Barnstaple station cafe is top of the stops!

A RENOVATED Barnstaple railway caf� is the UK s top of the stops! The Stationmaster s Caf� has been named the Best Station Retail Outlet by the Association of Community Rail Partnerships – just a year after re-opening following a four year refurbishment.

A RENOVATED Barnstaple railway caf� is the UK's top of the stops!

The Stationmaster's Caf� has been named the Best Station Retail Outlet by the Association of Community Rail Partnerships - just a year after re-opening following a four year refurbishment.

Owner Mike Day was presented with the National Community Rail Award by the Association of Community Rail Partnerships this morning (Monday).

Mr Day said: "It's a great privilege to have won this fantastic award which hopefully will not only benefit our caf� but North Devon and the Tarka Line as a whole.

"We have achieved a huge amount in our first year including hosting the James May Toy Stories production crew in our conference rooms for a week, while they were filming the forthcoming Christmas TV special.

"Our aim has always been not only to cater for rail passengers but also to draw in new people to the station, thus helping the railway station to once more become an essential part of community life."

Also recognised in the national awards, local author Peter Craske won the Best Marketing Publication award for his booklet, Tarka Line Walks. The booklet, published by the Tarka Rail Association in March this year, features 22 walks, two from each station along the line. Five hundred copies have already been distributed and the booklet has just been reprinted.

Mr Craske said: "Researching and testing these walks has been a total labour of love; I've known the line for more than 60 years and wanted, through this booklet, to share with others the countryside that I've loved since childhood."

The booklet is available free of charge from the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership by calling (01752) 233094 or by emailing railpart@plymouth.ac.uk