Woody Bay railway station
Encyclopedia
Exmoor
Exmoor is an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England, named after the main river that flows out of the district, the River Exe. The moor has given its name to a National Park, which includes the Brendon Hills, the East Lyn Valley, the Vale of Porlock and ...
National Park, is a station on the former Lynton and Barnstaple Railway
Lynton and Barnstaple Railway
The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway opened as an independent railway in May 1898. It was a single track narrow gauge railway slightly over long running through the rugged and picturesque area bordering Exmoor in North Devon, England. Although opened after the 1896 Light Railways Act came into force,...
, a narrow gauge line that ran through Exmoor
Exmoor
Exmoor is an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England, named after the main river that flows out of the district, the River Exe. The moor has given its name to a National Park, which includes the Brendon Hills, the East Lyn Valley, the Vale of Porlock and ...
from Barnstaple
Barnstaple
Barnstaple is a town and civil parish in the local government district of North Devon in the county of Devon, England, UK. It lies west southwest of Bristol, north of Plymouth and northwest of the county town of Exeter. The old spelling Barnstable is now obsolete.It is the main town of the...
to Lynton
Lynton
Lynton is a small town in Devon, England. It lies on the northern edge of Exmoor and is located at the top of a gorge above Lynmouth, to which it is connected by the Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway...
and Lynmouth
Lynmouth
Lynmouth is a village in Devon, England, on the north edge of Exmoor.The village straddles the confluence of the West Lyn and East Lyn rivers, in a gorge below Lynton, to which it is connected by the Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway....
in North Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
. The station was situated inland, about 2 km from Woody Bay
Woody Bay
Three miles west of Lynton and eight east of Combe Martin on the North Devon coast of England, stoney-beached Woody Bay nestles among the steep cliffs of the rugged coast below the heights of Exmoor...
itself. It opened with the line (as Wooda Bay until the name was changed in 1901) on 7 March 1898, and closed with it after service on 29 September 1935. From 1923 until closure, the line was operated by the Southern Railway
Southern Railway (Great Britain)
The Southern Railway was a British railway company established in the 1923 Grouping. It linked London with the Channel ports, South West England, South coast resorts and Kent...
.
Woody Bay station was built in part to serve the expected development of a resort at Woody Bay
Woody Bay
Three miles west of Lynton and eight east of Combe Martin on the North Devon coast of England, stoney-beached Woody Bay nestles among the steep cliffs of the rugged coast below the heights of Exmoor...
, a mile or so to the north. A pier was built in the bay, although little further development took place, and the pier was destroyed by heavy seas before any trade could be established with passing steamers, and the development was abandoned when the promotor went into liquidation in 1900, and although a route was surveyed for a branch line to the bay, it was never constructed.
Following purchase by the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Company
Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Company Limited
The Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Company Limited was a private company, limited by guarantee, with no share capital. It was incorporated on 11 August 1993 as The Lynton & Barnstaple Light Railway Company Limited , the company is registered at Companies House in Great Britain as company number...
in 1995, restoration of the station began, and it opened as a Visitors' Centre in 2003. An "out and back" service over a few hundred yards of track began in 2004, and with the opening of a temporary station about a mile towards Parracombe Halt, a regular "point to point" service started in 2006.
Several trees have grown in the intervening years, but these two photos, taken over a hundred years apart, are still recognisably from the same location. The carriage shed built into the cutting beyond the station is a portable structure erected in 2003.
Woody Bay station is at: