Today we’re cycling a section of the North Devon Railway, specifically the Bideford extension railway from Barnstaple to Torrington. Passenger services along this line were withdrawn in 1965 although freight services continued until the eventual complete closure in the 80’s. Fortunately through preservation efforts of volunteers, there is almost something remaining for all stations along todays route. This was a really great route to cycle however it was an extremely wet start to the day as you will see.
Barnstaple
We start the trip at the start of the Tarka Trail in Barnstaple. The entire length of the Tarka Trail is around 180 miles..not something possible in one day. The first section to Fremington is around 2 miles but its incredibly wet and chucking down with rain.
Fremington
After 2 wet miles we come to our first station, Fremington. Located on the quay, the station platform and building are mostly intact. What was quite nice is that as well as a cafe, this has been turned into a discovery center and allows you free access into the signal box, giving you a good view up and down the platform. I imagine this was not the main signal box as there are just a few point levers in here.
The next 4 miles take us towards Instow, passing some interesting places along the way like the site of Yelland Power Station, an active MOD base and an old tunnel.
Instow
Arriving at Instow and again the site is very well maintained. It was nice to sit on the platform and enjoy the view across the River Taw. Thankfully the sun was trying to poke through and it had dried up a bit by this point.
Next stop on the list was Bideford, which was 3 miles away. This was a bit of a slog as the route takes you along the river bank which is completely unprotected from the elements. I was battling the wind for a large part of this next section but its still incredibly pretty.
Bideford
Bideford finally comes into view. The site is actually home to the Bideford Railway Heritage Centre, which sometimes offers rides in their small Ruston 0-4-0 shunter along the short section of track which has been restored there, but not today. Personally I was thankful for the cafe and the cold water!
All along this section of the Tarka Trail, you will find information boards like the one below which lets you know where you are at any given time along with a short history of the station and area. When you see something thats just a few miles further away, it’s tempting to just carry on.
With my legs knackered though, this is where I cheated and got in the car with my Husband and headed to the final stop for the day; Torrington. Just before that though, we walked the short distance of the length of track at Bideford.
Torrington
Torrington is the first station on the newly created Tarka Valley Railway. The project aims to restore a heritage railway service between Torrington and Bideford. As of writing this, the first 250m of track has been laid and a special running service was held on 5th August to celebrate this and marked the first service in more than 40 years. I’m very much looking forward to coming back in the future to see how the project has progressed. For now, enjoy these pictures of the site today which is our final stop on the Tarka Trai today.
