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THE LYNTON AND BARNSTAPLE RAILWAY TRUST

Registered charity 1082564 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

To acquire preserve and restore for the public benefit items of historical architectual engineering or scientific value in connection with the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway and others.To provide educational and training facilities to those engaged in the restoration and operation of the railway and others.

Causes: Education/training · Environment/conservation/heritage · Economic/community Development/employment · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£1.9m
Latest spending
£1.6m
Registered
2000
Accounts read
FY2024

Financial health, per its FY2024 accounts

The charity reported an operating surplus of £280,033 for the year ended 31 December 2024, driven largely by increased legacies. The trustees consider the financial position satisfactory and have confirmed the appropriateness of the going concern basis of accounting. However, the independent auditors issued a qualified opinion because they were unable to verify the valuations of land and rolling stock.

Automated summary of the FY2024 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: twelve months of administrative expenses and membership commitments (indicated target £17,000) (held: £3.6m)
“unrestricted funds not committed or invested in tangible fixed assets or fixed asset investment held by the charity should be sufficient to cover administrative expenses and the servicing of membership commitments for a period of twelve months. This would indicate that unrestricted cash reserves of around £17,000 should be in place.” — page 5
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Trading subsidiary: The Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Community Interest Company, L&B Blackmoor Company Plc
“The charity has two trading subsidiaries. The Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Community Interest Company operates the narrow-gauge railway at Woody Bay. The L&B Blackmoor Company Plc operates the Old Station Inn public house trading at Blackmoor Gate.” — page 4
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Fawley Judge & Easton. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

Corporate structure

L&B BLACKMOOR COMPANY PLC — latest Companies House iXBRL filing (balance sheet 31 December 2025)
  • Turnover: £820k
  • Profit/loss before tax: £73k
  • Equity: £1.6m
  • Average employees: 14
L&B BLACKMOOR COMPANY PLC — per its own Companies House accounts
  • Turnover: £811k
  • Profit before tax: £12k

Company officers (Companies House)

Current officers of the charity’s own company per the Companies House register, cross-checked against the Charity Commission trustee list by name. A director not on the trustee list is usually a timing or naming difference between the two registers — check both records before drawing conclusions.

Official officers record.

Property (HM Land Registry)

21 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (21 freehold); recorded price paid £2.9m. All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.

Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): facebook

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/12/2024)

Total income
£1.9m
Total spending
£1.6m
Cost of raising funds
£42k
Reserves (reported)
£11k
Employees
24

Reported reserves equal ~0.1 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 2.2% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).

Register events

Trustees · trustee networks

Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).

Operates in: Devon

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/12/2024£1.9m£1.6m
31/12/2023£1.5m£1.3m
31/12/2022£1.5m£666k
31/12/2021£945k£252k
31/12/2020£451k£294k

Common questions

Is THE LYNTON AND BARNSTAPLE RAILWAY TRUST financially healthy?

Per its FY2024 accounts: The charity reported an operating surplus of £280,033 for the year ended 31 December 2024, driven largely by increased legacies. The trustees consider the financial position satisfactory and have confirmed the appropriateness of the going concern basis of accounting. However, the independent auditors issued a qualified opinion because they were unable to verify the valuations of land and rolling stock. Its FY2024 accounts were audited by Fawley Judge & Easton.

Funders of similar charities

Funders whose accounts show grants to charities similar to this one (and no recorded grant to this charity) — a starting list for fundraisers.

FunderSimilar charities fundedAmount to them
GRANTSCAPE1£100k
M J CAMP CHARITABLE FOUNDATION1£10k
THE MICHAEL MARSH CHARITABLE TRUST1£5k
THE EARL FITZWILLIAM CHARITABLE TRUST1£3k
GOWLING WLG (UK) CHARITABLE TRUST1£2k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with VINTAGE TRAINS CHARITABLE TRUST.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
THE LYNTON AND BARNSTAPLE RAILWAY TRUST£1.9m—0above—no doubt
VINTAGE TRAINS CHARITABLE TRUST FY2025£3.6m——below—no doubt
THE SWANAGE RAILWAY TRUST FY2025£4.1m—0unclear—no doubt
BARNSTAPLE & YEO VALLEY RAILWAY TRUST FY2025£66k—0unclear—no doubt
CHINNOR AND PRINCES RISBOROUGH RAILWAY ASSOCIATION LIMITED FY2025£200k—0above—no doubt
CYMDEITHAS RHEILFFORDD ERYRI FY2024£147k—0above—no doubt

Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.