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Colston Residents’ Association
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Three-mile long Colston Road has until recently been a very isolated area of the parish. The only direct links with the main village are unmetalled green lanes. This isolation has been reduced since the inauguration of the Colston Residents’ Association as a response to plans to completely close the Buckfastleigh end of the route for rebuilding of the road and crash barrier.
The Association now liaises on a variety of issues with:
Rattery Parish Council, South Hams District Council and Devon County Council, on matters concerning the two miles from The Steiner school to Beara caravan site.
and
Buckfastleigh Town Council, Teignbridge District Council, and for the mile from Beara to Buckfastleigh.
Communication between the councils, residents, and other organisations is now well served by Association circulars, which can on request include attachments from other local organisations.
For more information about the association contact Bob Smith (Chairperson).
Telephone 01364 642195 or email smikat@btinternet.com.
Click here to view/download PDF file about history of road.
An exceptional summer with leaves browning early because of intensive heat! It must have taken great effort to keep beautiful flowers on roadside walls of Colston Farm blooming as usual this year.
We naturally start with news of the passing of popular John Thorne of Beara Farm/campsite (whose ill-health we mentioned in our last circular) whose funeral will be held in the village Church in Rattery at one in the afternoon of Wednesday, 16th of September. John, who was in his eighties, had of course lived at Beara throughout his long life and was known to virtually all long-standing residents. He took over Beara Campsite from his parents and developed it largely before days of advertising with computers but gave it the excellent reputation which has led to numerous repeat visits. Many of our members will miss John and we naturally hope that his farm and campsite continue to flourish.
In the meantime, partly in order to welcome the surprising number of new residents who have moved to the Steiner end and middle of the road since the start of COVID, we have included in this exceptionally long circular a short description of councils and other organisations responsible for services on the route and also details of communication available through the Rattery Parish email group (details can be found here Useful Information – Rattery Parish, and Parish website (www.ratteryvillage.co.uk). Connected to this, there is news that two bedroomed semidetached “Littlewell” (linked to Higher Stable Barn as part of the Velwell House complex of properties) is being offered for sale through Marchand Petite (01803 847979) at £425,000 and that over one hundred acres of arable and pastureland (naturally without planning permission) at the bottom of “Water Lane” (the untarred lane near Velwell House) are now on offer through Kivells of Exeter (01392 252262).
Yet another indicator of change is arrival of new owners of “Oak Tree Barn” (sometimes referred to by estate agents as “Orchard Cottage”) at Lower Velwell. The five-bedroomed cottage which had been offered for sale for many months is now home of the Ward family who had been staying in Totnes whilst selecting rural surroundings. The family include Phil and Kate (who have their own business using solar energy to power batteries during the daytime which can provide power at night); Lani (who is to join the staff of a Scottish university this autumn); Rufus (who is a university student); and Hope (who attends a primary school in Totnes). We look forward to their participation in association events. The association has not had a social activity of its own since a very pleasant afternoon at Velwell House some years ago – Christmas ideas appreciated by officers.
Controversy about dates for valid comment on planning application to double size of “Meadowfield Bungalow” linked to new campsite with huge reception/social building near Steiner end of the road may no longer be relevant because the South Hams District Council Planning Department has indicated potential opposition to permission on other grounds. Application for an off-licence open to the public (not just residents on the campsite) has already been considered but only partially approved, with sales restricted to residents on the campsite to avoid increased traffic from the general public on the unsuitable approach route. We should warn residents of possible danger from a substantial new roadside hole outside the entrance to the bungalow.
The fact that we live in a predominantly rural area is emphasised by recent rescue by an animal welfare group one morning of nothing less than an apparent polecat (similar to a ferret and now uncommon in this area) caught in wire netting on a field-gate near entrance to the Rille Estate at the Buckfastleigh end of the road! We are assured that the animal must have been there for some time because “polecats will not normally be handled but this one was totally exhausted and pleased to be taken into a vehicle for future care”.
We have for months been advertising the Rattery Summer Show and sports because two thirds of our road is in the parish of Rattery. Although we have no direct road links to the main village (three connecting untarred byway lanes are virtually impassable to cars) the parish is actually huge and residents are linked by the excellent previously mentioned email exchange and webpage. The summer show and sports organised this year by Sally Tressider (clerk for use of the village hall and grounds) attracted an amazing number (literally hundreds) of people and must have been one of the few occasions on which all residents of the parish were likely to meet. Of course youngsters meet at school (many go- with free transport- to Dartington primary or Totnes comprehensive) but with reduction in numbers of small farms the small weekly or monthly markets at Totnes, Ashburton, and South Brent have gradually ceased to operate, so agricultural families have less opportunity to socialise. Many parishioners tend to belong to specific organisations such as the many clubs including yoga, badminton, woodturning, line dancing, “Tai Chi”, “Pickleball”, and “Pilates” in the village hall and other activities such as The Harvest Supper and “Soup Groups” publicised on the website but do not necessarily meet all members of the parish there. Quite amazingly good publicity for the annual show and sports was illustrated by the commentator asking where participants in one of the egg and spoon races came from – replies indicated (if memory is correct) not only Rattery but (presumably holiday visitors) Manchester, London, Birmingham, and The Netherlands! The overall event was excellent and is recommended to our association members for next year. Well worth the roundabout journey (see attached information for newcomers) by council adopted tarred roads (rather than shorter unsurfaced lanes impassable to cars) to the main village of Rattery!
The history of the parish of Rattery is well related in an excellent large and well-illustrated hardbacked 159 paged book entitled “The Book of Rattery” printed by Halsgrove Publishers, Lower Moor Way, Tiverton Business Park, RX16 6WW, in 2001. A summary of contents provides an excellent introduction to the ancient parish. Please see attached information intended largely for new residents.
Any long-term residents who do not wish to read further are sent good wishes for the new school term and developing Autumn!
Bob. and officers of the association.
Background to Locality and Public Services for Relatively New Arrivals (and Interested Long Term Residents).
Maps of the parish and addresses can be found here
Largely Narrow, winding, and hilly, Colston Road is some three miles long, with the first two miles from the Steiner School end falling within the parish of Rattery and in The South Hams District Council area. The final mile (from Beara campsite onwards) is within the Buckfastleigh Town Council and Teignbridge District Council areas. The whole road is provided with county council services by Devon County Council based at County Hall in Exeter. The road is a council recommended cycle route linked to other routes from Totnes and Buckfastleigh and avoids need for cyclists or long-distance walkers to use the busy A384 road from Totnes to Buckfastleigh. With overgrown hedges due to unusually hot weather, it is especially necessary to drive slowly with care to avoid cyclists and pedestrians. Tourists who do not know the road and location of passing places can (although welcome) be a particular hazard.
Rattery Parish Council and Buckfastleigh Town Council are responsible in their own areas for very localised services including allotments, town and village halls, some cemeteries and burial grounds, street environments including litter bins and public toilets, `bus shelters and community transport such as voluntary minibus services. They also either offer advice or requests to district and county councils on planning permissions, highway maintenance, tourist publicity, and crime prevention services such as Neighbourhood Watch.
The South Hams District Council and Teignbridge District Councils are responsible in their own areas for provision of second-level services including collection of rubbish; council housing; relieving homelessness; environmental health; licensing for alcohol and musical events, taxis, and street trading; collection of Council Tax ; running local government elections; and running parks, leisure centres; some cemeteries and crematoria; and housing benefit (rent assistance) finance.
Devon County Council is responsible in this whole area for provision of state funded education; provision of free school transport to nearest state schools; social services; recycling centres; libraries; registration of births, marriages, and deaths; liaison with police services; fire and rescue services; highway maintenance, and some tourist information.
Contact numbers for the councils are: Rattery Parish Council: Clerk: Ms. Sharon Raggett: 01364 654607 ; Buckfastleigh Town Council : Clerk: Ms. Judith Hart: 07904 033616; The South Hams District Council: 01803 861234; The Teignbridge District Council: 01626 361101; Devon County Council: 0345 155 1015.
The entire parish of Rattery is estimated to have a population of about 450 adults but of course this does not allow for people who have for various reasons chosen not to register to vote. Colston Road (which has approaching 40 families of very varied sizes and proximity of residence to the road) tends to now be an isolated section of the parish (has no direct tarred road access to the main village – either travel up to Huxham’s Cross near Dartington and turn right, or travel to Buckfastleigh and turn left and follow signs towards Plymouth-bound A38 and then towards Rattery). Nearest `bus to main village of Rattery is number 80 from Paignton and Totnes to Dartington, South Brent, and Plymouth, alighting at Rattery Mill Cross (before South Brent and about a mile from Rattery village). Nearest `buses for the Colston Road part of the parish are hourly 88 from Newton Abbot to Totnes (which stops in Buckfastleigh and at The Steiner School) or less frequent (about six on weekdays) number 38 to and from Plymouth and Exeter which stops in Buckfastleigh. The 88 service does not run at all on Sundays, and 80 and 38 services run less frequently on Sundays.
Despite current relative isolation of Colston Road, the route was historically very much part of the parish. “Hood Ball” (high hill just behind The Steiner School end of the road) is the earliest traceable part of Rattery. Romans who spoke Latin had only come as far west as Exeter, and Hood Ball on which there are traces of early settlement and fortifications was named “Rather erse” (or “fortified hill”) in Celtic which became “Rattery” in local dialect when Celtic was finally dropped in favour of Latin adopted by the time that the Saxons (who succeeded the Romans) filtered to this area. The linguistic change from to Latin can of course also be traced to religion. Romans were Christianised (part of the “Catholic” or “worldwide” Church lead by The “Pope” or “Leader”) and the early Churches such as that in Rattery were Catholic long before time of Henry V111 declaring that he was head of the Church in England during the 16th century and taking over and often selling property belonging to the Catholic Church. The results of his moving responsibility for care of the poor, sick, and indeed the roads away from religious orders and over to individual parishes could still be seen until changes by national government in the past hundred years. The lovely now Anglican Church in Rattery still has original features such as base for the statue of The Virgin Mary after which it was named, a Norman font, and an ornate screen which would originally have been decorated with pictures of saints. The narrow bridge over the Dart at nearby Staverton railway station was built by monks from the original (and now rebuilt) Buckfast Abbey which owned a lot of land taken over by Henry V111 and is still known locally as “Abbot’s Bridge”.
Arrival of The Normans led to The Domesday Book and land being re-allocated to “Manors” given to supporters of William the Conqueror, many of which (including “Willing”, “Marley”, “Yelland”, “Bulkamore” and “Pennywell”; and – closer to us – “Velwell”, “Cholwell”, “Cumming”, and “Luscombe” on Colston Road) still exist in farm-names and other forms today. Of course the Westcountry with resources of wool from sheep, leather from cows, china clay, granite from Dartmoor, and a variety of metals including iron from a mine near Bulkamore Hill and Cummings Farm on Colston Road , was in many places partially industrialised with water-power before major steam-driven factories developed near coal in the North and Midlands. Water-powered factories and availability of rivers for transport led to Totnes, Buckfastleigh, and Ashburton all being prosperous towns and sources of employment and also provided income in addition to numerous small unmechanised farms in virtually self-sufficient villages such as Rattery. In the 1850s the parish of Rattery apparently still contained some 30 small farms and two blacksmiths , a carpenter, two shopkeepers, an innkeeper, a mason, a tailor, a shoemaker, and what are now remains of an eventually uneconomic (and possibly now potentially dangerous) aforementioned iron mine in private woods near Cummings Farm on Colston Road. Because of presence of bats the mining area has been declared a government Site of Special Interest.
Development of first privately run and fee charging toll roads (including what became the current A384 from Buckfastleigh to Dartington and Totnes) and then railways made travel easier and also led to increased use of minor routes such as Colston Road to avoid paying tolls. ‘“Riverford Bridge” which now has traffic lights on the A384 was built as part of the toll system and of course development of the former branch (but now steam operated tourist) railway from Buckfastleigh to Totnes was linked to carriage of goods (including metal from the previously mentioned iron mine) to the main line at Totnes and to increased use of “Abbot’s Bridge” over the river at Staverton Station.
Lean times for agriculture resulting from importation of corn, meat, and other foods from other parts of the British Empire and fall in agricultural wages on gradually mechanised and enlarged farms led to changes in rural population and initially movement of many redundant agricultural workers to unfortunate working conditions in new steam powered enterprises in the North and Midlands. Those changes eventually integrated with spread of car ownership and led to gradual migration from local towns to villages of commuters and retired professionals. Over the years an amazing number of former farmworkers became ‘bus conductors or switched to working on repair of highways, gardening, timber-cutting, or forms of service for wealthy families. Improvement in education has broadened local opportunities for many youngsters.
This is true of Rattery, which now has less than a dozen working farms and a long-established agricultural population augmented by commuting and retired professionals who play an important and welcomed part in parish life. Changes in the taxation system have undermined the dominant position of a few rich families who in the 19th and early 20th centuries owned and rented out many of the farms and other buildings and had great influence over local services such as schools and religion. The family owning huge” Marley House” (now divided into smaller establishments) on the A38 at the edge of the parish had so much influence that all servants and tenants were expected to attend services in the village Church and able bodied young male employees were expected to join the forces for The First World War (of whom it is said that only one returned). Although Methodist or “free” Churches developed in many Westcountry towns and villages, there is no record of there having been one in Rattery. Although it is widely spaced, Rattery (which now has a public house, village hall, a Tuesday morning Post Office, and the aforementioned wide variety of leisure activities) is a generally friendly parish with both the excellent computer website linking residents and a welcoming parish council . Sad that when the County Council took over Highways a century or more ago it only tarred routes leading to houses or businesses, which did not include the three still unsurfaced lanes directly connecting Colston Road to tarred routes to the main village. One has to leave the parish to drive back to the main village!
Moving on to Buckfastleigh end of the road – The route giving access to Buckfastleigh from the Rattery parish boundary at Beara is straighter and less hilly than the rest and is of course viable for use of caravan and camping vans using Beara campsite. Buckfastleigh and nearby Ashburton offer a wide range of clubs and other activities. Details from the Information Bureaux (Buckfastleigh: 01364 644532 and Ashburton: 01364 653426) or from the town council offices (Buckfastleigh: 07904033616 and Ashburton 01364 652142). For more information about events and facilities in Rattery, Buckfastleigh, Ashburton, and Totnes, simply Google appropriate questions into the internet or contact relevant libraries or information centres.
Schools frequently used (but to some of which transport has to be family-financed because they are not the nearest state schools) include not only aforementioned Dartington Primary and Totnes Comprehensive , but also Buckfastleigh Primary; St. Mary’s Catholic Primary in Buckfast; The private Steiner at the end of Colston Road; the two Torquay grammar schools; Churston Grammar School near Brixham (to which a large private ‘bus runs from Dartington); and Ivybridge Comprehensive (to which a private minibus runs from Buckfastleigh). Regrettably Rattery lost its own parish (all-age) school in the 1920s because of long-term poor maintenance of the building. Most pupils were transferred to South Brent.
Religious organisations covering the parish include of course Buckfast Abbey (01364 645500) which holds a range of Masses in South Brent, Buckfastleigh, Ashburton, and Buckfast Abbey; and also the Church of England Team (telephone numbers 07576193701/07903400480 (just retiring)/07576193701) members of which are responsible for (and can interchange as desirable at) numerous Churches including Saint Mary’s in Rattery; Methodists (details on 07803862350) whose nearest Church is now in South Brent; Baptist (ivybridgebaptist.org) whose nearest Church is now in Ivybridge ; and United Free (admin@totnesunitedfree.org.uk) whose Church is in Fore Street, Totnes. Welcome ecumenical events include The Good Friday Walk (in all weathers!) to plant or reinforce a cross on South Brent Beacon on the edge of Dartmoor which is one of the many religious and social activities linking Rattery and South Brent.
Welcome to our many newcomers who it is hoped will become involved in association activities. Do ask officers for advice and make contact with other Rattery residents through the village email exchange. If you do decide to participate in activities in Rattery and/or Buckfastleigh or Ashburton, we are sure that you will be made welcome.
Hope that this fairly extensive introduction to the area is of use! If anyone ever needs help along the road, just go to nearest of the often widely spaced families.
Best wishes to all. Bob. Smith and existing officers of the association.
