Lynton and Lynmouth - twin sisters of the North Devon coast

These twin towns sit on the northern fringes of Exmoor National Park and have long been a favourite for day-trippers and holidaymakers since Victorian times. Lynmouth is a small seaside town that benefits from the protection of 500 feet high cliffs to it’s south side. It is full of quaint guest-houses, cafes, tea-rooms and gift shops and has a small harbour in addition to the East Lyn River that flows down through the town to meet the sea.

Lynton sits on top of the aforementioned cliffs and is replete with grand Victorian and Edwardian houses and villas, many of which have been converted into hotels and guest-houses. The two communities are linked by a magnificent funicular railway, built in 1890. This acts as the principal means of transport between the two towns although the road can be used as long as you can cope with 25% gradients and hair-pin bends.

The views from the Cliff Railway must rank with the best anywhere in the UK with sweeping vistas eastwards across to Countisbury and beyond. The massive cliffs that separate the two towns also continue around the bay in either direction, the most famous being those at The Valley of The Rocks, one mile west of Lynton. Here, shale and sandstone have weathered away over the eons to form a rugged, crumbling valley whose chief claim to fame is that it actually runs parallel to the coastline, rather than at right angles to it.

Other highlights in the towns include the Lynmouth Flood Museum that depicts the full horror and carnage suffered in 1952 when tremendous storms on the Moor caused a deluge of water to rush down into the town, sweeping along an estimated 40,000 tonnes of rock that demolished almost half the town’s properties and claimed 34 lives.

Also, make the short trip west to Woody Bay and take a ride on the initial stage of the renovated Lynton & Barnstaple Railway, a narrow gauge permanent way that closed in 1936 but has been recently restored by enthusiasts.

The towns have totally different characters; Lynmouth is the small resort buzzing with people and often choked with drivers chasing that elusive parking space. Coaches disgorge day-trippers fifty at a time giving the place an overcrowded feel. Lynton on the other hand is more laid-back and reserved, a peaceful haven from the hordes down below.

Quick Tips:

If arriving at the twin towns by car (as most people surely will), it is much easier to park at the top in Lynton. Even when I visited in mid July, I found plenty of free parking where you can leave the car for 2 hours. Dump the car here then and take to Shank’s Pony for everywhere in the twin towns is easily reached on foot.

To get down to Lynmouth presents you with two choices, assuming the car has been left behind. You can take the Zig-Zag pathway that, as it’s name suggests, weaves it’s way down the wooded cliff to the resort below, or by far the easier, take the Cliff Railway. A return ride costs £2.75 and if ever the adage of “let the train take the strain” was aptly demonstrated, it is here.

The Tourist Information Centre is situated in the old Town Hall in Lynton High Street and I found the staff to be friendly and helpful. Lynton is full of guest-houses and hotels but I saw no “vacancy” signs anywhere I looked. Therefore, prior booking would seem to be order of the day. All the restaurants seemed busy too indicating that again, prior booking would be recommended particularly for that special evening meal.

Lynton has a thriving amateur dramatics and music scene and most lamp-posts in the town will have a flyer takked to it denoting the performance dates of the latest production or concert.

Lynton & Lynmouth are close to several pretty villages such as Simonsbath, Countisbury and Barbrook so, if you have a car at your disposal, looking for B & B accommodation in one of these places might be a suitable alternative if you intend turning up purely on spec. It’s also worth noting that the wild sheep and goats that frequent much of Exmoor are prone to wander straight out in front of your car without warning, so if you see any by the roadside, be prepared to slow down as few of them know of or practise the Green Cross Code.

Best Way To Get Around:

The twin towns are somewhat remotely situated on the north Devon coast, about 22 miles west of Minehead and a similar distance north-east of Barnstaple, the principal town of the region. The towns sit on the A39, a meandering, hilly trunk route that in places is hardly more than a country lane and presents few passing places should you become stuck behind a slow mover. The alternative and better road albeit a longer distance route is to travel south on the M5 to junction 27, head north on the new North Devon link-road for some 27miles to South Molton, then take the A399 north to avoid Barnstaple’s traffic to it’s junction with the A39 just south of Parracombe. Turn right onto the A39 here from where it’s a scenic 11 miles to the towns.

There are no railway links to the towns since the passing of the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway in 1936. The nearest station now is in Barnstaple, some 22 miles away. There are bus links from Barnstaple to the towns although the services are few and far between. Basically, everyone who lives in the twin towns needs a car due to their distance from anywhere else.

There are plans afoot to renovate the entire length of the old Lynton & Barnstaple route but after years of raising funds, the only section reopened to date is the couple of miles from Woody Bay to Killington. With the renovation taking years of planning, re-acquiring of old railway land and the building of new stations where those former ones are now private dwellings, the project is likely to take many years to fruition.

The top storey sister of Lynmouth is a pretty little town adorned with floral displays, palm trees and Victorian houses and villas that have been converted to guest-houses and B & B establishments. It lacks the commotion and overcrowding of it’s lower neighbour but that is no bad thing at all. Once away from the crowds, Lynton comes across as a peaceful backwater to wander around and explore at your leisure.

There are several buildings of note here including the ornate Town Hall which dates to the mid 1800’s and serves as the Tourist Information Office and theatre for the local amateur dramatic society. On the first Saturday of each month, it also hosts Lynton Farmers Market where local producers of meat and dairy produce assemble to sell their wares directly to the public. If you climb the unbelievably steep hill at the back of Crossmead, the road will lead to what was once Lynton’s station. The building retains it’s railway architectural features but the old track bed and platforms have long since made way for a delightful, private garden.

Back in the High Street, an old church on the left now serves as Lynton Arts & Craft Centre. You are at liberty to browse the work of many local artists, weavers and potters and naturally, everything on show is also for sale. Further on down on the opposite side are the charming Greenhouse Tea-Rooms, occupying a lovely Victorian house with the original multi-paned conservatory to the front acting as a window to the world for it’s diners and drinkers.

There are many little back roads and alleys here, mostly containing art-galleries, porcelain shops, book stores and cafes, all making the most of any passing trade. Today, the cafes are full to bursting; with Britain enjoying it’s warmest heat-wave since records began, Lynton’s steep footpaths are certainly taking an even bigger toll on her visitors.

At the bottom end of the High Street is the small but nonetheless impressive church of St Mary the Virgin, dating back to medieval times and without a doubt the focal point of life in this rural community. Lynton’s shopkeepers seem very relaxed as they sit astride old chairs at the front of their stores reading the local newspapers and drinking cups of tea, bidding “good afternoon” to strangers and locals alike. It’s so unhurried here, even though we’re almost into high season and the sun is blazing down, pushing the mercury beyond thirty degrees. I wonder how many visitors leave their cars and coaches at the bottom in Lynmouth and spend the day barging through the crowds there, without making the climb to the top of the hill to witness how a holiday destination ought to be? But I guess that’s their loss, and the fewer that make the trek up here the better, as far as I’m concerned.

Of the twin towns, Lynmouth is undeniably the holiday resort. Although not brash in any way, it’s narrow streets are full to bursting point with guest-houses, cafes, gift shops, restaurants and pubs. The Victorians called the towns “Little Switzerland” seeing as how Lynton sat directly above it’s twin sister.

Lynmouth developed as a traditional fishing village with stone cottages and a small, quaint harbour. Herrings were the catch hankered after but, like all fishing communities in the UK, the town now relies upon tourists for their living rather than the ever-diminishing bounty from the sea.

There is no real beach to speak of, but rather a shoreline of rocks and shingle. Sun worshippers will need to travel a couple of miles east to Countisbury to find the proper golden stuff.

The town has indelible links to great writers throughout history. The poet Shelley stayed here for several weeks with his new bride, and Wordsworth and Coleridge found the area amenable for writing. It is said that Coleridge was inspired to write “The Ancient Mariner” after viewing Lynmouth’s harbour.

One of the townspeople’s greatest feats of bravery occurred in 1899. The “Forrest Hall”, a merchant ship was foundering in mountainous seas off Porlock, some 13 miles to the east of Lynmouth. Knowing that the lifeboat would never survive the launch at Lynmouth, the lifeboatmen dragged their craft across land on rollers all the way to Porlock where they launched her and effected their rescue.

Also of note is the Rhenish Tower on the quayside, built in the late 1850’s by General Rawdon to store saltwater with which to supply his home with sea-baths. This was totally destroyed during the flood disaster of 1952 but was fully rebuilt shortly afterwards.

Lynmouth is fine for an afternoon’s stroll particularly if the weather is agreeable. It tends to attract the more senior tourist and it’s clear to see that it is this age group that most of the local businesses pander to. Tour coaches squeeze through her narrow streets as cars jostle for a parking space. The North Devon Cliff Path runs east and west from the town and some of the views from here are to die for, plus it tends to get you away from the hubbub of the town.

With all things considered, if I had to spend a week in one of the two, I’m sorry Lynmouth, but your sister upstairs would get my vote.

This amazing geological spectacle is situated just one mile west of Lynton and attracts visitors all year round for both it’s scenery and cliff walks on either side.

It is an unusual land form in that it is a river valley without any signs of a river and more strangely, that it runs parallel to the coast whereas most river valleys run towards the coast. Various theories exist as to how this strange phenomenon could have occurred. The most popular is that part of the valley here was once home to one or both of the Lyn rivers which became cut off by coastal erosion further up the valley at Lynmouth. This would have taken place during the last Ice-Age, leaving the valley "dry".

Frost erosion over the millennia has caused the formation of tors and screes which now fill the valley, the tors rejoicing by the names of Castle Rock, Rugged Jack, Middle Gate, Chimney Rock and the Devil’s Cheesewring.

The valley can be explored extensively on foot although some of the climbs are dangerous due to crumbling rocks and screes. The valley features a charming picnic area as well as what must be the most beautifully located cricket ground in Britain. The small car park never seems too full and you can park for a couple of hours for around £1.50. Toilet facilities are also available for visitors.

You will more than likely encounter wild Cheviot goats whilst walking the cliff paths here; they were introduced from Northumberland in 1976 to replace the feral goats which had roamed the valley for centuries prior to their extinction in the early 70’s.

The views from the cliffs are staggering, sheer drops of 600 feet or more, the beaches below littered with giant boulders that have finally succumbed to gravity. Without a doubt, one of the very best reasons to visit this area of North Devon.

This charming little museum sits in Market Street at the bottom of Lynton High Street and is clearly signposted throughout the town. It’s housed in the beautifully renovated 16th century St Vincent’s Cottage complete with whitewashed walls and a small but well tended garden.

As I wandered through the front gateway into the garden, an elderly chap was sat on the bench with a cup of tea and the crossword from the local paper. “ G’morning”, he bade me, “first customer of the day”, which I found amazing seeing as it was early afternoon. Maybe people don’t do museums any more….?

I paid my £1 entrance fee and wandered inside to find a treasure trove of objects all depicting the history of the twin towns. A large upturned chest on the floor had a newspaper cutting on it from long ago telling the story of the cottage and the hauntings that occur inside on a regular basis that have caused most of the previous owners to sell up and move on.

The two large downstairs rooms contain all types of basic housewares from the 16th century onwards. Pots, pans, porcelain, pottery, bellows, bed-warmers, glassware and so on all sitting somewhat haphazardly arranged around the huge old open hearth. The shelf in front of the bay window is festooned with flat irons, cheese presses, kitchen tongs and all manner of utensils. Across the hallway is the tool room which has a wonderful collection of carpentry tools dating back more than 300 years. In the corner of this room, at the base of the stairs is a glass cabinet containing a display of porcelain and other artifacts from the early years of the 20th century

The rickety staircase takes you up to the first floor which has three smaller rooms devoted almost exclusively to books, maps, charts and pictures of the twin towns across the centuries, many of them painted by local artists. There is also a small section that deals with the flood disaster of 1952 although that topic is thoroughly catalogued and illustrated in the Flood Memorial Hall down in Lynmouth. One of the rooms is devoted to the nautical side of life and you will find a ship’s figurehead along with charts, compasses, sextants, rigging, ship’s wheels and sections of masts, no doubt from one of the many herring boats that fished from the harbour here.

To the rear of the picture room upstairs is the third room, really no more than a recess. This is the haunted room and contains mainly childrens’ toys including a fully furnished Victorian doll’s house.

I spent maybe an hour looking around, discovering more and more each time I looked a little more closely. It certainly is a lovely little museum and should be on everyone’s itinerary when visiting the towns. I went back downstairs to where the “curator” was still engrossed in his crossword and thanked him profusely for this invaluable insight into the history of the area.

Down in Lynmouth, just around the corner from the bottom end of the cliff railway is the Lynton Flood Memorial Hall. This building houses various newspaper articles, photographs and a pre-flood model of how Lynmouth looked before the devastating flood that flattened the town on 15th August 1952, to this day still one of the worst natural disasters in the country’s history.

On the night of the 15th, following continuous torrential rain all day, the East and West Lyn rivers rose very quickly as they filled with the water from their Exmoor catchment areas. Huge boulders were swept along in the raging torrent which rushed through Lynmouth, demolishing everything in it’s path. Thirty-four people lost heir lives and nearly half of all the buildings in the town were destroyed.

The catchment area of both Lyn rivers is almost 40 square miles, most of which is plateau land on the 500 meter contour line. The plateau is surrounded by steep sided valleys and is itself covered in less than four feet of peaty soil which is almost always water-logged, even in summer. Various attempts had been made over the years to increase the drainage of the area but to no real additional effect.

Around midday on August 12th, a deep depression had formed in the Atlantic and moved rapidly south-east towards the south-western peninsula. This mixed with warm, thundery air moving north from France and the two systems combined to give a high probability of forming violent thunderstorms across the south-west. Continuous rain started falling in the Scillies and moved quickly up into Cornwall, Devon and Somerset. It rained relentlessly for over 18 hours as the cold, Atlantic air climbed the north facing slopes of Exmoor, bringing further moisture into the already soaked landscape. It has been reported that around nine inches of rain fell on the area in the 24-hour period from 9am on August 15th.

With the ground already water-logged, this additional deluge literally had nowhere to go. The valleys that lead off from the Exmoor central plateau are steep sided and offered no additional drainage. Most of these valleys face north, with two forming the courses of the East and West Lyn rivers.

The rivers rose quickly and soon broke their banks, allowing them to pick up vast amounts of soil, rubble, trees and boulders as they cascaded towards the coast. At Watersmeet, three miles outside the town, the two rivers naturally converge and once they’d combined forces, and coupled to the fact that the East Lyn river valley was extremely narrow and steep-sided, Lynmouth’s fate was sealed. An estimated 40,000 tonnes of rock tore through the town, demolishing four road bridges and everything else in it’s path.

The water departed as quickly as it arrived, leaving the harbour destroyed along with most local businesses. The clearing up operation started immediately and within 5 years, flood defences had been built to ensure that such a tragedy could never be repeated.

Although the Victorian rush to build railway lines to all the coastal resorts in Britain hit fever pitch in the 1860’s, the topography of North Devon saw the lines go no further than Barnstaple, some 22 miles south-west of Lynton & Lynmouth. The terrain between these two towns was simply beyond the engineering capability and funding of the railway companies.

But the twin towns were becoming popular tourist resorts enjoying holidaymakers from Bristol and South Wales who would arrive by steamer across the Bristol Channel. The railways were missing out in a big way…

Sir George Newnes, a wealthy publisher, local resident and gracious benefactor recognised the trade that a railway link to Barnstaple would bring to the twin towns. He had already been almost single-handedly responsible for the funding of the Cliff Railway a few years ago and had seen that construction bring business and prosperity to the towns, so, in 1895 he became involved as chairman of a development company to build a light railway linking Lynton to Barnstaple. A light, narrow gauge railway would facilitate much lower construction costs than a standard gauge track-bed, it could climb steeper gradients, make tighter turns and the all-important maintenance would be considerably cheaper on much smaller locomotives and rolling stock.

On September 17th 1895, the first sod was cut on the site of the new Lynton station by Lady Newnes. Building the 20 mile line exceeded budget to the point where the company almost went bankrupt and the company was to struggle financially for the rest of it’s existence. Despite this, the building carried on to a high standard with the inaugural train from Barnstaple to Lynton running on March 14th 1898. The official opening was celebrated on May 11th of that year, with the company’s four locomotives and sixteen passenger carriages taking pride of place.

Average speed on the line was said to be just 12mph; the line ran through beautiful, scenic countryside and included the crossing of Chelfham Viaduct, the longest narrow gauge railway viaduct ever built in Britain.

But, with the coming of the motor car, and the relative shortness of the holiday season, the line continued to struggle and the company didn’t pay out it’s first dividend to shareholders until 1913. In 1923, the L & B R had no option but to sell out to The Southern Railway Company who paid next-to-nothing for the line and rolling stock and who themselves, lost a further £60,000 over the next twelve years.

The railway finally closed on September 29th 1935. Old station buildings were sold off as private homes (most notably Lynton station so even if restoration along the line is achieved, a site for a new terminus will be needed here), and maintenance sheds sold to farmers. The lines were ripped up and sold for scrap and the cuttings and embankments slowly reverted back to nature.

Today, the L & B R is undergoing a revival, not as a commercial venture, but purely to ferry holidaymakers along this most scenic of lines for a couple of pounds a time. The station at Woody Bay has been restored and this currently acts as the Lynton end of the line which runs just a couple of miles west to Killington. I’m certain that the line will one day open along it’s entire length enabling all to enjoy what was always described as "the most scenic railway ride in Britain".

The funicular railway that links these two coastal towns was the brainchild of a certain George Marks, reputedly an aficionado of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The cliffs separating the two towns had always caused severe problems for the transportation of goods and for the local people who faced the torturous climb on a regular basis. Lynmouth, by the early 19th century, was increasing in popularity due to the steamer boats that brought over holidaymakers and day-trippers from Bristol and Swansea but naturally enough, the ascent from Lynmouth to Lynton deterred all but the most fit or most foolish.

Ponies and donkeys could be hired at sixpence a time but the steep gradients tested them to their limit. Similarly, carriages were later introduced but the unfortunate horses that drew these along rarely lasted more than a couple of years before expiring.

In December 1881, a novel solution to the problem was raised in the local press by way of the construction of a funicular railway that would climb the steep cliffs by way of a counterbalance system. This would necessitate cutting a track-way into the cliff-side at a gradient of 1 in 1.75, or approximately 55%. The cost of the construction was put at £8000. To raise such a large sum of money meant that the project took several years to come to fruition, with work eventually starting in 1887 after Sir George Newnes, a wealthy publisher, agreed to fund the project.

Work took three years to complete with the inaugural run taking place on April 9th 1890, it being hailed as a resounding success. It has operated ever since, even during both World Wars, without incident or fatality, a tribute to the engineering prowess of it’s builders.

HOW IT WORKS

The two cars are permanently joined by a continuous cable that runs around two 5 feet 6 inch diameter pulleys at the top and bottom of the track bed. Each car has a 700-gallon reservoir beneath the passenger compartment. The car at the top of the cliff has it’s reservoir filled with water that is pumped up from the West Lyn river, about a mile away. As the top car fills with water, it becomes heavier than the lower car, starts to descend the gradient and begins to pull the lower, lighter car up the hill, which itself, will have dumped it’s water upon reaching the bottom on it’s descent run. The two tracks are only a few inches apart but widen out halfway down the gradient enough to allow the two cars to pass safely.

Obviously, some form of braking system is required and the cliff railway has two sets. The first takes the form of shoes that press down upon the rail surface giving maximum friction between the two surfaces. The second set work directly opposite to those on a motor-car; they are permanently "on", operated by a large water accumulator via the driver’s hand wheel. Thus, when the cars are unattended, it’s impossible for them to move.

The two drivers are linked by a system of warning lights and buzzers that automatically inform each of them when the other car is ready for it’s run.

Each car can hold up to 40 passengers and weighs two tonnes when fully loaded. The track length is 862 feet and the vertical distance climbed is almost exactly 500 feet. The Cliff Railway is now one of the major tourist attractions in the west-country yet still performs it’s role just as efficiently today as when it was opened, 116 years ago. The entire system is now grade two listed by English Heritage.