Dartmouth days 23 & 24

 

Rounding Start Point into Start Bay and the entrance into Dartmouth.

Dear Readers, well we had a very pleasant and uneventful trip to Dartmouth yesterday. The picture above was taken rounding Start Point, which, to any day skippers out there, will be something you remember well from your navigation exercises. Start Point was so well used in the navigation lessons, that my chart had a hole where Start Point was! I was relieved to see that in real life there is no hole, although even on a clam day it was quite a confused sea off Start Point.

Our entrance into Dartmouth was easy, with two sector lights to guide us in, but we were a bit taken aback by the many ferries crossing the Dart. There is the tug driven tiny car ferry, two of which are continually crossing from Kingswear to Dartmouth, and the passenger ferry as well. 

We had an easy entrance into Darthaven, our chosen marina on the Kingswear side of the Dart, opposite Dartmouth.  I checked out the facilities which were first class, although you do have to cross the Kingswear to Paignton steam railway line to get to them! After a lovely hot shower we decided to visit the Royal Dart Yacht Club a short walk away. It was quite plush inside with a lovely bar and restaurant area, so we had a good meal in the relaxed and friendly ambiance of this pleasnat Royal Yacht Club.

Kingswear and the Darthaven Marina

My first impressions of  Dartmouth were of a pretty town spilling down the steep hill to the water's edge, with different coloured houses and a busy river with every sort of water craft. The town is dominated by the impressive Britannia Royal Navy College, opened in 1905 as a shore based training centre for naval officers. The architect was the same one who designed Buckingham Palace (a Mr Aston Webb.)

The Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth




Dartmouth

Today we took the passenger ferry across to Dartmouth to meet up with a lady who is the keeper of the Lidstone family trees. It was very interesting, as the  Lidstone family name (Ledstone / Lydston) comes from this part of the world. There are Lidstones who had a family business of butchers here, boatbuilders, foundry owners and farmers. We had a good look around the town and I was surprised how many old buildings still exist, such as the Cherub Inn, a 14th century pub. We then went up  the steep hill to Dartmouth Castle and St Petrok's church, English Heritage sites. When we had sailed in the first thing you see, high up on the cliffs is the tiny church with a steeply sloping graveyard behind it, and I said to Josh I bet there are Lidstones up there. When we had visited the castle and the church we discovered that there was not only a Lydston in side the church but there was also six Lidstones in the graveyard. They were buried right at the very top in the highest part of the graveyard, quite a climb so I let Josh go up there while I stayed behind and took a picture. A very picturesque but isolated spot looking out to sea. 

The Lidstone graves


View from the lower part of the churchyard, overlooking the entrance of the Dart.

Josh at the top of the graveyard by the Lidstone graves.


Having got back to the boat just after three, the wind has blown up and the rain is pouring down, and from inside the boat it sounds much worse than it probably is. The weather forecast shows high winds of over 30 knots and rain for the next couple of days, so we may be spending more time in Dartmouth than we first thought. I don't mind as I have really fallen for Dartmouth, so I for one am happy to stay here for a few more days and explore.

Watch this space for the next instalment. In the meantime goodbye from a wet and windy Dartmouth!


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