Railway Day Trips: 160 classic train journeys around Britain. Julian Holland
(Exeter St Davids)
The journey from Plymouth to Exeter takes in this wave-swept coastal stretch of railway at Dawlish.
PLYMOUTH TO GUNNISLAKE
Set astride the Devon/Cornwall border, this highly scenic single-track branch line serves a string of villages along the valley of the River Tamar – hence its marketing title of the Tamar Valley Line. From Plymouth station, trains call at Devonport, Dockyard, Keyham and St Budeaux Victoria Road before diving under the road and rail bridges that cross the Tamar, while closely following its eastern shore along what was once the London & South Western Railway’s main line to Exeter and Waterloo. This line opened in 1890 and, along with the branch line to Gunnislake and Callington, was listed for closure in the ‘Beeching Report’. Fortunately the section from Plymouth to Bere Alston and the branch as far as Gunnislake were reprieved because of poor road connections and there are currently plans to reopen the line from Bere Alston to Tavistock.
After following the east bank of the Tamar, the railway crosses its tributary, the River Tavy, on an attractive 8-span bowstring bridge to arrive at the isolated village of Bere Ferrers, where the privately owned station buildings and signal box have been lovingly restored to their former glory and are open to the public. From here, the railway continues north to Bere Alston station where the train reverses direction to take the winding route to Gunnislake.
Abounding in sharp curves and steep gradients, the railway soon crosses the Tamar high above on the spectacular concrete 12-arch Calstock Viaduct, which was completed in 1908. After crossing the viaduct, today’s trains call at tiny Calstock station before meandering high above the river to end at the minimal station of Gunnislake. For centuries the village was at the heart of an important industrial and mining region and was also the lowest crossing point of the Tamar until the opening of the Tamar Bridge near Plymouth in 1961. The mining and quarrying ended in the late 19th century and Gunnislake now lies in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
DESTINATION HIGHLIGHTS
walks in Tamar Valley (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) from Gunnislake station; Rising Sun Inn (real ale pub in Gunnislake); Cotehele House and Gardens (Calstock); Bere Alston station museum
FREQUENCY OF TRAINS
1 every 2 hours
15¼ MILES 45 MINUTES
NUMBER OF CHANGES: 0
A Plymouth to Gunnislake train slowly crosses the River Tamar on the impressive viaduct at Calstock.
TOTNES TO BUCKFASTLEIGH
The 9½-mile broad-gauge single-track branch line from Totnes to Ashburton was opened in 1872. It was converted to standard gauge in 1892 and became part of the Great Western Railway five years later. Serving small villages and farming communities on the edge of Dartmoor, the line led a fairly quiet life and was closed to passengers in 1958 and to goods in 1962. Lord Beeching reopened it as the South Devon Railway in 1969, but ‘improvements’ to the A38 trunk road led to the section between Buckfastleigh and Ashburton closing in 1971.
Steam-hauled trains now carry visitors on a delightful journey alongside the River Dart from the new terminus at Totnes (Littlehempston) – the station is accessible via a footbridge over the Dart from the national rail network station in the town. Leaving Totnes, the railway winds its way northwards up the meandering Dart Valley and past the parkland grounds of Dartington Hall to reach the only intermediate station and passing loop at Staverton. From here, the railway continues up the wooded valley, occasionally passing farms and isolated cottages before ending at the lovingly restored Buckfastleigh station. Here, a small but fascinating railway museum, miniature railway, café, butterfly farm and otter sanctuary are found while in the town (reached under the ugly concrete bridge of the A38 dual carriageway) there is Buckfast Abbey, famous (some say notorious) for its popular tonic wine.
DESTINATION HIGHLIGHTS
railway museum; miniature railway; Buckfast Abbey; otter sanctuary; butterfly farm; Sea Trout Inn (Staverton)
FREQUENCY OF TRAINS
3-9 per day (mid-Feb, mid-Mar-early Nov, Christmas week and New Year)
7 MILES 30 MINUTES
NUMBER OF CHANGES: 0
Hauled by a restored GWR locomotive, a passenger train makes its way along the idyllic Dart Valley to Buckfastleigh.
EXETER TO KINGSWEAR
Our journey starts at Exeter St Davids station, from where Brunel opened his broad-gauge atmospheric South Devon Railway to Totnes in 1848. The intention was to reach Plymouth but the resounding failure of this eccentric system, which required no locomotives, soon saw it replaced by more conventional steam motive power. Heading south, the railway closely follows the west bank of the ever-widening Exe Estuary through Starcross (for the passenger ferry to Exmouth) and Dawlish Warren before tunnelling through the red sandstone cliffs on a dramatic coast-hugging route to Dawlish and Teignmouth. From here the railway heads inland along the shore of the Teign Estuary to Newton Abbot, once an important railway junction town. Leaving the town behind, the Paignton branch soon diverges from the main line to Plymouth, to head south through Torre and Torquay along the former broad-gauge route that opened between 1848 and 1859.
On arrival at the resort town of Paignton passengers must transfer the short distance to the terminus of the Dartmouth Steam Railway before continuing their journey to Kingswear. This 6½-mile single-track railway was originally opened in 1864 and survived threatened closure by Dr Beeching when it was seamlessly reopened as a heritage railway at the beginning of 1973. South of Paignton, the railway climbs along the coastline above Goodrington Sands to Churston station from where a short branch line to Brixham operated until closure in 1963. Descending from Churston, the railway emerges from Greenway Tunnel to closely follow the east bank of the tidal River Dart before ending at the picturesque overall-roofed terminus at Kingswear. A regular ferry service operates from here across the Dart to Dartmouth.
DESTINATION HIGHLIGHTS
ferry to Dartmouth; boat trips up River Dart to Totnes; Dartmouth Castle; medieval and Elizabethan streets and architecture (Dartmouth); Dartmouth Museum (Butterwalk); 14th-century Cherub Inn (Dartmouth)
FREQUENCY OF TRAINS
Exeter to Paignton: 2 per hour Paignton to Kingswear: 4-9 per day (Feb-Nov)
35 MILES 1 HOUR 45 MINUTES
NUMBER OF CHANGES: 1
(Paignton)
Trains on the Dartmouth Steam Railway end their journey from Paignton along the shore of the picturesque Dart Estuary at Kingswear.