Award for rail trail champ Phil

l Phil Logie receives his certificate from Rebecca Catterall, of the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership

August 27, 2005: A North Shields man has been honoured for his stalwart support of Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership's Westcountry Real Ale Trails.

Phil Logie was presented with a certificate and complimentary rail tickets, courtesy of Virgin Trains, by Rebecca Catterall, of the Plymouth-based Rail Partnership, for being the first person to complete all five trails. These have been designed as a way to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Devon and Cornwall while being able to savour the delights of traditional real ales and fine rural pubs along the way.

The Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership have compiled 5 trails: the Looe Valley Line (Liskeard-Looe), the Tamar Valley Line (Plymouth- Gunnislake), the Tarka Line (Exeter- Barnstaple), the Maritime Line (Truro- Falmouth) and the St Ives Bay Line (Penzance- St Ives), all of which provide the challenge of visiting each pub by train, having a pint or two and collecting a special stamp – free souvenirs including tour shirts are available once a certain number of stamps have been collected.

Rebecca said: “The trails have been popular with residents of Devon and Cornwall and visitors alike - even as far a field as Canada and the USA. However, only Phil has managed to do all of them over a period of time and we thought it would be nice to reward him for his efforts.”

Phil said: “I came across a leaflet about the Tarka Line Rail Ale Trail by chance and decided to set myself the challenge of doing all of them. I have really enjoyed completing them and discovered many pubs and beautiful areas that I would like to visit again.”

Dave Ewart, press officer at Virgin Trains, said the company was delighted to donate a prize to the competition. "Our CrossCountry trains serve all five of the starting points of the Rail Ale Trails and provide safe and good value transport for all those imbibing!"

Leaflets are available from the Rail Partnership by calling 01752 233094 or they can also be downloaded from www.railaletrail.com

l Phil's shirt shows some of his real ale stop-offs in the Westcountry