self catering cottages and fishing in Devon: The Perfect Holiday Now & Way Back Then!

Come to Devon

Back in the mid thirties this great thick tome was produced, titled The Come to Devon Guide it had some 400 pages or so packed with information, photographs, maps and everything else that may help a holidaymaker ....price 6d (92p in today's money). Eileen Egbeare, former mayor of Ashburton, amateur historian and preserver of Devon dialect and traditions discovered this little gem.

With no date visible on the book cover one can only assume from the pictorial and editorial content that it must have been the 1935 edition, described as 'the organ of the Come to Devon Association'. No doubt the ancestor of the present day Tourist Boards, at a time when every city, town and holiday village in the county combined to advertise their charms together.

Babbacombe was doing a UDI in those days and had its own page, inviting visitors to stand on the Downs 'and inhale to the full, the invigorating air blowing uninterrupted from the Channel'.
Torquay's list of attractions included the medical, electrical and Turkish baths with their famous sun lounge, fitted with Vita glass and complete with modern apparatus for violet ray treatment. The finest in England, it claimed.

Those were the great days of the railways. The Torbay Limited Express left Paddington at noon each weekday and did the 200-mile trip in 210 minutes. Monthly return tickets cost a penny a mile third class, with an extra half penny a mile first class.

The great Bernard Darwin reviewed the golf courses and said the view from Little Haldon — now called Teignmouth — compared with the view from Mont Agel behind Monte Carlo. There was a list of all the hunts in Devon — 13 Fox, nine Harriers, three Otter, three Foot Beagles and one Stag — with the days when they met.

Helpful tips for sun bathers who were advised to stop their ears with cotton wool coated with cold cream. Not every day was hot and sunny, even then. Another chapter advised: “If you get blue after bathing or suffer from lassitude, consult your doctor.”

The Come to Devon Association had its office in Cathedral Yard, Exeter, and offered to book accommodation for visitors at any hotel, boarding house, farm or camping site, 12 pages of them, without charge.

Well 70 years on and the Steam Railway still exists but has long ceased to ferry passengers from Paddington, sticking to the coastal tracks in and around the bay - but a great day out nonetheless. Great days to be has on the beach and not always crowded as the picture belows depicts taken only three weeks ago at Goodrington Sands - though I'm not sure I'll be stuffing my ears with cold cream and cotton wool.

For great views just two miles out of the bay at Newbarn Farm, a great self-catering cottage & fishing location, at the top of our Top Field there is a truly spectacular 180 degree panoramic view taken in far reaching Dartmoor, extending right around to the heights of Wellswood in Torquay to the blue waters of the bay. And right down in the valley before you the wonderful Fishing in Devon angling lakes sit. So no need to travel the 8 miles to Old Haldon (Teignmouth) for dramatic views!

And some of the enchanting images below - all taken on site at Newbarn Farm have certainly stood the test of time! They would in fact make great book covers - now what about a title?

A Tranquil & Peaceful Haven