Budleigh Past and Present

AROUND THE TOWN AND OVER THE POND A walk around Budleigh Salterton to interest transatlantic visitors. Every so often there’s a diversion which may inspire you to visit places like East Budleigh, Exeter, Sidmouth, Colyton or even places in the United States and Canada.       The walk is set out in parts. Here’s the second part: At the Raleigh Wall.   0.2   ‘THE BOYHOOD OF RALEIGH’   This is where you find a centuries-old link between Budleigh Salterton and the US, marked by this modest blue plaque which was set up by the Otter Valley Association in 1996. The Raleigh Wall is located between Fore Street and Marine Parade.     It is said to feature in ‘The Boyhood of Raleigh’, this celebrated painting of 1870 by the famous Pre-Raphaelite artist Sir John Everett Millais. Of course there has been a bit of rebuilding since that time.   A blue plaque on a building known as The Octagon, on Fore Street, confidently claims that Millais stayed here in 1870.   This s

A walk around Budleigh Salterton to interest transatlantic visitors. Every so often there’s a diversion which may inspire you to visit places like East Budleigh, Exeter, Sidmouth, Colyton or even places in the United States and Canada.      The walk is set out in part. Here’s the first part, based on the section from  Budleigh Salterton Information Centre to the Raleigh Wall, and called 'The Twins that never were'.    Image credit: Christopher Wroten Did you know that Budleigh Salterton, according to Wikipedia for several years until the mention mysteriously disappeared, had an American twin? Don’t believe me? Take a look at this fine road sign on the approach to Brewster, Cape Cod. 'TWINNED WITH BUDLEIGH SALTERTON, ENGLAND', it announces. But I wonder whether it’s still there.   The name of our alleged sister-town on Cape Cod has nothing to do with the brewing industry. The town was named in honour of Elder William Brewster – depicted above in an imagined p

  Some of you may have seen a post from Gary Canant, the American direct descendant of Roger Conant who is planning to spend his 80 th birthday visiting East Budleigh, the home of his ancestors. You may even have seen local artist John Washington's painting of Roger Conant in All Saints’ Church in East Budleigh. You may know that it shows Conant, founder of Salem, Massachusetts, confronting Captain Myles Standish the military leader of the 1620 ‘Mayflower’ Pilgrims. It’s pretty amazing that East Budleigh was the birthplace of TWO important figures in American history. Gary has fixed up accommodation in Budleigh Salterton. If you happen to see him around town, please say hello. He’s an interesting chap. He lives at Pismo Beach, California, famous for:   i. Monarch butterflies. 24,000 of them wintered there in 2023.   ii. Pelicans   iii. Elephant seals.   Gary writes: ‘ About 25,000 magnificent Elephant Seals make the beach in San Simeon (just north of Pi