Location: A35, Dalwood, Devon EX13 7QW

Locality: Shute
Local Authority: East Devon
County: Devon
Country: England

(left click on photos to enlarge and then again for even more enlargement)

Mr Youlden, a grocer, on the Shute to Dalwood road, c 1908.

History:
Shute Piers are a pair of former 18th Century gate-piers on either side of the Dalwood to Colyton road. Presumably they were originally the main gateway to the Shute Estate, positioned as they are at the edge of the old Roman road as it descended the hill from Kilmington.
Rusticated ashlar on plan – ( In classical architecture, rustication is a feature that contrasts in texture with the smoothly finished, squared block masonry surfaces called ashlar. Rusticated masonry is usually squared-off but left with a more or less rough outer surface and wide joints which  emphasize the edges of each block ) -  with large moulded caps and ball finials.

Graffiti shows the date 1763.

Raymond Quick’s grandmother

Jilletta Broom at Shute Piers c1932

The re-built east pier 2012

The west pier 2012

Damage to the east pier March 2011

From EDP24: March 9th 2011:

HIGHWAYS chiefs have been accused of ignoring safety warnings after an historic Shute pillar was demolished by a car for the second time on March 3rd 2011.

The stone post was completely flattened in last week’s accident, but despite the massive impact the driver escaped without serious injury.

Angry local councillors say their calls for road safety improvements on the bend have been ignored.

This week Shute Parish Council chairman Peter Rugg said the village now faced more delays in getting the ancient gateway repaired.

He told The Herald: “Three years ago it got knocked down and it took ages to get it back up because no one would own up to doing it. Eventually they found the owner and his insurance company finally paid out the £34,000 it cost to rebuild the pillar, which is made from special stone.”

A MEETING is being arranged to discuss the way forward for a Shute landmark turned into a pile of rubble. Shute Parish Council is calling for the landmark’s restoration plus extra road safety measures to prevent more incidents, and Devon County Council has agreed to send an elected member and an officer for talks.

One of the two historic Shute Pillars, just off the A35, was repaired towards the end of 2008 after having been hit by a car. Shute Parish Council campaigned for the repair and involved Devon County Council in the process. The repair, understood to have cost more than £30,000, was paid for by the insurer of the motorist involved, and road safety measures were put in place. The safety measures included the relocation of a chevron and a ‘SLOW’ marking painted on the approach to the bend.

But another car crashed into the pillar on Thursday, March 3rd, completely demolishing the landmark, which is a listed structure. Shute Parish Council chairman Peter Rugg said: “I’m relieved nobody was seriously injured or killed — these things weigh tonnes.” But he wants to prevent further incidents and said: “The road looks wide and drivers don’t realise until the last moment that the road turns.” He will suggest to highway bosses that a chevron is added and located next to the pillar. About the pillars he said: “They are pretty ancient and part of our heritage. It is beatiful stone.”

Local county councillor Andrew Moulding has confirmed that he is trying to organise a meeting. A Devon County Council spokesman said: “A meeting is being arranged between our local highways engineer, local county councillor and the parish chairman to discuss the issues. “We are still looking into how this latest incident happened and what more can be done to prevent further damage at this location.”
Police say the car involved in the crash suffered extensive damage, but the driver did not require medical attention. When asked if the driver is under investigation for any road traffic offence in relation to the accident, a police spokesperson said there had been no offence.

From Yeovil-Clarion-Today 22nd Novemeber 2011 by Anders Larsson

TWO parish councillors have praised Devon County Council (DCC) for acting on their road safety proposal. Peter Rugg and Rick Wood — both members of Shute Parish Council — say the new chevron at the sharp bend at Shute Pillars, just off the A35, is just what the doctor ordered. They are also delighted that DCC will restore the stricken pillar before Christmas.
It was on March 3rd that one of the two landmark pillars was flattened by a car and turned into a pile of rubble when a car failed to negotiate the sharp bend. Nobody was seriously hurt but a similar accident happened in 2008, which is why Mr Rugg asked for something to be done. At the time he suggested an added chevron, which is precisely what he got.
His fellow councillor Mr Wood was very pleased and said of the new chevron: “It stops the eyeline going straight on.” Both of them praised county councillor Andrew Moulding, council officers Brian Hoare and Tony Matthews — and the county council as a whole for taking their concerns seriously and getting something done.
Mr Rugg also explained that he had been told that DCC hopes to have the flattened pillar back to its former glory before Christmas. This was subsequently confrmed by a DCC spokesperson, who told Pulman’s View: “Stone masons are currently working on the new sections of stone and reconstruction is scheduled to be carried out before Christmas.”

Shute House is a large country house in a landscaped park. It is currently divided into eight separate freehold properties with a further seven properties at the Stables.

The house was built between1787 and 1790 for Sir John William Pole who was married to Lady Anne  Pole ( Anne Templer of Stover ). Some time after his marriage to Anne in 1781, Sir John William Pole changed the family surname to ‘De La Pole.’ His reasons for doing this are not known.  In 1788, Sir John William bought the Lands of the Shute Estate from the Petres.

Sir John William Pole, the builder of ‘New’ Shute House, has a memorial in Shute church:
http://www.churchmonumentssociety.org/Devon_4.html

The painting of Lady Anne de la Pole was painted in 1786 by George Romney and has an interesting history. It was sold in 1913 and reached a record price at the time at Christies auction, of $206,850. Here is the news link…

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2249&dat=19130614&id=o9k_AAAAIBAJ&sjid=nlkMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5827,2639937

It was then sold to Alvan Tufts Fuller, who was one of the wealthiest men in America owning Boston’s dealership for Packard automobiles. He was elected to Congress and later became Governor of Massachusetts. He was a great collector of art and when he died in 1958 part of his collection was donated to The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, where you can still see today the magnificent portrait of Lady Anne.
http://www.wikigallery.org/wiki/painting_227785/George-Romney/Anne-Lady-de-la-Pole
http://www.gogmsite.net/grand-ladies-of-the-reign-o/1786-anne-lady-de-la-pole-b.html

There is also a copy of the painting in Anthony House, Plymouth the home of the Carew-Pole family
http://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/352382

We have  found another picture of Lady Anne:
http://www.mutualart.com/Artwork/Anne–Lady-de-la-Pole–née-Templer—175/DE98A2BE7D0913D7
and a link about the Templer family which contains a reference to the De la Pole name change
http://www.templerfamily.co.uk/Templer%20Trees/GEDmill_Output/indiI0748.html

Although this link to Anne’s obituary suggests that the De La Pole name change was an ‘affectation of antiquity’ !

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=rDwDw0HkYPkC&pg=PA186&lpg=PA186&dq=anne+templer+lady+de+la+pole&source=bl&ots=KtV6zfC6c6&sig=jJwVlPMrxQsGnchCn497cmig6FI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=5fqDT-_HIcas0QW_45G4Bw&ved=0CGMQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=anne%20templer%20lady%20de%20la%20pole&f=false

(For this information, our thanks go to David Cummings who with his wife Marzenna and her sister Bozena have owned the central part (No’s 4 and 5 ) of Shute House since 1984.)

The old Shute House (Shute Barton) had been in continuous Pole ownership from 1560 when William Pole bought the house from Sir William Petre and leased 160 acres of land at Shute for 1200 years.

Sir John Carew Pole gave it to the National Trust in 1959.

The new mansion Sir John built, not far from the older building, stands in beautifully wooded grounds with views out towards Colyton and the coast.

The plan of this large stuccoed house is that of a square body with two wings connected by corridors. It has a slate hipped roof, parapet rusticated quoins and stringcourses. The front north entrance has a central round-arched portico with Doric columns. There are three storeys, a basement and five bays with sash windows with glazing bars.

Low flanking quadrant walls (screening service wings) with niches containing urns
and terminating in two storey, four bay pavilions, also with rusticated quoins,
parapets and hipped roofs.

The south garden front has 3:1:3 bays left and right with full-height semi-circular bays with
sashes, some retaining glazing bars. There is a central flight of steps with cast iron
balustrade. The first floor windows have iron balconettes. Set back right and left, the
rear walls of the service wings have blind arcading. The interior contains Adam style
rooms with moulded plaster ceilings, marble chimneypieces and a staircase with wrought iron balustrade.

The house contains a private theatre of circa 1900, in the north east wing, the moulded plaster ceiling and proscenium arch have been retained

Shute School c 1955

Shute House c 1902

A local resident recounts how even in the early 20th century, tenants of the estate used to go up to Shute House 3 times a year to pay the rent, in a room which was eventually turned into a small theatre. In return, they received a cup of tea. The house had a lot of servants in those days.

Shute House 2012:

Nurse Pearse: “Shute House was a school for young ladies. Dr. Bridie was at one time the headmistress and then a Miss Freeman took over and, at the end of term when the 6th formers had done all their exams before they went home, I used to go up and give them a lecture on home-nursing. They were nice girls and always came to Shute church on a Sunday. Old Mrs Newberry was living in Shute Barton Gatehouse with her daughter who was in her sixties” ( from Brian Vaughton’s Life … as it was)

Joan Freeman: I worked with Dr Bridie until she retired in 1947 and she asked me to carry on from there. She was ahead of her time in lots of ways now. She wouldn’t have dreamt of letting the children use Christian names. We never did, and I would find it very odd. But I was used to conventional ways, much more so than she was. But she started a very friendly, easy-going school, but working hard, enjoying life, enjoying the country. That was one of the great things about the girls, partly it was wartime, and they knew their parents were glad to get them out of towns. We only had a few day girls, say 6 or 8. I suppose they were safe here already and Colyton is so good – who’d want to go anywhere else? The school was opened in 1933 and built up from next to nothing. Dr Bridie had a school in Birmingham and brought down a tiny nucleus. Miss Robert-Jones who later ran Pippins the prep school, went round lots of families to tell them more about what Dr Bridie hoped to have as a school, recruiting people. I was brought in 1941. We could only fit in about 80 beds so it was an upward limit of 80 in the summer and a few less in the winter because one kept a small room or two for flu’s and the such like. This was inevitable. And so we were round about that for a long time, and certainly not above 100. A number of them had ponies and Dr Bridie let them bring any of their pets, which was a novelty in those days. The youngsters brought their guinea pigs, hamsters and rabbits galore. Not many schools then had pets and this was a great thing.

After the war, we had 4 from St Lukes, the teacher training college in Exeter. The ponies were kept down at the stables and the children did everything, get their hay, provide it, break the ice in winter. One of the trainee teachers was staggered that the girls could do all that and were made to do all that and enjoyed doing it.

The philosophy of the school was for the children to grow up as children, while they were still children. To enjoy life and to learn what one could but not to make it a chore. Dr Bridie was so successful in making it a happy place where a lot of children enjoyed being in the country even though they were far away from home. They felt safe, I suppose. And they had a lot of pleasure. Later on in the sixties children seemed to change a lot and weren’t as happy. They wanted shops and a cinema to hand and didn’t enjoy country walks.

The girls were taught to use their freedom sensibly. They were sensible in those days. On Saturday they used to quite often go up just on the Beacon. The school and Shute village mixed very little really. The girls went down to the church always on Sunday but otherwise saw very little of the village. During the war we did get a Girl’s Training Corps and four girls from the village came and joined us, which was very nice. Dr Bridie was very liberal in allowing the girls to go for lessons down in Axminster at night and going out for lectures quite late at night (bedtime in those days for a boarding school was 9pm) Nurse Pearse came up and gave us first-aid lectures and examine for home-nursing.

The girls played hockey and very bumpy the ground was. I tried to change it to lacrosse quite soon when I took over nut it was difficult to get matches. The academic quality of the school was quite good without being brilliant. The kitchen of the house had previously been turned into a theatre which was wonderful for productions of all kinds, and they were very keen on drama. It was a great interest, a great entertainment and an achievement. And it was very good for them of course. Basically we were trying to produce people who would be very useful and people who would fit in. With the wartime situation, it was the Wrens chiefly that was the popular thing to get in although a few of them wanted the Air Force.

We had a cook, Miss Daley, who came up from the village and she cycled up.- she lived right out at Umborne. Life was very different for them once electricity came in the forties. We weren’t on mains water – we had a pump for the drinking water in the kitchen courtyard and another pump which was useful for the pets. We also had a pump of our own up near the Beacon for electricity.

Shute House had a wonderful view and the 2 big rooms, which had been the family dining room and the family drawing room, were long rooms.

They were used as Dr Bridie’s study (which would take all 80 girls), her own room and the school dining room. At times she would ask everybody in for a concert and everyone would get in – the children mostly sitting on the floor.

The following article was sourced by Derek Stevens from a local paper dated April 27th 1948:

Dr. Bridie’s Tour – an exhibition at Shute School

Dr. Bridie, formerly the headmistress of Shute School for Girls, has just returned from an extended tour abroad. Her travels, which lasted more than six months, included Tunis, Kenya, Tanganyika, Zanzibar, Mozambique, North and South Rhodesia, South Africa and the island of St. Helena. She had the pleasure of renewing acquaintance with several former mistresses and girls of the school and met their children. Among other places, she visited the graves of Rhodes in Matopos Hills, Kruger Game Reserve, National Park, Valley of One Thousand Hills. She went to the top of Table Mountain and to the bottom of a gold mine, was present at a session of the Union Parliament, and saw and heard Field-Marshal Smuts the Prime Minister.

An exhibition was held at Shute School on Thursday afternoon of the many purchases she had made in those lands of abundance. Among these were pure silk, African ivory, ebony, Benares ware, native (Swahili and Zulu) caps and sandals, Zulu crafts and love letters, a leopard-skin coat, wild goat rugs, and native weaving from Zanzibar. There were also embroidered handkerchiefs from St. Helena, stinkwood polished articles, ostrich feathers, snake skin bags, necklaces of all kinds, beads, shells and seeds. Besides these, there were utilitarian purchases of sheets, shoes, clothes, sweets and groceries.

Dr. Bridie went out by air, so was, unfortunately, not able to take her heavy cine-Kodak, but she has taken hundreds of photographs, which later on will be made into lantern slides for the entertainment of the girls of Shute School.

Later on when the school closed, the people who had bought the house had concerts there from time to time, so people locally came to this lovely room. There are beautiful ceilings. First of all, it was bought by one man who was going to develop it for his family, dividing it vertically. It was on 3 different floors. It must have been very awkward in some ways, because it was a long way up, eighty something steps.  When is was finally sold again, vertically divided as it still is into private accommodation, nothing had been spoilt. The people who had the old dining room and a room which was decorated by the Poles in the Chinese style and was known as the Chinese Room, that has been decorated by someone with a lot of knowledge. What was the theatre has been turned into a house by itself. It was bought by someone who was an architect and who has therefore developed it. The theatre was on 2 levels, the stage and then a sloping floor and another level. In the past,on the other side they had used one long room as a ballroom where there had been hunt dances and such like there. At Christmas time the village would come to the house. There were Christmas turkey whist drives, when the locals gave a turkey or gave poultry and suchlike for Christmas gifts to be won. When it came to the Coronation, the village came up for the coronation sports and we had a rather amusing film of the sports.

(From Brian Vaughton’s Life … as it was)

Shute House – described in the sale details as “The gracious Adam style Country Mansion” was sold by auction at the George Hotel in Axminster on Thursday 7th August 1975. Below are some of the particulars provided by Messrs. W.R.J. Greenslade & Co. Our thanks to John and Anne Dean of East Lodge who provided me with a copy of the sale details and who bought their house at the 1975 sale for £12,000 !!

( If you left click once on some of the images, they will be enlarged. Another click will make them even bigger.)

The following further points of interest, some of which were taken from Dr M.F. Bridie’s  “The Story of Shute”, were kindly supplied by Elisabeth Miller:

The Race Course: The field lying to the North of the main track over Shute Hill from Ashes Lane to the top of the Kilmington Straight was always called the race course. It may have been larger than now as the afforestation is relatively recent. (Ch 9   P143)

The Curse: Source unknown. This curse was pronounced for the building of the new Georgian House in ” a field of straight green corn”. (Ch 10   P156 – referred to again in      Ch 11   P170 and P178)

The Lady Walk: This is described as a walk up to The Beacon. Locals understand it to be principally a walk to the orchard and kitchen garden of the house (the walled garden) on the North side of Haddon Road, now part of Rowlands. (Ch 10   P 157)

The iron grilles: these were fitted on all the ground floor and semi-basement windows as a decorative addition. Another supposition for their presence is that they were fitted for the Napoloenic Wars – or even protection against burglars. (Ch 10   P162)

The Coming of the Railway:  It is said that the 9th Baronet only agreed to the railway as long as it could not be seen from the house – hence the deep cuttings – and that there should be a “halt” near enough to Shute House to bring his guests from London – hence Seaton Junction, less than a mile down the road!  (Ch 11 P173)

The water supply: There are two  large underground cisterns on Shute Hill, behind, and on land belonging to, Haddon House which were reservoirs of water (primitive header tanks?) for Shute House. There are also three brick-lined uncovered “pits” in the woodland beside The Lady Walk (on Shute House land) which must have at some stage been part of the water-supply system.

The Grey Lady: There is a legend that the woodland through which The Lady Walk passes is haunted by the Grey Lady. Folklore associates the legend with Lady Jane Grey, but, as it is questionable whether she actually lived at Shute Manor House, it maybe that another lady ( a Pole?) qualifies.

The Coach Road: Haddon Road, from Shute village to Haddon Corner (known as Betty’s Ground – the triangle of grass and trees) is still known as “The Coach Road”. It then ran along the old track ( just below the “new Road”) to Mount Hungary and on to Kilmington.

The Stables:

My thanks again to Lis Miller for taking the time to provide me with this information.

Dr Bridie describes them as extensive and in the ingenious form of a horseshoe, neatly hidden from the house in a dell, surrounded by trees. According to the late Miss Monica Broom, whose father bought the house called Betty’s ground in 1930) and other local residents, the two coach/carriage houses were used to house one travelling carriage and one lighter vehicle for local journeys. The horses would have been housed in stalls built to the ground floors of the two coach house buildings, perhaps 6 in each.

There was a covered way between the coach houses, where horses would have been tethered between use in the daytime. “Footings” have been identified for this. Stabling for 12 horses is probably about right for the size of the establishment, bearing in mind mounts for guests, hunting, social riding, as well as travelling.

The centre house was the Groom’s cottage downstairs with space on the first floor for other staff to sleep. The stable-boys would have slept above the horses on straw pallets on the bare boards. The smaller house would have housed food stocks and tack, but when the school was established in 1933, the girls were allowed to bring their ponies – there were more ponies than the stalls could accommodate so the smaller houses in the complex were also used as loose-boxes.

The approach was down the carriage drive from the House and through what is now a private garden – the steep concrete drive came with the re-development in 1980/81.

If anyone else has any infomation about and/or photos of Shute House, please do let me know. Also if you spot any errors or omissions, please inform me – Rick Wood

The Seaton branch was constructed by the Seaton and Beer Railway Company. It opened on 16th of  March 1868 – unusually without celebrations – from Colyton (Seaton) Junction, with intermediate stations at Colyton Town, Colyford and Seaton. The line was leased by the London & South Western Railway from 1st of  January 1880 and absorbed by it on 1st of January 1888, as goods traffic declined in favour of tourism. The LSWR was incorporated into the Southern Railway in 1923, and in its heyday the line’s motive power was provided by M7 Tank locomotives, with through coaches coupled to Waterloo-bound trains at Seaton Junction.

Originally trains arriving from the Seaton branch had to reverse into the “down” (westbound) platform. However the station was reconstructed in 1928 with two through tracks on the main line and loops to the newly extended platforms. At the same time a new branch line platform was added, set at an angle of 45° to the main line, on the down side.  The large Express Dairies enterprise meant that there was much traffic on the railway. In 1935 a pipe line was built to take water from springs right up near Honiton Tunnel to Seaton Junction. This water also supplied the station – imagine how relieved the poor porters were not having to pump water by hand for hours!

The location of the station created a major problem for westbound trains stopping at Seaton Junction since it was situated at the start of a six miles climb (at 1 in 80) to the summit of the line at Honiton tunnel, a very straight tunnel which, at 1,345 yds long, was the longest on the LSWR. Only one man – crushed to death by a fall of rock – was killed in its construction. It took nearly 12 million bricks to line this tunnel!

This is a photo of the Shute Arms Hotel in about 1888, just after it was built. The photo was taken from Seaton Junction.

The branch line platform curved away sharply from the station buildings, under the concrete footbridge that spanned the whole station site. There were extensive sidings on the up side serving a milk depot and more sidings on the down side where, on Summer Saturdays, light engines could be seen awaiting a path to Exmouth Junction for servicing.

(from a painting by Barry J. Freeman GRA “Heavyweights at Seaton” featuring the impressive Southern Railway ‘Merchant Navy’ class ‘Pacifics’ of Oliver Bulleid (from 1941) in both original and rebuilt (late 1950′s) form.  Rebuilt locomotive No.35016, Elders Fyffes, is pictured storming through Seaton Junction with the ‘Atlantic Coast Express’. Un-rebuilt locomotive (or ‘Spam Can’) No. 35019, French Line CGT is stationery in the adjacent platform heading an eastbound parcels train.)

One of the prominent features of Seaton Junction was the height of the signals on the up platforms. Due to the curvature of the line through the station the view for drivers of up trains was restricted so the up starting signals were elevated on high in order that they could be seen from a distance above the station buildings. For the benefit of drivers whose trains stopped in the station, co-acting arms were placed lower down on the signal posts.

(From a watercolour painting by Frederick Lea GRA, a well-known painter of railway scenes, featuring the 34034 Honiton hurrying into Seaton Junction on the East bound track ).

(Also from a watercolour painting by Frederick Lea featuring

35006 “P & O” facing towards Exeter). Our thanks to F. Lea for his permission to feature these 2 paintings.

( photograph by Stephen Hughes, courtesy of Terry Heeley -of the Seaton pull ‘n’ push train in the branch platform during the 1950s.)

The Seaton to Seaton Junction branch line flourished, showing a profit for both its owners and the LSWR who leased it for the first twenty years until, on 3rd of January 1888, the latter bought the smaller company. 76 years and 1 month later, on 3rd of  February 1964, goods traffic was withdrawn.

Nurse Pearse who was a nurse and midwife in Shute for 25 years, recalls:

” At Seaton Junction there used to be 3 platforms there and there was a little cafe on the station where you could nip over the bridge and go in and have a cup of coffee. There was a train down to Seaton – part of the station at the side was for the little train to Seaton which used to go through 2 or 3 times a day. It was all double lines in those days. And then, of course, you had the Express Dairy there at Seaton Junction, where all the eggs and the milk came in. Seaton Junction was quite a station – all the main line trains stopped there and the old station master lived in the house down there.The station always had beautiful flowers – he was a great gardner.” ( From Brian Vaughton’s Life … As it was)

The branch line’s terminus at Seaton was a station which had been described as “more in keeping with a farmhouse rather than a railway terminus”! It was replaced in 1936 by a modern art deco style building.

The steady decline in holiday traffic, resulting from increased car ownership in the 1960s, led to a gradual run down of services and the branch line and junction station closed on 7th of  March 1966, despite still handling considerable traffic. After the removal of passenger services, the signal-box was closed and the line was singled from 11th of  June 1967 . All the track on the down side was recovered. Lines on the up side were retained to serve the Express Dairies creamery and these connected to the single line at the Exeter end.

Most branch line trains terminated at the junction station, though some did run through to Exeter and there were, of course, through coaches to and from Waterloo attached to and detached from the branch train.

On the 28th August 1970, the Seaton & District Electric Tramway Company opened a 2’9″ gauge line to Bobsworth Bridge, offering a scenic ride alongside the Axe estuary. Seven months later , the line was extended to the level crossing at Colyford and overhead power was used in 1973. In 1975, the line was extended at Seaton to the Harbour Rd car park. The line as it is today – ie as far north as Colyton, was opened on the 8th of March 1980.

Seaton Tramway

What is Seaton Tramway and where does it run? A narrow gauge electric tramway, running for three miles between Seaton, Colyford and Colyton in East Devon’s glorious Axe Valley. The journey takes 25 minutes from end to end. Open toppers or enclosed saloons operate according to the weather conditions. The track runs adjacent to the River Axe, noted for birds such as Heron, Kingfisher, Egret, Lapwing, Canada Goose and Oystercatcher, to name just a few!

How did the Tramway get started? The late Claude Lane’s portable 15″ gauge system of 1949 evolved into the 2′ gauge Eastbourne Tramway (1954 – 1969). In 1970 the company moved to Seaton and opened the first section of a new 2’9″ gauge line, laid on the route of the former Southern Railway branch railway, which ran from Seaton to Seaton Junction between 1868 and 1966. Most of the fleet is purpose built to traditional designs but there are also three originals, specially restored and adapted for use at Seaton.

What scale is the Seaton Tramway, compared to the trams that ran in towns and cities? The Seaton Trams are 1/2 – 2/3 scale, depending on which one you compare. The Eastbourne Tramway was 2ft gauge, which is why the open toppers look smaller than the single deckers, which were built or rebuilt here at Seaton, where we run on 2ft 9 inch gauge. The old town and city tramways were either 3’6″ or 4’81/2“, which is standard gauge (i.e. the same as main line railways).

How do the trams get their power? The trams draw power from the overhead cable, which is carrying a supply of 110 volts. The driver operates the tram with the power controller (the handle in the driver’s left hand); as he moves the controller handle round, this takes resistance out of the electrical circuit, which increase the flow of electrical current to the traction motors, which are mounted on the wheel sets underneath. The motors in turn are turning gears mounted on the axles, which then turn the wheels. The people sitting upstairs cannot get an electric shock, even if they are silly enough to try and touch the wire! This is because the wire is positively charged, whilst the track acts as the negative. Therefore, to get a shock, you would have to touch the wire and the track at the same time!

Why aren’t there more tramways in Britain? Between 1900 and the 1930, the supremacy was challenged firstly by the rise of the motor bus, and then by the explosion in private car ownership. When the time came to renew tramway systems, many local authorities changed to buses, rather than incur the expense of renewing track, overhead wire and the purchase of newer, more comfortable trams. With this attitude, the tram came to be seen as old fashioned, whereas buses were seen as ultra modern whilst being cheap to run. Apart from Blackpool, which is the only original tramway system to have survived, the last major British tramway to close was Glasgow in 1962.

Are trams ever likely to make a comeback in Britain? They already are! Brand new systems are already operating in Manchester, Sheffield and Birmingham/Wolverhampton, and trams have returned to the streets of Croydon. In the decades since the old trams were scrapped, petrol and diesel engines have been identified as a major source of environmental pollution, and most governments are looking for ways of getting people to use cleaner and more sustainable forms of transport. Modern trams are being seen as a way of achieving this, although they do cost millions of pounds to install from scratch. Perhaps Britain should have followed the idea of many other European countries; instead of scrapping their tramways, they have gradually modernised them over many years, without the need to invest a huge one-off lump sum simply to build from scratch. Although modern trams look hugely different to the trams of old, the principles are much the same, and so it is that a previously forgotten mode of transport is now making a remarkable comeback.

(Information courtesy of Seaton Tramway)

Thanks to Les Berry for providing some of the photos and to Peter Richards of www.semgonline.com for some infomation and photos. Some information was also sourced from Colin G. Maggs “Devonshire Railways” with thanks.

Rick Wood.

Peter Lea-Cox studied at the Royal Academy of Music in the 60‘s, and then got a teaching job at Oundle School in Northampton for five years, as an assistant music master. From 1973 to 1986 he was on the staff of the Royal Academy of Music where he taught choral conducting, sight-singing, harmony and other subjects.  From 1973 to 1986, he was Director of Music at St. Jude-on-the-Hill Church in Hampstead Garden Suburb in London.  He also served as organist at St. Mary-at-Hill Church in the City of London during that period.

During the second phase at the Academy, he  met his lovely wife Gilly, who needed extra tuition out of hours! Gilly is a soprano and a piano teacher who studied (with extra tuition !) at the Royal Academy of Music.  She is also an accomplished potter and cake decorator – and of course, a lover of all things to do with cows.

Founder and director of the Lecosaldi Ensemble, a London-based professional singers and instrumentalists, Peter is also an international organ recitalist, composer and choirmaster.  (Lecosaldi is the name Peter Lea-Cox uses when composing in 18th century baroque style.)   He has given organ recitals at Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s Cathedral and Washington’s National Cathedral.

He has conducted the London-based Camden Chamber Choir for more than twenty years.  This excellent amateur choir of 25 singers gives concerts at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Primrose Hill, London NW3.  “Peter Lea-Cox at 65″ was the theme of a birthday concert by the Camden Chamber Choir on June 19, 2010 -  yes, you can now work out his age! The programme featured music composed by Peter – both as Lecosaldi (in 18th century style) and as Lea-Cox (in 20th century style).  Many singers and instrumentalists who have worked with Peter through the years returned to perform in this gala event.

For more than twenty years he served at the Lutheran Church of St. Anne & St. Agnes in the City of London, where he developed an extensive program of music and worship. With the Lecosaldi Ensemble, Peter completed performances of all 215 cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach mostly in the renowned Bach Vespers series at St. Anne and St. Agnes.

He has also been an examiner for the Associated Board of Music for twenty three years. Peter says:  “ I can be extremely boring on subjects such as music, gardening and the weather, ( I can see you all nodding in agreement!) and just love being at home getting stimulus from all these topics -I have a wonderful wife and have lived in the fabulous environment of Leigh Cottage in Umborne since 1993”. Leigh Cottage is a thatched cottage built in 1560 and it has a Priest Hole. The attached chapel had been built in 1893 by a priest living in the cottage and, when he died in 1912, it began to be used for services. Local farmers can still remember attending harvest festivals in the small chapel, whilst some were even baptised there.

Grid reference:      SY 24060  97381
Latitude:            50.771025
Longitude:          -3.0782970
Nearest Postcode:   EX13 7QP

King John’s Oak is the largest and probably the oldest oak tree in the West Country. It stands in private grounds (owned and managed by the Bird family) in an old deer park, called Woodend Park.

King John’s Oak (King John b1166 – d1216 – reigned from 1199 to 1216) is over 10m (10.2) in girth and could date back to the 12th century monarch, although no connection has been proved.

Our recent girth measurement  was 10.4m  = 34.12ft or 409 inches – making it, according to tree expert from Gloucester, Mark Frith, the 15th largest oak in Britain, larger girth-wise than the Major Oak in Sherwood Forest. This would also make it the 15th oldest oak tree in the UK. Mark is attempting to record, in the form of his superb drawn sketches, the 20 oldest recorded ancient oaks of the UK. One day, he says, his sketch of King John’s Oak will appear on this website. We really look forward to that event.

How to calculate the age of a tree:

1. Measure up 1.3 metres from base of tree (usually chest height on an adult). If there are ‘Lumps & Bumps’ at this height, adjust to just above or below, whichever is narrowest or easiest to do, but you must go no lower than 0.5 metres above the base. Measure the girth (circumference) in metres, to the nearest 10cm.
2. Convert the girth measurement to centimetres (multiply by 100) and then
divide this value by 1.25 if the tree is in woodland :

1020 (official)  Divided by  1.25 = 816 years old =1195 – the time of King John !

The Story of Shute – M F Bridie

“One of the ancient trees is marked on early maps as “King John’s Oak”. Tradition has it that the acorn was planted by the King when hunting. He had been created Earl of Cornwall at an early age, and the manor of Axminster had been held by him till 1204. So it is just conceivable that he may have passed this way on some unrecorded journey, before the days of modern publicity and tarried awhile for a day’s sport.
Be that as it may, in the Shute grounds too, several very ancient oaks rear their majestic heads; they have been well planted and wisely spaced so that their growth has been unrestricted
The deer park would be an added attraction for hunting in the days when sports were few. At the present time the Park extends to a mere 120 acres, but is reputed to have been formerly a Royal Deer Park of vast extent dating back from an early period in the Norman dynasty. As a Royal Deer Park one of the stipulations was that at least 40 head of deer should always be preserved, presumably ready in case the King wished to do any deer stalking. Now the enormous trees rear their aged heads proudly on the slopes of the hills. Tradition says that in ancient days a “Druid’s Circle”, scene of pagan rites, stood on the summit of the central hill. There is no trace of stones, but the few remaining oaks, in the form of a rough circle, may have grown from an ancient oak grove.”

Strife of the Roses and days of the Tudors in the west – W H Hamilton Rogers

“Among the glade of venerable oaks, huge gnarled and twisted, is a veteran with a regal appellative, surnamed of Lackland ( King John )- with which monarch, tradition delivers it, was in existence contemporary. And who is to say the legend is not correct, especially as every lineage of this aged grandee of the forest’s appearance goes to confirm it.”

King John  – a brief history:

(born 24th December 1166)

King of England 1199 to 1216 – 17 years

John, the youngest of five sons of King Henry II of England and Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, was at first not expected to inherit significant lands. Following the failed rebellion of his elder brothers between 1173 and 1174, however, John became Henry’s favourite child. He was appointed the Lord of Ireland in 1177 and given lands in England and on the continent. John’s elder brothers William, Henry and Geoffrey died young.  By the time Richard I became king in 1189, John was a potential heir to the throne. John unsuccessfully attempted a rebellion against Richard’s royal administrators whilst his brother was participating in the Third Crusade. Despite this, after Richard died in 1199, John was proclaimed king of England.
In 1214, John faced a rebellion by many of his barons, who were unhappy with his fiscal policies and his treatment of many of England’s most powerful nobles. Although both John and the barons agreed to the Magna Carta peace treaty in 1215, neither side complied with its conditions. Civil war broke out shortly afterwards, with the barons aided by Louis of France. It soon descended into a stalemate. John died of dysentery contracted whilst on campaign in eastern England on 18th October 1216; supporters of his son Henry III went on to achieve victory over Louis and the rebel barons the following year.

English oak or Pedunculate oak (Quercus robur)

Quercus robur is distinguished by its leaves having only a very short stalk 3–8 mm long, and by its pedunculate (stalked) acorns. It is a long-lived tree, with a large wide-spreading crown of rugged branches. While it may naturally live to an age of a few centuries, many of the oldest trees are pollarded or coppiced, both pruning techniques that extend the tree’s potential lifespan, if not its health.
Within its native range, it is valued for its importance to insects and other wildlife. Numerous insects live on the leaves, buds, and in the acorns. It supports the highest biodiversity of insect herbivores of any British plant. The acorns form a valuable food resource for several small mammals and some birds such as jays which were overwhelmingly the primary propagators of oaks before humans began planting them commercially, because of their habit of taking acorns from the umbra of its parent tree and burying it, undamaged, elsewhere.

Oak was the sacred wood burnt by the druids for their mid-summer sacrifice. In fact the word ‘druid’ means ‘oak man’.

Woodend Park (the old Shute Deer Park), is the oldest extant park in Devon – dating back possibly to the 12th Century. The Park is famous for its ancient oaks (more than 100)  (Lord Arundel’s Oak may still have a small remant but Chaselands Oak is no longer) as well as its epiphytic lichens and deadwood beetles.

The fungus on King John’s Oak has been identified by Alan Lucas as

Phellinus wahbergii

which is only found on 4 other oak trees in England – two at Langley Park (Buckinghamshire), one in New Forest and one at Staverton Thicks (Suffolk). The only other place in ‘Europe’ that it has been recorded is the Canary Islands. It is known in the tropics. So it is an outstanding rarity and one where southern England is the European epicentre.

On another large oak in the wood is another rare lichen Lobaria virens:

September 2011: Jill Butler (Woodland Trust), Alan Lucas (fungus expert), Keith Alexander (beetle expert) looking at King John’s Oak:

George Ashe (1879-1961) retired to Colyton and recorded beetles in Woodend Park from 1939-58. Amongst the many rarities he found were:

Stenichnus godarti (RDB3),

Ptenidium gressneri (NS),

Quedius scitus NS),

Abraeus granulum (NS),

Aulonothroscus brevicollis (RDB3),

Ptinus subpilosus (NS),

Pseudocistela ceramboides (NS)

& Ischnomera sanguinicollis (NS).

His list demonstrated that this parkland is of national importance to nature conservation for its beetles. Most have a requirement for ancient hollowing oaks, so I don’t doubt that these species are still there. They are just difficult to find. He took nearly 20 years to build up the list!

All photos courtesy of either Angela Pearce, Ann Shepherd, Phil Wilson or Rick Wood

Once a year in June or July, the Bird family have very kindly agreed to allow us to take a group of interested people up to the oak and then have a picnic at the top of the hill near Druids Circle. We are extremely grateful to them for their generosity. For the rest of the year, please respect the fact that this is private land. Thank you.

There is also a fine oak tree in the grounds of Shute House by the footpath which runs through the estate. It is  Turkey Oak (Quercus cerris) thought to be over 260 years old and the biggest of its type in the country with a girth of 21ft and spread of about 120 ft. Elisabeth Miller who lives a mere minute’s walk away, says it is an outstanding specimen, perfectly proportioned and with a trunk characterised by a series of cathedral-like buttresses.

Rick.

Kimmo and Neville will be cooking their usual superb barbecue food for you to purchase and there will be a bar selling Brannoc, local cider, plus wine and soft drinks.  Hot drinks will also be served along with a very tasty selection of locally made cakes.

Even if the weather is not too kind to us, the event will still go ahead as we can now use the facilties of our new hall. So please come along and support us – bring all your friends and family and join in this very sociable and friendly event. If you are not local and are not sure how to find the hall, put EX13 7QL into your sat nav !

A 1941 Baler and stooks on John Broome’s fields – July 2011

Saturday  19th March  7.30pm – Theme Night in the Hall – the first one in the new hall and the theme is P for Party – come dressed as something beginning with P – Pilot, Person (!), Pirate, Painter etc.

Wednesday 13th April 2-4.30pm Police Cross Country (Nationals) Beer & Branscombe -

15 marshals needed again and the sum of £500 could be ours for the hall funds.

Saturday 14th May 7.30pm Race Night at the Hall – bet on your dead certs!

Saturday 11th June 6.00pm – Umborne Ug run / walk followed by Barbecue at the hall

Please note change of date and time. Marshals needed please.

Saturday 2nd July  2.00pm – Steam-up Miniature steam train rides and cream teas and much more at the Goslings estate – Penventon in Shute.

Wednesday 4th September 3.00pm  Duck Dash & Raft Races This year for the first time, these duck races and the amazing home made miniature raft races will be held on the stream by the new hall. BBQ and lots of fun.

Autumn Supper Saturday October 22nd 7.30pm Tickets cost £8 for adults and £5 for the under 12′s – raffle, table quiz and a real banquet!

Children’s Christmas Party Saturday December 3rd at 3.00pm – free festive party for all the children in the valley – by invite only.

New Year’s Eve Party Saturday 31st December 8.00pm This is the first time we have tried this event in the hall – bring your own food, drink and dishes etc. – disco / fun / party/ fireworks – theme (fancy dress) “Around the world”

Saturday 8th January at 7.30pm.

This is a bring and share supper – please bring a plate of finger food – either sweet or savoury.

There is a bar and a raffle so please come loaded with money!

We also have a table quiz for groups of up to 4 people on the events of the year 2010. Liz also produces her picture quiz on people, places and flora and fauna – plus we will have a few other fun events for all.

At the time of writing (Boxing Day 10am) 93 of the 105 places have been booked so please email us ( rickandeleanor@tiscali.co.uk) or phone 01404 831521 if you would like to attend. There will be a reserve list of people in case anyone drops out nearer the time.