First Kent Group show confirmed

The first outing of the L&B Kent Group exhibition stand (apart from a visit to Great Yeldham last year) has been arranged. We will be at Dunkirk (the village in Kent - not France!) on 31st May. It would be great to see some L&B members and supporters there, so if you can, do please come and say "Hi".  See below for more details.

The following email has been sent to all L&B members in Kent for which we have current email addresses. If you would like to be included in future contact with the Kent Group, please let us know: 

Dear L&B Supporter,

We are writing to remind you that the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Trust, Kent Area Support Group (or "the Kent Group", for short) has recently been reformed. I say "group" although really there are only two of us actively involved at present.  We know there are many members and supporters in and around Kent, so with your help, the group can expand and do more to support the rebuilding of the L&B in North Devon.

The North Kent Area Group was formed in March 2002 (there was an even earlier "Meridian" group centred around Greenwich) aimed at enthusiasts and supporters of the railway living in Dartford and the surrounding area, to support the L&B Trust in it's efforts to restore, reopen and operate what is possibly the most famous narrow gauge railway in Britain.

In 2008, the Kent Group became "perchance, sleeping", although many of you (including three L&B Trustees)  continued to support the efforts in North Devon on an individual basis.

In its third iteration, the Kent Group was re-awoken at the end of 2013, and approved by the Trustees in November. We will be attending various railway and modelling events throughout the county, with a new, innovative, L&B-themed display stand (a half-sized replica of an L&B 4-ton open wagon, built by Anne Belsey).

We have a key L&B presenter lined up to give us an illustrated talk on the L&B at a local venue later in the year, once we have arranged a suitable date, and to which all will be welcome.  If there is sufficient interest, we can also arrange further occasional talks/presentations about the L&B or other subjects of interest, visits to local railway attractions (or even to North Devon?), and perhaps joint events with other L&B support groups - whatever you as members may wish to suggest.

Our first show is being hosted by the East Kent Model Railway Society, at Dunkirk Village Hall, London Road, Dunkirk, ME13 9LF (click here for location map) on Saturday 31st May.  If you can get there, it would be great to see you, so please make yourself known, come and have a chat, let us know your thoughts on what we are trying to achieve, and perhaps even buy some of our L&B merchandise! We hope this will be the first of many shows we attend in coming years.

If you are interested in joining us, or just in finding out more about the group, have any ideas for events/activities you would like to take part in, or if you know of any local events we might be able to attend, then please get in touch by email, telephone or via the website: /trust/groups/kent-group

Likewise, if you are not interested in hearing about local L&B activities, please let us know, and we won't bother you again.

Kind regards,

Martyn de Young
    Secretary (Aylesford) tel: 01732 845934 email: martyn.deyoung@lynton-rail.co.uk

Anne Belsey
    Treasurer (Faversham) tel: 01227 751724 email: anne.belsey@lynton-rail.co.uk