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Picture of the day - 671 (Saturday 5 April 2025) Chapel Steps, Dartmoor, Devon Sheeaun, Kilmaley, Ennis, Co.Clare, Ireland. Email contact Telephone: (065) 6839383 (International: +353 65 6839383) Mobile: (086) 8074125 (International: +353 86 8074125) All work on this web page is copyright Andrew Newland. Unauthorised use prohibited without the artist's permission

DARTMO01 Chapel Steps, Dartmouth, Devon
Pencil and gouache in a sketchbook
Saturday 8 April 1978

In the 1970s I started teaching at a college in South Devon. On Saturday 8 April 1978 I visited a work colleague, Graham and his wife Cayla who at that time were living in the picturesque old coastal town of Dartmouth, located at the mouth of the River Dart.

The lower Dart valley has quite steep sides and the town is located on the western side of the river with Kingswear on the opposite bank. Graham and Cayla had a lovely old terraced house in the appropriately-named street 'Above Town' which runs parallel to the river but on a much higher level. Their house had a wonderful view over the town and river with Kingswear and its railway station, served by the Dartmouth Steam Railway, across the river.

My sketch shows the steps which link Above Town with the main street of the town below at Bayards cove. Known officially as Chapel Lane but locally as Chapel Steps it takes its name from the former Baptist Chapel which is on the left of my drawing and accessed from the steps. The ornate cast iron bracket seen in my drawing projecting from the corner of the building has since been provided with a hanging sign but the property is now a private house.

The steps are paved with tiles, most of which had a criss-cross pattern to make them less slippery in wet weather. The sinuous iron handrail running up the middle of the steps would no doubt have been very useful.

The drawing extends across two pages in a sketchbook with a page size of 217 x 280 mm which was turned around to suit the format of the composition. The drawing was made initially in pencil but then gouache colour was added with a small brush.