What it Looks Like Today:   Burn Halt

  When you try and find information about Burn Halt,there isn't really much to find.To most people it was a fairly unimportant stop,in the middle of nowhere that was barely used even by the locals.Out of all the Halts on the line,it was probably the least used and even the railway's attempt to link it with Butterleigh,never really drew in the amount of passengers that they had hoped for.

In fact one of it's main uses was for somewhere for the local youngsters to hang out,making use of the wooden shelter on rainy days.This same wooden shelter was also a popular destination for courting couples looking for a private place for their canoodling.

   So it was then,on a glorious Autumn day that Christine and I set off to find Burn Halt.Taking the Exeter road from Tiverton we drove a few miles before taking a left turn into the Butterleigh road and parking up.The halt is reached by a public footpath on the main road,but on our visit,the entrance to this path was totally over grown with brambles and unless you knew it was there as I did,you could easily miss it.The road here is often busy and GREAT CARE should be taken crossing the road,as cars travel at a rate of knots.

Once through the footpath entrance,you are met by the rather special sight of the old wooden kissing gate.I found it quite amazing that after all these years this lovely old gate was still there and in such good condition.Straight ahead from here is the now familiar line of railway concrete posts,but this line has a rather perished concrete lamp post in it.

 You can easily imagine a cold misty evening and a lone passenger trying to make their way across the cow pat littered field,with only the dim light of a parafin lamp to guide them.

Ahead and to the right,you can see the old metal gate to the platform,but looking at this old picture,you can see that rather than use that gate,people just took the direct route from the platform.

 

 If you take a closer look at this old metal gate,you will see that it has these sort of cog like things on it.What these were for I have no clue.If you go through this gate,you then reach the totally intact platform of Burn Halt.

Comments   

+2 #3 Nancherrow 2015-12-05 15:30
Re-visited this site with friends yesterday and they solved the cogged posts mystery. The ratchetted cogs were for tensioning the wires on the fence. The concrete posts held 5 wires and there are 5 cogs on the metal contraption. :-)
+2 #2 Nancherrow 2015-10-21 12:31
The link to the picture didn't appear. Try this http://www.trenear-harvey.co.uk/pages/gatepost.html
+2 #1 Nancherrow 2015-10-21 12:30
Interesting article - thank you. With regard to your picture of the unusual gatepost I thought you might be interested to see this similar one I saw near Sheepstor Village. Burrator Halt is only half a mile away so maybe they have a railway connection.

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News From Down the Line

newslogo44Every now and then when I talk to people and they hear of my interest in the Exe Valley Railway,they tell me little bits of information or recall an old memory.It always amazes me how even today,more than 50 years after it's closure,the fondness with which people remember the railway and how fresh the memories seem to be to them.

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24/4/19These interesting pictures of Dulverton Station were sent in by Fred Gillard, who visited in about 1970 to take some pictures for a model railway project that he was building. The station buildings were bought by the Carnarvon Arms (now closed down) and used as staff and overflow guest accommodation,before being converted into residential housing. Thank you very much Fred for taking the time to share your pictures.

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