Ashley House, Seaton, Devon

Out for a walk with my camera one day, I happened to walk past this lovely old building to see that it was empty with a 'sale agreed' board outside. I wasn't able to ascertain anything about the house itself - the date it was built or any previous history - but I did know that it used to be a care home.

It was a good enough opportunity to wander around and have a look close-up. I didn't intend to take any photos at first - just enjoyed exploring around the back and gardens, which were quite boring to be honest; only a patch of rough grass surrounded by a fence and a few trees - but there are some rather nice features at the front. So, before I knew it, I was clicking away!

The build date was probably around the 1930's due to the mock tudor style, pebble dash and the lovely stained glass leaded panels running along the top of the windows. The downstairs bay windows were also a popular design in housing built between the first and second world wars, when many building projects had begun as part of the 'Homes Fit For Heroes' schemes to provide better housing for those who had fought in the war and their families. This was the first attempt to clear slums and build more spacious housing at a national level. This house was probably out of the price range for many people but it would have made a rather nice home for a middle class or professional family.

A rather bland front porch entrance. The plain glass and the institutional 'no smoking' notice are signs of it's recent occupation. The original windows may well have included stained glass, as was usual with buildings of this style. I loved the light patches on the side wall though.

Above, a rather lovely tiled doorstep with a sweet arrangement of encroaching plants. The photo below shows the balcony above the front porch connecting the two gabled sections of the top floor.

Ivy growing on the side helps to soften some of the pebble dash, which it has in abundance! Although pebble dash was popular when built, it has since become rather passe, and looks quite bland in large areas with the original sandy colour. Having said that, it makes an interesting change in an area where there is none to little of it. I think I'd be very tempted to paint over it in a different colour though! ;) Although it does look nice with the white mock tudor beams at the front.

A garden escapee plant makes a nice image against the grey brick and weathered fencing.

Another image I particularly like is this one below, of an older styled dustbin, overgrown steps and peeled paint on the garden wall. And the photo below that shows more ivy, rampant vallerium and a twiddly-bit (aka curlicues) wrought-iron gate.

Now once again a residential house, it has been redecorated and the front garden landscaped, taking away that institutionalised look of the 'Health & Safety' regulated hand rails. An altogether rather lovely house.

A couple of photos showing the side elevation. 

 

And finally, a few more photos of the house itself.

 

WW2 Beach Defences, Charmouth, Dorset

These anti-tank blocks are the remains of extensive coastal defences during WW2. Called Dragon's Teeth, they were linked together with metal poles to form a barrier along the beach. Only these two remain, although there were some forty odd strung along the beach of the river valley.

This was an exciting and unexpected find, as I had no idea they were there until a visit in 2009. The sockets for the poles are still clearly visible and, much to my delight, give them cute and comical faces!

I only took four photos at the time (including the two above and one below) but have added more from a later visit in July 2011, when a walk along the river from the bridge towards the blocks revealed some more interesting bits and pieces.

A concrete edge and some hard standing beneath the later car park tarmac, below, may have nothing to do with WW2. However, a short walk further on revealed something rather interesting.

Metal poles fixed at angles into concrete bases, holding bales of barbed wire in the cross pieces, were often used for beach defences, and this lump of concrete embedded with pieces of rusted metal could possibly be one of the remains. These are on the town side, therefore it makes sense that it would be defended from attack along the river.

 

 
Some small concrete blocks with rusty links embedded in the top have been put near the anti-tank blocks since my last visit.

The cliff in the background is called Cain's Folly. During WW2 there was a radar station situated there, but unfortunately it was built too near to the cliff edge and during May 1942 a landslip occured, sending a building plus three lorries 50 ft below. The generator house slid down later.

Another small block, below, and a drain cover...which has nothing to do with anything, but it looks quite old and I rather like it. ;)

Finally, another view from my very first visit, with a row of funky huts in the background which are now on the sea front.

All Saint's Church, Sidmouth, Devon

All Saints was built in 1837, due to an increasing population in Sidmouth and the need for another church to complement the parish church. A new build! ;)

I'd noticed it on several occasions when travelling into the town and didn't think it would be all that interesting - something for a rainy day maybe - as the frontage looks quite plain. However, when I took photos of the Unitarian Meeting Chapel in the same road, the gentleman who was working there recommended it and told me that it was well worth seeing. Which I did, and which was when I saw the delightful apse on the east side.

But that wasn't the only surprise, as I found out when I entered the building...

...not typically Victorian after all! At first I was slightly disappointed not to find an interior appropriate to its era, but that was soon overcome by the wow factor. Modernised and refurbished, the area is one of light and space, which shows off the basic construction beautifully...lifting the eyes to the simple neo-gothic windows and ceiling beams.

On this first visit there were several people inside, following a funeral, including the vicar who kindly showed me an album of photos taken before the building work. I was also invited upstairs into the one surviving balcony by the vicar's wife, who told me about the modernisation, and who subsequently sent me photos via email showing the various stages of reconstruction. Sadly, this visit was when my camera totally seized up (the film is still inside and irretrievable), therefore these photos were taken at a later date with a back-up camera.

A cruciform building, the head of the cross terminates in the delightful polygonal apse at the east where the sanctuary and altar is situated. The right and left of the cross originally contained balconies with box pews. The surviving balcony, in the photo above, is situated in the lower vertical section of the cruciform opposite the altar.

The new screen surrounding the front of the apse contains a drop-down backdrop for showing slides and video, which was in use on my first visit.  The new seating is in a circular arrangement surrounding an apron stage in front of the screen, complete with a modern lectern. As well as showing the original layout and stages of modernisation, the photos that were sent to me also show some of the fixtures that were removed and replaced, which include the original lectern and a pulpit.

From the photos I've seen, the eastern apse remains pretty well untouched. The photo below shows the lovely stone reredos, with Alpha and Omega signs picked out in gold leaf, and carved foliage.

The original tiled floor in the apse, seen below, is a mosaic of a maltese cross flanked by other designs and bordered with stylised vines.

The building itself was constructed using local stone. The walls comprise Hook-Ebb Stone with Salcombe Sandstone used for the dressings. Later repairs - specifically the pinnacles, which were replaced in 1958 - were made using Beer Stone.

  

Above the south entrance is a rising gable. This is echoed by a bell tower at the northern end. 

Altogether a surprising and unusual building, and I have to say that it really is lovely to see how modernisation can be used sympathetically to enhance and bring out the best aspects.

And a few more interior photos, below, including some of the pretty glass windows.

12-18 Beer Road, Seaton, Devon

Three business's had closed down in this row of buildings; an antiques shop, housing agents and a restaurant. I only realised that they were empty when I had a walk up this road in late October 2011. Apparently they'd been empty for several months and there was a planning application pending for conversion to residential dwellings.

Out of the three buildings, the most interesting historically is the centre one, formerly Belmont House. A housing agency for many years, it was originally called Rose Cottage.

A Grade II listed building, it was built circa 1840 as a town house. Stuccoed with a slate roof and gable ends, it's a two storey building with the dormer roof windows being a modern addition. The ground floor consists of french windows and a three-bay verandah with openwork cast-iron columns and frieze with key motif.

It's thought that a farmhouse once stood on the site; the car park to the rear was originally agricultural pastures.

A side-on view of the veranda. There would have originally been a roof stretching from the cast iron work at the front to the beading on the wall; either glazed to catch the light or a cast-iron canopy to match the columns and frieze.

 

With fabulous old doors and windows.

To the left side of Belmont House is another entrance with these utility boxes outside (below). The Valerian plants below it are indigenous to this area and grow all over the cliffs as well as in the stone flint walls across town. The photo above shows a lovely wild flower growing above the door. It's called Ivy Leafed Bell Flower...a big name for a tiny plant.

Below, this odd little wall is home to several alpines and the pretty campanula plant, which can also be seen all over town growing in the walls and in gardens. I have some in the pots on my balcony garden, although I didn't plant them...they get everywhere! But they are most welcome, especially in the spring and summer with their masses of bright blue or purple star-shaped flowers.

The right side building was once Ectetera Antiques. I have fond memories of buying spelter figurines from there some thirty seven years ago, after going through a difficult patch in my life. They gave me a lot of pleasure and still hold special places in my home and heart.

There was a dead pheasant on the step when I visited. :(

The former Steak & Stilton restaurant, below.

To be honest, the restaurant building is a bit boring, but I had a walk around the back, which was far more interesting.

Some lovely photo opportunities at the rear, including the one below with autumnal foliage on the back wall. The one above and below are two of my favourite photos.

 

 

Coming back along the side of the restaurant, below. Pots with some dead plants and several survivors.

A photo of the side windows. There are still tables and chairs in the closed down restaurant, along with a reflection of the buildings further along the road.

The restaurant awning had been taken off and left on the ground, below.

And finally, for this set, a shot of all three buildings taken from the pavement showing the lovely autumnal vines on the retaining wall.

The conversion began some time later, which I occasionally watched with interest, although without taking any photos. Having a wander up the road in the summer of 2013, I saw that it had been completed and the new residential homes were on the market. No-one had moved in yet, so I took some photos to show the outcome. It's very well done; brought up to date with sympathy and by keeping and enhancing the interesting historical features, although I do feel it's a shame to lose the 'alpine wall' and the wild flowers.

The veranda now has the addition of a glazed canopy and flower beds have been added to the front of Belmont House, the name of which has been kept for this building. There are also extra pieces of wrought iron attached to the veranda uprights. However, it seems strange that one is placed just to the right of the central door, instead of to the far right of the building to match the far left one. Maybe it's something to do with the distribution of the flats inside, and is used as a territory marker, so to speak. It does look a bit odd though!

I don't know if all the windows have shutters inside, but if so then I can't help wondering at the coincidence of the shutters to this same window being closed both before and after conversion! ;)

And below, a photo of the three buildings together. Sadly, the original wall of stone rubble has now been replaced with a rather bland wall topped with railings. I'm always a bit sad at the loss of indigenous features complete with the local wild flowers, but the buildings themselves look good, and I'm sure it will settle down to its seaside town surroundings in time.

And to finish off, a few more photos from the first visit. I especially loved the shadows cast on the walls from the cast-iron frieze and the wild flowers growing through the cracked paving.