The Tarka and Dartmoor Lines

The line runs for approximately 40 miles from Exeter, through the Exe, Yeo & Taw valleys to Barnstaple. Built by the North Devon Railway company in 1854, the line survived the Beeching cuts, barely, and was still under threat in the early, 1980's when Paul Theroux travelled on the line and recorded his pleasure at the countryside and names of the villages along the line. On Sundays the line to Okehampton is also served, and if the Dartmoor Railways plans come to fruition services will soon regularly run from Okehampton to Yeoford.