102 Ugbrooke and Haldon Aerodrome

The scout set off on 17th June to follow a route he had last taken during the plague.

It took another ride on 17th July to complete this piece.

In June, after buying his lunch in the Chudleigh Co-op, he found Clifford Street closed on the edge of town and so wove his way around the back roads and emerged onto the old turnpike at Coburg Corner. He turned to follow the stub of the turnpike left after part of it was smothered by the dual carriageway and then climbed towards Gappah.

On both rides, he stopped at the corner where Lancelot “Capability” Brown’s carriage drive to Ugbrooke joins the public road.

Turning away from Gappah at the top of the climb, the scout rode towards the ridge. A kink marks the start of the 1773 diversion of the road north of Castle Dyke, which the then Lord Clifford, acting on the advice of Brown, was permitted to do so that it would not be seen from Ugbrooke.

The scout wondered whether carriage drives passing over or under public roads were meant to give the impression of a larger estate. He had passed beneath one at Tawstock in June.

Very near the rampart of Castle Dyke, an iron age hillfort, the scout stopped to take the views.

Haytor Rocks can be made out at centre, with the Bovey and Wray valleys to the right. +
What would those ancients who knew the hillfort have made of the modern landscape?
Hennock lies high on the far hill at left. +
St. Martin & St. Mary’s dominates the town. Between it and the buildings seen at the edge of the fields lies the A38 Chudleigh Bypass. At right of centre in the distance can be seen Canonteign House. +
On the approach to Biddlecombe Cross, there is another gate. It looks as if, formerly, the public road went down the hill from here towards Smoothway Lodge. The other end of the road which went south of Castle Dyke either joined here or on the hill.

In June, the scout had found the main gate open and had curiously ventured as far as the visitors’ car park hut, where a pleasant lady told him that for £19 he could join the 1230 house tour. The place is little advertised, if at all, and sees not a great many visitors. Encouraged by this, the scout promised the lady that he would return.

Just inside the gate, to the right, is Top Lake (once Higher Pond), created by damming the Ug Brook, or Ugbrooke Stream as it seems to be known as today, a tributary of the Teign. +
To the left of the drive is another pond, possibly a late C19th work. The road to Ideford can be seen beyond at centre. +

The scout climbed the hill again, passing the converted stable where the “retired” 14th baron, Thomas, now lives. The scout was relieved to find only 14 cars and just six people booked on the house tour. In the absence of bicycle parking, the lady in the hut promised to watch the scout’s Raleigh.

The south-southwest elevation of the house, seen from the chapel garden. +

The scout joined the 1230 house tour, with latecomers, still numbering fewer than a dozen. It wasn’t quite what he expected but it did have one astonishing moment, when the “secret” bookcase door was opened to reveal the family’s gallery pew in St. Cyprian’s Chapel, said to be the oldest Catholic parish church in the south west, where mass has been celebrated since 1673. The group was told, however, that currently there was no priest.

After the tour, most participants went to the Orangery for refreshment. Rather than queuing, the scout wandered into the gardens and then found himself on the lakeside walk.

The rear of the house which once would have been occupied by the 40 servants. +
Taken from the little island at the head of Middle Lake (once Middle Pond). It is reached by a footbridge behind the camera at left. +
The scout only saw six others in the grounds. This is the northern bank of the Middle Lake. +
Rather than disturb the ducks lazing on the grass, the scout climbed to the carriage drive from Smoothway Lodge. The west-northwest elevation was defaced by scaffolding. +
In a side creek lay this arch, possibly a folly. A half submerged fibreglass rowing boat lay beneath the camera.
The scout waited for the sun to come out but gave up and took this from the dam on Middle Lake. +

Here, Brown’s meandering carriage drive from Winstow joins the newer one from Smoothway Lodge. On the other side of the dam, where water cascades down to Lower Pond, is another drive leading towards Gappah.

However much he wanted a bite to eat, the scout had made up his mind on the stroll that £7.50 for a sandwich and £4.50 for a cup of coffee in a deserted café would not do for lunch.

After thanking the lady for minding his bicycle, the scout, gnawed by hunger, headed for Haldon.

He passed beneath the one-mile Ideford straight, a 1965 diversion of the A380, and then came upon Chudleigh Arch, the bridge which carried the old road.

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In June and July, the scout rode through Ideford and Luton and then climbed to the plateau of Little Haldon, lying at nearly 800 feet.

In June, he rode on to take the view of Teignmouth from the golf course clubhouse and from a picnic site just off the road, before returning to photograph the commemorative plaque near the former airfield.

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The plaque lies behind a car park on the other side of the road from the former airfield. +
One of five photographs taken in 1930: The Teignmouth road, the B3192, passes across the photograph. The airfield building can be seen at right, with a biplane standing nearby. “HALDON,” perhaps in whitewash, can be made out on the heather at centre left. There may have been more buildings when the Great Western service started in 1933.
The bunkers of Teignmouth Golf Course, seen at centre right, are much as they are today.

T.W.E. Roche recalled “Airborne Great Western” in his “More Great Westernry,” published in 1969.

Who could have guessed that a six-seater aircraft operating a niche service would develop into the domestic aviation business of today, competing with trains on many routes? In 2019, around two thirds of passengers chose to fly between London and Edinburgh. Thanks to an open access operator offering cheap rail fares, more than half now choose the train. But a huge number is lost to the rail network nationwide. Both industries receive huge subsidies but rail travel is much less damaging environmentally.

In June, the scout had eaten his lunch on Ideford Millennium Green, discovered on his previous ride. In July, he rode like a madman along the busy Haldon roads, including the hellish section of the A380, with motorists making a point of passing closely, to the top of Telegraph Hill, which lies at about 750 feet.

The scout rode on, passing the racecourse, to the filling station at the A38 summit. For £11 he bought four pints of lager and an assortment of greasy offerings, which, half an hour later, became a late lunch back at the station. He had ridden a paltry 25 miles.

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