by Colin Burbidge

After many false starts, Friday August 18th, 1894 saw the Royal Assent given to …

The formation of the Exeter, Teign Valley & Chagford Railway.

The London Stock Exchange announced that the company came into being with a capital of £240,000.  with the purpose of connecting the City of Exeter with the already extant Teign Valley Railway, the first 10 miles would connect with that line at Lea Cross and from there an 8-mile branch line would terminate at Chagford.

 The Valley of the Teign had long been known for its Mineral deposits, silver-lead ore, barytes, and Manganese. Owing to the cost of carriage by road, these works were closed. However, with the favourable conditions of bulk transport by rail they might soon be open again.

As reported in the Western Times in August 1894 the rail company has already had promises from Messrs William Easton & Co and the Teign Valley Barytes Mining Company of large loads of granite, macadam stone and barytes.

The Directors had appointed main contractors James & John Dickson of London, and the arrangement was that Dicksons would accept a cash payment of £30,000 and the balance would be in shares in the company. Such an arrangement gave the contractors the incentive to press on swiftly with the work, since until the line was carrying traffic, the shares were in essence worthless.

November 7th, 1894 was the date set for the ceremonial cutting of the 1st sod of turf. The event was followed in detail by the “Western Times” who informed their readers that Lady Northcote had been invited to do the honours. At 11.30am there would be a grand procession including the Band and a Company of the 1st Volunteer Regiment of the Devonshire’s, followed by the Directors, The Mayor, Sheriff, the Bishop of Exeter, and other worthies. In wet weather the procession ended in a large marquee in a field in Alphington Road near the GWR Railway bridge, the site of the new line, close to St. Thomas Station, Exeter.

The cutting ceremony having been completed there was a special luncheon at the London Hotel, Exeter, followed by a gala football match between Exeter and Blundell’s School 1st XI and in the evening at the County Ground, despite more rain, a firework display provided by Messrs. James Paine & Sons of London.

Now began, not only the groundwork, but the negotiating with numerous landowners and local councils to purchase the land needed for the lines. In parallel, the initial £30,000 needed to be raised and large numbers of shares also required selling. In places like Dunsford, Chudleigh and Chagford enthusiastic public meetings were held to drum up support and encourage people to invest.

 To be continued……….