This was a lovely route that was closed by politicians with no forward thinking. We have cycled from Fremington to Ilfracombe on the hold trackbed where we could. A beautiful journey it must have been by train.
@GuyWood-b5l14 күн бұрын
Mmm, everybody does look smart, no ripped jeans, people looking like they've had a fight with a tiger and lost! A real shame the line isn't still open, even if it was only used from Easter until September, and for specials in the Winter.
@GuyWood-b5l16 күн бұрын
I find this footage incredible, and can watch it over and over again. To bash a Hymek or Warship loco up the 3-mile gradient from Ilfracombe to Mortehoe must have been a treat to the ears and such a memorable experience. Oh for a time machine! 😊
@cherczeg4855Ай бұрын
Very sad!Runaway train never come back!
@michaelnewman19203 ай бұрын
Done this line back in the 50/60s great mix of WR and Southern steam locomotives
@aljonflavin67606 ай бұрын
Thanks.
@astonmartin8706 Жыл бұрын
Looking at the numbers getting off the train - it looks like it was gross stupidity to close it. And a vital link lost when snow stopped other traffic from moving .
@alexishamer6427 Жыл бұрын
Umberleigh railway 🚃 station 🚉 in north Devon used to have a double track is many years ago in 1963 because more people might have used the trains 🚊 where Umberleigh now has a single track because in the year 2023 plenty of people use their own cars 🚗 🚘 🚙 everyday and it’s a rural railway 🚃 line. It’s highly unlikely that trains 🚊 will run 🏃♂️ from Barnstaple to Ilfracombe via Braunton again, even on Tuesday 31st December 2030 (New Year’s Eve) 🧨 💥 🎇 🎆 🥳 🤩 🥃 🍹 🍾 🍷 🥂 🍻 🍺 🧃 🧋 🥤 🎂 🍰 🧁 🍨 🍧 because the railway 🚃 line is hopeless 😩 😞 😔 and can’t be bloody trusted anymore because they lost 😞 😠 😡 plenty of customers 👩🦰 👱♂️ 👨🦰 🧑🦰 👨🦳 🧔 🧔♂️ 👴 👩🦱 🧑🦱 👱 so who bloody cares about the railway 🚃 business 👩💼. Perhaps 🤔 most people decline to use the trains 🚊 because when they use their vehicles 🚗, it’s more convenient. I honestly don’t think 🤔 that trains 🚊 are coming back to Ilfracombe in north Devon again. I honestly believe it to say it to myself that “It’s highly unlikely that trains 🚊 are returning back to Ilfracombe in north Devon again because the line was unviable and no one ☝️ has asked to put them back in service again so don’t worry 😉 about it”. I am right for what I said to myself about it. Goodbye 👋 trains 🚊 to see Ilfracombe and don’t come back again anymore. It’s the end of the matter. Trains 🚊 to Ilfracombe is a thing of the past and it’s water 💧 under the bridge 🌉. 👍 👍 😃 😁
@SpoonyMcSpoonface Жыл бұрын
I remember a shunter at Barnstaple called Bill (Ginger) Gregory. He was later the station cleaner for the branch and lived in Umberleigh after retirement in the early 1990s. Any relation?
@cgpaddock Жыл бұрын
No, no relation.
@SpoonyMcSpoonface Жыл бұрын
@@cgpaddock Just thought I’d ask. Thanks for replying 😃
@eimdeima Жыл бұрын
Never knew it crossed over by the old bridge. I always assumed it came over the iron bridge at Rock Park.
@joeking5310 Жыл бұрын
It's amazing how many people got off the train at Ilfracombe, even Jackie Kennedy (@3.12), and then they close the line, utter madness!
@robertbriggs4202 Жыл бұрын
Great👍
@alexishamer6427 Жыл бұрын
Trains 🚊 ran from Barnstaple to Ilfracombe via Braunton for 96 years from Sunday 20th July 1874 until Saturday 3rd October 1970. They won’t be coming back to Ilfracombe anymore. 😄
@alexishamer6427 Жыл бұрын
The first train 🚂 ran from Barnstaple to Ilfracombe via Braunton in north Devon southwest England 🏴 was dated Sunday 30th July 1874. The railway 🚃 track was single until 1888 when it was increased to double track. This is because 2 trains 🚂 run on the different directions 🧭 at the same time 🕕. It was also that plenty of rail 🚊 passengers concentrated using the trains 🚊. It was steam trains 🚊 at the time until 1964 when they were replaced by diesel multiple units. The railway 🚃 track became singled in 1967 due to lack of passengers and were reducing down to limited amount of rail passengers everyday. The double track happened between Barnstaple and Ilfracombe via Braunton for 79 years from 1888 to 1967. By Saturday 3rd October 1970 was the last train 🚆 ran from Barnstaple to Ilfracombe via Braunton because not enough people used the trains 🚊, sadly😢 losing money 💵. It was best to pack up the line. Trains 🚂 runs from Barnstaple to Ilfracombe via Braunton is a thing of the past. Over 52 years since it last happened. As a result of north Devon is a small place happens to be a rural area, trains 🚊 won’t go to Ilfracombe anymore. People transport by cars between Barnstaple and Ilfracombe via front main road via Braunton, middle road via Prixford and finally back road via Muddiford. Also trains 🚊 last ran to Bideford in 1982 or 1983. Barnstaple railway station 🚉 is now the terminus railway 🚃 station 🚉 has a single track. It used to be called Barnstaple Junction. Of course Barnstaple railway 🚃 station 🚉 still goes strong 💪 everyday. People use the bus 🚎 is Stagecoach 21/21A Barnstaple to Ilfracombe via Braunton runs daily and public holidays except Christmas 🎄 Day, Boxing 🥊 Day and New Year’s Day 🎈. Also to Westward Ho! route 21 and to Appledore in north Devon route 21A via Bickington, Fremington, Yelland, Instow, Bideford and Northam runs daily and public holidays except Christmas 🎄 Day, Boxing 🥊 Day and New Year’s Day 🍾🎏🎈🎊🎉🪅. I honestly have walked on the Ilfracombe to Barnstaple and Bideford to Barnstaple line in the past. I honestly love💜❤️💘💕💓❤️🩹 Ilfracombe former railway 🚃 line. It makes me feel happy 😆. The cairn is in Ilfracombe. Very quiet 🤐 on the former line. At Mortehoe and Woolacombe railway 🚃 station 🚉 used to be Once Upon a Time. It was replaced by houses 🏘. The likely that trains 🚊 will return back to Ilfracombe is touchwood means it honestly won’t happen in the future when the time 🕥 comes. 🥰😍👍🚆🚇🚊🚉🚞🚂🚋🚃
@oldgoat55893 ай бұрын
If comments weren't peppered with pointless and unnecessary emojis, they'd be a lot easier to read. Good nostalgic video, though.
@jimififul Жыл бұрын
The fact is, even by the standards of the day the branch line journeys were tediously slow. Cornwall Railway Society's website has a timetable from Taunton to Barnstaple and Ilfracombe, showing a journey time of 2hrs 44mins from Taunton to Ilfracombe. The last time I went from home just outside Taunton to the Pall Europe factory on the site of the old Ilfracombe station it took me 54 minutes. I suspect in the old Cortina in the video it wouldn't have taken more than 90 mins.
@chriswalford4161 Жыл бұрын
Maybe; but who wants to rush helter-skelter to Ilfracombe when you can trade that for a couple of scenic hours via Exeter and the Taw valley? …especially in a Viva.
@mikebutler3263 Жыл бұрын
This is the route I wish I could have taken, behind steam, more than any other route in England. Thanks.
@chrislove5884 Жыл бұрын
How long were you at Umberleigh station house? My father moved to a cottage near Chapleton circa 1981.
@cliffordgregory6255 Жыл бұрын
Parents were there October 61 - sometime in 1992. Dad was preceded by a Mr. Mills I believe. CJG
@markwalker4016 Жыл бұрын
All that video says to me is trashed infrastructure, very very sad 😢
@garetteasdale7064 Жыл бұрын
here you are Richard.!
@davidfolland85132 жыл бұрын
Thanks for a great film! I started work in Ilfracombe in 1963 and had a few trips from Torrington to Ilfracombe--until I bought Viking 'Severn Valley' bike. Then I cycled to and from Torrington alongside the track in places--great memories. Many thanks.
@philclennell2 жыл бұрын
Having not long ago cycled this route, it's amazing to see what was once there. Priceless footage of a line gone forever.
@trainrover2 жыл бұрын
penalising popularity
@chrisguy46612 жыл бұрын
One of the main excuses used by BR in those days for closing these lines was that nobody used them anymore!! Look at all of those people pouring onto those platforms!! That 1 train alone in its journey took probably at least 100 cars off the roads, possibly more!! We must have been completely insane and very short sighted to adopt the policy of line closure in the UK. Today we're now paying the price with heavily congested roads and motorways!!
@davidfalconer89132 жыл бұрын
Oops ... the Portsmouth Arms is still alive - n- kicking ( it's before Barnstaple ! ) ...
@cliffordgregory62552 жыл бұрын
Did I mention Portsmouth Arms in this film? I don't think so. As my father was Station Master at Umberleigh and covered Portsmouth Arms in his remit, I iknow where it is and that it is still open for business.
@davidfalconer89132 жыл бұрын
The Portsmouth Arms was an interesting little station on this line ( ? ) now , no more ...
@mikejones61402 жыл бұрын
What a wonderful set of pictures. My son just found them a few days after I'd called at Umberleigh to photograph the station, the first time I'd set foot there since August 1963 when my family stayed in the Camping Coach. Thank you for bringing back early childhood memories of the station and of unrebuilt Bulleid light pacifics there.
@cgpaddock2 жыл бұрын
Lovely to hear from Mike, thank you for your appreciative comments. August 1963 I was serving in the RAF in Cyprus but it is possible that you may have met my brother who was about 8 at the time and always playing around the station area. Kind regards Cliff
@mikejones61402 жыл бұрын
@@cgpaddock Great memories. I was only aged four and yet to start school but my parents encouraged me to write down or call out engine numbers to help with learning to read and write before going to school. Luckily I therefore know a dozen or so WC/Bob's that I saw that week a couple of which luckily survived via Barry scrapyard.
@jgroome12 жыл бұрын
Great pictures of lost railways
@grahamrudd91832 жыл бұрын
I lived in Braunton way back in the late 1960s early 70s residing at 10b Abbotts Hill and working at Taw Garage in Barnstaple. I knew the line well... Such a shame that it was closed as today it would be a top tourist attraction making a fortune...
@LordTantrums0072 жыл бұрын
The line from Barnstaple to Ilfracombe should never have been closed. In this video note the passenger numbers at Ilfracombe. When the line closed Ilfracombe must have noted a decline in visitors and holiday makers. I reckon the line from Barnstaple to Ilfracombe should be reopened not only for the inhabitants of Ilfracombe but the many people who would just simply like to holiday in Ilfracombe arriving by train.
@spicey_art2 жыл бұрын
Was lovely to watch. Just got off a train at Umberleigh from a day rover for a walk around, and it's a very pretty, well kept station even nowadays 😊
@cgpaddock2 жыл бұрын
Thank you Art. I hope you enjoyed your walk around.
@brianriley53832 жыл бұрын
Worked at the Lee Bay Hotel in the summer of 1972. a little west of Ilfracombe. Trains gone by then but saw the tracks. I was 26. Bus into ilfracombe on day off. On the Buses at the cinema.
@stratac302 жыл бұрын
Fascinating film. Seeing all the passengers get off the train at Ilfracombe and then the number of people get on the train, you have to think that the mandarins at the DoT and BR totally ignored the fact that all these people would then probably buy cars and clog up the roads of north Devon. If only they had the foresight to leave the track formation down, it could have been opened up again the 90's and would no doubt be very popular today, giving the communities a good transport link back down to Barnstaple and Exeter. I assume this train was Waterloo bound?
@skoot2u2 жыл бұрын
Lovely look back in time,look how smart everyone was.
@holidaymoviecompany2 жыл бұрын
Wonderful film; great quality for 8mm
@jorybennett59322 жыл бұрын
How could they close a line that was being so well used? Crowds of people at every station. An utterly mad decision. 😢
@adelestevens3 жыл бұрын
Oh how I would've loved to go by train on my upcoming holiday in ilfracombe but because politicians didn't have the foresight I'm faced with a long drive from the North West of England down crowded motorways and A roads!
@margaretfleming35543 жыл бұрын
I did this journey countless times. Wonderful to see the glorious countryside and stations again. Slade was a particularly picturesque part of the journey. Thank you so much for uploading this!
@alanjewell17733 жыл бұрын
i traveled this line many times as a youngster under the supervision of the gaurd as my father died while working on this line he was based at barnstable town and junction so my mother moved to north yorkshire to be near her parents but sent me many times to stay with my grandparents at ilfracombe i was born in ilfracombe and think of it as my home town . yes that beeching man and others have a lot to answer for its a shame it closed
@robtyman42813 жыл бұрын
Other countries invested in their railways after WW2 ... ...and what did we do? - ripped up half the network. Destroying an extensive network left to us by the Victorians. We totally trashed their legacy in the 60's and 70's. It was basically 'state sponsored' vandalism. The people responsible got away with it and should have instead gone to prison.
@HelenHollick3 жыл бұрын
Hello Mr Gregory - I'm writing a novel set in 1971 with at least one scene set at Umberleigh Station I'd very much appreciate more information about the station (super information already - thank you!) Would you mind if I mentioned your father as the station master?(something like 'Good afternoon Mr Gregory!" please email me on author AT helenhollick DOT net ... thank you!
@cgpaddock3 жыл бұрын
Hi Just Browsing, Thank you for your comments and interest. The early pictures of steam locos were taken by me on my Kodak 66 folding camera which I had saved hard for and wish I had kept. All the rest were also taken by me but on 35mm with a Zenith or a Practica.
@stephenhadley1343 жыл бұрын
I passed through Umberleigh Station each summer between 1959 and 1966 as a boy enroute for holidays at Westward How and Croyde. For me, attached least, the train journeys were the highlight of our family holidays.
@edwardbarnes27023 жыл бұрын
Very evocative, didn’t need sound, just use your imagination. Also very informative with really good photos, well done for posting I learned a lot more of this lovely part of the world. Eddie 🤓
@andrewrobinson12243 жыл бұрын
Born and bread in Barnstaple my father was stationed at Chivenor 1944/45 my mother used the railway line with us kids to go to Staunton & Woolacombe I remember it well lovely memories superb countryside proud to be Devonion & a Barnum Boy 🇳🇬👍🍺🏉
@richardchadwick40283 жыл бұрын
Great footage ,such a terrible shame that this line and the Torrington lines closed. Judging by the amount of passengers it should never have closed ..how much money has been spent on roads .
@angelsone-five79123 жыл бұрын
Nice film, thanks for the descriptions.
@doyoumind93564 жыл бұрын
Thanks for sharing this footage 😀😀
@ericlovett90224 жыл бұрын
Sad demise
@martinwelsford13534 жыл бұрын
Considering the number of passengers that got off at Ilfracombe I assume Dr B massaged numbers after he sampled selected journies where he knew passenger numbers would be light. Naughty Dr B ! - and you from Maidstone Grammar School ! Of course the real crime here was not to stop the service but to make it impossible to re-open by lifting the tracks. Good video despite all that.
@marechell664 жыл бұрын
my farther roger phillips and his farther bert phillips both workt on this line thay lived at chittlehampton, great western railways the best