HOLCOMBE JOTTINGS

Produced by Bryan Weston & published by Holcombe Residents Association

 Spring/Summer 2006

THE LEGEND OF THE PARSON AND CLERK

Once upon a time, there was a Bishop of Exeter who lay very ill at Dawlish, and among those who visited him frequently was the parson of an inland parish who was ambitious enough to hope that, should the good bishop die, he would be chosen to take his place.  

This parson had a violent temper, and his continued visits to the sick man did not improve this, for his journey was a long and dreary one and the bishop, he thought, took an unconscionable time In dying. But he had to maintain his reputation for piety, and so it happened that on a winter night he was riding towards Dawlish through the rain, guided, as was his custom, by his parish clerk.

That particular night the clerk had lost his way, and, long after he and his master should have been in comfortable quarters at Dawlish, they were wandering about on the high rough ground of Haldon, some distance away. At last, in anger, the parson turned upon his clerk and rebuked him violently. ''You are useless,'' he said; '' I would rather have the devil for a guide than you.'' The clerk mumbled some excuse, and presently the two came upon a peasant, mounted upon a moor pony, to whom they explained their plight.

The stranger at once offered to guide them, and very soon all three had reached the outskirts of the little town. Both parson and clerk were wet through. and when their guide, stopping by an old, tumble-down house, invited them to enter and take some refreshment, both eagerly agreed. They entered the house and found there a large company of wild-looking men drinking and singing loud choruses. The parson and his servant made their way to a quiet corner and enjoyed a good meal, then, feeling better, agreed to stay for a while and join their boisterous companions.  

But they stayed for a very long while. The drink flowed freely and both grew uproarious, the parson  singing songs with the best of the company and shouting the choruses louder than any. In this manner they spent the whole night, and it was not until dawn broke that the priest suggested moving onward. So none too soberly he called for the horses.  

unearthly laughter broke out all around them. Then the now terrified men observed that their boisterous friends were dancing about in glee and each had turned into a leering demon. The house in which they had passed the night had completely disappeared, and the road in which they stood was transformed into the sea-shore, upon which huge waves were breaking, some already submerging the clerk. With a wild cry of terror the parson lashed once more at his horse, but without avail. He felt himself growing stiff and dizzy - and then consciousness passed from him.

Neither he nor his clerk ever returned to their parish, but that morning the people of Dawlish saw two strange red rocks standing off the cliffs, and later, !earning this story, they realised that the demons had changed the evil priest and his man into these forms. Time and weather have wrought many changes in the Parson and Clerk Rocks, not the least curious being to carve upon the Parson Rock the semblance of the two revellers. From certain positions you may see today the profiles of both men, the parson as it were in his pulpit, and the clerk at his desk beneath him.

A slightly edited version of the legend published by the Great Western Railway in 1922 in a booklet titled “ Legend Land ”.

IT’S A DOG’S LIFE

Hello again everybody. it's Bella, the grey Lurcher, taking pen in paw again. I haven't done this writing thing for ages now, so I don't know if I can remember how it goes!

Anyway, so much has happened since I last told you about my life but at the moment all I can remember is the terrible thing, so my Dad says, that happened to me when I was off enjoying a run, following an interesting scent of rabbits, and other animals. I ran through a gap in the hedge and then -WHAM - a very nasty pain in my ear and there was this red stuff running all over the place. Dad found me and seemed to be very upset about this - I was more upset about my painful ear.

Dad got me home and Mum helped Dad to clean me up and take me to the Vet. I like going to the Vet. I usually get a treat when I'm "good". I stayed at the Vets for some time but felt really funny, sleepy and sort of weak when I tried to walk. Mum came to pick me up and the nurse took me out of my cage thing. I hurt my ear on the side of the cage and all this red stuff, which I think the nurse called "blood", started flying around again. I  stayed with the Vet all night.

I'm all right now though and went around the Village meeting all my friends and telling them what had happened. I got such a lot of fuss from my doggy friends and the humans too - it was lovely.

Time to go now because I can hear someone getting my food for me. Lovely.  See you around. Bye-bye everyone.

                                      By Gerry & Carol Chambers

   THREE TIMES LUCKY?

We take for granted our sea wall promenade between Holcombe and Teignmouth. We are fortunate that it was built in the first place and fortunate that it still remains. Our good fortune started over 170 years ago.

In 1836 I.K.Brunel surveyed 2 routes for a new line connecting Exeter and Plymouth . Both had in common a stretch between Exeter to Newton Abbot running through tunnels inland from Starcross, behind both Dawlish and Teignmouth, with each station some distance inland. Brunel thought a sea wall route "undesirable". Landowner objections aborted these plans but demands for a rail connection to Plymouth remained.

A direct line across Dartmoor was proposed, but the promoting Company (becoming the South Devon Railway in 1843) doubted the practicality of long water powered rope inclines. Later, the company persuaded the Great Western and Bristol & Exeter Railways to invest £400,000 in a line. following Brunel's 1836 route (complete with inland tunnels). He was to supervise construction of a double broad gauge track with the trains steam-hauled.  

Brunel changed his mind after re-surveying the route, now preferring the sea wall concept.. Earlier difficulties with Box Tunnel on the Bristol to Paddington line could have influenced him. That the survey, plans etc had to be deposited with Parliament in less than 3 months may have had something to do with it too. Brunel wrote at the time that he "availed himself of what had been done by me and others before": clearly speed was of the essence.  His change of mind was our first piece of good fortune.  

Only Parson's Tunnel in Dawlish was shown on the deposited plans, Brunel wanting to blast away the cliffs to avoid the cost of further tunnelling between Dawlish and Teignmouth. A sea wall with a parapet wall on top was to be constructed between Hole Head and Teignmouth to "protect the trains from the wind". Brunel was convinced that the highest of tides would "not reach the foot of the wall". This is a good example of Brunel's over-optimism that down the years has been rather costly.

Parliament asked the Admiralty Engineer, James Walker, to report.. He doubted that the sea wall route would be cheaper in the long term, though he did feel that "on balance, it was preferable”

to the tunnel route. He did not share Brunel’s optimism about the minimal effect of the sea on his line. He required the line be moved inland by about 20 yards to preserve the coves and cliffs near Dawlish, but needing much more cliff demolition south of Hole Head. The Company accepted Walker ’s report, and also Walker ’s own idea that the sea wall should double as a public footpath as a quid pro quo for the loss of amenities. Our second piece of good fortune.  

Brunel's confidence that the sea would not reach the foot of the wall must have been badly shaken in February 1855 when the sea exposed the foundations of the sea wall at Smugglers Lane . 50 yards of wall and the wooden viaduct collapsed "with a tremendous crash", closing the line for 11 days (the longest closure, so far!).  

This was not the last problem with the line: not without reason, this stretch of line is the most expensive to maintain in the network. Perhaps if Brunel had been less persuasive or the South Devon Railway directors been less in awe of the great engineer, the line along the coast and the sea wall promenade might never have been built.

Roll forward 90 years: In the 1930's. Great Western Railway wanted to move the main line inland behind Dawlish and Teignmouth (shades of Brunel), leaving the coast route as a secondary line. This was to deal with growing line capacity problems (particularly summer Saturdays) and fears about growing sea wall maintenance costs.

Land was purchased and the route laid out overland with concrete posts. World War II intervened and the plans were never resurrected.

Moving the main track inland could have meant the promenade would be unusable by now. Would a sea wall secondary rail route have survived Dr. Beeching’s "axe? If not, would our impoverished rail and other public authorities have been willing to afford the very high costs of maintaining the sea wall? If not, would the sea wall have collapsed in places by now and made our promenade unusable? Our third piece of fortune?

                                    By Bryan Weston

 Manor Farm

Many readers of the last edition said that they enjoyed Humphrey and Jean Clemens article about the farm and farming generally. Due to force of circumstances, they are unable to contribute this time. It is hoped to include something next time.

 Nathaniel Baird

This appeared in black and white in the last edition. I thought you might like to see it in its glory. The artist lived in Holcombe over 100 years ago.