Post by Dave on Jul 5, 2015 11:14:02 GMT
Scadson Woods Paignton 4th July 2015.
If you look towards Paignton from say Berryhead, you might be forgiven for thinking Paignton was just one large housing estate. If you look at very old pictures of the town its clear to see just how much the place has grown over the years. Houses are being built here there and everywhere, any place they can be fitted in.
Just up the road from me the Torbay Garden Centre closed in 2012, now hundreds of houses are being built on the site. You might think that every public open space was now under concrete in Paignton, but you would be wrong. A few weeks ago I spend some time walking around the Primley Park nature reserve, a place I loved and right on my doorstep.
Today ( Saturday 4th July) I went to Scadson Woods, another wooded area of Paignton I had never stepped foot in. what a lovely peaceful place it is. You soon forget you so close to a large built up area as all you hear our the sounds of nature.
I made the mistake of thinking the entrance to the woods was right beside the old Paignton gas works on the main road between Preston and Livermead. That pathway takes you up beside the old gasworks and close to the Primary School. I can out onto a road and turned down the hill and fifty yards on the right was the proper entrance to the woods.
Scadson has its origins in Saxon times “Scad” is the Saxon word for shadow. Originally wooded the area was cleared and then remained as open fields and orchards until approximately sometime in the 1800 when two areas, Scadson and Ten Acre Brake were replanted. Many old boundaries and banks are still visible including the truly ancient double banks that once formed the division between Torquay and Paignton.
Next to Ten Acre Brake and close to the rear of Broadpark Road, is an Oak Tree that has been named “ The Oak King” that is believed to be the oldest Oak tree in the Bay as it is between 300 and 350 years old.
I stuck to the main path running through the woods, if I have had more time I would have ventured off this pathway. New and exciting cycle pathways have been built in this wood, but I did not see anyone on a bike while I was there. In fact I only saw about six other people the whole time I was there.
A bird of pray flew high above, but I was not able to get a shot of him, I heard so many birds but could not spot them in the trees, that is so often the case walking through most woods.
A lovely woods and easy to walk around, check them out the next time you have some spare time on your hands.
