Synopsis: A walk that starts from Stover Country Park and follows the Templer Heritage Trail to Newton Abbot. From here, walk extended to Kingsteignton. Not a hill in sight. Ideal walking for anyone with an aversion to ‘slopes’.
(selection of photos from Flickr photo set – use link above to view album)The day starts out ominously as it’s raining heavily as I eat my breakfast. But the weather forecast was good, so I decide to stick to my plans. These included getting a lamb tagine meal prepared and cooking in my slow cooker before I head out, which means the early morning preparations keep me pretty busy. It’s a rush, but I make it to the bus stop in time to catch the 8:30 bus.
Stover Country Park The bus journey itself is quite a pleasant start to my day, taking me through Chudleigh Knighton and Bovey Tracey. The bus has to do a full 360 degree turn around Drumbridges roundabout to drop me at the bus stop, which is actually on the roundabout itself. I had been wondering how the bus was going to deposit me at the stop. From here it’s was only a very short hop across the road to the entrance of Stover Country Park. The park was quiet and peaceful this early on a Good Friday morning, just the occasional dog walker and surprised jogger (I met someone from work, Sarah, out training).
Bridge that would have once spanned the Stover to Teignmouth Canal For a while the walk takes me along an old disused canal. At this end of its route it appears well kept up, I suppose because it’s part of the country park, but further down it becomes derelict and empty of water. There’s a stylish bridge that now goes over nothing, but was once a crossing of the canal. And there’s a rail track that seems to be mostly in good repair, with track still laid, but I can’t think its rusted rails serve any purpose today.
The history of this part of the county is interesting. This was once a very busy location, where considerable volumes of ball clay and granite (from Haytor quarries) was transported down to Teignmouth to be loaded on ships to be conveyed all over the country. The granite for London Bridge and the National Gallery would have passed on barges down the way I walked. The historical significance of the place added a little piquancy to my walk.
Marsh marigolds There are splotches of deep yellow dotted here and there along the disused canal. The buttercups here certainly thrive, except I don’t believe they are buttercups, but that’s all I can think to call them at this moment (second thoughts – I think they could be marsh marigolds). They obviously love the damp ground. It took me some time before I could approach a clump close enough to get a good photo of them.
I approach Newton Abbot at a placed named Jetty Marsh Canal Basin, which was a terminus for the canal barges. There is evidence remaining to this day of the old layout, including the walls of the canal banks and even capstans (if that’s the right word) at which to tie up barges. These were hard working, hard drinking men, a favourite watering hole being the Passage Inn which I come across further along on my walk.
The Passage House Inn From the Passage House Inn there are views right down the length of the River Teign, to Teignmouth and Shaldon, and the sea beyond. The inn is very busy, perhaps not surprising being a bank holiday. Some people are even sat outside eating, which shows how the weather had improved since the foreboding start to my walk.
I eat my lunch at a picnic bench that is adjacent to Newton Abbot horse racing course. It’s very quiet here today, but I imagine tomorrow, when there are races planned, this will become quite a busy little corner of onlookers, all hoping to catch a glimpse of the horses racing by at full throttle.
Whilst sat at the picnic bench drinking tea after my lunch, a couple walking this old (13 years) labrador started chatting to me. They lived locally and new the area well. I asked if there was a way to cross the River Teign here, but they said there wasn’t. They spoke of Shaldon being the closest place, and something about an Aller Brook, when the tide is low, although I’ve not located this on the map, but I think it runs parallel to the main road.
St Michael’s Church, Kingsteignton I stop for a while at St Michael’s Church, Kingsteignton. Reading a little about this church on the night previous to the walk, I discovered that the present building was consecrated in 1318, built in sandstone, with the tower being added 50 years later. The fact that the tower was a later addition was readily apparent, as the stone used is not the same, and it looks like an appendage. But the church and the surroundings, with a stream running past the church entrance, is quite lovely. There were quite a number of people arriving at the church whilst I was there, not surprising as it was Good Friday, so I didn’t venture inside.
Newton Abbot High Street
I then continued to wend my way back through the old streets of Kingsteignton and head back to Newton Abbot, stopping at Tesco’s for those ever necessary last minute items. I arrive at Newton Abbot about an hour before my bus is due, so idly wonder around the centre of the town and sit about watching the shoppers go by. It struck me how stylish parts of Newton Abbot are, mixed in with the usual hotchpotch of incongruous building put up in the name of ‘planning’.
There is a rather strange tower at one end of the high street, apparently erected to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Jubilee. This is not a particularly eye-catching piece of architecture, but I suppose it served it’s purpose well enough.
Walk Statistics:
Total Distance: 11.0 m
Moving Time: 4hrs 00min
Stopped Time: 1:18min
Total Ascent: 233 metres
Maximum Elevation: 28 metres
Buses: 39
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