Mortehoe and Woolacombe railway station was a

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

on the

London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter ...

Ilfracombe Branch Line between

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...

and

Ilfracombe Ilfracombe ( ) is a seaside resort and civil parish on the North Devon coast, England, with a small harbour surrounded by cliffs. The parish stretches along the coast from the 'Coastguard Cottages' in Hele Bay toward the east and along the ...

North Devon North Devon is a local government district in Devon, England. North Devon Council is based in Barnstaple. Other towns and villages in the North Devon District include Braunton, Fremington, Ilfracombe, Instow, South Molton, Lynton and Lynmouth ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

(grid reference ).

History

The station was opened in 1874, with the line, and served the villages of

Mortehoe Mortehoe is a village and former manor on the north coast of Devon, England. It lies 10 miles north-west of Barnstaple, near Woolacombe and Lee Bay, and is sited in a valley within the hilly sand-dune-like land behind Morte Point, almost direc ...

and

Woolacombe Woolacombe is a seaside resort on the coast of North Devon, England, which lies at the mouth of a valley (or "combe") in the parish of Mortehoe. The beach is long, sandy, gently sloping and faces the Atlantic Ocean near the western limit of the ...

. It was known as Morthoe until 13 May 1902. The station was the location of eminent railway photographer

Ivo Peters Ivo Peters BEM (29 July 1915 – 7 June 1989) was an English railway photographer and filmmaker. Peters spent his life in Bath, Somerset and is best known for his amateur photographs and cine films of steam railways in the British Isles, pa ...

's first steam train photograph in 1925; and was immortalised in 1964 in the song '' Slow Train'' by

Flanders and Swann Flanders and Swann were a British comedy duo. Lyricist, actor and singer Michael Flanders (1922–1975) and composer and pianist Donald Swann (1923–1994) collaborated in writing and performing comic songs. They first worked together in a scho ...

. It was closed to passengers in October 1970 when the branch closed. Mortehoe former station geograph-3790692-by-Ben-Brooksbank

"Once Upon a Time"

After lying semi-derelict for many years, in the early 1990s the station was used as the basis for a children's theme park called Once Upon a Time. Four redundant

British Railways Mark 1 British Railways Mark 1 is the family designation for the first standardised designs of railway carriages built by British Railways (BR) from 1951 until 1974, now used only for charter services on the main lines or on preserved railways. Follo ...

coaches Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

were craned into position between the platforms, and a number of ex-BR 4-wheel vans (mostly 12-ton "Vanwide" type) were located around the grounds. The former rolling stock was used to contain fairytale animations, while the rest of the station and area around it were used to hold small children's rides. Although opened independently, the attraction was latterly owned by the operators of nearby

Watermouth Castle Watermouth Castle is a building in Watermouth, near Ilfracombe, North Devon, England, designed by George Wightwick as a residence for the Bassett family in the mid-19th century and is not a true castle but a country house built to resemble one. I ...

. In 2004, the attraction was sold when the owner was approached by a housing developer. Although the first offer of £500,000 was refused, the developer put in a later offer of £800,000 which was accepted, and the attraction closed at the end of the 2005 season.

Later development

In December 2006, a planning application was lodged for the redevelopment of the site. The plan covered the building of seven units of affordable housing, located in the area currently occupied by the platforms, and 37 units of ("temporary") holiday accommodation, the latter to be known as the Atlantic Lodge Holiday Park, and due to be available from 1 May 2009. The surviving station buildings, including the signal box, would be retained, converted to form a reception area, offices and shop for the holiday accommodation. The design of the houses was intended to be sympathetic to the station building, following the same roofline and using similar building materials. The

Tarka Trail The Tarka Trail is a series of footpaths and cyclepaths (rail trails) around north Devon, England that follow the route taken by the fictional Tarka the Otter in the book of that name. It covers a total of in a figure-of-eight route, centred o ...

would continue to skirt the eastern edge of the site. The planning application consultation period was expected to be completed in April 2007. By August 2007, all of the external amusement rides and constructions had been auctioned off or demolished, leaving just the main buildings and platforms intact. By May 2013 the site had been largely completed, with a mixture of permanent and holiday homes. The builder's website showing the completed homes and plans for a third phase.

Combe Rail

In late 2015 a charity named Combe Rail was formed with the intention of establishing a heritage railway on the trackbed of the Ilfracombe-Barnstaple line as well as lobbying for a full reopening in the future.Combe Rail website
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References

External links

Station information at www.disused-stations.org.uk
!-- Note that some of the text on this webpage has been copied from the Wikipedia page, not the other way round (ie it's NOT a copyvio by WP) -- I recognised some of the text I'd added here previously -- EdJogg--> {{coord, 51.173232, -4.169598, display=title Disused railway stations in Devon Former London and South Western Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1874 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1970 Beeching closures in England