part-logo-shadow

 items in your basket - total   Checkout

Stenlake Publishing - The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway 1895-1935


The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway 1895-1935



Author : L. T. Catchpole
ISBN : 9780853617259
Cover : paperback
Price : £10.95

With the closure of the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway imminent in 1935, Leslie Catchpole wrote two articles about the railway for the Southern Railway Magazine. However, it was felt that a published history would be a more enduring tribute and ensure that the line would be remembered long after its closure. In those days railway books were considered a risky venture and only a handful had been published. As no great demand was expected only 250 copies were printed. However, sales were such that a reprint was needed by May of the same year and the book has been almost continuously in print ever since.

So why is it that a small book about a little narrow gauge railway, now long closed, is still in print when so many other railway books have come and gone? For many it is their first introduction to the L&B written as it is by someone who knew the line. This little book has surely contributed to keeping the memory of the railway alive long after its closure.

In 2004 a part of the old route was reopened at Woody Bay and now a new generation of tourists can enjoy the delights of Exmoor from the carriage window of a narrow gauge train.

Since the early editions there have been small changes to the layout and certain items of interest taken out. With this new edition those items have been reinstated. Also included are previously unpublished photographs and others only seen in other Oakwood publications but all originating from L.T. Catchpole, Roger W. Kidner or the Oakwood archive. Leslie Catchpole, who lived to be well over 80, never wrote another railway history; no other railway meant so much to him.

A5 format, 128 pages, 120 illustrations.

The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway 1895-1935
£10.95