Post by Dave on Oct 7, 2018 15:11:52 GMT
Corbyn Head The Other Side & The Lost Mitre Rock 7th October 2018
The coastline around Torbay is for ever changing; the weather and the sea have played its part over the centuries. Changes that many of have seen happen can be found at Oddicombe Beach and Redgate Beach to name just two locations.
I have seen old photos of our own London Bridge with hand rails on it and people on top of it, but that is no longer possible. Another rock that was enjoyed by many was the Mitre Rock that was just off Corbyn Head.
. For many years, this natural rock arch was one of Torquay's most interesting and attractive geological features. Sadly, it was washed away in a great storm in the 1950s leaving only the base of the arch remaining.
As I was born in the 50’s and grew up in Newton Abbot I have no memories of the Mitre Rock but I have managed to find a great photo of it that was taken around the late 1920’s. One can only imagine how bad that storm was that washed it away, a goggle search has yielded no results only reference to the great storm of 1987.
That was a storm I will never forget as I was out in it delivering milk for Unigate Dairies during the storm. Crates full of milk just blew of the side of my electric milk float and very large trees were falling down all around me. There has never been a storm to date in Torbay as bad as that one and to think the BBC weather man Michael Fish went on air and said the threat of any great storm was a false alarm.
That storm occurred over the 15th and 16th of October, but unlike back then, as I set off on the 122 bus today there was hardly any wind and the sun was out. Mind you it felt rather windy on the upper deck of the open 122 bus, but as this was probably the last ride on it this year, I did not care at all.
The walk from the beach to around the back of Corbyn is not an easy one and great care is needed as I soon found out. It must also only be done at low tide to avoid the dangers of getting cut off by the tide. In total I found myself on my backside at least five times. I put my foot down thinking it would be OK and then it slipped off and down I went. But as I was half expecting this to happen, I made sure my camera was not in any real danger by holding it high.
It has been a while since out on a shoot I felt the wow factor, but I did today and the bumps and sores were well worth it as it has its own magic on the other side of Corbyn Head.
I thought I had found the base of Mitre Rock, but then soon realised it was not in the correct position judging by the old photo of it. I took one shot near the end and I think that must be the spot.
I do not care about the run down town centres, the Bay is still such a wonderful place to live and I would not live anywhere else. I got on the 122 heading for home, but could not stop myself from looking back over Torquay seafront, It felt so good to be alive today
