One of the biggest street parties ever held in Okehampton was for the arrival of the railway in 1871.

The Okehampton Railway Company was set up in 1862. The line from Coleford Junction reached North Tawton in 1865 and Sampford Courtenay in 1867 (having become the Devon and Cornwall Railway en route).

For four more years passengers from Okehampton were carted hazardously up and down Appledore Hill in wagonettes.

When the connecton was finally complete in October 1871, the town celebrated a new era of advanced communications.

Picture from the archives of Mike and Hilary Wreford.