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Published: August 4th 2016
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Traditional Thatched Roof,
but not sure about the color pink? Now, why did we go to Kingsbridge for a day trip? Well, this came about as a result of a conversation we had with a British couple we met while in Dartmouth. We had told them of our trip to Totnes and how impressed we were with how narrow the roads were. They said, “Those roads are nothing, you need to take bus #3 to Kingsbridge as THOSE are narrow roads”. We of course had to check this out for ourselves so found ourselves on the #3 bus out of Dartmouth.
Well, we found they were definitely not kidding about the roads – some of them looked just wide enough for one car, let alone two and definitely not for a bus to pass on. We aren’t sure how a bus stays on schedule on this route as you never know how long you might have to wait for cars to back up to find a place wide enough to wait for the bus to pass. On our way back to Dartmouth we found there was definitely a need for a consult between 2 bus drivers (ours and another one coming in the other direction), the directing of 2 cars
by the bus driver to find a place to move to, and the steady backing up abilities of a bus driver in order to continue on our route. We were both very glad we weren’t in the driver’s seat of the bus or either of the cars caught in the middle!
We definitely got to see the narrow roads around this area, but the bonus was the beautiful coastline with magnificent beaches along the way. There were long white sandy beaches; others that were beautiful but with more pebbles (as told to us by fellow passengers); small out of the way ones that families hiked down to camp and swim; and other wide expanses with cliffs on either side. We traveled around very sharp bends, up and down hills and through some forested areas. Definitely a beautiful area of the country. This area also had a reminder that this was the area where the American troops trained during WWII as a Sherman tank that was dredged up sits here as a memorial to the many American servicemen that died during “Operation Tiger” while training for D-Day.
When we arrived in Kingsbridge we noticed that their market was taking
place so we took a wander over. It offered fruits and vegetables, baked goods and plenty of fish and lamb. The visitor center had a small booklet with a walking map in it so figured we’d give it a try as it would give us a chance to some of the historic places in the village. We first walked up the hill to the St. Thomas of Canterbury Church (Parish of Dodbrooke). The first church on this site was from Saxon times about 900 AD. The current structure dates from the 15
th C. with the lower part of the bell tower from the 14
th C. Even though we have been visiting numerous places while in Europe with dates such as these, it still always amazes us to be walking into places with this kind of history and try to imagine what it must have been like during those times.
We didn’t have a lot of time for exploration before we had to catch the bus back, but we did stop in at the Cookworthy Museum which is housed in the old school house built in 1670. We didn’t take the time to go into the museum, but they allow
To Think Such Beautiful Areas
were training grounds for war you to wander through their inner courtyard garden and a farming exhibit. It was quite interesting with plenty of examples of equipment used over time. Many we were able to figure out easy enough while others we had to check ourselves with the labels (we actually did pretty good with figuring them out). They had everything from apple cider presses to chaff cutters and cultivators and almost any other farm implement you could imagine. They had a great overview of the work that was done during all 4 seasons on a farm showing their work is never done.
The old town hall is located a little farther down the hill and has a clock tower built in 1850. We found it interesting that the side that would have been seen by those working in the workhouse across the street deliberately never had a clock face on it so they could not tell what time it was.
After we finished our short wander through the town we walked to the water’s edge. Kingsbridge is located on the Kingsbridge Estuary which dries out at low tide. It was something to see a marina located here with boats tied to the
The Sherman Tank that Was Uncovered
and is now a memorial for those that died here dock, but the boats sitting in mud when the tide is out. We did learn from an informational board located here that the mud is created from natural material washed down from the land and then brought back by the tides which wasn’t a surprise. What was an interesting fact to learn was that “each square of mudflat is as food-rich as a square of rainforest”.
Kingsbridge was first chartered back in 932AD as it was the bridge of land that connected two royal estates, Alvington to the west and Chillington to the east of the estuary. The town of today is made up of the medieval towns of Kingsbridge and Dodbrooke which were a quarter of a mile apart. In 1219 this area was given to the Abbots of Buckfast to control. In 1219 the Abbott was given permission to hold a market here so the monks could sell their honey, fruits, vegetables and cream. Since that time until today Kingsbridge is known as market town.
We definitely enjoyed a very relaxing and pleasant day trip on bus #3 to one of the market towns in the Devon area – Kingsbridge and seeing more of
this wonderful coastline.
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