Snapper Halt
Status: Owned by Exmoor Associates CIC
Snapper Halt was purchased by Exmoor Associates in 2010.
The site includes the original railway halt complete with the waiting shelter and platform, nearly half a mile of trackbed, and river frontage. Neglected for many years, the site was overgrown and the shelter, although still in place, was derelict. EA and L&B Volunteers have cleared the platform and surrounding area, restored the shelter, and installed a short length of track. They have also restored an original platelayer's hut, and continue to maintain and improve the site.
Vistor Access
The site is open to the public, but no visitor facilities are available. There is limited parking in the a small unsurfaced layby just south of the station gate.
Snapper Halt is located on the road between Bratton Fleming and Barnstaple. The OS map reference is SS 592 343
The What3Words location for the entrance is ///pixel.mammal.insist and the parking layby is ///every.pixel.pheasants
Please note that the site is owned and controlled by Exmoor Associates.
History
Snapper Halt, two and a half miles from Barnstaple Town station, opened in 1903 to serve the residents of nearby Goodleigh. Actually in Yeotown, the name is believed to derive from an inn formerly located a quarter of a mile further along the road from Barnstaple. Trains stopped here by request, but never after dark.
The staion site, along with over 1/3 mile of trackbed, was purchased by Exmoor Associates in 2010. Further aquisitions have extended the trackbed held to 725m (almost 1/2 a mile), running as far as the bridge over the river Yeo (bridge 16), now sadly missing.
Restoration
Restoration work at Snapper started in February 2011. The trackbed was cleared, the halt building re-roofed, and a replica running in board (name board) erected. Since then a lamp post and benches installed have been installed. The main activities at Snapper now are keeping on top of vegetation growth and general site maintenance. A length of track was laid in 2019, capturing the atmosphere of the original railway.
Just up the line from station is an original platelayer’s hut. These were provided at regular intervals along the line, as shelter for the teams maintaining the track. The hut was in a very poor condition, but has been carefully restored by the volunteers.
The Snapper Coaches
After closure, L&B coach 6991 was placed on a short length of track at Snapper halt, and used as a summer house. It was truncated in the 1950s and was eventually burned in the mid-1960s. Some remains of the metalwork was recovered in February 2011 and are in the care of the L&B Trust for reinstatement in a heritage coach of the same layout.
Another coach, 6993, was left further along the track.This carriage was not sold at the disposal auction (November 1935), but was purchased later by a local farmer. During demolition it was left marooned on a short length of track just north of Snapper Halt. It was used by evacuees during the war and later as a hen house. In 1959 this was removed by the Ffestiniog Railway, who restored it as Coach 14, known as the "Snapper Bar".
