The Red Arrows have published their 2012 display dates and venues – and the Port of Dartmouth Royal Regatta has been scheduled for 6pm on Friday 31st August. Keep up to date with news of the Regatta here.

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.

So says John Masefield in his poem, Sea Fever. It is now official, a visit to the coast is beneficial to our wellbeing. New research published by The European Centre for Human Health (ECEHH), shows that all outdoor locations are associated with positive feelings (enjoyment, calmness, refreshment) but that visits to the coast were most beneficial. So we now have scientific backing to the old song “Oh we do like to be beside the seaside…”!!

Do come along and join us for a day – or more! We have some wonderful trips to take along the coast in this beautiful area plus other services on the picturesque river Dart and on our steam trains – to name but a few.

See our Days Out page here and here for details of our brand new ‘Jubilee Pass’ which gives you unlimited ‘hop on, hop off’ travel on our Steam Railway and River Boats for a period of up to 5 days.

Read the full article on the research printed in the Western Morning News here.

The History of St George’s Day

* In 1222 the Council of Oxford declared April 23rd to be St George’s Day

* It was not until 1348 that St George became the Patron Saint of England

* In 1415, St George’s Day was declared a national feast day and holiday in England

* After the union with Scotland at the end of the 18th Century, the tradition diminished and since has not been widely acknowledged and is no longer a national holiday

* Traditional customs were to fly the St George’s flag and wear a red rose in one’s lapel

* The hymn ‘Jerusalem’ was also sung on the 23rd April, or the nearest Sunday to that date, in churches across the nation

St George was born sometime around the year 280 in what is now Turkey. He was a soldier and rose up through the ranks of the Roman army, eventually becoming a personal guard to the Emperor Diocletian. He was executed for being a Christian on April 23, 303, and is buried in the town of Lod in Israel.

St George is most widely known for slaying a dragon. According to legend, the only well in the town of Silene was guarded by a dragon. In order to get water, the inhabitants of the town had to offer a human sacrifice every day to the dragon. The person to be sacrificed was chosen by lots. On the day that St George was visiting, a princess had been selected to be sacrificed. However, he killed the dragon, saved the princess and gave the people of Silene access to water. In gratitude, they converted to Christianity. It is thought that the dragon represents a certain type of pagan belief that included the sacrifice of human beings.

In actual fact, St George is the patron saint of a number of places, such as Bulgaria, England, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Portugal and Russia. He is also remembered in some regional holidays, such as in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada and among the Gorani people who live in a mountainous area in the Balkans and were converted to Islam many centuries ago, but still observe St George’s Day.

Have you ever heard of someone telling the time and running their hotel from a steam train? Well I have!!  One would normally tell the time from a watch, mobile phone or the good old fashioned speaking clock over the telephone, but no, on my travels visiting all the wonderful hoteliers and proprietors from the Torbay B&B’s, I have met a fascinating hotel owner who was delighted to explain her story of how her life is timed by the whistle from our steam trains!!  Here is her story:

Each day after she has finished the breakfast sitting, she starts to work on the cleaning of her rooms, she does not wear a watch and does not have clocks in any of the rooms, she simply starts cleaning away until she hears that first steam train whistle at 10:30 and if she is not in a certain room number by that whistle, then she knows she has to get her skates on, as by the time the 12:15 whistle sounds, she must be onto another chore by then!!

Now this lady does get caught out sometimes.  She has been known to get into a panic when, unknown to her, we have changed to our peak season timetable where the whistle sounds at 09:45 from Paignton.  On these days, she rushes to her porch to pick up a steam train timetable to make sure she is not in the wrong room at the wrong time!  There has also been an occasion, where we have sounded the whistle a few times for a wedding; well this just sends the hotel owner into total confusion with three whistles going off at once. Which Room, Which Whistle, she cries!  And when we do not run trains in November, January, February and March, this just sends her completely out of alignment with the running of the hotel.

So, this is my very simple story of my WHISTLE WATCH lady and just how that steam train whistle, which echoes around the Bay, is so important to her and how her hotel runs. So remember to blow that whistle loud and proud  footplate crew as not only is it a great reminder of the train and all our wonderful days out that we offer to the public on our trains, ferries, boats and buses, it is also helping a lovely lady clean rooms too. I dread to think what this lady will do if we ever change our departure times from Paignton, I guess I would have to visit her and sit her down to explain how her WHISTLE WATCH is going to be timed slightly differently and a large cup of tea must be standing by to help her take this life changing news!!

Sereny, Dartmouth Steam Railway and River Boat Company Promoter

We had a bona fide celebrity on board our Dittisham Princess this weekend. Robbie Coltrane was a passenger on our Dartmouth-Totnes river cruise last Saturday and commented that he thought the commentary by our very own Malcolm Pope (Commodore of the marine division) was amusing and interesting! He enjoyed the voyage so click here to see details of the trip so you can come and see for yourself! It’s a beautiful cruise upriver from Dartmouth passing the delightful villages of Dittisham, Stoke Gabriel and Galmpton, the estate of the late Dame Agatha Christie (Greenway House and Garden), the Sharpham Estate (vineyard) and on through the tranquil upper reaches of the river Dart.

We are delighted to announce the second coming – of our South Devon Guide (second annual edition)!! Once again, it’s the perfect passenger guide for exploring that details all our services, voyages and trips and is full of just lovely ideas for beautiful, adventure filled days. Pick up a copy soon from any of our departure points or kiosks - or the area’s Tourist Information Centres.

We hope you find it inspiring and that you keep a copy handy throughout your holiday (locals keep it close to hand as well!).

If you’d like a copy posted to you then just call 01803 555872, we’d be delighted to send you a copy hot off the press when they arrive – so you can plan your days before you even get here!

We’ve had another fantastic super yacht arrive in port at Dartmouth today! She’s called ‘Baton Rouge’, she’s 62.5m long (205ft) (!) and was built by ICON Yachts (a relatively new name amongst luxury yacht builders). The company is based in Holland.

She has a graceful steel hull with an 11.40 metre beam and a draft of 3.50 metres. She was launched on the 27th May 2010 and is owned by Bouygues Group, an industrial conglomerate.

Wow….

 From: Andrew Pooley, General Manager 

My family and I always do something a bit mad on Christmas day and this year was no exception; we decided to head down to Hallsands beach near Start Point and have a BBQ with some friends. Whilst we were firing up the barbie the kids practiced their skimmers and the women wandered along the foreshore. Shrieks and screams of ‘OMG’ and ‘wow’ soon came from them as they stumbled upon a tsunami of starfish washed up on the beach and rocks – literally thousands of them littered all over the place. Never have I ever seen such a spectacle – it was a real treat to see so many amazing creatures …. Definitely a Christmas to remember.

Small section of the masses washed up!

I’m not down the creek this winter though, I’m deckhand on the passenger ferry between Dartmouth and Kingswear. If any of you have enjoyed one of our famous Round Robin trips, I’m sure you can remember the short trip across the Dart, the one that takes you from the train to the pleasure boat, or vice versa. Well that little boat runs all year round, although, as you can imagine, it’s not quite so busy at the moment. We still provide an important service, getting the locals to and from home and work, and we are the most comfortable way of crossing the river. Oh, and if there are any locals who live and work in the area reading this, we’re also the cheapest. Just pop into our Kingswear office for more details, it’s now very simple to claim your pass. 

Now that’s the company message done with, let me tell you about working on the ferry. During one shift, we cross the river 88 times. I tie the boat up to the tune of two fat ladies on every shift. And yes, I have counted. It’s fair to say that the ferry is not the most intellectually stimulating or exciting part of my job. But this winter, I’m glad to say that there is quite the ray of sunshine. We have a dolphin, right here in Dartmouth harbour! And the dolphin likes nothing better than following and playing with boats, including the ferry. Most of the locals have named the visitor Danny but one of our younger deckhands, Jack, has decided to call it Derek – so may God have mercy on any children he gets to christen – but I’ve gone for Dolly. I’m pretty sure that Dolly is a she, and there have been reports of a pup swimming alongside Dolly, though these have yet to be verified (ooh, didn’t I sound professional then?). What we do know for sure is that the dolphin seems to like it here. He/she vanished for a few weeks, perhaps reunited with the rest of the pod by the RSPCA, only to return to Dartmouth and his/her adoring public. Fingers crossed, the dolphin will still be here come the new season, and you can all say hello. Click here to view a video clip from Jack.

Now, I normally like to end on a cheesy pun, but I’m afraid I used up all of the dolphin based ones on an earlier blog. I have one left, but it is very, very bad and I’m in two minds if I should use it. I guess I better Flipper coin. 

Till next time, take care and have a great Christmas and New Year.
Deckhand Dave xx

From Martin Bellamy, Guard.

The end of the normal running season at the end of October came as quick as ever but this year was a little different as it was all hands on deck to clear our Paignton shop and booking office so that the redevelopment of the station could commence. A stocktake was done in a few days and everything stored away safely. Even whilst doing this, parts of walls and other pieces were being dismantled before we had to evacuate the premises by the end of the first week!

It was then down to Kingswear to start to get ready for the Christmas trains. We are the only heritage line which also offers a pantomime in the price as well as seeing Santa in his grotto for a present. The pantomime this year is Robin Hood and will be performed by Dare to be Different, part of Dartmouth Players.

The panto involves a great deal of preparation and four of us (chef Dan from the Kingswear Belle Bistro, Sarah and Georgie from Paignton Booking Office and myself) have done most of the fancy work after the track gang had built the scaffolding for the stage, floors and end walls under Kingswear Station’s overall roof. The actual grotto is a large garden shed which is decorated with a ‘faux’ fireplace (!) and plenty of tinsel so it looks quite cosy. Other work involves prettying-up the back and side walls and plenty of painting and decorating both inside and out. The scene for the back of the stage was brilliantly painted by our artist Annie and is stunning. Various props for the show also needed making as well as plenty of other odds and ends including netting all the holes to evict pigeons from the premises! Heating has been installed to the best of our ability but the nature of the building will never allow us to be completely successful in warming the whole area completely. The sound system is also now installed, the floors painted and the seats laid out and fitted. Incidentally, the seats come from our boats as they undergo their winter refits so we also provide useful undercover storage for them.

In addition to all of this, ticket sales still have to be dealt with (and the demolition of Paignton Station has caused a few extra issues!) as well as the wrapping of thousands of presents and the decorating of Christmas trees when they arrive. All will be finished by the first steam train Saturday 10th December when we hope all will proceed as planned! Some trips are already full and others are filling rapidly.