Issue 2

Issue 2, March 2000

Table of Contents

Editorial

Editorial Line Flooding, seen from Newbridge, Bishops Tawton.

Picture: John Webber

Up and Down the Line Barnstaple Station Car Park Umberleigh

Following the success of our first issue, we now present issue number 2, which includes one or two improvements in format.

The special feature on EWS, promised in the first issue, is included.

This largely reflects the presentation given to the Group by Chris Harvey, the company's Network Services Manager, at last year's Annual General Meeting. Chris managed to be lucid, informative and entertaining - a difficult trick - and made it clear that EWS is not deaf to proposals for investment where a return might be made: he made it clear that no suggestion is dismissed out of hand.

Crediton Campaign for Borders Rail Conference October 1999 Policy Matters Service Interruptions Gleanings from the Press Freight Plan for Barnstaple Sales of Railway Land Chris Harvey on EWS The Years of Decline EWS Today Investing in Freight The Conditions for Growth A Strategy for Growth Devon, Cornwall...and the North Devon Line Especially Operational Matters Rail Breaks

Tony Hill's article on the Borders Rail Campaign indicates that the efforts being made to reopen the Waverley route took like having a good chance of bearing fruit. If you ever have doubts as to the wisdom of pursuing what seems like a never-ending uphill climb, a close scrutiny of Tony's report should encourage you to maintain your interest in our own efforts in Devon. If you shout loud enough you might just get heard; say nothing and nothing is certainly what you will get!

In addition we have information on the service disruptions caused by the recent floods, and details of further problems resulting from broken rails. EWS is interested in a freight terminal at Barnstaple, but can the line's infrastructure carry the load?

Floods Again - and Contrasts in Service A Little Local Difficulty: Part 2 Fall and Rise of the Mid-morning Train Bargain Fares Regional Newspaper Offer Cheshire RaiItours

David Gosling

Bits and Pieces Spring Flowers Stop Press

Up and Down the Line

Freight Traffic Your Letters

Barnstaple Station Car Park The extended car park is now in full use. The overcrowding noted in the previous issue has disappeared. This stems in the main from the seasonal fall-off in patronage by motorists using the car park as a base for cycling. It may also reflect people's growing realisation of the possibilities for free parking offered by nearby multiple stores.

Compliant to the last, many motorists shun the extremities of the extension even in daytime and leave their vehicles neatly within the fan-shaped place markings of the old car park.

Umberleigh In our first issue, we draw attention to the possibilities of Umberleigh as a place to leave your car and let the train take the strain The

piece drew some disturbing observations from member Dr Barbara Hilton. A frequent user of Umberleigh as a rail head, she pointed out that a large Mercedes van, marked 'for sale' had occupied a prominent part of the car park for quite some time. She also said that some light fencing had been put up, closing off much of the area on the road side of the station building and making the parking area much smaller than hitherto.

Readers can rest assured that: we are looking into both matters and that we will report on developments when we can.

Crediton On Boxing night arsonists succeeded in severely damaging the up side waiting room at Crediton to the extent that its future existence was in grave doubt. Member David Gosling contacted Mid-Devon's planning department upon their reopening on 4th January and Catherine Marlow, their officer responsible for listed buildings, visited the site the same afternoon. Representations to Wales & West and Railtrack, by Mid-Devon, have resulted in the assurance that the building will be restored to its original condition with two basic exceptions. The first is that a store room is to be built at the left end (as viewed from the platform) echoing that already provided at the right. Secondly, a window, to the same design as those already to be found in the building, is to be built at the back in order that anyone inside will be to some degree visible from the station approach road.

Damage has been estimated to be somewhere in the region of ÂŁ70,000, but the significance of the fire has been more far-reaching than the effects it has had on the fabric of the waiting room alone. To Linda and Richard Rogers, proprietors of the Station Tea Rooms And Craft Shop, it represents the culmination of a series of disasters, including eight break-ins last year alone. The waiting room is adjacent to the Tea Rooms and it was particularly fortunate that the wind direction did not result in that building igniting.

As a result of this last act of brainless destruction, and in order to safeguard stock, the Tea Rooms was emptied on New Year's Eve and a final decision has still to be made with respect to its possible reopening. So the future of the subject of the last issue's Special Feature is in doubt.

On a more positive note, moves are afoot to instigate celebratory proceedings for the station. These are to take place on 12th May, 2001, the 15Oth anniversary of the opening of the Exeter and Crediton Railway. Stalls, Victorian dress, the promotion of local manufactures, together with other special events are to be organised to complement the arrival of a special hopefully steam-hauled train. There is a lot to organise and it is hoped to report more fully on this feature in the next Issue.

David Gosling and John Gulliver

Campaign for Borders Rail Conference October 1999 The former Carlisle to Edinburgh, via Hawick main line (the 'Waverley' route) was closed in January 1969 and was arguably the most damaging of the Beeching cuts. Its demise left a large area of Southern Scotland, with over 100,000 inhabitants, without a railway Large towns such as Hawick, Newton St Boswells and Galashiels were left up to 45 miles from their nearest railhead.

NDRUG member Tony Hill travelled by rail from Morchard Road to Berwick, thence by bus to St. Boswells, to attend the conference organised by the 'Campaign for Borders Rail' which was formed in October 1998 and now has over 400 members Momentum is growing in the Borders for reinstatement of part, if not all, of the Waverley route. There are three main possibilities:Reinstate Edinburgh (near Millerhill yard) to Galashiels; Reinstate the whole Carlisle to Edinburgh route; Reinstate Carlisle (Longton) to Riccarton Junction thence the old Border Counties line to Kielder Forest, principally for timber traffic.

Speakers at the conference included representatives from The Scottish Borders Enterprises, Railtrack, Virgin Trains Co., The Scottish Parliament, Scotrail, Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, Forest Enterprises and 'Transform' Scotland.

The quality of the presentations was excellent, with the audience of approximately 85 people, representing a broad cross section of the community, appearing well pleased.

With the continuing decline of jobs in the Borders, and large job losses over recent years in the tweed and knitwear industries, it is felt that, by reinstatement of a rail service, the whole Borders Region will benefit. It will certainly be easier and quicker by rail for people going to and from Edinburgh, encourage tourism and generally make travel easier for those without cars.

The recent setting up of the Scottish Parliament could be a decisive influence in getting rails back to the Borders as the Scottish Parliament will be given powers by the Great Britain Railways Bill to promote and construct new railways. The railway line on the doorstep of Edinburgh could be just the thing to give some sense of purpose and achievement to this new 'devolved' democracy. To this end, a campaign has been run to get at least 15,000 signatures on a petition to back up the demands for reinstatement of the railway to the Borders.

It is good to see that so many people are enthusiastic in wanting to get 'their' railway back after 30 years. It makes one realise just how lucky the people of Mid and North Devon are in that they still have a railway service so relatively close at hand, but often taken for granted.

Membership costs ÂŁ2.50 per year. For full details contact, Bill Jamieson 01578 730262.

Tony Hill

Policy Matters Service Interruptions This issue of the magazine chronicles two interruptions in the service offered by the line. One, involving broken rails, was short. The other, stemming from flooding, was substantially longer. In the difficult conditions which attend such events, as we have noted elsewhere, not everything is done well. Nevertheless, much is, and we should applaud the many rail company employees, subcontractors and bus drivers who work hard, often in difficult circumstances to ensure that disruption is kept to a minimum.

That said, we need to acknowledge these events for what they are: interruptions in the service the line is expected to give. For passengers, the pain can be reduced by the provision of buses. They are not as comfortable as the trains. They rarely have facilities for disabled people They are slower and prone to being held up, especially when travelling into Exeter. Their short-comings are shown up in busy times, as in the run-up to Christmas, particularly. But they do get people there, after a fashion.

The same cannot be said for freight. One cannot shovel timber on to buses, nor household waste, both prime targets for the North Devon line. It is unlikely that the catch many dream of, the just-in-time delivery of goods to North Devon's burgeoning multiple stores, would be held for long in the face of interruptions like those we have seen this winter.

It is well to remember, too, that, while this year's floods have been severe, they are not unique. Such interruptions occur most years.

In some, there is more than one. When broken rails add to the mischief, as this winter, one begins to form a picture of a service which is alarmingly vulnerable to the elements and to the imperfections of man-made equipment.

The causes of broken rails are many. What happened between Crediton and Exeter is related elsewhere in this issue. Such events are reminders of the costs of running dual-purpose lines. Passenger DMUs, with their light axle loads do less damage than locomotives and heavily loaded freight wagons. If we want freight, we shall need a railway sturdy enough to take it. This, clearly, is a policy issue for all concerned.

Our possible contribution to global warming excepted, what the elements throw at us is outside our control. That they will try us, again and again, is nonetheless predictable. The policy issue involves what we do in response. Do we regard floods as freaks, the consequences of which we only pick up when they occur? Do we regard them as inevitable, but too expensive to guard against other than minimally? Or do we see them as inescapable, but, to a degree at least, containable?

If the answers to the first two questions are 'yes', then the chances of substantial freight traffic being won for the line are minimal. If,

on the other hand, we look to the third option, in the hope of making this a truly multi-purpose line, then we have to give serious thought to what is required to make flooding containable. What must be done to enable embankments, bridges, culverts, and so on, to withstand its threat? Who should pay?

And do we leave the answers to these questions to the rail companies alone? If not, we are talking not merely about rail company policy, but public policy. With a small 'p', that is a political matter. Do we, as an interest group, have the courage to take it up?

John Gulliver

Gleanings from the Press Freight Plan for Barnstaple Under the above front-page head line, the North Devon Journal for 25th November 1999 stated that new rail freight facilities could be built as part of the projected redevelopment of Seven Brethren Bank, close to Barnstaple station. EWS, according to this report, is soon to ascertain the demand for such facilities and, presumably if things look promising, to begin to promote the advantages of rail freight to the business community in the spring.

EWS spokesman Allen Marsden believed the area to have much freight potential. Timber and household waste were prime targets and there were possibilities for the transport out of Barnstaple of goods manufactured in the area and for consumer goods to be brought in.

Most significantly, the NDJ reported that Malcolm Prowse, leader of North Devon District Council, wanted to see the rail facilities built into the redevelopment, which would include a new recycling centre. As owners of the land, he is reported as saying, the Council ought to be setting an example and showing how derelict land can be brought back into positive use.'

The full support for the project of our chairman, Lewis Andrews, was noted. It would, he said, take traffic off North Devon's congested roads.

Sales of Railway Land The sale of redundant railway land for non-railway use was part and parcel of the long years of rail's decline. In its new era of resurgence, it has been widely recognised as a major impediment to the development of passenger and freight services alike. For some time, there has been a moratorium on further sales. That moratorium has now ended. Sales are to go ahead, much to the dismay of many rail bodies, of which EWS has been one of the most outspoken (see EWS Focus, Winter 1999).

There is a concession to the needs oftransport planning. Local authorities must be given prior notice of land coming up for sale. The onus is thus on them to identify sites which might be used for transport purposes. Once sales begin, however, market rules apply.

According to the Western Morning News (4/01/2000), Devon County Council has registered its interest in 19 rail sites across the county. It is not the council's intention to purchase, it appears, but rather to safeguard transport interests.

Of the sites mentioned, three are of direct relevance to the North Devon Line: passenger access at Central, with particular regard to the disabled; the forecourt at St. David's; and land adjoining Crediton station. In the fairly brief article, no mention was made of land at Barnstaple or other places on the line John Gulliver

Chris Harvey on EWS EWS Locomotive Picture: John Gulliver

Its formal business concluded, the 1999 AGM rounded off with a presentation on EWS by Chris Harvey, its Network Services Manager, with responsibility for all less than trainload activity, including the Enterprise network and international wagonload services. With 30 years of railway work, firstly with BR and more recently in one of its now privatised sectors, he spoke from a rich and varied involvement in freight activity especially.

The Years of Decline He began with a telling picture of freight activity in the economy under British Rail between 1950 and 1990. Between those years, rail concentrated on bulk carriage, for which overall demand was falling. At the same time, it left the burgeoning rapid distribution market to road. The consequences were striking. Rail's share of a swiftly increasing market for freight diminished. Even more significantly, its actual freight activity steadily fell.

EWS Today With denationalisation, while passenger operation was allotted to franchise holders working to specified requirements, freight was handed to free-standing companies with licences to develop their activities as they saw fit. Within this framework, EWS was created from the erstwhile BR Trainload and Railfreight Distribution sectors.

The company now has 6500 staff and operates 700 locomotives, although the latter will decrease as more Class 66s become available. It serves 120 separate customers and runs about 1100 trains each day. It currently transports about 100 million tonnes of freight annually, covering 20.7 billion tonne-miles. Its wide scale of operations includes wagon load and intermodal traffic through the Channel Tunnel to the continent.

Investing in Freight The company was purchased for ÂŁ250 million. Prior to its formation, under Treasury restrictions, BR's investment in locomotives and freight wagons had for many years been halting and, in some, was almost non-existent.

Under EWS, ÂŁ250 million had been spent in its first year and investment had continued at a high rate ever since. While the 66s were the most visible signs of this, the company had committed itself to the purchasing a minimum of 500 wagons per year until 2003. While many of these would be for traditional coal and steel traffic, others were for new markets, such as piggyback and container activity. There was also a considerable investment in stock to carry the Royal Mail.

The Conditions for Growth The commitment by EWS, after so many years of acceptance of decline, was to growth. By 2003, the company sought to raise its tonnage by 3O% and to increase the distance it carried it by 50%.

Taken together, this would mean doubling tonne-mileage. Such advances would entail increasing traffic in existing markets and developing new ones. Above all, it would mean seizing traffic normally carried by the road network.

Success would depend in part on a clear acknowledgement of the changing conditions within which EWS operates. Some were favourable to rail. Lorries, the main competitors, face increasing congestion and rising costs. The adverse environmental

consequences of road transport were increasingly recognised. Legislation was becoming more rail-friendly

A Strategy for Growth At the same time, many impediments to rail transportation needed to be overcome if substantial growth was to be secured. The chemical business, for example, was developing rapidly and becoming more international. Yet there were barriers to rail haulage which lorries did not face. Frequently these reflected the differing administrative and operating practices of the rail networks involved.

The EWS strategy to achieve the growth it sought had four main planks. Efficiency had to be improved, and avoidable costs cut out. Investment in people and equipment had to be sustained. Customer service, rather than operating convenience, had to be the driving force. Rail freight had to be firmly established as a credible, even preferred, alternative on grounds of cost and reliability.

All this called for a substantial shift in approach. In the past, rail expected users to carry their goods to and from railheads.

Now it had to counter road haulage's door-to-door service. It could only do this by offering similar facilities. That meant offering customers total transportation packages, with road and rail elements integrated. On this, EWS was already working hard with local road haulage. Its efforts were already bearing fruit in new awareness of rail's possibilities on the part of prospective customers and the capture of traffic hitherto entirely the province of road. The Safeways traffic to Scotland was but one example of the kind of development which was sought.

Devon, Cornwall...and the North Devon Line Especially In Devon and Cornwall, encouraging gains were already apparent. Special freight trains had been laid on for the eclipse. China clay traffic was up. There were new flows of timber, coal and calcified seaweed. Aggregates were being moved within Devon from Meldon and from outside it to locations at Newton Abbot, Exeter, Paignton and Friary. Traffic from Fitzgerald Lighting at Bodmin was increasing. There was a new, and substantial, flow of cement to Moorswater. In sustaining such development, the Enterprise network played a crucial part, as did the rapid establishment - and sometimes re-establishment - of loading and unloading points throughout the area.

For the North Devon line in particular, fertiliser traffic was seen as a contender for development. Investment in the line, however, and not least in its bridges, was a necessary condition for such activity.

In the discussion which followed, members of the audience reminded Mr Harvey of other possibilities. Among these were the chipboard manufacturer at South Molton (wood and glues in, finished products out), china clay, timber (many plantations in North Devon were soon to be harvested) and substantial flows of merchandise to super-markets throughout the area were noted with interest. None was rejected.

Mr Harvey drew attention to the crucial role of local government in supporting such developments. Regrettably, some showed no interest. Devon County Council, however, was already playing a significant part. For example, it had been a central player in the re-establishment of Heathfield as a freight depot. Gaining the interest of district and even town councils was also vital. Perhaps there is an important role for NDRUG here.

John Gulliver

Operational Matters

Rail Breaks Not holidays by train in the Highlands, but a spate of broken rails between Crediton and Exeter! Passengers from some trains had to be bussed between St. David's and Crediton on the afternoon of 3rd December after a rail breakage.

Member Linda Rogers reports that, earlier that day, the station buildings at Crediton had been violently shaken by a passing ballast train from Meldon. By 6th December, further rail faults had become apparent. The first train from Barnstaple was replaced by a bus (from Meeth!).

The February 2000 Railway Magazine subsequently reported that the damage had been caused by a defective locomotive wheelset.

At least four broken rails were registered between Crediton and Cowley Bridge. Just over a week earlier, a wagon with a massive wheel flat had had to be removed from another train from Meldon. The RM noted that EWS had launched an enquiry into the two incidents.

Floods Again - and Contrasts in Service Towards the end of the year, several days of continuous rain, much of it heavy, led to some of the most extensive flooding seen in Devon for many years. One member said that he had never before observed so much water passing beneath New Bridge just above Bishop's Tawton as on Sunday l9th December. There the valley was inundated from one side to the other and the rails of the North Devon line were only just visible. Further up valley, the ballast was washed away in several places. No trains ran that day, nor on the next.

As the week went by, trains were reinstated, firstly between Exeter and Crediton, then as far as Eggesford. By the middle of the week, leaflets were made available to passengers showing replacement bus timings between Eggesford and Barnstaple. Buses were scheduled to depart from Barnstaple station twenty minutes before the times of the trains they replaced. Those in the other direction were correspondingly timed to arrive twenty minutes later. Many not in the know missed their expected services.

Meanwhile, demand for the service remained high. On 23rd December, for example, the 18.00 from St. David's to Eggesford was made up to three coaches. Even then, many passengers had to stand. Many got off at intermediate stations, but two buses, filled to capacity, were still required to take people on towards Barnstaple.

The run-up to Christmas is always a busy time for the line. The need for bus replacements could hardly have come at a worse time.

At Barnstaple on the Sunday, W&W station person Sue Eaton worked tirelessly to guide would-be passengers on to the right vehicles and to help them to make alternative arrangements when all else failed. Her efforts were noticed and commented on favourably, as were those of other colleagues at Barnstaple later in the week.

Passengers seeking to travel towards Barnstaple on the 18.00 from St David's on the Monday fared less well. Station announcements were few and inaudible. Their contents were not conveyed to passengers waiting on the forecourt for the replacement bus. No indication of when it would arrive was given. Nobody was at hand to give guidance.

Lacking any indication of when the bus would appear, passengers did not dare to shelter in the refreshment room for fear of missing it. When, at long last, it did turn up, it was three quarters of an hour late. For the whole journey to Barnstaple, on a miserably wet night, it was without heating. of all the stations along the line Yeoford was apparently forgotten, for there was neither train, coach nor taxi, just a notice telling of the coach pick up times at other stations and stating there was no service from Yeoford.

Normal train services finally resumed on 3rd January. A ballast train ran on the night of Sat/Sun the 1st/2nd January and was seen returning to Exeter Riverside yard at Coleford Junction at approximately 08.30 on the Sunday.

Four 20mph temporary restriction of speed sites were still applicable, as on 12 January, despite each she having had remedial works and the running of the above mentioned ballast train. (The restriction was lifted at the end of January) The railway companies cannot be blamed for the weather. With safety so important, it is inevitable that there will be times when trains don't run. It is less understandable, and utterly unacceptable, that there should be such differences between the two ends of

the line in the support given to passengers. With the long term interests of the services in mind, as well as the immediate needs of passengers on the day, Exeter would do well to emulate Barnstaple.

A start might be made by ensuring that the information desk in the foyer at St. David's remains open in circumstances like those described above for as long as passengers require support. Even better would be to have it staffed by someone informed about what was going on.

Further comments on the consequences of flooding appear in the Policy Matters section.

A Little Local Difficulty: Part 2 Readers of our first issue may recall the report of the difficulties of passengers taking the late afternoon trains from St. David's.

Confusing platform indicators and inaudible station announcements, it seemed, conspired to send people to destinations not of their own choice.

Hugh Butterworth was there on November 22nd. Announcements for the 16.24 to Paignton and the 16.26 to Barnstaple, each respectively formed by splitting the 16.18 from Central, followed the departure of the 16.20 to Waterloo, and were audible. In the Barnstaple section, at least, the conductor checked to see that everyone was on the right train. We know nothing of the other portion, but must hope that its conductor was equally diligent.

If all this is happening daily, we must applaud the advances on what we had seen earlier. Nevertheless, further improvements are called for. Well before the arrival of the combined train, the main indicator in the station foyer directed both Paignton and Barnstaple passengers to Platform 3. From about 1610, however, all three monitors on Platform 3 and 3a indicated only the 16.24 to Paignton.

Barnstaple passengers might be forgiven for concluding that their train would come in only when the Paignton train had left and for waiting at the wrong end of the platform.

Hugh suggests that the probability of such confusion could be reduced if the screen at the northern end of Platform 3 could indicate Barnstaple, leaving the other two showing Paignton. Even better might be to have the platform ends labelled as 3a and 3b respectively, and for monitors to direct passengers to the appropriate positions.

Fall and Rise of the Mid-morning Train For some unfathomable reason, the busy Saturday mid-morning train from Barnstaple to Exeter was axed from the original 1999/2000 winter timetable. Following representations by Richard Burningham of the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership and our own Lewis Andrews, a 10.38 train to Exeter has been put in its place. While this has happened too late for the printed timetables, loadings have at times been good. On one occasion, for example, Tony Hill saw that it had at least a hundred people on it by the time it reached Morchard Road.

A morning train has also been added to the Sunday timetable.

John Gulliver and Tony Hill

Bargain Fares Regional Newspaper Offer During January the Western Morning News in conjunction with Wales & West launched a special 2 for 1 rail offer. By presenting 3 vouchers cut from the daily newspaper at Barnstaple and other specified booking offices, it was possible to purchase a full price super advance return ticket to places such as Southampton, Portsmouth, Shrewsbury, Crewe and Manchester with one additional person travelling on the same ticket free. Journeys had to be completed by 26 March 2000.

Cheshire RaiItours

On Bank Holiday Monday, 29th May, Cheshire Railtours' 'Royal Isis', leaves Barnstaple at approximately 06.30. Calling at Umberleigh, Eggesford, Crediton, Exeter St. David's, Honiton, Axminster, Crewkerne, Yeovil Pen Mill and Castle Cary, the circular railtour will visit two of the most historic cities in Britain. After a 2-3 hour break in Worcester, the tour continues to Oxford for an optional open-top bus trip. Fares: £31 adult, £24 child; £2 less from Honiton, Axminster, Crewkeme, Yeovil or Castle Cary. For further details contact Cheshire Railtours on 01984 640005.

Alan Wilkinson

Bits and Pieces Spring Flowers The Group recently took advantage of a special offer that had been made by the Crediton Garden Centre. As a result of their taking delivery of a huge mountain of daffodil bulbs, they were offering them to local community groups free of charge if planting were to take place in public areas.

Consequently, NDRUG was able to distribute around one thousand bulbs to stations from Newton St. Cyres to Lapford, inclusive. In the case of Copplestone and Lapford, planting was carried out by Alan Clemens - in addition to undertaking work at his own station of Morchard Road - and David Gosling. It is hoped to include a photograph in the next issue of one of the displays.

David Gosling

Stop Press Freight Traffic The stone traffic taken by English Welsh and Scottish Railway from Meldon Quarry to Crediton sidings was reported in the last issue as having ceased. This has now (as of the end of January) recommenced.

Although this project is only expected to last a few months it is very good news followed so quickly after the previous venture. This kind of activity must surely help to secure the sidings at Crediton, and can only be applauded.

Linda Rogers and Tony Hill

Your Letters

Firstly congratulations on No. 1 of the new magazine.

Regarding the inscription 'Jewell' on the underside canopy at Crediton; in 1920-40 there was a firm of railway contractors in Barnstaple and the name is likely to be connected with them. Incidentally maintenance work ceased in the 1940s.

John McEransoneya Similar information came from several sources - thank you.

We wish you continued success in your efforts to bring our railway back to standards and full recognition.

E & G West

It Does Pay to Complain In January, a North Devonian travelled from Barnstaple to Wakefield. His return ticket was ÂŁ44 The return journey was so severely delayed, that although his train was supposed to connect with the last Barnstaple train which left Exeter at 20.35 it did not arrive at Exeter until after 23.00. A coach was provided but did not arrive in Barnstaple until after midnight.

He wrote to Virgin Cross Country and secured a letter of apology and a cheque for ÂŁ22. The return journey may have been horrendous but at least it was free!

Shopping Opportunities If you are travelling home to Devon from London and have time to spare, you can now shop at Sainsbury's at Paddington station.

Hugh Butterworth

My wife and I first travelled on the line in 1949. Since then we have used it twice every year to go to Barnstaple for holidays at Croyde. Well over 100 journeys! We know of the problems in keeping the line open and appreciate your Group's efforts to this end.

M Toseland

We received many communications regarding the magazine and some of the suggestions have been taken on board; for instance, the font used in some areas has been changed because of the potential difficulty in reading the script.

Please keep your letters coming: to be successful we need your support and input!