Water power
Perhaps the best known use of sustainable power on Exmoor is the Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway. Built in 1890 to carry goods and passengers up to Lynton form the harbour, this was the steepest railway in the world at the time. It has run continually from then with up to half a million passengers per year. It has its own water supply from the West Lyn river, so that it is not necessary to use treated water. The water provides ballast for the non-polluting gravity powered system. Two carriages run on parallel rails, attached to each other via a cable wound around wheels between the tops and bottoms of the rails. Each carriage has a water tank. Passengers are taken on and the carriage at the bottom releases water until it is just lighter than the one at the top. Brakes are released and as the top carriage descends it pulls the bottom one up. When the bottom one reaches the top it takes on more water and the process is repeated.
Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway
Many Exmoor farms and small settlements once used water power for pumping water. This was through the use of hydraulic ram pumps. These are a very simple technology that uses the energy of a large amount of falling water to lift a small amount of water to a much greater height. Typically, a steam or spring in a valley would be used to pump water to a settlement on a hillside above for drinking water for humans and animals, irrigation or ponds. The pumps have two valves. Incoming water drops into a chamber and through a valve into an air chamber. It compresses the air and closes the valve whilst the air pressure forces some of the water upwards. Excess goes out through a valve in the entrance chamber. They click loudly as the valves operate and the noise can be transmitted up the water pipes. The higher the water is pumped, the smaller the proportion of the incoming water that can be used. No additional power is needed and a few are still in use on Exmoor.
Old hydraulic ram pump