A Short Trip Aboard the Western Lady Ferry
Take a trip aboard Western Lady IV as she takes us from Brixham across Torbay to Torquay. She is one of two former Royal Navy Coastal Forces Fairmile B Rescue Motor Launches built during WWII that have provided the ferry service for many years. Together with her sister, Western Lady III, she retired from service at the end of the 2005 holiday season. Western Lady III can be seen passing in the opposite direction about halfway through the movie.
The Western Lady Ferry Service continues to operate in Torbay.
Western Lady III is now running out of Swanage, Dorset under the banner of 'Fairmile Classic Cruises' whilest Western Lady IV has passed into private ownership.
Brixham Western Lady VI Ferry In Rough Seas 26/10/2015
Western Lady VI Ferry heading across Torbay towards Berry Head in a stiff South Easterly breeze and rough seas, as viewed from above Brixham's Breakwater Beach on Monday 26th October 2015.
(Services HAD been suspended, for passenger safety/comfort reasons.)
Torquay Ferry
The Advocate reporter Libby Bingham interviews Torquay Ferry skipper Brian Osborne about the end of the service.
Brixham & Torquay 2009
Holiday in Devon 2009
The Fairmile sailing from Dartmouth UK to Slapton Sands, Torcross and Blackpool Sands.
With boat trips, ferry services, sightseeing cruises and excursions departing from Torquay, Brixham, Dartmouth, Dittisham and Totnes - Taking to the water is a must when visiting South Devon's beautiful bay home to the towns of Torquay and Brixham, or the South Hams picturesque port of Dartmouth or the medieval town of Totnes - so why not do it in style aboard the largest ship sailing in the area WW2 Heritage Ship 'Fairmile' or one of our other twelve vessels. Whether taking the ferry between Torquay or Brixham, jumping aboard the family friendly wildlife Seafari Cruise in search of dolphins, seals and natures wild little friends or of course visiting the home of the late Dame Agatha Christie at Greenway on a hill towering over the beautiful and serene River Dart by 1940's ship or vintage bus - services to Greenway House are available from Totnes, Dittisham and Dartmouth as frequent as every hour, Torquay and Brixham one service per day. If that wasn't enough why not have a go at fishing aboard one of our lucky catch boats. Finally a visit to the English Riviera wouldn't be the same without a cruise to Dartmouth our South Hams neighbour, the famous ancient naval riverside town - and what better way than by ship, landing you there for a few hours prior to returning. Our Dartmouth Ferry departs from Dartmouth at 2pm - History buffs will delight in taking part aboard the WW2 Grand Heritage Voyage or Premier Gold Cruise launched by HRH The Princess Royal which in addition to landing in Dartmouth (for those whom have joined from Torquay and Brixham) extends your trip for an afternoon sail to Slapton Sands, Torcross and Blackpool Sands where Exercise Tiger took place - the full scale rehearsal for the D'Day landings. Greenway Ferry and Pleasure Cruises offer a wide range of family boat trips which start in the English Riviera ports of Torquay (Princess Pier) and Brixham or the South Hams ports of Dartmouth, Totnes, Dittisham and Greenway. With thirteen vessels to choose from and being a Visit England award winning Quality Visitor Attraction and a member of Devon and the English Riviera Top Attractions you can relax in the knowledge that you will have a truly memorable experience for all the right reasons. So sit back, relax and enjoy a trip! You can even hire one of our boats, just for you! Music by Rick Clarke.
Exmouth to Torquay and Brixham August 2009
Kingswear Castle on 15 year lease from River Medway plus Fairmile + HMS Sutherland
The Fairmile in Dartmouth Harbour
The Fairmile saw service in World War II as a Rescue Motor Launch RML 497, and now offers Heritage Cruises departing from Torquay, Brixham and Dartmouth UK
The Fairmile - Movie file - Sep 11.wmv
National Historic Fleet vessel THE FAIRMILE was built in 1941. Although she never fired her guns in anger, she was involved in a commando raid on the Channel Isles following D-Day. After the Second World War, she entered into ferry service and after a very substantial refit om 2009, she now operates from Brixham and Torquay to Dartmouth and Greenway.
This mini-video shows her on the water in Torquay.
Read more about her history and see other pictures here:
Brixham Pirate Night 3
Video uploaded from my hTC mobile phone
Paignton Seafront And Harbour Devon
Paignton is a seaside town on the coast of Tor Bay in Devon, England. Together with Torquay and Brixham it forms the borough of Torbay which was created in 1998. The Torbay area is a holiday destination known as the English Riviera. Paignton's population in the United Kingdom Census of 2011 was 49,021. It has origins as a Celtic settlement and was first mentioned in 1086. It grew as a small fishing village and a new harbour was built in 1847. A railway line was opened to passengers in 1859 creating links to Torquay and London. As its population increased, it merged with the villages of Goodrington and Preston.
Paignton's economy relies extensively on tourism and the town is marketed as a location for family holidays. The main seafront area is dominated by Paignton Pier, a 780-foot (240m) long structure opened in 1879. It was designed by George Soudon Bridgman, the local architect who also designed the original Oldway Mansion. The Festival Theatre, opened in 1967, was once a seafront theatre capable of staging large summer shows. In 1999 it was converted into a multiscreen cinema. The Torbay Air Show, launched in 2016, is held over the Bay in front of Paignton Sands in early June annually. The Paignton Festival (formerly known as the Torbay Carnival) is over 100 years old and is held annually in late July. It features a Carnival Procession together with various entertainments and charity stalls on The Green. Regatta Week during early August is the peak holiday season. During this period there is a funfair on Paignton Green, along with a large fireworks display. Later in August is Children's Week, which includes a wide range of events and competitions. Paignton has a variety of holiday accommodation, complemented by numerous pubs, nightclubs and restaurants.
Tourist attractions include Paignton Zoo and the Dartmouth Steam Railway, which operates steam trains from Paignton to Kingswear, from where a ferry can be taken across the River Dart to Dartmouth. The line was sold in 1972 without cessation of services by British Rail in the aftermath of the cutbacks of the Beeching era in the 1960s, and is operated today as a heritage railway line. The 630 mile South West Coast Path National Trail runs along the coast.
Suttons Seeds, a supplier of seeds, bulbs and horticultural products, is based in Paignton. There are small industrial estates and superstores on the outskirts on Brixham Road.
Paignton beach and the nearby Preston Sands, which are continuous at low tide, are used for water sports including kite surfing and dinghy sailing. Both are sandy and gently shelving and have no strong currents, making them popular with families. Both have green spaces immediately to the landward. Paignton Green has a pirate-themed Adventure Golf course and the Paignton Geoplay Park, a children's play area, which has the area's geology as its theme, inspired by the UNESCO Global Geopark of which Paignton is a part. Immediately to the east of Paignton Harbour is Fairy Cove, which has no facilities, but features good exposures of the Torbay Breccia, a red sandstone with pieces of rock which washed into it when the area was a desert. Also within the former Urban District of Paignton lies Goodrington which has another popular beach backed by Young's Park, with its boating lake, and a large outdoor waterpark, Splashdown Quaywest. Beyond Goodrington are Waterside and Saltern Coves, which have no facilities and have difiicult access, followed by Broadsands, on the Brixham border. The reed beds found at Broadsands beach are a haunt of the rare cirl bunting. Hollicombe beach, situated at Paignton's northern boundary with Torquay, features a geological stratotype at its northern end, known as the Corbyn's Head Member Elberry Cove is used by jetski enthusiasts, while Saltern Cove is a Site of Special Scientific Interest due to its distinctive geology and its marine biology.
Intro Music:-
Cinematic (Sting) by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (
Artist:
Main Music:-
Hoedown by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (
Artist:
GWR Class 150/2 | Paignton To Torre | 26/10/17
In this video I travel from Paignton to Torre. I travel on a GWR service from Paignton to Cardiff Central formed of a class 150/2 and a class 153. This is a short journey and only calls at Torquay and Torre. If you enjoy please feel free to like, comment & subscribe for more. My Instagram: @vehiclehub.
Torbay Whats On on English Riviera TV
Welcome to the July edition of English Riviera TVs guide to some of the events happening in and around Torbay. For more info visit
Lower Ferry at Dartmouth, Devon
The Lower Ferry crosses the River Dart between Dartmouth and Kingswear
Kingswear to Dartmouth on the Ecgcumbe Belle
With M.V. Ocean Princess in the way
Stormy Seas at Castle Cove, Dartmouth (March 24th 2013)
The winter weather has brought with it stormy seas and sizeable waves.
Dartmouth Harbour Traffic Devon England UK Navy Fishing Ferries
March 2015
Seven Days In Summer - Cowes Week in 1975
Lovely documentary made by Movietone in 1975 about Cowes Week.
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Families told to evacuate ahead of floods but roads are icy death traps - 247 News
FAMILIES have been told by police and coastguard officials to evacuate their homes as Britain braces for intense flooding during the Storm Emma rampage - as the death toll rises to 16.A hazardous mix of melting snow, high tides and heavy rainfall prompted 15 alerts from Sunderland to Cornwall - with 51 areas facing flooding.In Beesands, a small coastal village in Devon, Coastguard, Fire and Police workers helped evacuate residents from their homes.And in a statement the emergency services later said: If you are willing and able to voluntarily leave then please do so.Please let us know that you are evacuating by calling 101 and updating Log 370.The Environment Agency also declared residents should take immediate action and also warned people in another 36 areas from Hartlepool to Poole in Dorset to be ready for problems.Treacherous driving conditions have also seen cops call on the help of the military in helping evacuate motorists from the roads.The combination of Storm Emma and the Beast from the East has paralysed the UK this week, causing commuter chaos and closing schools throughout the country.Floods caused by dangerous tides and thawing snow engulfed homes in Lizard and Porthallow in Cornwall.Coastal areas of Devon also suffered as huge waves and strong winds buffeted towns including Paignton.The new nightmare came as the brutal weather claimed more victims.Thursday alone had seen ten deaths, including a girl aged seven, on the coldest March day on record.A homeless man in Canterbury, Kent, was one of the four who died yesterday.The 40-year-old was discovered in his sleeping bag at the Catching Lives shelter, which took in several rough sleepers.Today, in East Grinstead, Sussex, firefighters had to go and rescue a group of people who walked across a frozen pond and became stuck.What we know so far: A 70-year-old man died after being rescued from cliffs in Torquay, Devon.A search was launched at Babbacombe after he failed to return home following heavy snow showers.He was located by rescuers and airlifted to Plymouth’s Derriford Hospital by coastguard helicopter.In Westgate-on-Sea, Kent, paramedics battled to save the life of a man who collapsed on a pavement.He had been spotted by an ambulance crew lying on the snow.In Haddington, East Lothian, a young man collapsed crossing a bridge.Locals rushed over to help and tried to resuscitated him but said he turned blue.Police and paramedics attended the scene and tried to help the man for around an hour.He was given oxygen in an ambulance and taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary but died later.Manchester police were also appealing for information on a teenager who vanished on Thursday morning after leaving a nightclub.More than 100 troops braved blizzards to ensure vital NHS staff got to hospitals.Soldiers, RAF air crew and Royal Marines were deployed across the country in all-terrain 4x4s to ferry staff to work and carry out visits in communities.Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson met troops
Isle of Purbeck, Corfe Castle, Swanage, Dorset England, ( 1 )
Corfe Castle, Isle of Purbeck, Dorset. I love this small Dorset village, and the Castle dating from the 11th Century. Every person that visits Dorset should not miss this traditional stone built village. It is beautiful. The name Corfe means a pass in Old English. Corfe Castle was built on a steep chalk hill created by two streams eroding the rock either side. The construction of the medieval castle means that little is known about previous activity on the hill. However, there are postholes belonging to a Saxon hall on the site. The dramatic ruins of Corfe Castle stand on a natural hill guarding the principal route through the Purbeck Hills. As you can see it guards the gap between the south of Purbeck, where Purbeck marble was once quarried, and the rest of England. Nothing could pass in or out without going past the Castle.
Corfe Castle is a fortification standing above the village of the same name in the English county of Dorset. Built by William the Conqueror, the castle dates back to the 11th century and commands a gap in the Purbeck Hills on the route between Wareham and Swanage. The first phase was one of the earliest castles in England to be built using stone when the majority were built with earth and timber. Corfe Castle underwent major structural changes in the 12th and 13th centuries. In 1572, Corfe Castle left the Crown's control when Elizabeth I sold it to Sir Christopher Hatton. Sir John Bankes bought the castle in 1635, and was the owner during the English Civil War. His wife, Lady Mary Bankes, led the defence of the castle when it was twice besieged by Parliamentarian forces. The first siege, in 1643, was unsuccessful, but by 1645 Corfe was one of the last remaining royalist strongholds in southern England and fell to a siege ending in an assault. In March that year Corfe Castle was demolished on Parliament's orders. Owned by the National Trust, the castle is open to the public and in 2010 received around 190,000 visitors. It is protected as a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. A castle was founded at Corfe near England's south coast soon after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. The royal forest of Purbeck, where William the Conqueror enjoyed hunting, was established in the area. Between 1066 and 1087 William established 36 castles such in England. Sitting as it does on a hill top, Corfe Castle is one of the classic images of a medieval castle, however despite popular imagination occupying the highest point in the landscape was not the typical position of a medieval castle. In England, a minority are located on hilltops while most are in valleys; many were near important transport routes such as river crossings.
Unusually for castles built in the 11th century, Corfe was partially constructed from stone indicating it was of particularly high status. A stone wall was built around the hill top, creating an inner ward or enclosure. There were two further enclosures: one to the west, and one that extended south ( the outer bailey ) in contrast to the inner bailey, these were surrounded by palisades made from timber. At the time the vast majority of castles in England were built using earth and timber, and it was not until the 12th century that many began to be rebuilt in stone. The Domesday Book records one castle in Dorset; the entry, which reads Of the manor of Kingston the King has one hide on which he built Wareham castle, is thought to refer to Corfe rather than the timber castle at Wareham. There are 48 castles directly mentioned in the Domesday Book, although not all those in existence at the time were recorded. Assuming that Corfe is the castle in question, it is one of four the Domesday Book attributes to William the Conqueror; the survey explicitly mentions seven people as having built castles, of which William was the most prolific.
In the 1980's, Ralph Bankes bequeathed the entire Bankes estate to the National Trust, including Corfe Castle, much of the village of Corfe, the family home at Kingston Lacy, and substantial property and land holdings elsewhere in the area. In the summer 2006, the dangerous condition of the keep caused it to be closed to visitors, who could only visit the walls and inner bailey. The National Trust undertook an extensive conservation project on the castle, and the keep was re-opened to visitors in 2008, and the work completed the following year. During the restoration work, an appearance door was found in the keep, designed for Henry I. The National Trust claims that this indicates that the castle would have been one of the most important in England at the time. T