Clutch smells

Our second full day at Hone was a Sunday, so we thought it proper to visit the shell of the burnt out church above Buckfastleigh. A burning out which was not all bad as one result was a new church, with modern plumbing, electrics and so forth down in the town.

Yew one

Yew two

First item was a handsome old yew tree. Next we had the graveyard, grave stones mostly nineteenth and twentieth century, with a small number being military, the sort of thing you get in military cemeteries in France and Flanders. We did not find out how they came to be here.

Hamlyn

With one of the grander ones being that for Mr. and Mrs. Hamlyn, snapped above, with Mrs. Hamlyn surviving Mr. Hamlyn by some 25 years. Note the grey rendering of the tower, much the same as that at Holne.

Stone coffin

We were rather puzzled by this stone coffin, not very large by modern standard, perched up behind its substantial fence. With the perch not looking very new, so not a result of the fire. Lots of bird song for our picnic on a convenient and sunny bench, but no sightings, let alone tweets, crows, pigeons and a few swallows aside.

Steep path

There was supposed to be a long flight of steps down to the town, but all we could find was this rather steep path down to the wrong part of town. And while there was plenty of wild garlic, as snapped above, we failed to find the entrance to the famous bat caves of reference 1, let alone the cave system generally, from which the curious snap which follows is taken, presumably the product of idle hands. Curious enough that Google image search knew all about it.

Phenomenon

At least I now know that there are lots of quite big caves in this part of Devon, which I had thought to be confined to parts up north.

The next move was down to Buckfastleigh, and we wound up going down a steep, narrow lane which seemed to be going in the right direction, but which terminated in a footpath at a place where one might have turned around, had there not been a car parked there already. So it was a case of reverse back up the lane, which given my lack of practise meant a good deal of clutch work and a good deal of unpleasant smell, possibly asbestos flavoured. A smell which hung around the car for some days afterwards, during which I tried to make as little use of the clutch as possible. Luckily, no sign of it no working.

Eventually, we parked up in Buckfastleigh and took a look around, stopping to buy some hard core wholemeal bread and some good looking, but discounted apples from an orgo shop. It remains a puzzle why there were so few shops in the high street of this small town: there was a fair bit of industry on the outskirts so there was work, but precious few places in which to spend one's wages.

St. Luke's

Town house

But there was the new church of St. Luke's and there was this substantial town house, with substantial stone trim on two of its four sides. Presumably now flats.

Sevens again

We also had a line of steel bollards, each decorated with the sign of seven fishes. Perhaps investigation would reveal that these fishes were part of the coat of arms of some once important family.

A glimpse of the green space by the river

The right steps

And so to the millennium green, contrived out of a pleasant bit of space by the river, complete with a refreshment shed, light music and sundry young families taking the air. Plus some pensioners, such as ourselves. We thought that, despite the absence of shops, the place had ambitions along the lines of Totnes, with hair, smells and beads. We also came across the right steps to the burnt out church above, snapped by Google.

Went up them a short way, then branched left, which took us along the top of the allotments, seemingly as much used as pleasure gardens as vegetable gardens, after the fashion of the continentals. Lots of umbrellas, barbecues and easy chairs. One brown rat.

Home to the Sunday Times, sausages from Poundbury and stewed apples from Buckfastleigh. The Sunday Times seemed rather loud after our regular diet of Guardian, and its TV guide made the Saturday offering from the DT seem quite tasteful. Sausages and apples satisfactory, this last despite the apples being well past their best inside, somewhat brown even.

Reference 1: http://www.pengellytrust.org/caves.htm.