After a gap of seventy-three years the famous railway name of
MANNING WARDLE
is back in business.
The new Manning Wardle Company was recently formed by two directors of the Lynton & Barnstaple Light Railway Company, David Hudson and Brom Bromidge, to preserve the unique name of Manning Wardle for the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway, and to provide an engineering and manufacturing base for the restored line. In addition, the Company plans to offer a railway construction and maintenance service and to undertake general engineering work.
The Company has registered the trademark: "Manning Wardle".
At the beginning of November 1999, Manning Wardle took over an industrial unit at the Old Tannery in Swimbridge, east of Barnstaple, North Devon. The first phase of operation has been to prepare the unit for occupation and to install a large number of machine tools and other equipment which the Company has stored pending the start of operations.
The old Manning Wardle locomotive company, based in Leeds, closed down in 1927 having produced over 2,000 steam locomotives for the UK and overseas markets. Many Manning Wardle locomotives were exported to Europe, Africa, the Indian sub- continent, and Central and South America, and four locomotives worked for the old Southern Railway on the 2 foot narrow-gauge Lynton & Barnstaple Railway in North Devon.
The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway has planning permission to re-open a stretch of restored railway at the old Lynton & Barnstaple Woody Bay Station, near Lynton, North Devon. In addition, the Railway also owns the former Lynton & Barnstaple Chelfham Station and three lengths of the old track bed. The Railway is planning to begin restoration work at Woody By Station in the near future.
For further details about Manning Wardle & Company, please contact David Hudson, 4 Stoneywell, Instow, Devon, EX39 4RF, U.K. Tel: +44 (0)1271 860628.
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