Shoe #365photos2026
Sand Bay #50places2026
Sand Bay is a local beach to me, though I do think I go there quite a lot, I realise I could be going much more. It does connect Weston Woods and Sand Point. It is also home to a number of Second World War era bunkers.
This was a walk on what was a quite windy evening.
Homemade Kung Pao Chicken #365photos2026
Then and Now Take Two Once More – Sand Bay Bunker
This is a regular series of blogs about photographs of the same place taken years apart. I have started to notice is that I have been doing Then and Now photographs unintentionally over the years and have been taking photographs of the same thing or place from the same view or perspective years apart. Now this has come to my attention I have started to intentionally take photographs of the same place.
On the beach at Sand Bay is an old second world war pillbox. It looks like it has sunk into the sand, I am not sure if it has just sunk, or of it had slipped down the beach over the years.
I have taken many photographs of the bunker. This was taken in April 2026 using an iPhone 17 Max Pro.
Here are the photographs from over the years taken of the same view. This was taken in September 2024 using an iPhone 13.
This is the bunker in October 2023, which I took with an iPhone 13.
This was taken in April 2021 with an iPhone 8.
Here is the (same) view in June 2020 taken with an iPhone 8.
This was the view in April 2017 taken with an iPhone 6S Plus.
There appears to be an extra telegraph pole in the 2020 photo, that was installed in the intervening three years.
I do think it interesting that there are quite a few pillboxes and beach defences at Sand Bay. You wouldn’t have thought that this coastline was under threat of German invasion back in the 1940s. It’s quite a way from the continent and you would need to go around both Devon and Cornwall (going past Plymouth, a major Royal Navy port), as well as South Wales before hitting the beaches at Weston and Sandy Bay. However doing some research about the pillboxes, I came to realise that the British in 1940 did believe that invasion may come from the South West. The Taunton Stop Line was a defensive line in south west England. It was designed “to stop an enemy’s advance from the west and in particular a rapid advance supported by tanks which may have broken through the forward defences.
The Eye #365photos2026
Around the corner #365photos2026
Sand Bay #365photos2026
Headlight #365photos2026
A la Ronde #50places2026
After visiting Castle Drogo, it was only a short drive to A la Ronde, which is just past Exeter on the road to Exmouth.
A la Ronde
Characterful 16-sided house and grounds with views of the Exe estuary, built in 1796 by cousins Jane & Mary Parminter. Filled with curious mementoes of their Grand Tour travels, and handcrafted decorations from shell, feather and paper.
Current saving £118.30
One adult £12.00
Parking Free
Total saving £12.00
Cumulative saving £226.30
Membership cost £96
Net cumulative saving £130.30
I loved this house, this is not a grand mansion, but certainly is a large house across four floors. The odd shaped house has odd shaped rooms. The house was the brainchild of two cousins, who after touring Europe for ten years wanted a house that echoed their experiences. A later relative, as they do, converted the house, adding another floor to the property. The top floor is now closed to visitors, and was more of a gallery decorated with shells and feathers. It is now too delicate for people to go and see. What I initially didn’t realise that there is also a lower ground floor that comprises the kitchen and store rooms.
This was an beautiful house and an incredible experience. Certainly a place I would like to visit again.