Teignmouth

In the first of Dave's three pictures you can see the 'Eclipse', one of the many seine boats used to race in the Rowing Club's series of races (another sits beside it). These are the traditional style of boat used to take the seine nets out into the river for salmon fishing, usually just on the turn of the low tide, and which by law have to be pulled in within five minutes. Usually we get two runs per tide, possibly three if the tides not ripping in, as it then becomes to strong to pull in the net and it would be pulled away and out into the river.

When the original Shaldon Regatta seine boat races where held, staged annually for many years, two old wooden craft were used but they were becoming increasingly creaky and it was decided the regatta would have some fibreglass moulds made and the first two 'new' craft were launched some 15 years ago.

This coincided with a group of us wanting to join in gig racing elsewhere but the Amateur Rowing Association wouldn't allow participation unless we were members of an affiliated club. So eight of us formed the River Teign Rowing Club in the Ferryboat Inn one evening, joined the ARA and set about finding something to race as at the time we couldn't afford to have a gig built. As we were all regatta stalwarts we decided on trying to race the new seine boats in our own summer series and the rest is history (history being there are now over 700 members of the club racing twenty-five of these boats in mens, ladies, juniors and novices races every other saturday evening as mentioned in an earlier thread). We even have our own newly built gigs now that are raced all over the south-west and beyond.

The next two pictures show the small 'regatta dinghies' that are used as the standard in both the Shaldon and Teignmouth regattas and have been since the mid 1970's. (No. 45 and the one with the pale blue trim). This was because before hand all manner of strange looking craft entered races with no way of handicapping and so a standard was decided on to equal it all out. Charles Hulbert had the idea of using what was considered the best and most manageable small craft as a starter that being the small wooden dinghy designed and built by Jack matthews in Shaldon before the war. The owner of the example used for the original 1970's mould was my grandfather, Cyril. The regatta had six made after which other people started having craft taken from the mould and it has become the standard not just for racing but as tenders and for fun. They are small enough for young children starting off but large enough for four adults to row (in a tight squeeze) or take out laden with a picnic. The clinker design allows them to run through the water well, with very little water coming in over the bows (excepting the row and motor races where anything goes!) These 'regatta dinghies' are now found all over the country, indeed i've seen one in Norfolk and another in Ireland. Unfortunately the original Jack Matthews wooden dinghy was worn out and frail after being so 'abused' in the making of the mould and didn't last much longer before being broken up.

If any one is interested in seeing these two types of boats being used in races etc look at the photos i've taken for last years regatta at www.shaldonregatta.co.uk.

Cheers...

This just the visage I was thinking of when I posted Dave.
I can see it all now, there's Barty sitting on a Castrol Oil drum, head nodding forward in a losing battle against sleep; snoring away contentedly with his trousers hitched up to the armpits (braces of course) and rolled up to the knees with his knotted hankey shading his head from the late afternoon sun, his cheese sarnies curling away so that even the local chip nickers don't fancy them.

Look out Barty....................you're a prime target for the local "Grandad Grabbers" looking for a bit of jetsum on the waterline that they can take home and carry out medical experiments on!

For those who are wondering what the pictures of the tunnel were, I will explain. It is known as smugglers tunnel, it is the only way down to the beach below. The original tunnel came out halfway up the cliff face. When you walk down it you get most of the way and then the last bit that goes out to the cliff face is blocked off. A set of steps was built so those wanting to get to the beach can; the steps come off the original tunnel
And turn down to the right.

Below are three pictures the first one is the tunnel from the entrance, the second one the new steps that were built much later and the third one shows the beach, if you look just above the beach, you can see where the new entrance comes out. Just above that and slightly to the right in the picture, is the original entrance.


A small piece about the smugglers around the Exe
Smugglers sailing in to the Exe had the advantage enjoyed by anyone landing goods at an estuary: once the land-guard was located, the cargo could safely be run on the opposite shore, with the knowledge that the lowest bridging point was a long ride upstream. Bribing the ferry-man or getting him drunk was a useful precaution and on the west side of the Exe, the ferry-men were frequently and lavishly entertained in the Mount Pleasant Inn at Dawlish Warren: smugglers often used the pub, and stowed contraband in nearby caves that the landlord obligingly hollowed for them in the soft soil. The windows of the pub were also used for signalling with a lantern, presumably to indicate which side of the estuary was safe. Goods were brought to the pub from the beach at the Warren itself, which until the arrival of the railway was virtually a no-go area, and a hide-out for villains, brigands and highwaymen of all sorts, quite apart from smugglers. Other landing spots nearby were at Teignmouth, where caves were used for storage, and a narrow inlet at Holcombe, on the road to Teignmouth. A storage cave at Holcombe was destroyed when the railway was built, but the track leading down to the secluded inlet is still called Smuggler's Lane.
The free-trade era is also commemorated at Shaldon on the south side of the Teign estuary, facing Teignmouth. The sheltered estuary was a favoured landing spot and a smuggler's tunnel cuts through the cliff, leading to Shaldon beach.












Last but not least a 19th Century view of Shaldon for Leigh

Where they could dose me with copious amounts of industrial-strength Liqufruta: positive in its results in the treatment of Bronchitis, Asthma, Catarrh and Whooping Cough.

Today's question: what is the link between Shaldon and Liqufruta?

That's eerily like the player's tunnel onto the pitch at Gnome Park!

That wonderful old building has seen a few changes in recent years with the apartments being developed. A restaurant opened a couple of years ago but shut after a while. It's now open for business again following this news back in March: www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/news/Mystery-buyer-takes-cinema/article-860540-detail/article.html