What it Looks Like Today: West Exe Halt
West Exe Halt in Tiverton was opened in the same year as Bolham Halt 1928,to serve the growing town of Tiverton and also to provide a closer stop to Tiverton's biggest employer,Heathcoat's Mill.It was built to the usual length for a halt,109 feet,although this was extended in 1937,due to the halt's heavy usage.In fact,out of all the halts on the Exe Valley Railway,West Exe Halt was the most used of them all.
It's one of the things that I find so amazing about the old rail network,is that from any tiny little village or town that had a station,even if it was hardly used or in the middle of nowhere,you could from there travel to anywhere in the country...with a few changes of course.What a loss!
Disappointingly,there is not much to see where West Exe Halt used to be.The rail bridge that used to cross West Exe South has long since gone and the ground on either side has been levelled and developed.If you match up old pictures though,you can still see the old buildings that are still there and with a bit of imagination,you can still get a sense of how it once was.
There is however,a large overgrown patch next to the playground(see Google Map) that is about where the platform might be,but at the time of my visit,it seemed impossible to get through the dense brambles and fences to investigate this area further.I might return maybe,when everything has died down to have another look.UPDATE I couldn't leave it like that,so I returned,determined to explore this overgrown patch,only this time not in shorts .Christine and I found a sort of opening and battled our way in,but I can report that there is nothing of interest to be seen.
After this we then crossed over the road and onto the Great Western Way,the road that was built on top of the old line into Tiverton Station.In the old days there used to be a lovely arched bridge that the train would cross the Exe on,but that has been demolished and a rather grim concrete replacement stands in its place.
Click on the buttons to switch between how it used to look and how it looks today.
In this interesting old postcard of Tiverton you can see the track and arched bridge on the left and the line continuing along towards Tiverton Station on the right.