BEATING THE BOUNDS
On Saturday 7 September 2024, Lympstone Parish ‘Beat the Bounds’ of Lympstone Parish. This is the official write-up of the event that will be put into the Beating the Bounds archive:
Beating The Bounds Saturday 7 September 2024
Background to 2024
Eight long years had passed since the previous Lympstone ‘Beating the Bounds’. This village event, led by Rob Harrison (born and bred in Lympstone) involves walking the Lympstone Parish Boundary with the ancient tradition of hitting (or beating) each parish Boundary Stone (BS) with a stick as you pass it – hence Beating the Bounds.
This historic walk should take place every four years but the 2020 walk was cancelled as it fell in the middle of Covid Year, 2020, when the majority of walking could only be done in groups of two, and for only an hour at a time. Early in 2024, Rob Harrison and Andrew Minter set the date for the coming September and then the work really started. After this eight year hiatus, more pre-walk preparation than usual was needed to ensure that the community event could go ahead: landowners had changed for which new permissions were needed; permissive and traditional paths had become overgrown and impassable; change of use of some areas had occurred (Woodland Trust ownership, pre-school woodland nursery, Lympstone Manor); and boundary marker stones needed finding!
In addition to the practical issues, health and safety waivers required drafting and signing for the first time in memory and risk assessments were completed. Thanks were also given to the Parish Council for supporting the event and ensuring that it was covered by the Parish Council’s Public Liability Insurance! Overgrown areas were cleared for access by Rob Harrison, Steve Archer and Sophie and Andrew Minter, and Boundary Stones were found (well, most of them anyway!). A team of volunteer marshals was also assembled, hiviz vests ordered (!), road ‘Walkers Crossing’ signs erected on the A376 and Woodbury Road and walkie-talkies charged. Many thanks to Brian Murray, Doreen Murray, Suzie Culhane, Steve Archer & Sophie Minter
Route Changes
The route along the Lympstone Parish Boundary is one that has been largely unchanged for about 160 years of Beating the Bounds walks. However, this time the route of the walk had to be changed; 2 of the 9 landowners approached unfortunately refused permission for access to cross their land. This meant that some adapted routes had to be followed, slightly away from the ‘true’ Parish Boundary.
Diversion 1. Between BS2 (Nutwell Road, in the verge on the RHS of the road, direction A376, just past the garages at the rear of Edinburgh Crescent) and BS3 (BS) 3 (A376 RHS, direction Exton, in verge set under hedge, directly opposite drive entrance to Moffatt residence), the true Parish Boundary runs across the field between Nutwell Road and Meeting Lane, then through the drive of a house next to Boundary Cottage on the A376. The field’s landowner refused permission to cross the field. The alternate route walked was from BS2, doubled-back up Nutwell Road and followed Meeting Lane to the A376, then north (direction Exton) to BS3. Footnote: In the months following the date of Beating the Bounds, the landowner offered this field to EDDC forinclusion in the emerging local plan for the construction of 42 houses.
Diversion 2. Between BS3 and Boundary Stone BS4 (in the grounds of what is now Ottertots Day Care Nursery, next to the field shelter/ small stable – Stone not found), the true Parish Boundary runs through the hedge by BS3, diagonally across the field adjoining Harefield Road, then east of Tedstone Lane across a field, down across Wotton Brook, then up and across another field up to Exe View Road, opposite Oak Park. The landowner refused permission to cross the field behind BS3, the field east of Tedstone Lane, the crossing of Wotton Brook and the field beyond the brook up to Exe View Road. The alternate route walked was from BS3, doubled-back up the A376, left into Harefield Road up to Tedstone Lane, crossing the corner of Harefield Road and Tedstone Lane at a private permission. From Tedstone Lane, walked south for a hundred metres or so, then first left down the lane to Middle Coombe, across the ford bridge and up the track to Exe View Road, then left into Oak Park on Exe View Road.
Beating The Bounds 2024 – The Day
The day started overcast but calm, with the promise of ‘light rain’ later in the day, probably after we had stopped for lunch up on Lympstone Common. The weather forecast wasn’t wrong! The first part of the Lympstone Beating the Bounds takes place on the Estuary; the Parish Boundary extends along a mile or so of the middle of the River Exe Estuary (along an area known as Lympstone Lake. At 09.00 Estuary-going walkers were gathering at the boat shelter. Doreen Murray brought along warm pastries for hungry participants and then, at 09.30, the fleet embarked. Jason Ingham’s mussel boat led the way carrying, amongst others, the walk leader, Rob Harrison, the Lympstone Flag and the oldest beater of the day, Mary Truell, nearly 97 years old, ably assisted by Sue Ingham. Seven other boats (of all sizes) followed, tracing the boundary from the bridge by the bottom of Lympstone Manor’s gardens to the bridge at Parsonage Stile, where the sailors disembarked and gathered where the walk started. Jason and Sue Ingham very kindly opened the boat shed by the Stile as a rallying point for the walkers and allowing a base for the signing of liability waiver forms (an unfortunate necessity during current times).
Rob Harrison (the Beating the Bounds leader since 2008) took to the stage (a large stone!) to give the pre-walk briefing to the audience of about 70, and a short description of the route. Andrew Minter (deputy leader) announced some fairly useful but mostly superfluous additional instructions and bits of information and then we were off at 10.00. Starting at BS1 at the bottom of the footpath, up the footpath (number 18) from Parsonage Stile to Burgmanns Hill then down Nutwell Road to BS2. Doubling back, we progressed along Meeting Lane to the A376, which was crossed and, with early enthusiasm, several people walked down the A376 to beat BS3. Back up Harefield Road, crossing the corner of Harefield Road and Tedstone Lane across private land on which permission had been given. This was the first bit of clambering: through a hedge and over a ditch (across a plank). All safe and engaging in helping one another, which lasted throughout the day. Along Tedstone Lane and left down the tarmacked lane down to Middle Coombe Cottage (painted pink), across the ford, along the track through Monday Copse and following it up to Exe View Road, where another left turn brought us to Oak Park.
At Oak Park, we walked through the field behind the houses (after the landowner sourced the gate key (!)), and then up to the corner of the field where the first barbed wire fence was crossed with the aid of patience, stewards and foam pipe-lagging. Into the field behind, now part of the Woodland Trust land that is being replanted and up to the north-east corner of the field, over another barbedwire fence, across a log over the stream and up into the wood and onto the gravelled path up to Ottertots building. Around the back of the building, through a gate next to the old field shelter/ stable across the corner of the pony field and down into the (very wet) path between a bank and the field. BS4 was not spotted. Along this part of the walk, the group became strung-out as the going was so wet and heavy; one walker lost his shoe in the mud, but said shoe was retrieved and with dry socks from one of the ever helpful volunteers, we got going again. Over the bank and into the plantation along the western edge of the B3180, following the ribbons tied around trees to show the best route. BS5 was found and ‘beat’ and with exemplary road safety skills (in the main!), we were over the B3180 and on to the Common, moving up past the BMX jumps and hollows, over a low barbed wire fence and into the bracken and gorse. BS6, an old and very worn sandstone Boundary Stone, was found (near the tree with two trunks, one very bent), then BS7 came next (on the junction of the East Devon Way/Bridleway 24) a good solid cylindrical stone, probably part of an old field roller. Along the path in an East-North-Easterly direction, past BS8 and lunch was called, as the weather had the look of incipient rain about it. Sitting on banks, trunks and dry common, 30 minutes refreshment was taken with chatter and laughter undampened
Onward after this to the Frying Pans (BS9 was not spotted) and onto the Yettington Road in a WSW direction, spotting the worn BS10 in the RH bank amongst the gorse, and the lichen covered BS11 at the start of the Public Footpath down towards Bystock and Squabmoor on the LHS of the Yettington Road. By now, the mizzle that had been coming down since lunch started to get heavier and more insistent and waterproofs were being broken open left, right and centre. Spirits were NOT, however, dampened, and BS12 was seen on the B3179 at Pine Ridge. We were unable to go straight through Pine Ridge (fences, overgrown) so moved down Hulham Road (carefully) and then through Mr Barrie’s property (carefully) and into the fields behind (old Marley House fields, NE of Goodmores Farm). Going was getting increasingly heavy due to the rain and some fatigue, but we made our way to the NE edge of the Goodmores Farm development, where more mud greeted us. The Boundary Line follows a stretch of trees that have been left between the developments and this were followed, then through a padlocked Heras fence and onto Dinan Way, where BS13 was seen.
We crossed Hulham Road and walked the length of Summer Lane before crossing the A376 again to go straight down Courtlands Lane. Traditionally (before Lympstone Manor Hotel was established) the route meant scaling the stone wall and through the Courtlands Manor (now Lympstone Manor) grounds. Our diversion was turning left and passing through the Stable Block and then meandering through the Lympstone Manor gardens and emerging out of the field gate at the bottom, under the bridge and onto the foreshore.
With weary legs on the slippery shingle, but drawn by the promise of a pint, home, dry and warm, the final mile back to the village was achieved, with a warm welcome at The Swan. The rain didn’t relent, but it did not spoil a successful day of Beating the Bounds!
Oldest Participant – Mary Truell 97
Oldest Walker to Complete – John Hine Youngest Participant – Dexter Staddon 7
Grandson of Mike Cornish, previous leader of Beating the Bounds – Mike Stentiford
We had both the grand-daughter of the former landlord at The Swan and the current Licensee
