SO UT H D EVO N PAI NTED BY E H ANNAF O RD C . D ESC R IBED BY C H AS R R WE M . I . O , J . WI TH 2 4 F U LL- PAG E I LLU STRATI O NS I N C O LO U R L O N D O N ADAM AND CH ARLES BLACK 1 907 C ONTENTS I NTRO DU C TO RY TO R"UAY AND TO R B AY DARTMO U T H TEIGNMO U 'I‘ H N EWTO N A B B O T ToTNEs K INGSB RI D GE I ND E" LIST O F ILLU STRATIONS 1 S . Fore treet, Totnes F ACING 2 C . A Devonshire ottage 3 . Torquay 4 B abbacombe . , Torquay An i 5 . st s Cove , Torquay 6 C C . ompton astle 7 . Paignton 8 . Brixham Butterwalk 9 . The , Dartmouth 1 ’ 0. C Bayard s ove , Dartmouth 1 1 S . Fosse treet, Dartmouth 1 2 . Dittisham , on the Dart 1 3 . rt Kingswear, Da mouth 1 4 Shaldon , Teign mouth from 1 5 . Teignmouth and The Ness 1 6 . Dawlish 1 St ’ 7 . Leonard s Tower, Newton Abbot LI ST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Bradley Woods, Newton Abbot Berry Pomeroy Castle Salcombe Kingsbridge Salcombe Castle S Bolt Head, alcombe Brent S O U T H D E V O N INTRODU C TORY PER HAPS there is no rigorously defined region in cluded under the title of South Devon , but there is a general idea that it may be said to be within a line from Teignmouth to Modbury, spreading inward in an irregular sort of way . Without any W doubt the principal place ithin the area, though it cannot by any means be called a capital or centre , is Torquay . It has the largest total of population , and it is also the most considerable place of local government in the district , besides being the largest borough , though also the most recent in creation , Tor u inians too . It would flatter q not a little to suggest it had a Capital character ; but it has not quite that qualification , though it is easily first in its own particular way, and there is no flattery at all in saying this . The town is perhaps cosmo 2 S O U T H D E V O N —at — politan times rather than metropolitan , and , after all , it is only a matter of words and not of moment . No other place in South Devon has such attractions , and it is proper to mention its position in relation to the area which will be dealt with as we go . Curiously enough , while it has a great , or considerable , seaboard , it has no great commerce by sea ; though , again , it is not without signs of activity in that direction . And it believes in itself so thoroughly , as a town of such fine position has right to do , that it has founded , and keeps in active operation , a Chamber of Commerce . This is a healthy condition of things , and quite upsets the idea that climate in South Devon is responsible for the air of dolcefa r niente which so many say is the spirit of the district . This much is said to show that the beautiful portion of Devon which will come under notice is not without that sign of active everyday life so many seek to find , even when in search of sunshine and the picturesque , liking this to be flavoured with the practical . There are other practical towns in the area, towns that make no pretence to being resorts , which serve useful purposes in the economy of things , places in which business and push are perhaps more evident ; but we shall see that in all I N T R O D U C T O R Y 3 O fthem the visitor will find much charm and en o j yment . It is not intended to set up comparisons between places , but , as far as possible , to show what are the charms of this delightful district : not with overlaid detail , but with a light touch , so that the enjoyment may be more complete by allowing for the seeking out of some beauties not set forth , possibly . There is no pretence that this is an exhaustive treatment of the subject , but simply one for the good enjoyment of it . w In dealing ith a district , it seems wise to have i in a po nt upon which interest may centre , and this case the natural course is to make Torquay the place . If other towns were consulted , there l might be other views , and perhaps excel ent reasons for them . But no such consultation has “ O f been thought , and yet there is no axe to l grind for anywhere . The places considered wil be pleased to accept this enunciation , and readers l . no doubt wi l not trouble about it They , it is to And be hoped , will be pleased also . if they have not yet known South Devon , it is hard if, when — they make its acquaintance thoroughly, it is to be — hoped , they will not be pleased indeed . People of South Devon are as confident that their section is the most delightful of any portion 4 S O U T H D E V O N — — of the county or of the country as are they of North Devon as to theirs ; and good is it that they hold this view. It pleases them and does no harm to anybody . It is a spirit of patriotism that is worth encouraging, in these days when patriotism is none too marked anywhere in the land , or of it . Devonians are clannish to a degree , and they of the South as keen as their Northern cousins . There is a touch of the Kelt about the whole of them , and yet perhaps they are stronger Devonians outside the county than in it . Some leave the county for its good , some for their own , and they who stay do so for excellent motives— if only to care for that increasing multitude of visitors who are finding out, or trying to discover, the whole extent of the attractiveness of Devon . And it is a curious thing that the persons who become D evonian by residence end in being as warm - county folk as they to the manner born . It is in the air and soil , and even in the tears that are said to fall so much from heaven in Devon— though this . too , perhaps , has had exaggeration . TO persons of an artistic or poetic temperament the glamour of South Devon , its colour and its atmosphere , is something more than a phantasy ; it is real enough . All the same , it is not necessary I N T R O D U C T O R Y 5 to be only of the temperament indicated to ap ’ ia rec te . p nature s gifts It is , too , a land for the v practical person , for it is a fruitful land , gi ing back amply for the work done . Nature is lavish in reward , and of course , and equally , if there is no work she will revert to the wild more quickly than elsewhere . This is but looking at facts practically . The age may be practical and up to date , but to many there is great charm in a country or a district that has had a past . The past of South Devon has been very glorious , in common , it must be said , with all parts of the famous shire , from and before—Queen Elizabeth ’s day to the present . O f O f time Poets the county , the past , may perhaps have held a brief that has a prepossessed air about it , but this inspiration had gripped their l imaginations very thoroughly . Thus sang Wil iam ’ B r ita nnia s Pa stor a ls Browne , author of , somewhere between the years 1 5 90 and 1 6 45 : Hail then , my native soil thou blessed plot, ’ Whose equal all the world aflorde th not " S how me who can so many crystal rills, S - uch sweet clothed valleys, or aspiring hills S uch woods, gran d pastures, quarries , wealthy mines , S uch rocks in which the diamond fairly shin es An d t if the ear h can show the like again , in - Yet will she fail her sea ruling men . 6 S O U T H D E V O N ’ Time n ever can produce men to o ertak e The fames of Grenville , Davis , Gilbert, Drake , O r worthy Hawkins , or of thousands more That by their pow er made the Devonian shore Mock the proud Tagus for w hose richest spoil The boasting Spaniard left the I ndian soil w Bankrupt of store, k no ing it would cost By winning this , though all the rest were lost . - The native born , and the visitor who has grown to know the district familiarly , can ask the same - question to day as did Browne , in relation to the S l . park ing rills , and with the same spirit South Devon is essentially a land of rippling rills , clear - and crystal like , making music the livelong day and year . It is the complaint of some that rain and shower and mist play too prominent a place in the weather scheme here , but they make for beauty , charm , and also for utility . They course “ ” adown the aspiring hills of the poet , through - the sweet clothed valleys , anon amid woods , and “ then quietly along the grand pastures , finding their way, ever and anon , into the many rivers that go singing to the sea .