Vintage Weekend - Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 May | The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway

posted by Tony Nicholson on Thu, 19/05/2011 - 11:01

Vintage Weekend - Updated

Over the weekend of 14th & 15th July the Railway held a ‘Vintage Weekend’ which included vintage & classic cars and motorcycles from local and national clubs and owners together with a splendid display of John de Frayssinet's ‘County Gate’ and ‘Bratton Fleming in the Snow’. We also had marquee areas with sales stands, 16mm railway, demonstrations of spinning and other local interests and charities. There were also displays of Exmoor Associates, Exmoor Enterprise, the 762 Club, the Heritage Coaches Project, and the Bideford and Instow Group. The beer tent was popular – of course! On the 7 ¼” railway a variety of locomotives and rolling stock was running including the Trust’s newly overhauled steam loco.

Fred Scholes put on his usual splendid auction and raffle and raised a very helpful £625 for the Trust. With over 1,000 visitors the weekend was judged to have been both enjoyable and successful. Our thanks are due to the volunteers, staff and sponsors who made all this possible and also to the owners of the vintage & classic vehicles - most of whom are very keen to return to Woody Bay soon!

1. This handsome Rolls Royce 20/25 built in 1930 is old enough to remember the L&B.

2. In addition to the Rolls the line-up of early motorcars included this classic MG, "Frogeye" Austin-Healey Sprite and Maigret-era Citroen as well as a selection of other vehicles including vintage motorcycles. Many thanks to all those who brought these wonderful machines to Woody Bay.

3. Malcolm Proudley and Douglas Tutton, the nephews of the late Jack Baker, donated a plaque and cheque to the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Trust in memory of their uncle who kept Woody Bay Station as a holiday home for many years and preserved it almost unchanged from railway operating days before selling it to the L&B in 1995, thereby beginning the renaissance of the legendary line.

4. Plaque in memory of Jack Baker .

5. On Saturday John Ellis, the chairman of the National Railway Heritage Awards, unveiled the plaque commemorating the Invensys Rail Signalling Award presented to the L&B in December by Pete Waterman for the installation of fully interlocked signalling at Woody Bay. The awards are open to national railway companies as well as heritage railways and the Invensys Award is a measure of just how highly regarded the L&B now is in the railway fraternity.

6. National Railway Heritage Awards chairman John Ellis with Paul Gower, Alistair Hall and Martyn Budd, who all played a major part in the Woody Bay signalling project.

7. John Uphill enjoying himself as a passenger.

8. The miniature railway on the 7¼ in gauge line proved very popular over the weekend.

9. The Driver for a Fiver scheme under the supervision of Driver Will Curry attracted ladies and gents alike.

10. A steady stream of visitors admired John de Frayssinet's chillingly convincing cameo model of Bratton Fleming in winter as well as his magnificent County Gate layout based on the L&B and the proposed two-foot gauge Lynmouth and Minehead Light Railway which was never built.

11. The Trust Chairman Peter Miles clearly enjoyed being on the footplate.

12. Dedicated volunteer guard and fireman Jim Price was presented with the Distinguished Service Award by Charles Summers (left) and Peter Miles. Jim, whose joinery skills are also invaluable to the railway he loves, first joined the old L&B Association way back in the 1980s.

13. A wreath adorns Axe's smokebox on the final train of the weekend back from Killington Lane. Packed with volunteers and exhibitors as well as friends of the late Colin Pealling, his widow Marian rode on the footplate and placed Colin's ashes in Axe's firebox for a last journey on the railway he had loved all his life. Appropriately, Axe’s chimney originally fitted to Colin’s Kerr Stuart No.3117 of 1918 - Sgt Murphy is another of Colin's lasting gifts to the L&B.

14. On the return to Woody Bay in glorious spring sunshine Colin's wreath was planted in the Remembrance Garden on the down platform - a moving and uplifting conclusion to a most convivial weekend. The wreath was decked in Southern green and yellow and L&B Indian red.

Photos and Text Tony Nicholson