Lympstone
Mention Lympstone to anyone, and they automatically think of the Commando Training Centre for the Royal Marines – but this small, attractive village on the River Exe is worth a butchers if you fancy a change of scenery on the journey between Exeter and Exmouth.
If you’re travelling by car it’s just a short detour off of the A376, but you can also travel by train using the single-track Avocet Line, which will give you the option of stopping in The Swan or The Globe for a drink and a bite to eat without worrying about the breathalyser.
The village is only small, and to be fair there isn’t an awful lot to do except wander around the back streets and along the foreshore, but that’s what some people like about it.
You probably won’t see any other tourists around, just a few locals going about their business, and you may be surprised to see washing lines on the foreshore where villagers hang their washing out to dry – all very different to Exmouth.
The only thing that really stands out is the red brick Peter’s Tower. This listed building, situated on The Strand, was built in 1885 by W.H. Peters, a wealthy Liverpool merchant, as a memorial to his wife’s “Kindness and sympathy for the poor of Lympstone”
It was built as a clock tower and as a refuge for fishermen. There are two clocks – one on the eastern side of the tower and one on the west to help the fishermen know the state of the tide.
If you really want to know what it’s like inside you can rent it out for a holiday let from the Landmark Trust. I should imagine that it’s a bit cramped inside, but the views must be worth having a cricked-neck for.
After you’ve ‘clocked’ Peter’s Tower and the washing lines, your eyes will probably be drawn to the red sandstone ‘Darling’s Rock’, and then as your eyes start to scan the river, you’ll start to realise how much birdlife there is here. The Exe is well known for its birdlife and I never tire of watching the avocets and other birds looking to see what tasty morsels the tide has brought in or left behind.
Just along the river is the Royal Marines Commando Training Centre where young men and women are trained as an elite fighting force to protect our way of life.
They’re trained to fight in hostile environments far removed from the peace and tranquility of Lympstone and the River Exe.
Late afternoon one cold winter’s day, I stood on the foreshore watching the sun go down over the estuary, and thinking that some of the best things in life are simple and free – but then I looked upriver towards the commando training centre and realised that nothing comes for free at all. It was time for the pub.
Originally posted 2019-02-01 08:18:16.
What a pretty place. The houses on the front remind me of some of the houses on the front here in Broughty Ferry. Like that they also had their washing lines across the road on the water but now the entire place has been flood defenced the lines are no more.
I can imagine. They used to hang their washing out on Glasgow Green too didn’t they?
Aye. And out the closies in the backies from the windows.
LOL. You’re trying to flummox me now, but I know where you’re coming from 🙂
Aye the closies were the tenemants and the wee sculleries had a pullley just outside the window with the line attached to a central pole. Prob highly dangerous.
They probably were, and it doesn’t seem that long ago when washing was hung across the terraced streets in some places.
LOl. our last house in Newport On Tay? It is still hung across a road. The green was all very tidy, nicely walled and stepped by the council when they had to buy some of the land owned by the residents of that terrace to widen the road in the late 70s. And also the previous of our house had legally ensured that that house had its own bit of the green with its own poles but stil across a road. till is and always was.
That’s interesting. It’s good to see that residents can still make their opinion count.
Beginning now to look around the Lympstone/Topsham area for a holiday cottage ! You could go into business – -where else could such useful information about these small English destinations be found
LOL There’s plenty more to come Barbara – if I ever get round to it of course
Thanks Sarah. I believe you’re off to Oman shortly which might be a bit different to Lympstone
Looks very picturesque and definitely worth the detour. I especially like the reflections in your photo of Darling’s Rock 🙂
Another place new to me and I like the look of it – but where is the Pub?
There are two pubs near the centre of the village – The Swan which probably most visitors use, and the Globe. I thought I’d used enough pictures already so I left a picture of The Swan out.
Thanks Malcolm – I was sure there must be at least one pub so two is a bonus !