The Renowned Cliff Top Railway Of Lynton And Lynmouth In Exmoor

The celebrated cliff side rail track came about through a combination of engineering, ingenuity, necessity and location. The twin towns of Lynton and Lynmouth are at the centre of understanding why and where the railway was created as without the railway all of the sea deliveries would have been trapped in the towns of Lynmouth and Lynton with only animals to take the goods to the higher ground. The thriving towns were expanding through the increase in sea based trading as well as fishing but the divide between the towns of sheer steep cliff face made development difficult and they became a serious problem for the developing tourist trade also. From the early 19th century Lynton and Lymouth had become very popular with tourists travelling on steamer from the Bristol Channel even though the cliff top rail was undrafted until 1881 powered by steam this was created to help overcome the inconvenient landscape.

The railway was actually designed by George Marks (who later became the Baron Marks of Woolwich) whose design harnessed the power of water to move the large rail cars by means of the West Lyn River. It was paid for by a wealthy publisher Sir George Newnes. The system had two cars connected via a large cable which in turn would rise and fall depending on the level of water held within each car. The cars could hold up to 40 passengers and was used by the local community to transport all kinds of sea trading goods as well as being used by the wealthy tourists from the sea ports. It has completed a daily run since it’s first run in 1890 and there is so much pleasure to be had by walking along a track that follows the railway.

Felicity is a part-time columnist, writing infrequent overviews in the UK about Lynton & Lynmouth accommodation. HighCliffe House also specialise in North Devon B&B getaways in the UK.

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