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The railway from Barnstaple to Bideford was opened in 1855 but was sadly
closed to regular passengers in October 1965 as part of the notorious Beeching
Report. The line from Barnstaple-Torrington-Meeth remained open for freight
traffic until 1982. The railway track was lifted in 1985 and the whole of
line was purchased by Devon County Council and converted into the now popular
Tarka Trail Footpath & Cycleway. The Bideford & Instow Railway Group
was set up in 1988 and has worked hard since that date to restore the Bideford
Station site. The Bideford Railway Heritage Centre is situated at the old
station in East the Water across the old Long Bridge. Go straight on under
the railway bridge and the station is the first turning to the right just
past the Royal Hotel. The Signal Box has been rebuilt and a short stretch
of track relaid track on this part of the Tarka Line. The group's aim to
return passenger train rides along the relaid section of track at Bideford
came to fruition in 2004 when, after over three years of constant effort,
they received the agreement of Her Majesty's Inspector of Railways to start
passenger operations. With great fanfare the first passenger service from
Bideford Station commenced on 15 August 2004 with return brake van rides
to Nutaberry Hill Bridge. The service was time-tabled from 10.15am to 5.00pm
and carried 551 passengers in total on the day. The "New Atlantic Coast
Express" was unveiled by the Mayor of Bideford, Councillor Peter Christie,
accompanied by the Lady Mayor. The average journey time over the 0.8km length
of track was seven minutes with 47 timetabled journeys rostered by five
locomotive drivers and three guards. Special souvenir Edmondson tickets,
date-stamped 15 August 2004, were issued to all passengers. The Group has
also restored Instow Signal Box, which dates from 1872 and was the first
Signal Box in the UK to be "listed" as a building of architectural
interest. It is now the only all-equipped Box of its type in the whole of
the Southwest. The signal box is owned by Devon County Council, but the
Railway Group have managed it since 1988. In 2006 the Group became the Bideford
Railway Heritage Centre Community Interest Company. The Bideford station
site is accessible to all from the Tarka Trail, but is currently closed
for extended maintenance. Instow Signal Box is open to the public on occasional
Sundays and Bank Holidays throughout the year. Please contact
Bideford Railway Heritage Centre Community Interest Company for
further information and updates.
We would like to thank the Bideford Railway Heritage Centre CIC for their
help with the editorial on this page.
Historical Information: Bideford,
Westward Ho! and Appledore Railway
- Buy the book
North
Devon's Lost Railways
by Peter Dale - North
Devon Focus Blogspot Click here for early photos contributed by Philip Lindhurst
Focus on Instow -
Focus on the Tarka Trail
Bideford to Instow - Focus
on the Tarka Trail Intow to Fremington Quay |
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