A holiday in Torquay

 continued from last month's issue.

Another very hot and sunny day on Sunday 10th July, as I met up with Denis and Pat in the hotel lounge at 9.30.am, and we had a leisurely walk to the parish church of St Mary the Virgin, for the Sunday 10.am service. The evidence of this church is found in the Doomsday Book, as the Manor belonging to the church was held by Bishop Leofric of Exeter in 1050, during Saxon times, and by Bishop Osborn under William the Conqueror, and was dedicated to our Lady in the West. Other evidence of Saxon buildings was found until the Victorian expansion in 1832. The church walls of St Mary the Virgin kept collapsing, and as a result of the expansion of the Victorian era, prompted the rebuilding of the church in the 1850's, when the nave and chancel were demolished, and a huge Victorian building emerged. Tragedy struck on Sunday 30th May 1943, when German Aircraft bombed the church. As a result, 26 children and 3 teachers assembling for a Sunday School service were killed. The School and several houses were also hit and demolished, and the whole community came out to attempt a rescue operation. This along with many other stories of survival were remembered as well. The church was rebuilt after the war and on the 13th May 1953, the new church was rededicated to the glory of God. After the Service at St Mary the Virgin at St Marychurch, Denis, Pat and I had a lovely lunch at the Babbacombe Inn. We all made our way back to the hotel, and I decided to have a return bus ride to Paignton on an open top bus, which was very pleasant in the afternoon breeze. I had a couple of hours to explore this attractive seaside town, with its many shops and restaurants, along with the many seafront hotels, and famous for the start of The Dartmouth Steam Railway to Kingswear. Upon my return to the hotel in the early evening, I went to Babbacombe model village, which was only a few minutes walk from the hotel, with its many fascinating miniature buildings, set in lush green settings. They have a miniature full working mechanical circus, and outdoor model railway in the grounds. It took me about two hours to complete my tour of this wonderful and interesting model village, and admired the time and dedicated work in the making and building of this truly magnificent village in miniature.

Monday 11th July saw me waking up to another very warm and sunny morning, as I had packed my suitcase the previous evening, and after breakfast at 8.am met up with Denis and Pat in the hotel lounge for a short walk to Babbacombe shops for last minute shopping, and called in at Tuffin's bakery to order a packed lunch of sandwiches and orange drink for our train journey home. We got back to our hotel at about 10.30.am, where I took a photograph of the hotel and group photograph of Denis and Pat, along with Sally and Allen who are the proprietors of the Blue Conifer's hotel, and friends of Denis and Pat. At 12.noon our taxi arrived to take us to Torquay Station in time for the 12.45.pm train to Salisbury, where we waited for about 30 minutes for our train connection to Cosham, where our taxi was already waiting to meet Denis, Pat and me. The train journey from Torquay was very pleasant as we travelled through Honiton, Axminster, Yeovil, Salisbury and Southampton to our final destination at Cosham and arrived home at around 5.30.pm.

I thank the Lord, and his guardian angels for the lovely weather, and keeping us safe, throughout our wonderful week's holiday at Torquay.

Leon Bartosiak