The South Coast Chronicles in our Autosleeper Broadway EB

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Strolling Seaton

The walk from Manor Farm down to the seafront takes around 25 minutes, through old side streets lined by a mixture of Victorian and pre 1960’s detached and semi-detached housing. Gardens are well maintained, houses neatly decorated, displaying a level of care and pride in the neighbourhood. In some places elegant, old Victorian bungalows remind us of similar buildings in Shimla in the Himalayas, those colonial outposts with their distinctive ‘Britishness’.

With nearly four thousand homes in the parish, a third of them are single occupancy, mainly pensioners. Seaton is the classic seaside retirement town, a former fishing village turned popular Victorian seaside resort, now gently residing in the elegant afterglow of its former bustling times. But don’t be fooled, for it still has much to offer.

Our stroll along the old promenade with the shingle beach one side and a mixture of old Victorian housing interspersed with 1970’s apartment blocks that have seen better days to landward, is bracing. The chilly wind clears away brain cobwebs. Ahead lie the red coloured Triassic cliffs with their Branscombe mudstones. To the west, the cliffs of Beer Heights – white chalk streaked with grey ‘run-off stains. The growling rumble of shingle moving down a steep beach with the crashing sound of dumping waves and squawking seagulls is our accompanying soundscape.

Seaton is one of the gateway towns to the world-famous Jurassic Coastline and the coastal walking here is truly spectacular to say the least. But don’t start the walking until you have called in at the relatively new Jurassic Coast museum. Getting the knowledge before you walk makes the effort all the more worthwhile, for you actually understand better what it is you later see and tramp across.

Described as ‘the friendly place with a big heart’ on its website, the town continues to surprise. A tiny marina hidden between beach end and the cliffs opposite, at the mouth of the river Axe. The old Victorian Seaton Tramway, a three mile ride up the Axe valley past the nature reserves with their abundant wildlife to the old towns of Colyton and Colyford. Sublime, panoramic views. The other way, the Beer Heights light Railway, part of the Pecorama tourist attraction. If you like small steam trains, this is the place to visit. Sadly, closed during these COVID-19 times! And somewhere up the Axe valley, the oldest concrete bridge still in use in the UK. Most importantly for motorhomers, a very large Tesco’s and filling station, just behind the beach – a good place to stock up. Plenty of parking, even for motorhomes.

Seaton is worth a visit and you can find out more here: http://seatontouristinformation.co.uk/

A farming community 4000 years before the Romans arrived; the Saxons called the place ‘Fluta’, the Saxon word for creek. It became ‘Fleet’ in 1005 and supplied men and ships to Edward 1^st during his wars with Scotland and France. Fast forward a few centuries and it turned from small fishing village to Victorian seaside resort with the arrival of the LSWR (London and South Western) railway to Axminster. As is oft the case, the arrival of the railway signalled the death knell for traditional local industries – shipbuilding and local maritime commerce disappeared. No more 100 tonne luggers were seen in the tiny harbour.

About to set off in Bryony for Charmouth just along the coast, we discover a damp sheen lying across the rear and side panels of the bathroom cupboard, a tiny puddle of water collecting in one of the bottom retaining clips that holds the coffee table in place. Somewhere in the roof, we have a leak! We are devastated!

That evening, the sunset is again amazing, one of golden hues and silvery reflections from the small estuary and its eastern valley slopes. Our mattress topper, stored in the leaky wardrobe is spread out over one of the pull-out bedframes and dries over the top of the blown air ducts below. Tomorrow morning, we will contact the dealer and see what they suggest.

 

Stay safe, take care out there and have fun motorhoming.

Steve and Maggie.

If you would like to know more about who we are then visit these blog posts at 

https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2020/10/welcome-to-our-blog.html  and 

https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2020/11/who-are-main-characters-in-our-blog.html