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By the Dart • A Walk in South Devon


Heritage east Portlemouth has always looked to the sea. these days a small and sleepy settlement, in the Middle Ages it was a thriving port and a centre of ship building. A report survives of an 18th century service in the church being interrupted by news of a shipwreck in the locality. the church emptied immediately, with the service aban- doned and the rector tearing off his surplice to join the rush to see what could be plundered. In the 1800s the owner of east Portlemouth was the Duke of Cleveland. He was advised by his land agent that his tenants there seemed to be interested only in the sea, that they would not work the land and that the estate would be better off without them. the Duke duly evicted almost half the population, demolished their homes and turned the land into three large farms. this destructive behaviour eventually came to national attention and the Duchess of Cleveland was shamed into financing the restoration of the parish church. During World War II, the beach at Mill Bay had a concrete slipway built across it. Landing craft used in the normandy Landings were prepared, maintained and repaired here. Behind the small white thatched look- out that marks the end of the outward route, the Gara Rock Hotel once stood, until it was demolished in 2006. the hotel was a stylish and trendy place to stay in the 1930s, with a succession of glamorous and famous guests. the site was orig- inally developed as a coastguard station in 1847.


Landscape the land above you as you walk out towards and beyond, the mouth of the estuary, is known as Rickham Common. Part of the land was once divided into 141 long thin strips, on which the local people grew vegetables and a 9- hole golf course occupied the cliff top here at one time. the national trust now owns Rickham Common. the land is managed under the Countryside stewardship scheme to restore rare maritime grassland. the trust is working to reduce the


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amount of scrub cover and create a rich variety of hab- itats for wildlife. For more information on the national trust visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk As you approach Gara Rock, you may be able to make out the signs of ancient field systems on the hillside across the valley. this hill is called Deckler’s Cliff and the fields here are thought to date from the Bronze Age.


Wildlife In the late spring, bluebells bloom along the coastal part of the walk. the presence of bluebells are often a sign of ancient woodland, so it may well be that this stretch of coast was once wooded. other flowers include the bobbing pink clusters of thrift, along with sea Campion, which has a small ‘bladder’ at the base of its white- petalled flowers. You may also find


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