Darting Around South Devon
6 April 2025
ABOVE: Tally Ho! 6 (YX16 OFE) climbs Fore Street in Kingsbridge, heading for Totnes on route 164 from Salcombe. All photos in this article were taken on Saturday 4 May 2024.
I have arrived at a town in South Devon that is said to have more listed buildings (structures of architectural or historical significance) per head than any other town. This is Totnes, at the head of the estuary of the River Dart, with a verified history dating back to 907 AD. It was already an important market town by the 12th Century, and features strongly in myth and legend. "The coast of Totnes" is where Brutus of Troy, the mythical founder of Britain, first came ashore.
Totnes isn't actually on the coast; the nearest point is five miles to the east, in Paignton. But the River Dart looks delightful in the warm spring sunshine, especially from the Grade II*-listed Totnes Bridge. Built in 1828, it is said that you can see the foundations of the original bridge at low tide.
ABOVE: A view from Totnes Bridge, looking south
The East Gate Arch and clock tower are situated on the High Street. East Gate formed part of the town's defences. The medieval walls of the town date back to the late 14th Century. The room above the arch was considered to be part of the adjacent inn, and during the English Civil War, the inn served as a billet for soldiers of King Charles I.
East Gate was altered and refronted in Gothic style in the 19th Century, when its "needle’s eye", a narrow pedestrian-access arch, was merged into the main arch. The clock, with two faces on opposite sides, was added in 1880.
ABOVE: The East Gate Arch and Clock Tower in Totnes High Street
A fascinating town, but you're here for the buses - as am I.
The High Street is probably a bit tight for buses (although I have seen them in tighter spots!), so Coronation Road, to the east before the river, is the focal point for the various bus services, including the trunk "Gold" service from Plymouth to Paignton. Operated by Stagecoach South West, this runs every 40-45 minutes on weekdays, every 35 minutes on Saturdays and every 60-75 minutes on Sundays, producing a memorable timetable (not)! I will try it one day, as a friend has told me it's well worth doing.
But not today. Today, I'm on a local jaunt which starts with service 164. This is operated by local independent operator Tally Ho!, a coach company based in Kingsbridge, which happens to be where I'm heading now. (The exclamation mark appears in lots of places, but not on the buses themselves, so I'm not sure whether it's right to include it or not!)
There's a Tally Ho! vehicle on the stand, in a smart dark blue livery. The stand is a little way ahead of the bus stop itself, and I'm keeping a close eye on this vehicle as it seems likely that it will form my 1000 departure.
ABOVE: Country Bus 337 (YK15 AOG), an Optare Solo SR, stands in Coronation Road in Totnes. I have taken this photo from the bus stop, where a Tally Ho vehicle can just be seen on the front of the stand.
Just before 1000, a driver boards the bus on the stand and it becomes the 164. There are three of us boarding here, but I hope no-one was waiting at the actual stop which is about 30 yards back up the road.
Like so many single-deckers, this is an ADL Enviro200. By accident or design, the driver's cab door is missing.
We come to the railway station approach, a narrow strip of land alongside the Penzance-bound platform that doubles as the station car park (more on this later). There are signs from the car park pointing to bus stops on the bridge across the railway, but many buses seem to come onto the station forecourt anyway. It's worth doing so in this case as we double our passenger count.
The 164 is a straight-forward drive through the Devon countryside, through a number of hamlets as well as the village of Halwell. Halwell was one of the four burhs (fortified settlements) established in Devon by King Alfred the Great. According to the 10th Century document the Burghal Hidage, Halwell's town wall was 1,237 feet long, and its garrison consisted of 300 men who could be drawn from the surrounding district in the event of an invasion.
My destination is Kingsbridge, although the 164 (getting much busier now) continues further south to the town of Salcombe (I should have gone as well)!
We reach the Bus Station at 1045, although there is a small delay in accessing the stand when two dogs, heading in opposite directions, meet on the zebra crossing at the entrance and both they, and their owners, decide to have a little natter right there!
ABOVE: Tally Ho! 18 (YX16 OFC, left), an ADL Enviro200, stands in Kingsbridge Bus Station. On the right is Stagecoach South West 37140 (YY14 WGW), another ADL Enviro200. Having arrived as service 93 from Dartmouth, it will now become service 3 to Plymouth.
Kingsbridge is a market town within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town is at the north end of the six-mile long Kingsbridge Estuary, which extends to the sea south of Salcombe.
ABOVE: A view looking south from the Promenade at Kingsbridge, at the very beginning of the Kingsbridge Estuary.
The town was formed around a bridge, built in or before the 10th century, between the royal estates of Alvington, to the west, and Chillington, to the east, hence the name developing into Kingsbridge.
From here, I'm taking Stagecoach South West route 93 to Dartmouth. The bus comes in, from Plymouth, as route 3, and changes into a 93.
ABOVE: Stagecoach South West 37138 (YY14 WGU), an ADL Enviro200, arrives at Kingsbridge, still dressed as a route 3 service terminating here. It will form the 93 service to Dartmouth.
Route 93 is something of a J-shape. We start with a brief south-easterly run through the suburb of New Bridge, crossing the Bowcombe Creek Bridge. The Bowcombe Creek is a creek of the Kingsbridge Estuary; the two come together a mile south of Kingsbridge. The Bowcombe Creek Bridge, built in 1826, is the only crossing over this stretch of water, so you need to know which side of the estuary you want to be on - it's a long way round if you end up on the wrong side!
After New Bridge, we turn east to head through a succession of small villages. We're north of the coast by three miles or so, although we do stumble across yet another tributary from the Kingsbridge Estuary at Frogmore village, in the form of the Frogmore Creek. The origin of the place name Frogmore is from the Old English words frogga and mere, meaning "pool frequented by frogs".
After Chillington, the easterly road veers south-east to reach Torcross. The village stands at the southern end of Slapton Sands, a narrow strip of land and shingle beach which separates the freshwater lake of Slapton Ley from Start Bay on the coast. It has been that south-easterly twist that has made Torcross the furthest point south that I will visit on any of my travels in 2024.
We now turn sharply to the north, along Slapton Sands itself. It leads to the unusual experience of having water on both sides of the bus. (There's nowhere else to go - if this road ever needed to be closed for any reason, the diversion would be extensive!)
ABOVE: Looking east from Slapton Sands, to Start Bay
We're sticking close to the coast for now, as the bus approaches Blackpool (no, not that one)! This is one of three hamlets in Devon to carry the name Blackpool (the others being near Plymouth and Newton Abbot). Near this particular hamlet is Blackpool Sands, where the 93 now brings us. In 1404, the Battle of Blackpool Sands was the result of an attempted French raid on the port of Dartmouth. Local forces defeated the raiders, taking a number of prisoners and killing the French commander, William du Chastel.
This is a fascinating story. It is suggested that du Chastel had assembled a fleet of 300 ships at St. Malo in Brittany to make the attack. But discipline was poor, and parts of the fleet broke away, leaving du Chastel to sail on towards his target of Dartmouth with reduced forces. On arriving off Blackpool Sands, he reportedly dropped anchor and waited for six days to allow his fleet to reassemble.
The period of waiting forced on the French fleet allowed John Hawley, a local merchant, privateer and former Mayor of Dartmouth, to organise the defence of the town. When the (by now) far-depleted forces attacked, the locals were more than ready for them. One hundred prisoners were taken, including three lords and 22 knights.
(Information, via Wikipedia, from "Defending the Island" by Norman Longmate, 1990.)
ABOVE: Peaceful now - Blackpool Sands, Devon
The bus clings to within a mile of the coastline as the sea becomes the River Dart once again. We arrive into Dartmouth at 1215, on time and exactly one hour after leaving Kingsbridge.
ABOVE: 37138 again, setting down in the North Embankment in Dartmouth, at the end of the run from Plymouth / Kingsbridge. The River is just out of sight to the right.
The wide and stunning presence of the River Dart resulted in Dartmouth growing as a port of strategic importance for sailing vessels. The port was used as the sailing point for the Crusades of 1147 and 1190, and Warfleet Creek, close to Dartmouth Castle, is supposed by some to be named because of the vast fleets which assembled there.
Thomas Newcomen (1664–1729), the inventor of the atmospheric engine – the first successful steam-powered pumping engine - was born in Dartmouth. An 18th-century working Newcomen steam engine is on display in the town.
Today, tourism is key for the town, with its population of around 5,000 being significantly swelled with visitors each year. Even on this early May Saturday lunchtime, the place is heaving.
ABOVE: Looking north along the River Dart.
Across the water is Kingswear, from where the Dartmouth Steam Railway (on former British Rail tracks) starts on its run to Paignton. I was in Kingswear a couple of days before this trip, and I'll come back to that in a future article. A ferry allows an easy crossing of the Dart to and from Kingswear. Without it, one would need to go to Totnes to get across to the other side - a trip of at least 25 miles by road.
On the bank of the river, you can spot Dartmouth's "railway station" building. While there has never been a railway line at the site, it was possible to book through tickets on the railway, using the ferry to get over to Kingswear station. The office was therefore classified as a "railway station" for ticketing purposes.
ABOVE: Kingswear, on the far side of the River Dart, can be seen at the back of this view, with the "railway station" building, on this side of the river, on the right. The seemingly-enclosed water in the foreground is Dartmouth Harbour - exit to the river is presumably via the small opening in the left centre of the picture. Incidentally, large parts of the pavements around the Harbour do not have fencing. Elf and Safety don't seem to have been here!
I had been planning to stop here for an hour or two, but there's a double-decker standing in for a single-decker on my next planned route - the 92 back to Totnes - so I'm jumping on that for the chance of a top-deck ride. My stay in Dartmouth has been all of 10 minutes!
The 92 is another Stagecoach South West service, operated in this instance by an ADL Enviro400 (with a Scania engine). The 92 runs hourly end-to-end, with extras between Dartmouth and the out-of-town Park-and-Ride facility.
This is a real country service. The views just after the Norton Park Holiday Village are typical:
We come to Harbertonford, which brings us back to the 164 route from earlier on. We will stay with the 164 now back to Totnes. Here in Harbertonford, which may take longer to say than it does to travel through, St Peter's Church catches my eye:
ABOVE: St Peter's Church in Harbertonford. Note also the stone-built bus shelter.
We're soon back in Totnes, where the 92 follows many of the other routes by calling in on Totnes Station. Here, a tourist coach has decided to park up and unload right at the Bus Stop. Because it has parked on the offside, its passengers are disgourging into the roadway rather than onto the pavement side. Chaos has ensued...
ABOVE: Totnes Station, where a coach is causing some chaos as it unloads its passengers intot he roadway. Tally Ho 18, the one I travelled on earlier in the day, is now working the 1300 service from Totnes to Salcombe. We have to get past the 164, past the coach and down to roughly the building in the centre behind the coach, before making a U-turn and reversing our steps back to the main road. It's going to take a while! Just visible on the left is a GWR Intercity Express Train. The conductor is standing on the platform, suggesting a delay to the service - certainly the train was still there when we got out of the station approach a few minutes later...
The last leg of the journey takes the 92 back into the Town Centre.
ABOVE: In Station Road, Totnes, we meet Country Bus 221 (MX12 DZD), an ADL Enviro200 on route 88 (Totnes to Newton Abbot).
The bus arrives at its terminus in Coronation Road at 1315, eight minutes late, with most of the time probably lost at the station. By the time I get to the roadside to photograph the vehicle, it is loading up to continue as a route 7 service to Exeter.
ABOVE: Stagecoach South West 15897 (WA13 GEK), a Scania N230UD ADL Enviro400, loading up in Coronation Road, Totnes, for a journey on route 7 into Exeter.
And so my little round trip has ended. I estimate that I have covered 40 miles or so, and it's taken about three-and-a-quarter hours to complete the circuit. I have a little time to find some lunch now and explore Totnes.
I'll leave you with a photo of Totnes Castle. The castle was built 900 years ago during the Norman Conquest, almost certainly by one of William the Conqueror's commanders, Juhel. The castle takes the form of a ‘motte-and-bailey’, with a high man-made mound, or motte, now capped with a stone shell-keep, overlooking an enclosed courtyard, or bailey.
ABOVE: Totnes Castle
Many of the places I have visited on this jaunt have stories of war attached to them, or of strong defences to stop invaders moving in under the shadow of the sea. That's because the coastline here, and the estuary of the River Dart, are both so extensive. It's a stunning part of the world, of course, which is probably why everybody wanted a piece of it...
BELOW: An approximation of the journey described in this article
