Sidmouth Railway Station, Sidmouth, Devon

As I did with the Seaton Branch Line, I would dearly love to be able to follow the Sidmouth one up to the junction with the main Exeter to London line. However, it's getting on for 8 miles and would entail walking through and around housing estates where there's no remains of the track, as well as some stiff walking through fields and woods.

Unlike the Seaton branch, I haven't found any other way via public transport, with the problem of getting back to Sidmouth before catching a bus back to Seaton, so isn't do-able for me. It's a shame as it consists of four stations, one intermediate stop and two gates, which would be really cool to find traces of. However, on doing a bit of research, the station buildings at the junction were demolished and very little remains elsewhere.

The station at Sidmouth, however, is rather interesting, so at least I've seen this part of the branch line!

The building comprises the stationmaster's house along with the booking hall & office, waiting rooms and toilets. A short canopy stretched between the gable ends of the house and an office to shelter incoming passengers.

Opened on July 6th 1984, the train served both local passengers and tourists, as well as freight services. Although the railway was extremely popular, extending the services from 7 to 24 runs a day, the 1960s saw the Beeching Cuts when many branch lines were closed and some, like Sidmouth, had their train services reduced. By then, many people had their own transport, so numbers dropped off and the line was eventually closed for passenger trains on March 6th 1967. Freight trains continued until the line was closed on May 8th of the same year, the track taken up shortly after.

The former stationmaster's house is still intact, along with the other adjoining buildings. The house is now residential and the public parts of the building used for industrial & commercial purposes, notably builders' merchants. Constructed in red brick and contrasted with a light brick for the quoins, window and door surrounds throughout both the house and other station buildings, it looks quite distinctive on the corner of the road...especially in the sunshine.

As well as the front canopy the rear one is still extant, along with part of the platform at the rear. What was part of the station track bed is now a goods yard and car park for the businesses.

You can just about make out the canopy on the platform side, centre left below. In retrospect I should have gone in to get nearer for a better photo of it but I didn't think to at the time.

Just a short post but there is so much information that it took some sifting through to achieve a comprehensive article. For anyone who's interested in learning more, there's a very detailed account of it on the website Disused Stations, which can be linked to here.

And a few more photos to finish off with.

 

 

Other Photography: Trees & Hedges

Following on with the Other Photography pages rewritten from my defunct website, the above photo was taken on a winter afternoon as the sun began to dip and the moon was visible in the sky. It was bitterly cold with frost on the ground and the ditches were full of thick ice, but great for a brisk walk when I went to take photos of a water treatment plant at Colyford in Devon. The light was perfect and I took a few general landscape and tree photos on the walk back. I think the tree is an English Elm, but please don't quote me on that as English Elms were almost wiped out by the Dutch Elm disease but there are a few remaining, and this one has the look of an Elm shape.

Near to this little farm lane was a gate with three sheep behind it watching me with interest. It was a perfect photo opportunity, but unfortunately as soon as I lifted up my camera they scarpered!

These two pine trees were in Honiton, Devon, when I took the photos way back in 1991. Sadly one had disappeared when I revisited several years ago. I'm not sure what kind of pine they are. Checking my tree books I think - and again, please don't quote me - that they're Maritime Pines. I'm not very well up on pines!

The photos were taken with b&w film, at a time when I had access to a darkroom, and I developed and printed them myself. This particular method is something that I devised by disengaging the negative carrier after positioning in the enlarger, which produces a crinkly, undefined edge to the image in the centre of the print.  

After University, and what's misguidedly (in my opinion, lol) called 'real life' sets in, I had a break from art and creative photography for several years. However, these two photos were part of a day that saved me from that and brought me back to what I really needed to be doing. I don't know why, but I suddenly had an urge to go out after a rainfall to take photos of the raindrops on the trees, which sparked me off in a different direction.

The tree above is one of several Silver Birch near my home. I'm not sure what the one below is. I think it might be a beech, but it was in a hedge! ;) 

Hedges have always been fascinating to me and I can't go on a walk without stopping to look in one and discover the wild flowers and beasties inside. When my son was little I took him on lots of walks in his pushchair and introduced him to hedges. One day I found a fantastic large beetle, and without thinking I gave it to him to hold. Unfortunately it backfired - he screamed - and as an adult is still very unhappy about insects to this day! 

The photo above is of a Blackthorn with incredibly long and sharp thorns, which makes it very useful for hedging. It's the first tree to blossom in the Spring.

Another hedge, above, smothered in the beautiful British wild rose called Dog Rose, which flowers in late May and June. I originally took the photo as part of a reference collection when I was an illustrator. They weren't sharp or close enough to use as reference material, but I like the way that the accidental softness works well for these pretty and delicate flowers.

Outside my home is this gorgeous Cherry tree. It's the first to flower amongst several in the Close where I live and I love taking close-ups of the flowers and individual branches. Or at least I loved to be able to, as it's now grown so tall that I can't reach high enough to take close-ups. It wonderfully fills my bedroom window view though, which is lovely whatever the time of year.

I have no idea what these next trees are. They are quite small and have curly corkscrew branches, taken on a sunny winter's day in January 2007 after my explore of Racal Electronics. The only other tree I know that's similar is the Corkscrew Hazel, but they aren't it. Oak trees look all zigzaggy and corkscrewish in the winter too, but these are in small patches of earth between the paving stones of a road pavement, so they're unlikely to be something that eventually grows so large. Mind, they make great shapes against the sky. :)

Another spring photo following winter, the one below is an English Oak...looking all zigzaggy and corkscrewish! ;)

I loved the look of it against the sky with the pinky new growth on it's zig-zag branches. I meant to take photos of it during other seasons, but after forgetting for several years I finally had a walk up the lane during summer a few years ago and took the photo below. 

Some more of the photos taken in the lane during that walk. The hedges were white with hedge parsley, stitchwort and white dead-nettle flowers. I deliberately softened these - as the photos looked too sharp and bitty once scanned - which fits in rather nicely with the sleepy hot summer's day in a quiet lane with nothing but the sound of buzzing bees and other insects.

The high hedges are called Devon Banks, whereby banks of earth reinforced with stones are topped with a woven hedge, which continues to grow and supports a myriad of wildlife; wild flowers, birds, insects, invertebrates, mosses and small animals such as field mice, hedgehogs, etc.

Someone once told me that when he first came to live in Devon he was shocked to see bluebells growing up through the hedges which apparently made them several feet high! It wasn't until later that he learnt about the bank system, which can't always be seen once grown over.  

 

At first glance the tree below looks as if it has a twisty trunk, but it's actually just the shadows which make it look that way. Another one seen on the same walk as the lane photos.  

Not so much a hedge, below, but an ivy clambering up a fence and towering above it. I really liked the silhouette against the sky.

On another sunny winter's day two years ago, one of the lovely birch trees in the close where I live.

And to finish off, two of a magnificent Monterey Cedar at the edge of the field next door, which I often take photos of from my balcony. It's almost impossible to get all of it in one photo, although it can be done using portrait rather than landscape view. However, the one directly below had the added advantage of a wood pigeon flying towards it. The last photo using a telephoto lens is a personal favourite due to the slightly misty look of the black & white film plus the textures of the brances and the roof tiles.

And there we go! Just a selection of my best and favourite tree and hedge photos. Did I mention how much I love trees? ;) 

Another Other Photography article will be added after some more of the usual subjects. :)

 

Useful Books: WW2 Defences & Airfields

Following on from the three articles of the Blackdown Hills airfields explored in 2009, I've decided to write a post about the books I've bought over the years about British WW2 defences. These aren't reviews as such but just books I've read for interest. I've also found them indispensible as reference books to check facts and jog my memory, and would be very useful to anyone wanting to know more.

Airfield Defences by Paul Francis

Published by ARP in association with AiX-ARG Archive Limited. 2010. 

ISBN 978 0 9521847 0 6

As the title says, this book deals specifically with how airfields were defended, including only those buildings and installations built for that purpose. As it happens, one of the case studies is RAF Culmhead, in which I was able to correctly identify the Gun Pit and the Motley Stalk Mount (I knew it as a Lewis Gun Mount, which isn't quite accurate as it's only part of the story) and discovered other interesting info.

And an example of inside the book, showing photos and diagrams of the loopholed defensive wall and a fighter pen.

20th Century Defences in Britain edited by Bernard Lowry

Published 1996 by the Council for British Archaeology. 

ISBN 1 872414 74 5

Again, this book deals specifically with defences - covering early warning systems, anti-aircraft, anti-invasion, civil defence, coastal batteries and airfields - during the period of the two world wars 1900 to 1945, and the cold war 1945 to 1992. 

The example pages also show diagrams and photos. There are pages filled with text in the above books too...it just looks more interesting showing the pictures! ;)

Devon Aerodromes in Old Photographs by Keith A Saunders

Published in 1994 by Alan Sutton Publishing Limited. 

ISBN 0-7509-0808-4

Found in my local second hand book shop, this is a fabulous little book, full of photographs covering their beginnings and action during World Wars I & II. As well as each chapter dealing with a different aerodrome, the final chapter is a countywide one, featuring photos of planes at shows, fairs and elsewhere in Devon, along with some of people working in the local aeroplane industry and the odd crash landing. And of course there are some photos of the 101st Airborne Division at Upottery (from Band of Brothers fame) as they were preparing to fly to Europe.

I've checked online and saw that it's available on ebay, second-hand book shops (including World of Books & AbeBooks), as well as Amazon. I also looked to see if there was a Somerset Aerodromes book too, but sadly not.

All photos with captions, the above example inside includes one of Denbury (Torbay Airport) and Dunkeswell.

I also found both of the following two in my local second-hand book shop. I thought they might be difficult to get hold of, as they were written in 1977 and 1979 respectively, but having checked I see that the first book can be obtained on ebay and several other book sites. The second book is also available on Amazon too.

Aviation Archaeology by Bruce Robertson

Published by Patrick Stephens Ltd. 1977. 

ISBN 0 85059 255 0

Another great book which covers everything from aircraft, airfield buildings, crash areas & wrecks around the world, identifying finds, preservation, medals, official records and much, much more. I find it indispensable for checking out buildings I'm not quite sure of or for dating purposes.

There we go, there's some text in this page example! The Hangar drawings are a great way of identifying the different types from their shapes.

Military Archaeology by Terry Gander

Published by Patrick Stephens Ltd. 1979.

ISBN 0 85059 302 6

Another fab book filled with loads of information encompassing military architecture, defences, motor vehicles, badges & other insignia, weapons, artillery & gun posts, etc.  

A couple of photos and more text on these page examples, showing a chapter about pillboxes, their types and uses.

Fields of Deception by Colin Dobinson

Published by Methuen Publishing Ltd. 2013.

ISBN 978 0 413 77632 7

This is one that I haven't read yet, or needed to use for reference, as I only bought it in the last year...and I still have a lot of new books to get through. I'm looking forward to it though, as it is an interesting subject. A technical and historically accurate book - described by the chap who recommended it to me as 'very nerdy' - as opposed to one I read some years ago about the prestigitator Jasper Maskelyne called The War Magician, which was very entertaining but unfortunately also discovered to have been largely invented.

Very few pictures in this one but there are the odd few photos and some diagrams, as seen above.

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Although not books, I was also going to recommend the WWII airfield maps I bought from the RAF Museum. Having said that, I recently checked with them and unfortunately they no longer hold records that far back. I had a reccee online and discovered that the National Archives have some, although I couldn't discover how to get hold of them. Anyway, that might be the site to go to if anyone's interested in obtaining copies and here's the link to start researching there.

Just a couple of examples taken from the Upottery maps, below...

...and three newspaper cuttings from my local paper showing a visit in 2008 of two of the American 101st Airborne Division 'Band of Brothers' who were stationed at Upottery (aka Smeatharpe) before flying to Normandy in 1944. 

And to finish off, a little anecdote about Exeter Airport (which was RAF Exeter during WW2). The A30 runs past the edge of the airfield and at one section there used to be a wide gate (I'm not sure it's still there as I haven't noticed it in recent years). On the gate was a notice to say that it's the emergency exit for the airport and everytime I saw it I always conjured up visions of an aeroplane gate-crashing through onto the road! I don't know if that's what was meant, but it always made me smile whenever I saw it.

I hope you found those useful. They're by no means the only books available about the subject but they're the ones that I came across either through recommendations on websites I belonged to or accidentally when browsing my local second-hand bookshop. Happy reading! :)