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Meeth
Meeth is a small village roughly north-northwest of Okehampton and west-northwest of Exeter. It lies to the west of the River Torridge. In the past, ball clay mines were a major source of employment in the village, lying just to the west, however these closed in 2004. Their site is now a nature reserve owned by the Devon Wildlife Trust, called Meeth Quarry. The Trust's Ash Moor reserve is also located close to the village. From 1925 until 1982, the branch railway line from Halwill Junction to Torrington, the North Devon and Cornwall Junction Light Railway, ran through Meeth, allowing clay from the mines to be transported to Bideford for onward transport by sea; passenger service was available until 1965 from Meeth Halt railway station. The Tarka Trail long-distance footpath A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking, cycling, horse riding or cross-count ...
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Meeth Halt (disused) - Geograph
Meeth is a small village roughly north-northwest of Okehampton and west-northwest of Exeter. It lies to the west of the River Torridge. In the past, ball clay mines were a major source of employment in the village, lying just to the west, however these closed in 2004. Their site is now a nature reserve owned by the Devon Wildlife Trust, called Meeth Quarry. The Trust's Ash Moor reserve is also located close to the village. From 1925 until 1982, the branch railway line from Halwill Junction to Torrington, the North Devon and Cornwall Junction Light Railway, ran through Meeth, allowing clay from the mines to be transported to Bideford for onward transport by sea; passenger service was available until 1965 from Meeth Halt railway station. The Tarka Trail long-distance footpath A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking, cycling, horse riding or cross-count ...
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Tarka Trail
The Tarka Trail is a series of footpaths and cyclepaths (rail trails) around north Devon, England that follow the route taken by the fictional Tarka the Otter in the book of that name. It covers a total of in a figure-of-eight route, centred on Barnstaple. The section between Braunton and Meeth is car-free, level and mostly tarmacked, and is shared by pedestrians and cyclists, with horseriding also permitted on part of it. The remainder of the route covers a wide variety of landscapes, including wooded river valleys, moorland, coastal cliffs and sandy beaches. Walking varies between easy through to moderate and strenuous, depending on the location, but, in general, it is comprehensively waymarked. The trails are a popular tourist destination and bicycle hire businesses are available for those who wish to cycle along suitable sections of the trail. A section of the Trail is part of National Cycle Network route number 27 and forms part of the route known as the Devon Coas ...
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Meeth Halt Railway Station
Opened in 1925, Meeth Halt was a small railway station on the North Devon and Cornwall Junction Light Railway, a private line until it became part of the Southern Region of British Railways in 1948. The line was built in part over a narrow gauge line that was used from 1881 to take ball clay from claypits at Marland and Meeth to Torrington, which was until 1925 the terminus of a branch from Barnstaple. The line was closed to passenger traffic in 1965 as part of the Beeching proposals, but remained open for freight from the Meeth clay workings north of Meeth Halt through Torrington to Barnstaple until 1982. The station consisted of a simple short concrete platform and a stone shelter and remains as a recognisable landmark on the Tarka Trail, a very popular destination for long-distance walkers and cyclists. As a result it is in the process of a major renovation. References See also *List of closed railway stations in Britain A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. L ...
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North Devon And Cornwall Junction Light Railway
The North Devon and Cornwall Junction Light Railway was a railway built to serve numerous ball clay pits that lay in the space between the London and South Western Railway's Torrington branch, an extension of the North Devon Railway group, and Halwill, an important rural junction on the North Cornwall Railway and its Okehampton to Bude Line. Ball clay was an important mineral but its weight and bulk required efficient transportation; the material had been brought to main line railways by a gauge tramway. Expanding volumes prompted conversion to a light railway—requiring less complex engineering and operational procedures than a full railway—and it was opened on 27 July 1925.St John Thomas, David (editor), Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: Volume 1 - the West Country; David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 3rd edition 1966) Passengers were carried in addition to the mineral traffic, but the business largely consisted of workers at the ball clay pits themselves. ...
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Croker's Hele, Meeth
Croker's Hele is an historic estate in the parish of Meeth in Devon, England. Descent Domesday Book It was one of several estates split-off from the single manor of ''Hele'', listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as the 47thThorn, Caroline & Frank, (eds.) Domesday Book, (Morris, John, gen.ed.) Vol. 9, Devon, Parts 1 & 2, Phillimore Press, Chichester, 1985, Part 2 (Notes), Chapter 15:47 of the 79 Devonshire holdings of Robert, Count of Mortain (died 1090), half-brother of King William the Conqueror and one of his Devon Domesday Book tenants-in-chief. Robert's tenant was Erchenbald, who held from Robert several other Devonshire manors, including Culleigh, Alverdiscott, Bratton Fleming, Croyde and Stockleigh. The single manor of Hele listed in the Domesday Book probably involves two adjacent manors of that name, one in the parish of Petrockstowe the other in Meeth. Later sources evidence three further subdivisions of Hele which had occurred by that time, namely: *''Hele Sechevil'', nam ...
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Great Torrington
Great Torrington (often abbreviated to Torrington, though the villages of Little Torrington and Black Torrington are situated in the same region) is a market town in Devon, England. Parts of it are sited on high ground with steep drops down to the River Torridge below, with the lower-lying parts of the town prone to occasional flooding. Torrington is in the centre of Tarka Country, a landscape captured by Henry Williamson in his novel ''Tarka the Otter'' in 1927. Great Torrington has one of the most active volunteering communities in the United Kingdom. In July 2019, Great Torrington was reported to be the healthiest place to live in Britain. Researchers from the University of Liverpool found that the area had low levels of pollution, good access to green space and health services, along with few retail outlets. History There were Iron Age and medieval castles and forts in Torrington, located on the Castle Hill. Great Torrington had strategic significance in the English ...
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Bideford
Bideford ( ) is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is the main town of the Torridge local government district. Toponymy In ancient records Bideford is recorded as ''Bedeford'', ''Byddyfrod'', ''Bedyford'', ''Bydeford'', ''Bytheford'' and ''Biddeford''. The etymology of the name means "by the ford", and records show that before there was a bridge there was a ford at Bideford where River Torridge is estuarine, and at low tide, it is possible, but not advisable, to cross the river by wading on foot. The Welsh means "this is the way" or "this is the road" owing to the Celtic legacy of the Dumnonians and their common ancestry with the Welsh. History Early history Hubba the Dane was said to have attacked Devon in the area around Bideford near Northam or near Kenwith Castle, and was repelled by either Alfred the Great (849–899) or by the Saxon Earl of Devon. The manor of Bideford was recorded in the Domesday Book ...
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River Torridge
The River Torridge is a river in Devon in England; it rises near Meddon. The river describes a long loop through Devon farming country where its tributaries the Lew and Okement join before meeting the Taw at Appledore and flowing into the Bristol Channel. The river is spate dependent and often flows between wooded banks which can be steep. The Torridge local government district is named after the river. It was the home of Tarka the Otter in Henry Williamson's book. Route The river rises close to the border with Cornwall (north of the source of the River Tamar). Its two primary sources are Seckington Water, which rises near Baxworthy Cross, and Clifford Water, the longer of the two, which rises alongside the A39 at Higher Clovelly. These run south and join to form the Torridge at Huddisford. It then flows generally east, passing between East Putford and West Putford, and near Bradford it is joined by the River Waldon, then heads east past Black Torrington and Sheepwash. It ...
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Devon Wildlife Trust
The Devon Wildlife Trust is a member of The Wildlife Trusts partnership covering the county of Devon, England. It is a registered charity, established in 1962 as the Devon Naturalists Trust, and its aim is to safeguard the future of the county's urban, rural and marine wildlife and its environment. The trust Twenty percent of Devon is unspoilt wildlife habitat, and the county contains all or part of two national parks (Dartmoor and Exmoor), one UNESCO biosphere reserve (North Devon Biosphere Reserve), five Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (Blackdown Hills, East Devon, North Devon Coast, South Devon and the Tamar Valley) and part of the Jurassic Coast, the only natural World Heritage Site in England. Devon Wildlife Trust campaigns on a number of regional and national wildlife issues, and also looks after some 40 nature reserves including Sites of Special Scientific Interest such as Bystock, Dawlish Warren, Bovey Heath, Chudleigh Knighton Heath, and Dunsford. The trust has ove ...
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Okehampton
Okehampton ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in West Devon in the English county of Devon. It is situated at the northern edge of Dartmoor, and had a population of 5,922 at the 2011 census. Two electoral wards are based in the town (east and west). Their joint population at the same census was 7,500. Okehampton is 21 miles (33 km) west of Exeter, 26 miles (42 km) north of Plymouth and 24 miles (38 km) south of Barnstaple. History Okehampton was founded by the Saxons. The earliest written record of the settlement is from 980 AD as , meaning settlement by the Ockment, a river which runs through the town. It was recorded as a place for slaves to be freed at cross roads. Like many towns in the West Country, Okehampton grew on the medieval wool trade. Notable buildings in the town include the 15th century chapel of James, son of Zebedee, St. James and Okehampton Castle, which was established by the Normans, Norman High Sheriff of Devon, Sherif ...
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Exeter
Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal command of Vespasian. Exeter became a religious centre in the Middle Ages. Exeter Cathedral, founded in the mid 11th century, became Anglican in the 16th-century English Reformation. Exeter became an affluent centre for the wool trade, although by the First World War the city was in decline. After the Second World War, much of the city centre was rebuilt and is now a centre for education, business and tourism in Devon and Cornwall. It is home to two of the constituent campuses of the University of Exeter: Streatham and St Luke's. The administrative area of Exeter has the status of a non-metropolitan district under the administration of the County Council. It is the county town of Devon and home to the headquarters of Devon County Council. A p ...
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Ball Clay
Ball clays are kaolinitic sedimentary clays that commonly consist of 20–80% kaolinite, 10–25% mica, 6–65% quartz. Localized seams in the same deposit have variations in composition, including the quantity of the major minerals, accessory minerals and carbonaceous materials such as lignite. They are fine-grained and plastic in nature, and, unlike most earthenware clays, produce a fine quality white-coloured pottery body when fired, which is the key to their popularity with potters. Ball clays are relatively scarce deposits due to the combination of geological factors needed for their formation and preservation. They are mined in parts of the Eastern United States and from three sitesThe Bovey Basin in South Devon, the Petrockstowe Basin in North Devon and the Wareham Basin in South Dorset. in Devon and Dorset in South West England. They are commonly used in the construction of many ceramic articles, where their primary role, apart from their white colour, is either to imp ...
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