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Devon & Cornwall Rail Ale Trails Newsletter

 Edition 3 Autumn 2005

New Trail for St Ives Bay Line launched at CAMRA Beer Festival

The new Rail Ale Trail for the St Ives Bay Line was launched at the St Ives Beer Festival 2005 and has already proved very popular.

This trail includes 14 pubs along the route between Penzance and St Ives. They include the Alexandra, The Dolphin, The Crown, The London Inn and The Pirate Inn in Penzance , The Lamb and Flag at St Erth, The Watermill and The Old Quay House at Lelant Saltings, The Badger at Lelant and The Western Hotel, The Golden Lion, The Castle, The Union Inn and The Sloop Inn in St Ives.

All tastes are catered for from the traditional to the contemporary. This rail route takes in some dramatic coastal views as it sweeps along the coast to St Ives.

As always there are souvenirs to collect, a window sticker if you visit 6 pubs, a tourshirt and sticker for 10 and a tourshirt, badge and sticker for all 14.

So what are you waiting for … an autumn or Christmas outing awaits you!

Phil Logie is the first person to complete all five trails  

Phil Logie, from Newcastle is the first person to complete all five of the Rail Ale Trails in Devon and Cornwall .

Rebecca Catterall , Development Officer for Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership, was attending a conference nearby, so made a quick detour to present Phil with a special certificate at Newcastle Station to mark his achievement.

Phil said: “I came across a leaflet about the Tarka Line Rail Ale Trail by chance and decided to set myself the challenge of doing them all. I have really enjoyed completing them and discovered many pubs and beautiful areas that I would like to visit again.”

Dave Ewart, from Virgin Trains, who donated complimentary rail tickets to Phil, said: “We are delighted to donate a prize. Our Cross Country trains serve all five of the starting points of the Rail Ale Trails and provide safe and good value transport for all those imbibing!”

Dogs on Rail Ale Trails!

Tramp and Junior were on holiday with their owners this summer and found the St Ives and Maritime Line Rail Ale Trails.

Armed with their leaflets, the dogs visited the pubs, had a (small) sample of the best ales and duly got their leaflets stamped.

They sent their completed leaflets to the Partnership, but of course the tour shirts didn’t quite fit! So Mary Leigh a local horse and dog coat manufacturer came up with the dog coats and local textile printer, Mike Claire, printed the logos on either side.

The coats were presented to Tramp and Junior, at their local pub in Norwich !

Owner Pat said “The dogs’ favourite pub was the Pirate in Penzance . Even though we’ve been staying near St Ives for many years, we found places and pubs we didn’t know, and we’ll definitely be back next year.”

Atlantic Coast Line Trail on hold.

Plans to produce a Rail Ale Trail for the Atlantic Coast Line between Par and Newquay have had to be put on hold.

It was hoped to produce a trail for this line in 2005. At the moment eight trains run between Par and Newquay in the summer and four in the winter. Plans for services after the new franchise is awarded for next year, due to be announced in December, are unclear. The requirements for the new franchise seem to be suggesting a drop to two services a day.

Obviously, this would make it very difficult to make a Rail Ale Trail workable, hence the plans to delay publication.

There are many excellent pubs along this route that could make a really good trail. There is also potential for increased use of the line with the plans to open up Goss Moor.

So if you feel strongly about preserving service to locations on this line, please lobby your local MPs. Copies to Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership would also be appreciated.

Review of Falmouth Rail Ale Trail

The good news for the Maritime Line, between Truro and Falmouth , is that it will be reviewed, updated and re-printed.

This was the first Trail to be produced in Cornwall , in 2003. The Rail Partnership has had a lot of feedback about this route and the pubs involved and will be using that to inform the new leaflet. Work begins with Camra Kernow soon and there may even be a ferry journey incorporated!

Over 600 participants!

Over 600 people have claimed Rail Ale Trail souvenirs in total. This doesn’t include the many more that use the leaflets and the website to plan days out on the branch lines and maybe visit a pub or two.

Stop Press!

The Edgecumbe Hotel at Bere Alston on the Tamar Valley Trail is under new management and now welcomes families and dogs on leads (good job that is right way around!). The proprietors hope to introduce food very soon and extend the menu next year. So watch this space.

Newsletter contributions

If you have any information you’d like to pass on through this newsletter e.g. changes of ownership, special promotions & events, etc., please contact me, Lyn Winter . Details below.

Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership, School of Geography , University of Plymouth , Drake Circus, Plymouth , PL4 8AA . Tel/Fax 01752 233094. E-mail: railpart@plymouth.ac.uk. Websites: www.railaletrails.com and www.carfreedaysout.com