Continue your tour of Torcross...

The conservation area of Slapton Ley is an ornithologists paradise

Of course there's Slapton Ley - a site of special scientific interest and home to all sorts of birds and wildlife. Quite often, I drive to work and there's a few twitchers, spotting the latest arrivals.

On a calm day, it's hard to imagine that Slapton Sands has seen so much history and talking of history, the village celebrates its 400th birthday on 29 March, 2002.

On Monday 29 March, 1602, a representative from the new Torcross village rose to his feet at the manorial court and reported formally for the very first time. His report, just saying "all well" was recorded in the court roll.

Historically speaking
A stroll through that history shows a decision in 1854 to build a coastal road between Dartmouth and Kingsbridge and it was only recently that the road was fully open again, after a storm in February 2001, destroyed part of the road.

The ribbon of road between sea and ley

The opening of that road has been a lifeline to the businesses and the social life of the community. In 1858, a coach service was started from Dartmouth to Kingsbridge

In 1944 the Lord Lieutenant of Devon, Lord Fortescue, informed the residents of the surrounding villages that the army would be requisitioning their homes and land from the 16th November and everyone must be evacuated from the area by the 20th December.

The area had been chosen because of the similarity between the Start Bay area and the Normandy coast and prompted the use of the area for full-scale battle exercises. To facilitate those exercises 3,000 inhabitants had to be moved taking their belongings, livestock, pets and in many cases farm equipment with them.

These local people, some of whom had never left their home villages, had just six weeks to pack up and move away.

The Torcross Tank serves as a reminder of the war and is a local tourist attraction

Many had friends and relatives nearby who put them up, farmers doubled up on their land and some people moved away, never to return.

Between Christmas Day and D-Day, 15,000 troops arrived in the South Hams and the beaches and villages were to see practice landings and manoeuvres, under fire where there were heavy losses of American life before the invasion of 6th June commenced.

In 1972, Ken Small, then a Torcross hotelier learnt about a Sherman Duplex Drive Tank and after a long battle managed to raise it from the sea in May, 1984. After long negotiations, he bought it from the US Government for $50.

Thanks to his efforts, a plaque and a bronze memorial stand as tribute to the sacrifices made by the young servicemen.

If you have anything to add about Torcross or if you would like to extol the virtues of your own Home Town email us at devon.online@bbc.co.uk

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