Originally published on Photoblog by Gethin Thomas AUGUST. 05, 2021
There was a lot of commentary in Part 1, but these are mostly not in need of any literary accompaniment. They are just photos taken locally because I liked the subjects. I'll add some note of where they are just to place them in context.
The first batch pick up where Part 1 left off, in the creek.
The next few are in Dartmouth, starting with the classic view, including the church and the Royal Castle.
I am standing on the new quayside to take this and the buildings you see form the original quayside. The water is called the Boat Float and is a square remnant of the original waterfront linked by some floodgates to the tidal river Dart, behind me.
The buildings were originally merchants houses and transactions were done right outside on the quay. The Royal Castle was originally two of these houses since merged and re-faced at a later date. Follow this quayside in a line left and you eventually come to Bayard's Cove the other remaining original quay. It was at this quay that The Mayflower put in for repairs before carrying on it's journey to Plymouth and then to America.
Steam paddles and manual paddles. The pleasure boat Kingswear Castle building up steam to start it's river trips. It is the UK's only coal fired paddle steamer.
The historic paddle steamer Kingswear Castle is the last remaining coal-fired paddle steamer in operation in the UK today and is running on her home waters of the River Dart once more. She was built in 1924 at Philip & Son of Dartmouth and plied her trade between Totnes and Dartmouth until 1965 (her engines are even older, dating back to 1904, eight years before the sinking of the Titanic). In her heyday when this impressive ship was the life blood of the river Dart, she could carry almost 500 passengers. She runs 1¼hr Dartmouth River Cruises and cruises between Dartmouth and Totnes.
I seem to be stumbling across dissected puzzles everywhere I go at the moment. You may know them better as jigsaws. These next shots are all from Kingsbridge market.
The final batch are from Salcombe. We went over from our side on the small passenger ferry. The ferry runs 365 days a year and is part of the local authority public transport service. The number of boats varies according to demand. I'm not sure how they do it but extra boats appear as if by magic if the queue builds up. This is a spare, there were two running this day.
The ferry steps at the Ferry Inn. The tidal range at Salcombe is about 3 metres or nearly 10 feet. This means the landing stages have to cope with every water level in between.
On the North coast of Devon in the Severn Estuary the Tidal range is between 12 and 14 metres or up to 46 feet, the second highest in the world. That means on a flat or gently sloping beach the tide can outrun you.
This is an ice cream, vanilla and honeycomb.
This is a metal crab, they are harder to open.
This is the equipment for catching crabs.
This is what summer looks like. The car parks look the same.
This is a ship's figure head, who is smoking a pipe.
This was a lucky shot because I was waiting around opposite the fire station for a friend to appear, when a guy came out to check all his gear on the fire engine. He had opened one cabinet and I took a picture but then luckily he opened them all so I got a shot showing all the gear on display.
The truck may look on the small side to some of you, yes I have seen the ones in New York with two drivers, one at the front and one at the back, but this has to get down some pretty narrow twisty lanes.
This is Torcross with lifeguards on duty, only in the summer holidays. The beach shelves very steeply quite quickly.
The sea in the English Channel is cold all year but is at it's warmest at the end of summer.
