Bratton Fleming railway station

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Bratton Fleming was a station on the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway, a famously scenic narrow gauge line that ran through Exmoor from Barnstaple to Lynton and Lynmouth in North Devon. The station served the village of Bratton Fleming. It opened with the line 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.

An early view of Bratton Fleming station

The station building - now a private residence - in 2004

The station building is now in use as a private residence.

Perchance it "is not dead but sleepeth" - Inspiring the L&B Project

As described by JW Dorling, writing in The Railway Magazine a month after the event, on Monday 30 September 1935, the day after the railway closed, Barnstaple Town stationmaster Harold Ford and Porter Guard Walkey laid a wreath of bronze crysanthemums on the Barnstaple Town Station stop block. Sent by Paymaster Captain Thomas Alfred Woolf, R.N. (Retd.), of Woody Bay.

The wreath bore a black-edged postcard, hand-written on both sides:

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TO BARNSTAPLE & LYNTON RAILWAY WITH REGRET & SORROW FROM A CONSTANT USER AND ADMIRER

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Perchance it "is not dead but sleepeth"

Captain Woolf died on 12 May 1937, aged 55 and is buried in Martinhoe Churchyard. Each September, at the Woody Bay Steam Gala, a wreath of bronze crysanthemums is carried on the pilot loco, and afterwards, laid on the Captain's grave in remembrance, and as thanks for his inspirational words.

The Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Association was founded in 1979, intending to restore the line to its former glory, serving tourists and the local community alike, making the Captain's prophesy a reality.

Headed by the Association (now the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Trust), a number of groups, and over 1500 volunteers, run The L&B Project, researching, restoring, rebuilding and operating the railway, from its base at Woody Bay station.

Bratton Fleming station is at: grid reference SS64153844