A short report on the guided tour of Babbacombe which took place on Saturday 8th September 2018
A group of 12 members were met at the Cliff Railway Café by our guides Patricia Young and John Lee from the Babbacombe and St Marychurch History Group.
The tour viewed many of the properties in Babbcombe, with stories of their previous owners sometimes over centuries, but many related to WWII when many of the armed forces personnel spent time here.
However, we have to say that the main memory of this tour is the visit we made to All Saints Church (pictured left). To the surprise of our guides we were joined by Father Paul who took over and gave us the most complete presentation of his church. It was designed by William Butterfield, in the Gothic Style 1868 to 1874. There is an extensive use of marble throughout, with much of it coming from the local Petit Tor Quarry. As we also enjoyed the stained glass windows and mosaics we realised that ‘time was running’ with Father Paul’s obvious enthusiasm and we had to excuse ourselves.
We continued along Babbacombe Downs with more stories of the hotels there and finished up at the statue of Lady Georgina Mount-Temple, some 30 minutes later than planned.
However for the 7 of us having lunch at the Silver Goose in St Marychurch Precinct, there was no problem with our slightly late arrival for a most enjoyable lunch and environment.
By Tony Warner.