Name: Fred Scholes
From: Barnstaple
Department: Guard/Driver/Fireman

I have been a member of the L&B since about 1981 when I was at a display in Lynton and a certain Paul Gower began to tell me about the railway and in the end I joined to shut him up!

Since then I have served as a Committee member - a Director and a willing volunteer from helping to build the LynBarn railway at the Milky Way to doing anything required at Woody Bay to help get the railway started - including spending a very interesting day at Fort Dunlop chipping and loading Stafford Blue bricks to repair the platform edges!

I have worked my way from Guard (which I still do!) to diesel driver (that too) and am now working my way towards qualifying to operate steam locos. If anyone ever tells me again about the glamour of steam then they don’t know about being in the engine shed at 6.30 am on a cold, dark morning cleaning out the smokebox and boiler tubes -cleaning the grate and lighting up - then taking over an hour to make the engine the nice shiny machine that the public love to see!

But I love it really!!