Lee Bay, Devon - and Woody Bay - real photo postcard, Lynton pmk 1957

• Postcard

   

• Picture / Image:  Lee Bay and Woody Bay, [North Devon] - real photo
• Publisher: none stated
• Postally used: yes
• Stamp:  2d brown Wilding
• Postmark(s): Lynton 17 Sep 1957 wavy line
• Sent to:  Mr & Mrs M. Cope, 24 Wanstead Park Drive, Manor Park, London E12
• Notes / condition: slight wear at the edges due to postal use

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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Lee Bay or just Lee is a small village on the North Devon coast near Woolacombe. Lee is situated on the rugged and inhospitable stretch of coast between Ilfracombe and Woolacombe, which includes Bull Point (with its lighthouse) and Morte Point, both notorious for shipwrecks in earlier times, and both on the South West Coast Path.

The village of Lee lies at the foot of what is known locally as the Fuchsia Valley, and consists of around 100 properties, mostly old in style. The village centre is about a 350 metres (380 yd) from the sea, and is linked to the area around the bay by a road and level footpath. Lee is served by a combined pub, post office and shop, The Grampus; also by St Matthew's Church, by a gift/craft shop operating from the old schoolroom adjoining the church, and by the Lee Bay Hotel. As of 2009, the hotel was closed, and is being used by the police as a dog training centre.

Around the bay area are the hotel (visible as the main building in the picture) and some 10 privately owned properties. Up to the late 1980s, several of these were in use as tea rooms, restaurants and gift shops.

The beach has a very gentle slope. As the tide goes out an expanse of sand emerges from among the rocks, as does a way through the cliffs westwards round to a large shingle beach called Sandy Cove or Bath Beach. This beach is also accessible from the coastal path via a National Trust-maintained path and staircase down the cliff face.

As the tide recedes further it becomes possible to scramble eastwards from Lee Bay over and round rocks and through pools to reach Broadoar, a mainly sandy beach, although it is possible to become trapped by incoming tides.

Woody Bay is a bay on the North Devon coast of England, three miles west of Lynton and eight east of Combe Martin with a stoney beach. It lies in the civil parish of Martinhoe at the edge of the Exmoor National Park and is a waypoint on the South West Coast Path. There were once plans to develop the area to become a holiday resort.

In 1885 the Manor of Martinhoe, including the then-named Wooda Bay, was purchased by Colonel Benjamin Lake, a wealthy solicitor from Orpington in Kent. Perhaps in an effort to emulate Sir George Newnes' efforts in the nearby twin towns of Lynton and Lynmouth, Col. Lake planned to develop the bay as an exclusive resort. He converted Martinhoe Manor House into an Hotel, and in 1894, opened a new golf course at Martinhoe common. Plots of land were sold off, and a number of villas were built on the wooded slopes overlooking the bay.

Col. Lake's plans meant there would be a need to bring in more visitors, by improving communications into the area. New roads were built and in 1895, construction of a pier was started, to provide access from coastal steamers. In 1898, The narrow-gauge Lynton & Barnstaple Railway arrived, with a relatively substantial station built high above the bay. There were also plans (never fulfilled) for a branch line to run down towards the shore.

In January 1897, with the pier almost completed, a major steamship company operating in the area announced that they would be sailing to Woody Bay instead of Lynmouth. This caused considerable alarm among the Lynton and Lynmouth residents, and eventually, the decision was reversed. The official opening of the Woody Bay pier took place on 15 April 1897. However, bad weather and low tides prevented the first ships from docking, and this set the scene for future visitors – the pier was not long enough to cater for landings at low tide. Although there was a regular service from Bristol, fewer steamers were calling than had been intended, and plans were drawn up to extend the pier further out into the bay. A cliff railway was also mooted, like the nearby Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway, to connect with the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway, although neither plan ever came to fruition.

On 12 January 1899, the pier was severely damaged by a storm, with another a year later. It was never repaired, and the remains were finally demolished for scrap in 1902, although some evidence of its existence can still be seen on the shoreline today.

The Colonel continued pouring money into the area, in an effort to see his dream become reality. In July 1900, he was forced into bankruptcy, with debts of over £170,000. He was sentenced to twelve years in prison, for using clients' savings to fund the Woody Bay developments, and died in 1907 along with any prospect of further intensive developments around Martinhoe.