Helston Railway - line re-opening plans

[whole diary]

[chrisoates]

I went to have a look two years ago when the first few yards of track were laid - access is through the Trevarno Estate http://www.trevarno.co.uk/.

The problem is that the Estate is up for sale - it's on the Hayle to Heslton road and also has a marvelous gardening tools museum.

[vacman]

I think some of the land is now in private ownership and may have been built on between Helston and Penzance.

The branch goes nowhere near Penzance!

[RichardB]

It's been great to see the progress of the Helston Railway Group.  Their ultimate aim is to restore about three miles of the old branch.  A steam railway here would complement the Bodmin & Wenford and would certainly not detract from them or the national rail network.

There is no prospect of NR^» (Network Rail - home page) services to anywhere near Helston, I'm afraid.  Rightly, the Helston Railway has never sought this.

All power to their collective elbows.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Helston People:

Helston Railway to Remain Open Despite Trevarno Closure

Helston Railway has confirmed that it will be business as usual for them despite Trevarno Gardens closing its doors to the public from 22nd April. The Railway will now also be offering passenger brake van rides twice a week to help attract extra visitors.

Trevarno has agreed to allow visitors to the Railway to continue using the Trevarno Gardens car park but instead of heading in via the kiosk, through the courtyard and gardens there will be a new and shorter route up to the Railway directly from the top corner of the existing car parking area.

Helston Railway Chairman Richard Barnes says: "Of course, a lot of our customers were originally just visitors to the gardens who then came up to see us, but from now on they will be dedicated railway visitors, which over the next few months we hope will turn into a really large number.

Last year, apart from a couple of special events, those who came up to the railway were only able to watch the work in progress and find out how well we were progressing, but our aim has always been to get passengers back on the Helston Branch Line. This year we are doing exactly that!"

He adds: "We are open and running services on Thursdays and Sundays, and instead of just looking, anyone who visits will be able to travel on our brake van up and down the line for over a mile.  We believe that this tremendous and unique experience will stand on its own, even without the gardens, and will go from strength to strength, over the coming years."

For more information visit the Helston Railway website.

[Andy]

On their facebook page, the group have posted a couple of extraordinary photos of the "excavations" that are going on at Truthall Halt in preparation for the rebuilding of the station. These have revealed the barlow rails and wooden sleepers used in the construction of the original platform there. It will be rather nice to see the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) pagoda shelter return to Cornwall once again!

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Trevarno Estate closure 'will not stop private railway'


Volunteers have spent seven years reinstating part of the Helston branch line at Trevarno - where the first chairman of the Helston Railway Company lived

The closure of country estate in Cornwall will not affect a private railway operating on it, volunteers have said.

Helston Railway has a mile of track that runs through Trevarno Estate near Helston.

The 750-acre estate closed to the public at the weekend after attempts to sell it failed.

But enthusiasts who run the railway have insisted it will continue to operate.

Until its closure, the ^10m Trevarno Estate attracted about 80,000 visitors a year.

The original Helston branch line, which connected the town to main line services to London, was closed in 1964 as part of cuts recommended by Dr Richard Beeching, the chairman of the British Railways Board.

The not-for-profit Helston preservation society has spent more than seven years reinstating part of the branch line from Trevarno to Truthall Bridge, which opened in December.

It had also created a station platform at Trevarno, hoping to attract some of its many visitors.

"When the estate was open we weren't actually running passenger services... now we've lost the foot fall from Trevarno, but we can offer them rides," society chairman Richard Barnes told BBC News.

He said the owners of the estate had not only given permission for work on the track to continue, but had been "actively supporting" the society.

The preservation society said Trevarno was the "most appropriate starting point" as it was the home of William Bickford Smith - the first chairman of the original Helston Railway.

"[But] we've got a positive attitude towards the railway and the closing of Trevarno is a bit of a blip, but I don't think it will cause us too much trouble and we'll proceed as far as we possibly can," Spike Laugher, the preservation company's general manager said.

[Lee]

From the Falmouth Packet:

Helston Railway's 125th year

Nothing can match the importance of Flora Day in the Helston calendar, but this year another celebration took place the day afterwards marking significant events in the transport history of the town.
 
A plaque was presented on Wednesday by Elizabeth Bolitho at Hens Horn Court, on the site of the former Helston Railway Goods Shed, to commemorate the opening of the Helston Railway between Helston and Gwinear Road.
 
The first train on this line ran exactly 125 years ago that day, on May 9, 1887.

The plaque was presented on behalf of the Helston Railway Preservation Society to the Directors of Coastline Housing, who now own and manage Hens Horn Court as sheltered housing, and Margaret Williamson who is their longest staying resident.
 
Also marked, by the presentation of a second plaque, was the terminus at the Lizard where the first railway company operated bus service ran in 1903.
 
Robert Nettleton, chief executive of Coastline Housing said: ^On behalf of Coastline I am delighted that there will now be a plaque providing a permanent reminder of the historical value of a building that is much used by the residents of Hens Horn Court.^
 
Alan Burton, the chairman of trustees of the Helston Railway Charity said: ^This marks a real milestone in the history of the railway, particularly as now 125 years after the first train made its way from Helston, and some 50 years after the railway was closed, there are again trains running on the part of the line that our volunteers have restored.^

At the event in Hens Horn Court, a new book about the 125 years of the Helston Railway by Chris Heaps was launched.
 
This book also covers the history of the bus service to The Lizard and copies of the book are available for sale from the railway charity.
 
After refreshments in the former goods shed, now restored as part of the Hens Horn Court sheltered housing development, the invited guests and Railway Volunteers were conveyed to The Lizard in a number of restored buses.
 
These included a 1933 ex-Western National single decker provided by The Thames Valley & Great Western Omnibus Trust; a former First Western National Bristol VR double decker restored to former Great Western Railway (^GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)^) chocolate and cream livery in 2003 and supplied by the Cornwall Bus Preservation Society, and an ex-London Transport Routemaster preserved by Western Greyhound.
 
At The Top House Inn at the Lizard, a Transport Trust Red Wheel plaque was unveiled by Mrs Bolitho, which was affixed on the wall of the pub to mark the terminus of the first railway-operated motor bus service in Great Britain.
 
This ground breaking bus service was introduced by the GWR in August 1903 following demand for the construction of a light railway from Helston which the GWR had determined would not be financially viable.

[Kernow Otter]

One and all

Seems the Helston Railway has come up with significant local objections to their ongoing expansion plans.  See their Facebook page for details, and should you want to support it, a link to their online petition to be presented to Cornwall Council.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/helston-railway-planning-permission/

Many thanks for reading

[Andy]

Fellow members of the Coffee Shop may be interested in reading about the trying time currently being experienced by the preservationists at the Helston Railway in West Cornwall, whose efforts to establish a working base are at risk. The group's website gives the details and a link to an i-petition they plan to submit to Cornwall Council in support of their application for planning permission. 

http://www.helstonrailway.co.uk/news-full?Planning-Permission-Myth-Busters-2-The-Parish-Council-response-146

[LiskeardRich]

Yet more incompetence by the local Parish council, regarding many of the objections.
A look through The Packet News website sees the regularly most commented stories relating to Helston Council and surrounding parishes' incompetence and inability to use accurate facts.

[LiskeardRich]

The petition has got a famous signature within it now.

http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/10603768.Hugh_Grant_visits_Helston_Railway_during_tour_of_west_Cornwall/

Hollywood heart throb Hugh Grant has continued his tour of the Helston and Lizard area with a visit to Helston Railway.

Hugh, who was yesterday reported as being at Roskilly^s enjoying an ice cream, also spent some time at Prospidnick Station, where railway enthusiasts have been restoring the old Helston branch line tracks.

His first visit was to the buffet car, where volunteers Margaret and Pam were on duty.

Margaret said her ^jaw dropped^ when she realised who her famous customer was.

Hugh then took a 25-minute train ride along the section of restored track before returning to the station for a cream tea, where he was happy to give autographs and chat to staff and visitors.

While there Hugh signed the railway company^s petition to build a new access track, sidings, a platform,100-space car park, amenity and picnic space at Prospidnick Bridge, to the north at Trevarno Farm.

Article contains a picture of Hugh with the brake van

There is a more in depth article on This Is Cornwall http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/Hollywood-actor-Hugh-Grant-stuns-staff-Helston/story-19639483-detail/story.html#axzz2bIfnx3WN

[Chris from Nailsea]

From thisisthewestcountry:

Helston Railway tea ladies' brush with Hollywood superstar



For these lucky ladies cream tea turned into 'scream tea' after unexpectedly serving a rather famous customer.

Last week the Packet reported how Margaret Gough and Pam Hobbs had served a familiar looking man in the buffet car at Helston Railway - only to transpire it was none other than Hollywood film star Hugh Grant.

Pam said: ^I was a bit cheeky and asked him if he would be willing to have his photograph taken and he said, 'Why don't we take one of me behind the counter with you both?' "

"So that's what happened. He was just like you expect him to be, charming, smiling and kind.^

So if they look a bit like the cats that got the cream, well, who can blame them?

[trainer]

In view of the Council's attitude, possibly the only kind of grant they're going to get. 


Edit to correct typo

[grahame]

Fellow members of the Coffee Shop may be interested in reading about the trying time currently being experienced by the preservationists at the Helston Railway in West Cornwall, whose efforts to establish a working base are at risk.

http://www.westbriton.co.uk/New-home-Helston-Railway-plans-rejected/story-21323499-detail/story.html

At a meeting in Camborne on Monday the committee voted against an application by the tourist railway to create a platform and parking area at Trevarno Farm, Lower Prospidnick, which also included new business premises for skincare company Organic Trevarno.

The vote was 8-4, with two abstentions.

Planning officers had recommended that the application be approved.

Concerns had been raised by people living near the site about noise, traffic and lack of privacy and local Cornwall councillor John Keeling said he had called for the plans to be rejected.

[snip]

"It wasn't an easy decision but I did look at all the facts," he said. "From the point of view of the residents of Prospidnick, it will be a welcome decision.

"I want to see tourism booming in my county as much as anyone else, but this is a quiet hamlet and these people have the right to live peacefully."

[sprinterguard]

Christ. Is there a local election to be won?