Odds and Sods September 2020

Originally published on Photoblog by Gethin Thomas SEPTEMBER. 25, 2020

Odds and Sods, or "an assortment of small, miscellaneous items, especially those that are not especially important or valuable".

Because I am doing the 365 project I grab a camera whenever I go out each day. I never plan what I will photograph, so I choose a photo for my 365 post, but others get overlooked and potentially forgotten.

I take so many odds and sods of photos I decided to do an actual post for the odds and sods therefore rendering them less "oddish" or "soddish" as they now have a use and importance in making up a post about miscellaneous, not especially important or valuable photos. So here are my now important and valuable miscellany of useful parts of a whole post. (Some better than others)

A forgotten sunset from a month of sunsets.

Devon apple cake. Not sure if it is the apples or the cake that are "Devon", but it was delicious in any case. From a café in Salcombe where I shall return for some more.

A particularly calm evening giving great reflections.

Torcross chapel seen from across Slapton Lea.

Misty Dartmoor, looking moody and beautiful even on a grey day.

Interesting meeting of thatch and slate which lent itself to black and white. The thatch looks like it is growing over the slate.

View down the creek.

Salcombe Castle. I've been going to Salcombe for twenty years and never knew there was a castle. It can't be seen from the town and can't be seen from this road I was on either unless you suddenly decide to look over the other side of the wall and lean over and there it is in all it's splendour.

The castle is thought to have been constructed originally during the reign of Henry VIII, to defend the Kingsbridge estuary against French and Spanish pirates.

The fort was strengthened in the 1640s on the orders of Prince Maurice. It was the last place to hold out in the Royal cause against the victorious Parliamentarian troops of Oliver Cromwell in the English Civil War. Sir Edmund Fortescue was ordered to hold it in 1643, when nearby Plymouth rose against the king; he rebuilt the castle at a cost of £135 6s 11d, and gave it the name "Fort Charles". (There's that odd pre-decimal money again, which you're now all experts on.) If they'd spent a bit more they could have had a roof, ha ha.

Thatch over windows always look like bushy eyebrows to me.

Weathered sail loft, Salcombe. Below this old door on the upper level, is a very old workshop where there used to be a copper smith called AG Paul. AG Paul specialised in one off and commission pieces made using traditional processes, mostly in the Arts and Crafts tradition. I luckily purchased two pieces before he retired in about 2000, a coal scuttle and an oval dish. Scuttle is a great word, from Middle English scutel, from Latin scutella drinking bowl, tray, diminutive of scutra platter. How the uses and meanings of words change over time, from platter to bucket with a handle.

We’re familiar with the concept of vehicle registration plates and the historical changes that reflect the age of the vehicle. Laypeople may not be aware that the fishing industry also has its own registration system which identifies the port of origin of each vessel. It is the law in the United Kingdom that commercial fishing boats are registered. Once registered, each boat is issued with a carving and marking note that must be, as the name would suggest, both carved and marked on the vessel.

This process is an official one and requires the boat to be measured by either an approved surveyor or the local coastguard depending upon the overall length of the vessel. The carving and marking note is valid for five years and, if you continue to fish for profit, must be renewed regularly. Only boats that have been surveyed and conform to the latest standards for safety and seaworthiness get a registration.

All of this compliance comes at a cost to the operators of a vessel but remains an important part of the strict procedures operated by the UK Government to keep standards as high as possible across the industry.

Knowing the registration letters of boats operating in the British Isles can give a quick glimpse of the demographic of vessels in any given port at any given time. DH is the code for Dartmouth and these are beached at Torcross just a few miles down the coast.

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The Tavistock Inn at Poundsgate, Dartmoor. The Tavistock Inn was built on the road between Ashburton and Tavistock hundreds of years before Princetown existed.

On a cold winters day, it would have been a long and arduous journey across the moor on horseback, difficult to imagine in the warmth and comfort of a car. The Inn was, therefore, an important refuge and meeting place, as it still is today.

One of England's oldest pubs, Tavistock Inn dates back to about 1413 when Newbridge (at the bottom of the hill on the way to Ashburton) was built. The bridge was "new" when it was built in 1413- hence it's name, obviously - and so was the pub, a welcome stop for weary travellers who had just climbed Newbridge hill. So please remember if you visit Britain, new often means really old.

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The Dartmouth Lower Ferry is a vehicular and passenger ferry which crosses the River Dart in the English county of Devon. It is one of three ferries that cross the tidal river from Dartmouth to Kingswear, the others being the Higher Ferry and the Passenger Ferry.

It is unusual in being an unpowered roll on roll off barge attached to a powered tug by ropes. At either end of the journey the tug turns about face to push the barge back across. At the lowest tides the driving on and off of the barge can be an adventure on the steep slipways. In stormy conditions with waves crashing on to the slipway and the barge ramps rising and falling makes it a lot more of an adventure. Too adventurous for some.

A common sight around these parts are mirrors used by drivers, to emerge from driveways with less than great views of approaching traffic. This one gives a great view of the main road with a prospect of a safe exit.