Where I come from - NOT amateur radio

 

This is where I come from in South Devon. This unspoilt area is known as the South Hams.

South Hams in Devon - NOT amateur radio

My brother lives in the South Hams in Devon and plays golf at Thurlestone. This was the view from the 1st tee earlier today. I used to play here a long time ago!!  A very long time ago I remember having a birdie on the 1st hole. That must have been in the 1960s.

The South Hams Coast - NOT amateur radio

Many years ago, I bought this book of paintings. It is a wonderful collection and ideally suited to a local who is living away and has done for years. I have lived away from the South Hams of Devon for far more years than I lived there, yet I still feel that pull.

It is still available on Amazon.uk.

The South Hams - NOT amateur radio

As a child I grew up in a most beautiful area of England. This aerial view shows Slapton Ley.  

These sands were used as practice areas for the D-day landings in WW2. It was where the tragic disaster known as "Operation Tiger" took place. Hundreds of American servicemen were killed. For a long time this was hushed up.

Several times in recent storms the road on Slapton Line has been damaged. Eventually the sea will break through and the road will have to be on the other side of the Ley.  All my life the A379 road has run along the sands. What is my lifetime? Just a blink in history.

Favourite walk - NOT amateur radio

One of my favourite walks (when I was fit!) was along the coastal path from Hope Cove to Salcombe along the coastal path in South Devon. It remains very unspoilt and beautiful. I cannot imagine this has changed much since my father walked this way almost 100 years ago.

South Hams, Devon - NOT amateur radio

For at least 500 years my family has lived in the South Hams of Devon. We have probably lived hereabouts for thousands of years. At Bolt Tail is an Iron Age fort. It is humbling to think one of my ancestors may well have manned this thousands of years ago.

The South Hams - NOT amateur radio

I originate from the South Hams in Devon, a most beautiful part of England. The town in the centre is Kingsbridge (shown in the photo). It is a small market town at the head of an estuary.

South Devon Storm Damage - NOT amateur radio

As some may remember, I come from the South Hams, Devon.  In the recent bad weather a lot of damage has been caused along Start Bay. My niece sent me some links. In 50 years' time the coast will be very different, probably not in my lifetime, but almost certainly in the lives of my grandchildren.

https://www.facebook.com/forestandbeach/videos/1927135213995457/

See also https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/gallery/damage-a379-torcross-1295121

South Hams - NOT amateur radio

Until I went to university I was brought up in the South Hams of Devon where my family have been for centuries (definitely) and probably for millennia. I expect we were Stone Age farmers on Dartmoor thousands of years ago and we fished these waters long, long ago, probably when the coastline was quite different. The picture shows Bolt Tail  in the far distance from Thurlestone.

South Hams, Devon - NOT amateur radio

See www.southhamssociety.org .

If you like the natural beauty of the South Hams in South Devon, you may be interested in this link. In my view, parts of the South Hams are the best places on Earth. I come from there, so am slightly biased!

The South Hams and G5BY on 6m

A slight aside from ham radio, I just want to give a plug for the most beautiful part of England where I lived until leaving for university - the beautiful part of southernmost Devon known as the South Hams. Our family has lived here from at least 1428, the earliest date in our family history records when one of my ancestors owned one fee of land in the time of King Henry VI. You can understand why I still regard this as my spiritual home even though we enjoy living in East Anglia. We still make regular pilgrimages back to "the promised land" as my dear old dad called it. Indeed it is.

There is a new book of walks in this area called The South Hams Coast by Gerry Miles (see www.devonpaint.nl/ and also available from www.amazon.co.uk). The book is beautifully illustrated with coastal walks covering many of the high spots from where some great VHF DX has been worked. These include Bolberry Down from where G5BY worked the USA on 6m back in the 1940s when the band was briefly available. Today his QTH (see old picture) is "The Port Light Hotel" a delightful place to drink a pint or have a crab sandwich on a long sunny cliff top walk.