Great Memories...

The bridge over the Taw was in a very poor state and was demolished c1977.

***** It's nice to look back in time Alberto.

British railways were losing millions on the early 60s. If the branch lines weren't losing the money, where were the losses coming from?

The truth is very few people used the branch railways from the mid 50s onwards. They required maintaining at vast expense and the car was more convenient.

@@exilenm2 Annual compensation payments to the share holders of the pre nationalised rail company’s was a huge drain on British rails cash flow.

Just as we see today with the massively expensive (and now proved dangerous) "smart motorways", which are all being built (very slowly) by construction companies who just happen to also be major Tory party donors. The system is rotten to the core.

A group of enthusiasts tried to purchase the line, which explains why almost everything was intact two years after closure. Unfortunately, they could not raise sufficient funds; British Rail gave a deadline which could not be met, so track lifting began in about 1974.

At the beginning of 1963, just before Beeching, the line was transferred from the Southern to the Western Region. The Western Region had no use for the lines it had inherited, which was the ENTIRE Southern system west of Salisbury. Ilfracombe lost its through trains to Waterloo at the end of the 1964 summer. It had ONE through train to Paddington on summer Saturdays in lieu, and that probably ceased in 1966, when the Barnstaple to Taunton line closed. (If it ran after that, it would have to reverse at Exeter.) Passengers from Ilfracombe would have to make do with high-density diesel multiple units as far as Exeter, 55 miles. In 1967, the branch was singled, and reduced to "one engine in steam." So the branch was deliberately run down before closure in 1970. There were several flaws in Beeching's methods. First, he was an industrial chemist and had no accountancy qualifications. Second, he only considered receipts from stations. Holiday resorts like Ilfracombe would not sell many long-distance tickets, even in summer, but many more would have bought returns to these resorts. Third, at some stage in the 1960's, British Rail based freight and parcels receipts and the like from the junction station, so by 1970, these receipts would have gone to the Barnstaple Junction accounts. It is in any case odd that some lines which had potential were closed, while a number of lesser lined survived.

A group of enthusiasts tried to purchase the line, but they could not raise sufficient funds. This was why the track remained in place. Unfortunately, British Rail's patience ran out, and demolition began in about 1974.

On the first roundabout in Ilfracombe take the first left somewhere around Station Road.

ok, tnx !

On a steep hill well above the town. An industrial estate now stands on the site.

A common misconception, overall it’s freight that generates the main revenue, passenger flow is a service to the community and society in general.

This comment hasn't aged well! Due to #Covid19 we can't fly anywhere anymore, and North Devon and it's narrow roads are jammed with UK tourists this summer of 2020.

Would think as with other areas, the population has increased, more housing built and tourism increased putting pressure on the roads. The lines and the land they used should have been mothballed for at least 20 years and a review made. This line would most probably have been reinstated. You only have to look at branch lines that have survived such as St Ives, to see how well used they are.

The Western Region deliberately ran the branch down. (It acquired it from the Southern Region at the beginning of 1963.) The first stage was to withdraw the through trains to Waterloo, at the end of the 1964 summer. Trains to and from Waterloo then ran no further than Exeter. Passengers from Ilfracombe had to endure a 55-mile journey in a high-density, non-corridor diesel multiple unit, and change at Exeter. That, surely is sufficient to prove that fewer passengers were now using the line. In 1967, the Western Region singled the track, and then, or shortly after, reduced the branch to "one engine in steam." Did this coincide with more service cuts? In other words, services were deliberately run down. Beeching was only interested in receipts from stations. It never occurred to him that people bought returns.🎉