Open Water

Today was out of the Dart and around to Torbay to put the boat away in Torquay Marina. Like many estuaries of this kind the mouth of the Dart has two castles, one on either side, that have guarded the port since mediaeval times. One is now a holiday cottage, the other is owned by English Heritage. While small this castle is an interesting visit as you can see the way it has been rebuilt over the centuries to keep up with the changing technology of war. The oldest part is the high mediaeval wall on the landward side, and the most modern an observation post from the Second World War.

The observation post would have been used in conjuncture with an antiaircraft battery nestled on the hills above Kingswear. This battery was initially manned by cadets from the college after they had just passed out and were still waiting to find were they would be posted. According to one biography this actually considered quite a good duty to be given, especially during the summer, as it was a way of getting away from the strict discipline of the college. There was also very little chance of seeing anything right up until the fall of France. The former cadets would be able to go up there with their rations of sandwiches away from eagle eyes of there instructors and be able to have a very relaxed time until they were posted.

After that the Napoleonic period became the one with most importance. During that time Torbay had been a vital staging post for the Royal Navy as it was one of the largest, and deepest, bays in the area and one that was almost always offered safe and sheltered anchorage.

Before we entered Torbay itself we sailed past St. Mary's Bay where the Emperor Napoleon was held on board HMS Bellerophon while the British government decided what to do with him. There were those that said he should have been executed, though this might have transformed him into a Martyr, and one local man wanted to put him into the freak show he owned. In the end it was decided that he should be exiled to Saint Helena where he died in 1821. It was not the last time Bellerophon was to be used as a prison ship at Sheerness, though to less exulted prisoners, before eventually being broken up in 1836.

Looking down at St. Mary's Bay is the great Napoleonic fort at Berry Head. High up on the hill and guns placed there would have been able to rain fired fown on anybody attacking the harbour at Brixham, and without them deing able to elevate their guns enough to fire back. Much like the castles guarding Dartmouth it had been used and re-used over time with the last military outpost being a Royal Observer Corps observation post during World War Two with the main gun emplacements themselves moving down the coast to Battery Gardens on the other side of Brixham harbour.