The Quiet Volunteer
Published: 16th August, 2025
One of the unsung heroes of the Lynton & Barnstaple volunteers, Malcolm travels from Yorkshire each summer to spend up to 6 weeks working on the railway, undertaking a lot of the mundane jobs that can so easily get overlooked, but make a significant impact in the eyes of our visitors.
Long-standing Trust member Malcolm starts his day at Woody Bay, assisting the operational staff on carriage cleaning duties, paying special attention to the windows, which, after a day's service can often look like a fingerprint record of the previous days younger visitors. He can then be found carrying out other tasks; cleaning other vehicles, touching up paintwork that may have suffered from the ravages of the weather, helping with gardening.and many other jobs, which, at the height of the operating season, can easily get overlooked.
Malcolm says the reasons for spending his summer holidays here are two-fold; meeting and working with like-minded people, and deriving a lot of satisfaction from his efforts at Woody Bay which help towards how the railway is presented to our customers.
Thank you for all you do Malcolm!
15 August 2025
