On Saturday 24th April a team of L&BR volunteers and supporters assembled for a workday that would transform the station building at Chelfham to a similar condition as it was originally built in 1898, i.e. without the extensions added after the 1935 closure of the railway.
It has been a good week for the railway which - despite current Covid restrictions - experienced the usual passenger numbers for this time of the year. All being well, we would like to maintain or indeed, exceed our passenger numbers throughout the remainder of the year.
Here are some photos taken by Tony Nicholson on Tuesday 13th, the first day of operation.
Preparation work for the reopening of the railway was stepped up this week. Whilst observing the government Covid-19 virus control regulations, volunteers and staff have been working on various projects.
First, to ensure our two steam locomotives can safely re-enter service, both Kerr, Stuart & Co Ltd, No. 2451 ‘AXE’ and our new build ‘LYN’ were given their Annual Boiler Test. We are pleased to confirm that both engines successfully passed the test.
We are delighted to announce that the L&BR has been successful with a Google Ad Grant application.
This will give the railway a £7,225 per month, (£87,000 PA) SEO (search engine optimisation) marketing budget to drive more traffic to our website and attract new visitors, funding and trust members.
This is a real achievement as many organisations fail in their attempts to secure this lucrative funding from Google!!
Further to his previous Part 1 posting dated 7th December 2020 (can be viewed HERE) and Part 2 posting dated 26th January 2021 (viewed HERE), Malcolm Kitchen has sent a further report on the work to recreate Tyer’s No.6 Tablet Instruments.
Following concerns raised by a Parracombe resident, investigations showed that there was evidence of ash die-back with the potential to cause risks to life and property.
Tree Surgeons carried out a survey between Cricket Field Lane and Fairview and an application was made to Exmoor National Park for planning permission to fell the trees which are in a conservation area.
We are pleased to announce that our submitted planning application has been approved by North Devon Council, allowing us to demolish the existing disused timber lodge which is in a poor state of repair. A new single-storey timber lodge will be built in its place, providing the railway with an insulated building offering modern overnight accommodation facilities.
Our thanks to L&B Member Ric Auger for not only producing the plans/drawings, but also dealing with all aspects of the planning application itself.