The South West Film and Television Archive (SWFTA) is the regional film archive for the South West of England. Established in 1993, SWFTA's core collection comprises of the combined programme libraries of Westward Television and TSW (Television South West). The archive also cares for a significant number of donated film collections, both amateur and professional, dating back to the early 1900s.
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The Lynton Light Railway
A trip from Exeter to see the Lynton Light Railway in the year of its closure
From the collection of:
Overview
The Lynton and Barnstaple Railway opens in May 1898 and is referred to as the toy railway because of its 19 miles of one foot and eleven and a half inch narrow gauge track. A railway enthusiast journeys on the Green Knight from Exeter Central on the Up Atlantic Coast Express and films the Taw no. E761 in operation on the edge of Exmoor prior to the railway's closure on 29 September 1935. The Yeo, Exe, Taw and Lyn operate on the line with stops at Woody Bay, Blackmoor Gate and Lynton.
Sir George Newnes, a publisher and MP invests in the railway to connect Lynton to Barnstaple. The line becomes part of Southern Rail in 1923. The last train left Blackmoor Gate for Barnstaple on 29 September 1935. The Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Trust succeed in reopening a short section of the railway in 2004 at Woody Bay. Volunteers continue work to restore the railway line. Blackmoor Gate Station is the Old Station House Inn near Kentisbury.
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