Barnstaple as a whole (94.2% White British). Barnstaple has a similar ethnic make-up compared with other south west towns, like Truro and Cullompton. North Devon is some distance from the UK's traditional areas of industrial activity and population. In the late 1970s Barnstaple gained a number of industrial companies due to the availability of central government grants for the construction of factories and their operation on low or zero levels of local taxation. This was only partially successful, with few of these lasting more than the few years that grants were available. One success was the manufacturing of generic medicines by
Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Trust negotiations, was purchased by the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Company on behalf of the "Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Association". Following further negotiations and purchase of other parts of the trackbed, Woody Bay is now the centre of operations for the restoration project. The former station at Chelfham is now also owned by the Railway Company. The Association was absorbed into The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Trust which was first registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales on 22 September 2000. The Trust has to date received only a small amount of grant funding, the vast majority of income