Exmoor Associates is pleased to announce the purchase of an estimated 407 yard (18½ chains) section of trackbed between Collard Bridge (Bridge 18) and Northleigh Bridge (Bridge 19). The new section is opposite Collard Bridge Farm on the other side of the River Yeo and closely follows the course of the Goodleigh Road, bridging the gap between EA’s Collard Bridge and the Northleigh Plantation trackbeds. The new trackbed is heavily overgrown with vegetation which will require considerable effort to remove as the photographs below testify.
1. Map showing the newly purchased Collard Bridge Farm section.
2. View from Collard Bridge (Bridge 18) looking down along the trackbed towards Chelfham.
3. View across the trackbed towards the River Yeo just visible through the trees from the adjacent Goodleigh Road (Barnstaple is to the left, Lynton to the right).
4. These two concrete telegraph poles are currently almost obscured by the overgrowth and appear to be remaining artefacts from the original pre-1935 railway.
5. View along the trackbed looking down from Northleigh Bridge (Bridge 19) looking towards Snapper Halt and Barnstaple.
Purchasing the many pieces of the former Lynton & Barnstaple Railway back together is very hard
work, and we only have limited funds with which to do it. If you would like to help us with future
acquisitions, please spare a few moments to view the “Support Us” page on this website.
Photo credits: Rob Sadd.
20 thoughts on “New trackbed purchase opposite Collard Bridge Farm: October 2015”
Well done again .Great result.
Ben Ellis
Congratulations! Well done to all those involved in securing the track bed. Great news!
Excellent news
Well Done
Just to echo Ben Ellis. Well done indeed. It all takes time but step by step we and the main Railway are getting there.
Another piece of the jigsaw,well done and thank you.
Great work folks. This a great narrow gauge adventre and project.
Slowly slowly catchee monkey. Splendid effort. Looks more like a wood from the air too! Log burners call to arms?
Well done indeed and spcial thanks to Rob for the pictures. It couldn’t have been easy.
What an exciting purchase – I really hope I can find some time to help on the clearance job.
Special thanks to Mike Buse. I don’t know how he does it! He needs an award for persistence and persuasion. The Directors of EA have done a great job from those early beginnings at Collard Bridge. Many thought it couldn’t be done. They have been proved wrong! Best wishes to all shareholders.
Brilliant work
Well done, this looks like a key acquisition linking two sites, so brilliant work!
Many thanks for all your work on behalf of the company. We really appreciate what you have achieved.
I wonder if this calls for a ceremonial demolition of the wall built under Collard Bridge?
Now, who to ask to perform the task?
A great encouragement and incentive to press on!
Excellent. This, I presume, is the conclusion of a ‘slight’ query to land that was shown at the AGM as ‘ours’ subject to clarification of a boundary. As to the re-enforced telegraph poles, Southern Railway in origin, cast at the Exmouth Jct concrete works, do you want any more? If so, unless removed in the last two or so years, plenty just thrown day the embankments on the ‘back road’ through the New Forest when ‘Beechinged’ in the 60s.
A great achievement, and an encouragement to us all to provide further support to EA.
A previous poster said it all… looks like a small firewood business is in the offing here! This stretch will soon be a long as the current line.
Great to have yet more trackbed! Lets hope theres a few more volunteers out there to help cut down the overgrowth. I’ll be doing my bit!
Congratulations to the team, another great section to add!
Fantastic news well done to all involved and thank you for all your hard work.