Historic Scenes Along the Exeter Road page 2

King Charles II
Escaped capture through this lane, September xxiii, MDCLI
When in the midst of fiercest foes on every side,
For your escape God did a lane provide.

This was an incident in the flight of Charles the Second after the Battle of Worcester, in 1651. He eventually reached Brighthelmstone (Brighton), and escaped thence across the Channel.

Bradpole, along the end of this lane, is a pleasant village whose name comes from a pool, or lake, of considerable size, long since dried up.

Continuing along the main road, now in the valley of the tiny river Brit, we come over the railway level-crossing into Bridport, that quiet little town which neither grows nor dwindles. It is situated one mile from the sea, which comes pounding in furiously at the exposed harbour there.

A further hilly stage brings us from Bridpori, past Chideock and Morecomblake to Charmouth. all among those weirdly named heights, Golden Cap, Stonebarrow, Meerhay and Gollops. The road climbs steeply up out of Charmouth and in a mile or so reaches the little port and seaside resort ol Lyme Regis, at the foot of a staggeringly steep descent. The Exeter Road proceeds through a road tunnel, eighty yards long, called the "New Passage," made in 1829. Thence, by Hunter's Lodge inn, we come down into Axminster, where "Axminster" carpets are no longer made. At Ashe, near by, John Churchill (1650-1722), afterwards the great Duke of Marlborough, was born. He was son of Sir Winston Churchill of Ashe. The house is still standing.

Past Kilmington and Wilmington we come into Honiton, a quiet old town where "Honiton lace" remains a local industry. In another sixteen miles Exeter is reached through Fairmile, Fenny Bridges, Rockbeare, Honiton Clyst and East Wonford, with Heavitree as the suburban approach.

Exeter, although full of interesting and picturesque nooks and corners, is no ideal quiet city. It is crowded, and full of business and bustle, with electric tramways. The black-browed cathedral stands in a quiet close, and is as beautifully light within as it is dark without. The Jacobean guildhall, projecting over the footway in High Street, the quaint church of S. Mary Steps in Exe Island, and the many other old churches in the "Ever Faithful City" are mostly built of the good red Devon sandstone.