There is an information board on the railway but its vandalised and very dirty here’s an image of it as when it was new. Source: Combe Rail
The same information board as it is today. Dirty and unkempt after years out in the open. Source: Twitter
Ilfracombe railway station was fifty four and half miles from Exeter as evidenced by the milepost which stood by the location where the tracks began to fan out for the station and goods yard.
Even though Ilfracombe station site is now a distribution depot, its said some of the rail infrastructure still exists within the industrial park including steps, handrails, lamp posts and cabling posts.
What was once the main road access to the station is now part of the Pall Corporation facility. Source: Google Streets
A little further down Station Road was a pedestrian only entrance, which ascended to the station by way of a flight of steps. The steps are still there in the undergrowth, however as this view shows, the concrete posts forming the entrance to this and a Southern railway concrete lamppost can still be seen. Source: Google Streets
A final look at Ilfracombe station as it was in the sixties before the line was rationalised. Source: Twitter
The derelict station site in about 1972. Source: Flickr
How it sadly all looked in the end – just waiting for the demolition men… Source: Twitter. (Note: Twitter/X page doesn’t exist thus an archived image has been used.)
Miscellaneous snippets related to the Ilfracombe line:
1960 Runabout ticket which permitted travel across Devon including Barnstaple to Ilfracombe. Source: Twitter
A picture at Railscot shows the demolition of Ilfracombe station in September 1976. These show the main station buildings already half demolished and the canopy no longer extant & the station nameboard thrown on the ground.
Did the Class 52 ‘Westerns’ ever reach Ilfracombe? Despite the axle loading and restrictions on the Barnstaple line beyond Yeoford Junction (the Plymouth line was passed for 52s however and the class could be seen on Meldon Quarry ballast trains) it seems at least one Class 52, D1012 Western Firebrand, is recorded as having reached Ilfracombe in lieu of a failed Warship – surprising but perhaps someone knew the 52s could just about reach Ilfracombe with care… There’s a picture of D1012 on the return trip at Braunton in 1968 which can be seen in one of Combe Rail’s newsletters.
Back in the 1970s after the railway had closed and British Rail was about to commence track lifting, the North Devon Railway Preservation Society got wind of the news and tried to prevent that track lifting from ever taking place. The only problem was British Rail said it would not stop its work unless a sum of £20,000 was paid the next day! This was a lot of money in those days and there was simply no time to raise anything near that amount.
The North Devon Railway Preservation Society. Their plans floundered as we saw in the first part of this feature. It was due to British Railway’s insistence £20,000 be paid by 9am the next day if the society wanted to stop British Railways’ contractors ripping up the tracks. Source: Twitter
The North Devon Railway’s headquarters in Barnstaple during the 1970s. Source: Twitter
A couple of First Day Covers for the Ilfracombe Line on Twitter here and here.
Barnstaple and Ilfracombe Railway 1874 – 1970.