On Budleigh beach

Click on http://www.brewstercapecod.org/
and you will see a photo of Budleigh beach.

So Budleigh has a sister-town on Cape Cod! That was news to me, but then I'm just what they call a 'blow-in' having moved to Budleigh in East Devon only in March 2008.

This is the view of the famous pebble beach looking east towards Otter Head, the view that everyone in Budleigh knows.









And this is the café at Steamer Steps at the western end of the beach. They sell nice crab sandwiches here.










The beach huts are a special feature of Budleigh Salterton as you can see from the models and the picture on sale in this High Street shop.













Another regular feature of the beach during the summer is our local fisherman who sells his catch direct from the boat. The mackerel is good value and really delicious.






As you can see from the blue sign, this is also the approach to Budleigh's naturist beach which lies 500 metres west of Steamer Steps.


But its pebbles or nodules as they are properly known are the really special feature of Budleigh beach, having been eroded from the local cliffs. They were apparently formed and transported in one of the giant rivers that flowed into the Triassic dessert about 240 million years ago.


Go to http://www.soton.ac.uk/~imw/Budleigh-Salterton.htm and you will see that geology students like these in the photo are warned that these uranium and vanadium bearing nodules should be treated with care because of a very small radioactivity risk!




Many people will prefer to think of this secluded coastline as the place where Diana, Princess of Wales, and her lover James Hewitt would according to Anna Pasternak's Princess in Love go for "long romantic walks" during the unhappy period of her marriage to Prince Charles.







There are lots more stories to tell! Budleigh & Brewster United will aim to draw on the beautiful setting and the history of the towns to give a picture of the two communities. On either side of the pond, if you would like to contribute items of interest please contact mr.downes@gmail.com




















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