Work in Progress: 8th December

Chelfham Trackbed Clearance

For a change of scenery and location, the L&B volunteers of the Thursday gang re-located today to Chelfham Station to assist in the ongoing clearance of smaller trees overhanging the trackbed there.

With Martyn Budd and his dogs away this week on 'Railway business', it was up to Nigel Thompson to organise the work and mess room facilities at the station building. Catering manager Judy Williams kindly supplied home-made soup, rolls, mince pies and biscuits.

The weather was drizzly, wet and windy with some occasional heavy downpours. It was difficult to get the bonfires going. Some rhododendrum trees were cut down with the chain saws and the branches burnt whilst the larger trunks stored for cutting into logs.

1. Dave Drayson uses his scouting skills to start a new bonfire with some dry twigs and newspapers.

2. Looking back towards the station showing the piles to burn from the trackbed.

3. The objective is to cut down these overhanging trees so removing the tunnel effect and to encourage the drying out of the trackbed. John Edmonds walks back to the station.

4. Everyone enjoys their soup and rolls during the lunch break inside the station building at Chelfham.

5. The soup and rolls provided by Judy proved very popular on this wet day on the L&B trackbed.

6. After lunch the bonfire took off well as the gang cut up more branches for it.

7. Looking through the bonfire flaming up well now.

8. The cleared bank above the trackbed as the branches lie in the trackbed before burning.

9. Graham Bendell (in yellow) helps to move the branches onto the bonfire.

By dusk all the fallen branches had been fed to the bonfires and the trackbed was cleared once again. The sides too had been cleared on this short stretch of trackbed. Further clearance along the route will take place later this winter, thus helping the L&B's trackbed emerge from the wilderness, and helping to bring forward the day when trains will once again run along this part of the line.

Words and photos by Nigel Thompson.