Odds and Sods January 2026

January 2026 was a rude awakening to the new year, a month of storms and more storms. At one point they nearly ran out of names for them. Goretti, Ingrid and Chandra battered the Start Bay area causing millions of pounds of damage. Start Bay has been vulnerable to storm damage for over a hundred years, since the government authorised a foolish extraction of millions of tons of shingle from the bay, shingle which had acted as a moveable barrier to storms for thousands of years. Storms had previously pushed the shingle ahead of the waves creating nature's own natural defence. With the shingle removed, even boulders are a target.

This was one of the sunnier, although still windy days, in Salcombe.

If it's stormy then this is the place to go, through this still seasonally accented door to an underground wonderland. Kent's Cavern in Torquay.

Kent's Cavern is a cave system in Torquay, Devon, England. It is notable both for its archaeological and geological features. The cave system is open to the public and has been a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest since 1952 and a Scheduled Ancient Monument since 1957.

It is the only site in the world to have produced evidence of three different species of human who have occupied the place. Homo heidelbergensis, Neanderthals, and Homo sapiens (modern humans). This makes it unique.

Kents Cavern was formed by erosion of rock that is part of the Torquay Limestone of Middle-Upper Devonian age.

Handaxes found in the "Breccia" layer of the cavern indicate that the area in the vicinity of the cave system was occupied during the Acheulean period of the Lower Paleolithic, no later than 478-424,000 years ago, with a 2025 study suggesting they dated to around 600,000 years ago, based on the relative crudeness of their manufacture and similarity to handaxes from other sites in Britain, which if correct would make Kents Cavern one of the oldest Palaeolithic localities in Britain, older than the famous Boxgrove site in Sussex.

In 1903, Kents Cavern, then part of Lord Haldon's estate, was sold to Francis Powe, a carpenter who originally used the caves as a workshop while making beach huts for the Torquay sea front. Powe's son, Leslie Powe, turned the caves into a tourist attraction by laying concrete paths, installing electric lighting, and building visitor facilities that later were improved, in turn, by his son John Powe. The caves, now owned by Nick Powe, celebrated 100 years of Powe family ownership on 23 August 2003 with special events including an archæological dig for children and a display by a cave rescue team. A year later, a new £500,000 visitor centre was opened, including a restaurant and gift shop.

Meanwhile, back above ground, the sky is briefly blue again.

I paid a second visit to East Portlemouth Church to get some close up details I had previously missed. This was courtesy of a new rechargeable LED light I have acquired for dark places like churches. Inside the church are some framed architects drawings from the early twentieth century restoration. My post about the church is here.

Also in the church is a list of former rectors of the church going back to the very Norman sounding Hamo Fitz Ruald. He was the early patron of the church before it was owned by Missenden Abbey. Records indicate Alice de Dodbrooke was active in reclaiming property in East Portlemouth, Devon, around the time of the construction of the 12th-century stone cruciform church of St. Winwaloe. As a woman in the early 13th century, her successful legal claim to a church and its associated lands suggests she held significant social or inherited standing in the South Hams area of Devon. My post on Dodbrooke Church is here.

Looking out to sea on a stormy day at Salcombe.

These waves are headed into North Sands, Salcombe.

Meanwhile the first attack on Torcross had arrived, closing the road. More was to follow, which caused further damage.

Rushed attempts to secure the breach turned out to be futile.