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| Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat by Simon de Myle |
Well maybe we haven’t reached this stage yet but down here
in the Westcountry, it’s all getting a little bit Biblical, and with a
never-ending series of storms constantly battering out coastline from the
Atlantic, it’s getting harder to believe that Spring should be just around the
corner.
We all woke up on Wednesday to heart-breaking scenes in
Dawlish, the destruction of our iconic railway line, touted by many as the
country’s most beautiful train ride.
Local travellers will tell you that “no two journeys are ever the same”
along this stretch – the scenery changes by the minute, influenced by the
position of the sun, the clouds, the weather, the seasons, the brooding moods
of the Exe, the mist of the Teign, and the ever-menacing presence of the
English Channel. One day you’ll be
waving to a family on a bucket-and-spade holiday, the next you’ll be jumping
back as an angry wave smashes against the carriage window.
That rapid transformation perhaps best sums Devon up -
taking a journey from Exeter to Newton Abbot on this line is like looking into
the window of the county’s soul.
Sometimes calm, occasionally ferocious, ever beautiful, as gentle as
innocent love, but with a cavalier streak that won’t hesitate to kill. If you’re Devonian, the land – and the sea –
will teach you to take the rough with the smooth, and thus we are a people
brought up in tune with our surroundings – we respect it, we understand its
power, we love it and we fear it, we wouldn’t change it for the world.
My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by our terrible
and destructive winter weather. Good,
hardworking people, whose homes are damaged, whose businesses have been swept
away, whose livelihoods are now in jeopardy, from our county cousins on the
Somerset Levels to our troubled friends in Cornwall, from Oddicombe beach to
Exmouth seafront, up and down our coastline, in our estuaries and up our river
valleys. Winston Churchill once famously spoke over the wireless to a fallen France, and perhaps his words will resonate around our embattled county today, bringing with them some comfort for those affected, and some hope for the future:
“Good night then: sleep to gather strength for the
morning. For the morning will come. Brightly will it shine on the brave and true,
kindly upon all who suffer for the cause, glorious upon the tombs of heroes. Thus will shine the dawn.”
Stay safe, Devon. I'll see you in the morning.
I'm in mourning. A massive avenue of pleasure has been cut out of my life.... I hope it's only temporary! It's the best train journey in the country because, as you say, no journey is ever the same. It's a pure joy to take in the beauty of the River Teign at different times of the day; it's a delight to try to identify the numerous sea and river birds, which forage, feed and fly in from 'goodness knows where' at different times of the year; it's a treat to ride beside the River Exe and watch it being busy in the summer or lazy in the winter....oh and wave to Topsham, on the other side!
ReplyDeleteThe delight of spotting the deer as you pass by Powderham; the happy holidaymakers in their jolly masses; looking down at Dawlish as you pass through; the old coaches which are now static at Dawlish Warren; a glimpse of Toby’s reclamation yard (Blimey, it must be quiet there at the moment.)
It's twenty or so minutes of an education that should not be missed and yet costs nothing.
Being purely selfish, I hope that they don’t re-route this line because it offers so much. But that really is being purely selfish and I think we all know that one day, it will happen. I’m just glad that I’ve had many years of travelling the line; my memories will stay with me forever.