The next extension of the railway beyond the current railheads will be in the direction of Blackmoor Gate. At present the railway is going through a period of consolidation. Subject to support and funding received, we currently hope to be able to start work on the next phase of extension in 2009.


Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service. Image reproduced with kind permission of Ordnance Survey and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland.

At Killington Lane, the railway currently comes off the original trackbed just before where it enters the cutting. Killington Lane station is built alongside the main trackbed, which will allow for construction of the next phase without disrupting train services on the current line.



The railway will then go under Killington Lane. A new bridge will need building and the cutting either side needs digging out. The bridge design has been completed for the railway by engineering design consultants Atkins. We are now in a position to build the road bridge as soon as we are ready to proceed and funding is in place.



Once the railway leaves the cutting beyond Killington Lane, it sweeps through the fields to Parracombe Lane. The bridge here is still intact (pictured), just requiring a new parapet wall one side and again more cutting fill to be excavated.



There is a fair amount of fill to come out beyond Parracombe Lane. At Cricket Field Lane (shown above) the railway crosses a right of way on the level. A triangle of land has recently been purchased here adjoining the trackbed to allow space for sidings or other uses in the future.
The trackbed then sweeps around the back of Churchtown, through the garden of Fairview, to the Halt.



Parracombe will make a fantastic station once the railway reaches it - in a slightly more sheltered location at Churchtown, it is a stone’s throw from the historic St Petrock’s Church, one of the oldest church buildings in Britain.
Parracome also boasts Heddon Hall Gardens and the village’s pub The Fox & Goose.
The old concrete waiting shelter on the platform at Parracombe is still in situ!



From Parracombe Halt, the railway traverses Lorna Doone Farm, before coming to Parracombe Bank. The embankment was washed away in the centre in 1952 at the same time as the Lynmouth Flood disaster. New larger culverts will be needed here, at least equal to those on the highway, as well as the replacement of a noteable amount of fill.



The trackbed then clings to a ledge below the A39, passing through a wooded glade. It then springs out through the fields immediately above Holwell Castle, Parracombe’s own textbook-style Motte & Bailey Castle!



There are some very good views from here, looking back on Parracombe, and also a brief stretch with the railway running in parallel to the A39. It then passes through a cutting and arrives at Rowley Cross - a significant cutting again filled in.



The bridge at Rowley Cross is still there, but much needs excavating from the cutting below. Beyond the bridge, a cast-in-situ occupation crossing can still be seen in the next field.



Between Rowley Cross and Blackmoor the trackbed switches between level open fields, embankments and patches of woodland. The views here equal those up near Woody Bay, but here seen from a different angle now.



Very little work would actually need to be done on the engineering of the line between Rowley and Blackmoor. The trackbed remains sound with few obstacles.



At Blackmoor the new railway will depart the original trackbed as it enters the National Park car park. It will then pass under the A39 at a slightly different angle to the original, coming out below the Old Station Inn, in the field currently occupied by Alpacas (note they are not Llamas!).

The tunnel carrying the railway under the A39 is intended to be dual rail/pedestrian, to allow foot access between the car parks, the station and the pub/restaurant. It is also hoped that we will be able to develop a visitor centre in partnership with Exmoor National Park at this location.

Another important benefit of bringing the railway to Blackmoor Gate, is that this should ultimately become a significant feature as part of a park and ride scheme from the edge of the National Park and Lynton & Lynmouth.

After building the railway to Blackmoor, further extention of the line will be in the direction of Lynton…

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