This August marks the fifth anniversary of historic local attraction, Babbacombe Cliff Railway, being owned and managed by a specially set up Community Interest Company. Run by a voluntary Board of Directors the railway has gone from strength to strength in recent years and transports around 100,000 people a year up and down the cliffs from Babbacombe Downs to Oddicombe Beach.
To celebrate this a very special anniversary afternoon is planned on Saturday 2 August. Designed to be a family event there is entertainment for the children, including free face painting and fun tattoos with some balloon modelling as well. But the key part of the day is the Babbacombe Ukulele Festival which is bringing together five local ukulele groups to play and sing and entertain the crowds throughout the afternoon. An open-sided marquee will be on the promenade with plenty of seating and visitors are encouraged to come along and enjoy several hours of live music.
Babbacombe Cliff Railway CIC Chairman, John Ayres, said “We’re very excited about this event. It’s wonderful to have had five successful years running the Cliff Railway and we’re hoping for many more successful ones to come.” He added “As one of the founding members of the Babbacombe Ukulele Strummers, it’s particularly nice to be able to bring the two together. We’ve got ukulele bands from Babbacombe, Hatherleigh, Torbay, Marldon and Newton Abbot so should have some fantastic music on offer from 12.30pm to 4pm. The plan is for everyone to play a few songs en masse at the end too so should be a great afternoon.”
After the devastating storms earlier in the year, the Cliff Railway Visitor Centre down on Oddicombe Beach is open again and welcoming lots of visitors each day. There are also now catering vans on the beach, after the Café was badly damaged so ice creams, drinks and all sorts of tasty delights are available to those visiting Oddicombe.
The event is free to attend although normal Cliff Railway charges apply to travellers. Starting at 12 noon when there will also be a number of charity stalls to browse make sure you pop in and help celebrate this latest milestone for Babbacombe Cliff Railway which transported its first passengers back in 1926. For more information visit www.babbacombecliffrailway.co.uk