Exploring Teignmouth
Sheltered beaches, a peaceful estuary, and a maritime mystery that shocked the nation... this charming Devon harbour has everything to intrigue and attract the visiting yachtsman, as Ali Wood observes
A charming Devon harbour with sheltered beaches
If you’d sailed into Teignmouth two summers ago, you might have noticed something wasn’t quite right. There were classic boats on every mooring, and an excited crowd had gathered on the seafront; the men wearing flares and the women in mini-skirts, their beehives stiff in the wind. They were watching a man in vintage oilskins as he stepped aboard a 40ft trimaran. On closer inspection, you might have noticed the name of the boat, Teignmouth Electron, and had you been around in the late ’60s, this would surely have rung a bell.
No – you weren’t experiencing the after-effects of last night’s port, nor had you travelled 50 years back in time. What you were seeing was the filming of The Mercy, and the man rousing a cheer from the crowd wasn’t Donald Crowhurst, but Hollywood heart-throb Colin Firth, as he re-enacted the yachtsman’s final voyage, the ill-fated 1968 Sunday Times Golden Globe.
The film’s location scouts must have been delighted when they visited Teignmouth. With its Victorian pier, Regency apartments and huddle of fishermen’s inns and beach huts, this South Devon port on the River Teign has changed little since the days of Donald Crowhurst... except for the bar, something the harbour master is keen to point out.
‘The bar hasn’t formed for 20 years because we dredge through it now,’ says Commander David Vaughan. ‘There’s a lot of myth and fiction, and I’m happy to dispel it. Yes, when there’s an east wind and an ebb tide it’s not advisable to enter, but nine times out of 10 it’s just not an issue.’
As though anticipating my arrival, the weather has indeed dealt an easterly. The promenade is drenched and the sea is like a whirlpool, with spume blowing from the crests of 5ft waves. Yet on the River Beach, where we’re standing, the harbour is completely calm. The yacht on the visitor pontoon is barely bobbing, and the ferry is still taking passengers across the mouth of the estuary to Shaldon.
Although the harbour is sheltered and
the two visitor pontoons can take up to 10 boats, Teignmouth doesn’t get a great deal of visiting yachtsmen – which is part of its charm, says David. ‘We find that people who come to Teignmouth like to be independent. They have the camaraderie of being on a pontoon with other boaters and the shore is only 20m away – but you do need a tender.’
David likes Teignmouth because it’s a mix of everything – commercial, leisure, fishing and dredging. The harbour has a very successful rowing club, as well as kayakers, paddleboarders and waterskiers. It’s still a working port, too, exporting clay from Bovey Tracey for use in ceramics, and importing animal feed, road salt and aggregate.
‘We are pretty active about dredging the entrance because we want to maintain that straight line for commercial vessels,’ he explains.
'That way!'
It’s the dredger that I’m going out on today with harbour assistants Humphrey Vince and Marcus Walton, and skipper Fred Pierce. ‘We do our best to make sure the bar stays where it is,’ says Fred. ‘After yesterday it’s probably sneaked up on us again. If the wind’s from the south-east, it can move 30,000 tonnes of sand in the bat of an eyelid.’
It’s not actually the channel that Fred dredges, but the outside of the bank, which is half a metre shallower.
Sometimes visitors get that wrong, and when they see the dredger they aim for that instead of following the channel markers, so Fred has to stand on deck and shout ‘that way!’
As we motor out towards the harbour entrance, Humphrey points out a block of flats, which was once the Morgan Giles shipyard. As well as producing luxury yachts and motor-cruisers, the yard was commissioned during the war to build motor torpedo boats. Crowhurst spent a lot of time at the yard prior to his departure, even getting repairs to Teignmouth Electron the night before he left.
Many of the townsfolk were extras in the Crowhurst film, The Mercy. Humphrey would have liked to have been involved but was too busy rearranging the harbour for the film crew. The pontoons were moved onto the Salty bank, where they had to be chained back down, and all the post-1960 vessels were towed elsewhere, with classic yachts brought in from Dartmouth and further afield. Even the harbour store had a role to play – as a dressing room for Colin Firth and Rachel Weisz, who played Crowhurst’s wife, Claire.
When we reach the harbour entrance, the water is suddenly choppy and waves break over the bow. I can see why these conditions are hazardous for incoming vessels, but Humphrey explains that once the tide has turned there’s no problem.
‘On a flood tide you can get 5 to 6 knots of tide running through. It’s safe enough; just come in slowly and let the tide take you around. If you can’t get in, you can go on to Torbay, Torquay or Brixham.’
We take a look at the transit mark, which is below the Ness pub in Shaldon, then turn around and head back into the harbour, passing the New Quay Inn, which was formerly the ‘Newfoundland Fishery’. In the 16th century, West Country fishermen left Teignmouth with passengers and cargo and returned six months later with salted dried cod, which they’d trade for oils in the Mediterranean. Next to the New Quay is the Jolly Sailor, another 16th century pub, which used to be called the ‘Ferry Boat Inn’ as the ferry left from there.
As we motor upriver, Humphrey points out wellknown local vessels: there’s the Restless, one of a handful of boats that was around in Crowhurst’s time, and continues to offers mackerel fishing trips, the Royal Escape and the Vagabond – fishing boats owned by the Crab Shack restaurant, and the Girl Rona, which catches sprats in the winter and scallops in the summer, and belonged to two successive harbour masters.
We stop at the road bridge that links Teignmouth to Shaldon, which at 1,627ft in length was the longest wooden road bridge in the country when built in 1827. Unfortunately, the bridge succumbed to woodworm and had to be rebuilt in 1931. Beyond the bridge there are mussel and oyster beds which are farmed for the local restaurants, and the estuary extends three miles as far as Newton Abbot. If you’ve got a day to spare, the river is well worth a visit, says the harbour master.
‘Dartmoor is almost at the edge of the Teign, and if you just want a high-water trip you can take a dinghy upriver. We’re not an SSSI or a nature reserve, but it’s a paradise for birdwatchers. You’ll see egrets, kingfishers, shelduck and teal. Even the odd osprey.’
‘Halfway up is Coombe Cellars,’ adds Humphrey. ‘It’s a lovely pub and restaurant, which has got a jetty sticking out so you can tie up the boat and walk ashore.’
Investment
The dredger turns around and I disembark at the pontoon next to the slipway where the Electron was launched, and ascend the ladder that Colin Firth and Rachel Weisz climbed last year. For the film, the handrails were coated in a silicone spray to appear rusty, but now they’re freshly painted. The area would have been full of camera boats and support vessels, and the quay lit-up by a huge lighting set.
I wonder what Hollywood’s A-listers thought of Teignmouth. The town has received a lot of investment since PBO last visited (see PBO May 2012), and has a new arts centre on the promenade. It’s as charming today as it always has been, and I can hardly believe it gets so few visitors (not enough, even, to justify a water taxi). However, with the forthcoming release of The Mercy, I imagine that’s all set to change, so if you’re planning a visit, go now – before Devon’s best-kept secret is out!
Launch sites and jetties
1. There is a public jetty and landing steps on Fish Quay, a short distance from the Jubilee Pontoon. These dry out at low water. Access to and landing on the River Beach is unrestricted.
2. Polly steps is a concrete slipway with facilities for parking trailers and cars, seasonal toilets and fresh water. This is just upriver from the docks and accessed via the rear of the dock complex. 3. Gales hill is immediately downriver from the dock complex. Launching is via the beach. Facilities are limited, but there is a car park opposite.
4. Coombe Cellars is two miles upriver from Shaldon. Consult tide tables before using the site and contact the harbour master for more advice.
The Upper Estuary
n The upper estuary extends three miles upriver to Newton Abbot from Shaldon Bridge, and is best accessed two hours either side of high water. Shaldon Bridge has a height restriction of 2.9m at MHWS. The deepest part of the channel is marked with port- and starboard-hand buoys towards Newton Abbot. The upper reaches are staked. n There are public landing steps at Newton Abbot town quay, which can be approached on the top of the tide. There are also landing facilities at Coombe Cellars and the Passage House Inn, which lie either side of the estuary before Newton Abbot.
showers, toilets and laundry
Public showers are toilets are located on the Den (seafront) underneath the Beachcomber Cafe. These are open 9-5pm low season and 9-8pm high season. Public toilets are on Brunswick Street and Point Lower Car Park. There’s a laundrette in George Street.
restaurants, shops and pubs
There’s no shortage of pubs and restaurants in Teignmouth, from delicious seafood at the Crab Shack to pub fare at one of the many inns, or curry at Naz. Further afield, the newly renovated Cockhavens Inn at Bishopsteignton is warm and inviting with rooms and a restaurant serving great steak.
On the seafront, the Beachcomber is excellent. It does a good breakfast and a huge selection of mouth-watering home-made cakes. Just down the road, the new arts centre, the Pavilions, also has a great café and terrace bar. Grab a bite to eat before catching a film, some theatre, comedy or live music.
Across the river in Shaldon, the Strand is a relaxed café on the beach, ideal for a lazy Sunday morning with the papers. Up the hill on Ness Drive is cafe ODE, a contemporary, eco-friendly café with amazing views, great locally-sourced food and an on-site brewery.
Things to do
n The Teignmouth to Shaldon passenger ferry is reputed to be the oldest service in Britain (see panel). It’s worth catching the ferry just for a walk along the beach at Shaldon to take in all the activity on the river at low tide. Just up the hill there are botanic gardens and a fantastic little zoo. n Stretch your legs with a walk along the coastal path from Shaldon to Ness Cove, finishing with an eerie smugglers’ tunnel that opens up onto a wild expanse of beach. In the opposite direction, walk from Teignmouth along the sea wall towards Dawlish alongside Brunel’s railway. This stretch was rebuilt in 2014, after 40m of sea wall was washed away in storms, and the railway lines were literally left hanging over the sea. n Teignmouth’s narrow streets have every independent shop imaginable, from ironmongers to haberdasheries, barbers, delis and galleries. Allow at least half a day to explore, and don’t forget to visit the Teign Heritage centre for seaside nostalgia, history and to learn about the town’s other claim to fame – the Grammy-winning alternative rock band, Muse.
Further afield
n If you’ve access to a car, or even a bike, the self-guided Taste of the Teign food and drink trail is a great way to enjoy local produce. It takes in Old Walls, England’s steepest vineyard, a brewery, and orchards where you can pick your own fruit. Download a map online at www.visitsouthdevon.co.uk. n Leave the boat on the mooring and give your dinghy a run up to the pub at Coombe Cellars, taking in all the wildlife on the river. n There are regular bus services to Torquay, which has plenty of year-round activities. For a complete contrast to big blue seas, visit Kent’s Cavern – a fascinating series of underground caves and passageways bearing the bones of prehistoric cave bears and hominids. (www.kentscavern.co.uk) n Built on a spit of sand with the Exe estuary on one side and the sea on the other, Dawlish Warren is a quiet seaside resort with a nature reserve and ideal waters for paddling and swimming. Nearby, the resort of Dawlish, famous for its black swans, is also worth a visit. n You don’t have to be a trainspotter to fall in love with the South Devon Railway, built to the designs of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It runs from Exeter along the River Exe to Dawlish Warren, then beneath the sea cliffs to Teignmouth, before turning back upriver along the Teign to Newton Abbot. That’s 13 miles of tidal waters, four of which are open sea.