station:

http://www.exmoor-associates.co.uk/2020/07/bratton-fleming-purchase/

Seemingly accepted, subject to the usual shenanigans.
http://www.exmoor-associates.co.uk/2020/07/bratton-fleming-purchase/

And as a contrast in locations, now up for sale, North Woolwich Station for a million or so.
https://www.strettons.co.uk/property-search/commercial/property/25067/the-old-station-5-pier-road-royal-docks-london-e16-2jj

A step closer there - see Lynton-Rail (https://www.lynton-rail.org.uk/story/parracombe-halt-ours)

Not sure of the final / current outcome at Bratton Fleming, but here is Blackmoor Gate

https://www.lynton-rail.co.uk/news/view/old-station-house-inn-purchased

It seems that they were successful.  The Exmoor Associates acquisition arm of the L&B made the following announcement a while back.

https://www.exmoor-associates.co.uk/2020/11/bratton-fleming-station-is-ours/