WEST SOMERSET MINERAL RAILWAY HERITAGE PROJECT

Exmoor National Park Authority has received a £603,500 pledge from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), with additional Development Funding of £18,700 towards The West Somerset Mineral Railway Project, which aims to conserve this remarkable legacy of Victorian industry both within Exmoor National Park and along the West Somerset Coast.

The Stage One Pass* from HLF, which means that the cash will be set aside until more detailed plans are approved, was made to Exmoor National Park Authority, which is leading a consortium made up of a group of local and national partners. These include West Somerset District Council, the Forestry Commission, Somerset County Council, Watchet Town Council, English Heritage, Watchet Market House Museum, the Exmoor Mines Research Group and the Somerset Rural Youth Project.

Welcoming the news, Steven Pugsley, chairman of Exmoor National Park Authority said: “In securing this important aspect of our industrial past we will also be able to add an important new facet to our local places of interest which should have a positive impact on our tourism and economic well-being in the 21st century.”

This initial success, which follows substantial planning work led by The Exmoor Society in 2004, will enable detailed documents and costs to be prepared so that a final application for the full amount can be made to the Heritage Lottery Fund in November 2006.

Evelyn Stacey, Chairman of the Project Executive Committee, said: “We are delighted that we now have the chance to develop the project which aims to conserve and interpret this important part of Exmoor’s and West Somerset’s heritage’.”

Nerys Watts, HLF’s Manager in the South West added; ‘It is so important to conserve and open up our rich industrial past in the South West. We are thrilled to support a scheme that will both preserve the West Somerset Mineral Railway, and enable many more people to explore and enjoy the Railway and mining heritage.’

The West Somerset Mineral Railway, and its associated industrial past (which includes iron mining sites, and the communities that lived and worked there) is one of the most important industrial landscapes in the region. This project will lead to the conservation of these special places, and will help people learn more about them through high quality interpretation and better public access.

'”The success of the Stage 1 bid is a wonderful outcome,” said Tom Mayberry, County Heritage Officer for Somerset County Council. “The County Council now looks forward to working with the other partners in taking the project forward and ensuring a new and better future for this key part of Somerset's heritage.”