Kestrel 2017

TINTAGEL - KING ARTHUR COUNTRY

 The story really began when the line to Holsworthy was opened in January 1879. The line crossed over the Meldon Viaduct & continued to Holsworthy via Halwill Junction. The North Cornwall Railway Act was passed in August 1882 & it was to be operated by LSWR for the owners. Building the line commenced and by 21st July 1886 Halwill Junction to Launceston (via Ashwater & Tower Hill) was completed. On 21st July 1891 the NCR Launceston to Delabole line was authorised & by 28th July 1892 part of the continuation of the line was ready as far as Tresmeer Station (via Egloskerry). In 1893 another Act was passed in Parliament authorising the addition of Delabole to Wadebridge. From Tresmeer worked continued & it was hoped that Delabole station would be reached at the same time as Camelford. Due to the heavy building work necessary as Delabole was approached, Camelford Station in fact opened on 14th August 1893 & Delabole on 18th October 1893. Two years later on first day of June the NCR line was completed & opened to Wadebridge (via Port Isaac Road & St Kew Highway). Originally there were plans to take the line on to Truro but this did not transpire. However, due to great pressure by Padstow residents, an Act of Parliament was granted in July 1896 to continue the line to Padstow. This necessitated crossing the main road in Wadebridge & level crossing gates had to be installed there. Padstow was finally reached on the 23rd March 1899. This turned out to be the end of the line. The North Cornwall line ran from Halwill Junction to Padstow & Halwill Junction (via Holsworthy) to Bude. Tintagel did not have a rail link & Camelford became our railway station. Fry's Coaches & Southern National collected passengers from the station & goods including mail & the daily papers were also collected from Camelford. The line was quite busy even to closure with goods traffic but passenger levels were never very high in the wintertime. In the summer rail was the way to travel to North Cornwall as cars were not so prolific before the 1960s, and passenger levels used to be high. The trip from London originally ran from Waterloo Station but in 1963 when Western Region took over the line, this changed to Paddington Station as the departure link from London. Diesel Multiple trains were introduced in 1965 & steam operation became a memory from the past. A special train the "Atlantic Coast Express" started from Waterloo at 11am arriving at it's final destination 'Padstow' at 5.21pm, a journey time 6 hours 21 minutes. Today a car can travel to Cornwall from London in roughly 4 hours. Today's trains take around four & half hours to reach Bodmin Parkway, our nearest station. Tintagel was about five miles from Camelford Station but now it takes forty minutes to reach Bodmin Parkway. Some progress!!. The North Cornwall Railway line became to be known as 'The Withered Arm' & sadly on 1st October 1966 the lines from Meldon Junction to Bude & Wadebridge closed. Goods were still making profits but of course passenger levels had dropped. Closure from Wadebridge to Padstow followed on 31st  January 1967. The last freight train from Wadebridge to Bodmin Parkway closed on 4th September 1978. The old Bodmin Central to Bodmin Parkway line has been reopened as a steam tourist attraction & there is much talk today that the link Bodmin Parkway to Wadebridge could also reopened by the Bodmin & Wenford Railway.

  Meldon Junction         Maddaford Moor Halt                    Ashbury                 Halwill Junction                        Ashwater                      Tower Hill

            Launceston                  Egloskerry                      Tresmeer                      Otterham                             Camelford                   Delabole

      Port Isaac Road             St Kew Highway                     Wadebridge          Wadebridge 1913                          Padstow Bridge                  Padstow

The End Of The Line -  The Stations Of The Much Lamented North Cornwall Railway Line The FULL North Cornwall Railway Story. Have a Look

INSIDE TRELILL TUNNEL JULY 2003 333 YARDS LONG & BUILT ON A CURVE