Ron Strutt kindly responded to our request for more information on developments in north Devon:

'You asked on your website (March 2004 news) about the apparent extension of the railway path at Meeth. I cycled through this way back in September 1999 - the extension through the woods bypassing the china clay quarry had just been opened and the halt at Meeth restored.

'At that time the section over the road was a tangled jungle and clearly not open for public use. However, last year Devon County Council published a plan to develop the remaining disused railways in the county, including proposals to extend the Tarka Trail southwards through Meeth and Hatherleigh to Halwill Junction and then on to Holsworthy and Bude by 2007. In the north of the county an extension of the Tarka Trail northwards from Braunton is planned to link with the existing railway path from Ilfracombe. Meanwhile, the Plym Valley Trail will be extended northwards to Tavistock, mainly on old railway line.

'Sadly, I can no longer find the paper on the Devon CC website (it was under the heading of Paths to Prosperity) – I hope they haven't had second thoughts!

'The only gaps in the network would then be from Halwill to Meldon to unite the Tarka Trail and the Granite Way – most of the old railway line still exists but a bridge would be needed across the A30 dual carriageway – and from Lydford to Tavistock to link the Granite Way and the Plym Valley Trail.'

Report by Ron Strutt