Full steam ahead for first-ever viaduct open day

As part of our celebrations, we opened up the recently restored Chelfham Viaduct near Barnstaple to the public. We were delighted to welcome around 2,000 visitors over the weekend. The video tells the story of the opening, with visitors sharing their memories of the structure.

Choosing Chelfham 

The Historical Railways Estate looks after bridges, tunnels, and viaducts of all shapes, sizes, rurality, and of varying levels of community, heritage and architectural interest. 

Chelfham Viaduct near Barnstaple, Devon, is a beautiful structure that stands tall and proud among the glorious countryside that surrounds it. It is the largest narrow-gauge viaduct in England and has been closed since 1935. 

The Lynton and Barnstaple (L&B) Railway has grand ambitions to extend the former line over viaduct one day. This is a dream that the Historical Railways Estate is wholly supportive of. 

On behalf of the Department of Transport, we look after the Historical Railways Estate, but will work with viable organisations to realise their ambitions to repurpose these structures. This could be for Active Travel, to restore a heritage rail line, or something completely different – such as the ‘Sky Garden’ created in partnership with the National Trust. 

The plan

We chose Chelfham Viaduct as the spot to focus our attention for the Railway 200 celebrations as it ticked all the boxes: a beautiful feat of engineering, strong community interest, safe for the public to access, a great story to tell, and the infrastructure support from L&B with their team of experienced volunteers, plus the parking facility provided by The Growforward Project, who run their not-for-profit heritage hub beneath the viaduct.

We couldn’t predict the level of public interest that we would generate from the opening; this was a first for our team. We set a date and developed a communications plan to help spread the word about this special event.

What a turnout!

Through a combination of press and social media from National Highways and the partner organisations involved to bring in the crowds, we were delighted that an estimated 2,000 people visited over the weekend. 

The celebrations opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony led by Hélène Rossiter, Head of Historical Railways Estate, and Keith Vingoe, Director of the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway, who shared a brief history about the viaduct.

With the ribbon cut, the first to step across the viaduct were twin boys who were celebrating their fourth birthday. Their mum told us that the boys always asked to go on the ‘big bridge’ every time they drove past it! It was certainly a birthday treat that they won’t forget.

That was the first story of the weekend – and there were many more to be told; visitors were delighted to share their memories and connections with the viaduct. One lady shared that her grandparents crossed the viaduct by rail on their honeymoon over 90 years ago, while another recalled looking through the railings and watching the steam train go by as a little boy.

Visitors also got the chance to experience the beautifully restored Chelfham Station, which won a National Railway Heritage Award in 2021. Plus, there was a trail to explore along the former line beyond the viaduct, hosted by Exmoor Associates.  

We were joined by BBC Spotlight Devon on Sunday afternoon, who filmed a segment for their evening news programme, which aired that evening.

Mission complete

The aims of Railway 200 are to ‘celebrate rail’s remarkable past, its role today, and its importance to a sustainable future’ - and the weekend’s activities were successful in rolling all these ambitions into one super event. 

Witnessing the community benefits, seeing the excitement from the next generation, and hearing the stories from individuals, couples and families from all walks of life made us even more proud to have these precious historic structures in our care. 

Discover other ‘Railway 200’ celebrations across the country.