June 20, 2017

Babbacombe

When I was in Brixham I went to the local cobbler to see if they could repair the waist strap on my backpack.  Unfortunately they couldn’t do it until the next day but they told me there was another cobbler by the bus station in Paignton.  When I started this morning I caught the bus to Paignton Station and walked a short way to the cobbler and asked if he could repair the strap.  It turned out that the person who did the sewing was out of the shop and would not be back until 1:00pm.  So I left the backpack in the shop and went off to visit some of my old haunts in Paignton.  I went to the harbour to see what had happened to the restaurant where I had worked when I was 17.  It was still there but greatly changed.

Next I walked along the seafront at Paignton Sands and visited Paignton Pier.  The pier was where my grandfather used to take my brother and me when we were small.  The pier attractions had changed from when I remember and now it is mostly a big amusement arcade and multiple games of chance.  

From the pier I continued along the seafront to Preston Sands to look for the Tembani Hotel which is where my wife, Jenny, stayed for some family holidays when she was a child.  The hotel has gone and it has been replaced by holiday apartments.  The beach huts were still there and some of them had people using them and enjoying the sunny day.  Then on to Victoria Park to eat my Tesco lunch on a park bench in the shade.  It was really hot in the sun.  After lunch I walked back to collect my repaired backpack and then I caught the bus to Babbacombe.  I walked along Babbacombe Downs to look at the cliff railway that I used to visit as a treat when I was visiting our family in Paignton.

Babbacombe cliff railway

Using the bus to travel from Brixham to Babbacombe was legitimate because I had walked most of the coast path along that portion during my many childhood visits to Paignton.  Plus using the bus enabled me to get my backpack repaired.