Dear all,

Congratulations! In just four days we've exceeded the 350 signature milestone on our petition, and our campaign is gaining real traction.

First up, Newton Abbott MP Martin Wrigley - one of the most vocal opponents of the pause in the vital cliff works is in support of our efforts. He is also hosting a petition, and you can read more of his views here. He's joined by his South Devon counterpart Caroline Voaden, and we can expect more MPs to add their voices to efforts to get this decision reversed.

Secondly, we're starting to get some media coverage. You can read our first press release on the blogger site, and the Devonian Editor of Modern Railways magazine - the rail industry's go-to publication - was quick off the mark, followed by the good folk at the Dawlish Gazette. We've let as many newspapers, websites, telly and radio stations across the South West as possible know what we're doing and why this railway matters so much for our region, so I'm hopeful we'll be seeing more about the campaign elsewhere in the coming days.

None of this would have been possible without everyone reading this signing our petition and sharing it as widely as possible: I keep saying every voice really does count, and here's proof of that.

Now for a slight appeal for a bit of help. Not for money - at no point are we going to be asking for any cash - but for images of this beautiful railway we can use in return for a credit, and for personal experience of why this route matters. It would be great - and important - to highlight why people, businesses and organisations depend on the railway, and we'll get those stories on the Blogspot site, and (if you're happy for them to go wider) out in our regional media too. You can email the campaign at saveourrailwaydawlish@gmail.com and it would be great to hear from you.

So, at least a fortnight before I anticipated we'd look to get a press release out, our efforts have already generated some good media coverage, and I think we can expect more. We really are off to what in technical terms is considered A Bloody Good Start.

What's next? Well, please do keep sharing the petition as widely as you can, and do write to your MP in the South West explaining why these vital works need to be reinstated: that gives people like Martin and Caroline more ammunition to make the case in Parliament.

We're doing great - let's see if we can get that petition up to 500 signatures. To achieve that in our first week really would be something to celebrate!

Thanks so much!

Andy