I have a feeling that the title of last AA Box in Great Britain to be spotted by an FCF member with original photographic evidence is going to be this, from the County of Devon.
That is, unless men and women of Devon rise as one and drive with their cameras, their dash cams or their I-Phones at the ready between City of Exeter and Sidmouth and pause just before they reach the Halfway House Inn and do the appropriate deed.
How many are planning a trip to Devon this summer for le weekend or les vacances?
Got to be at least one, and chances are they will have some photographic equipment;
......and unless all FCF members from Cornwall plan on remaining within the boundaries of their home County for the entire summer, they are going to have to pass through Devon on their way to anywhere else, and most likely will steam past Exeter without a thought for the Half Way House AA Box a mere 5 or 6 miles "off-route" on the road to Sidmouth.
Meanwhile here's a couple of railway posters of Exeter-Sidmouth.
Have to say the site disused-stations.org.uk has some tremendous detail on Sidmouth's former station and others on the local network, very much worthy of a place in the "Pickled Egg Library", and also provides a nostalgic memory image for the "Remember these........All our yesterdays" thread.
I don't know whether I would be classed as a resident or visitor, we have only been here for 48 years and actually live just over the border in Dorset but practically every time I go out I go to or through Devon. Travelled that road many times but don't recall the AA box.
Peter.N. wrote: 02 Jul 2018, 10:49
I don't know whether I would be classed as a resident or visitor, we have only been here for 48 years and actually live just over the border in Dorset but practically every time I go out I go to or through Devon. Travelled that road many times but don't recall the AA box.
Verr, verr interestig (who said that?) I parked down the side of the inn & went for a wander - zilch! Also I have a photo of the box (from the A3052 website) & it doesn't look anything like that.
Not sure now when I'm due to take the Eldorado home to the seaside - but it's bound to be at night.
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Thanks for that. Don't remember seeing that actual issue, there is generally a pile of them delivered to the shops in Axminster but they have usually all gone before we get there. I advertised my TV business in there for many years.
I like the A40 Somerset in the picture, Exeter registration so he wasn't far from home. I learnt to drive in an A40 van of the same ilk. I also had an AA box key, been with them since 1958, just had my renewal in so will be doing battle with them to knock the price down shortly.
East Devon District Council (EDDC) decided to mow the strip of the field nearest the road to provide a clear footpath, but leave the rest growing wild.
To the dismay of Sidmouth Arboretum treasurer Ed Dolphin, the whole lot was cleared by accident.
He had been counting butterflies the previous day for a national survey and turned up the next day to find butterflies and wildflowers were all gone.
I remember when AA boxes were all over the place, before we moved down here in 1970 we always used to come on holiday to Devon or Cornwall. I think I have mentioned this before but there was an AA box somewhere on Dartmoor that was powered by a wind generator , not one of your modern things but a Lucas Freelight I believe using a large dynamo with a four pole field, I had one once.
Near Bude I remember filling the car from a petrol pump with a large glass tank on the top with gallon graduations marked on the side, the fuel was pumped up to the appropriate level and then discharged into the tank via a hose and gun. That was in the days when parking was free or or collected in an honesty box, as at Crackington Haven, doubt if it still is.
We now go to the North of Scotland which in many places is still like it was here in the '50s.
I grew up in Devon, moving from Seaton to Bideford in about 1961. I was 9, and my father was the police Sergeant in Seaton, promoted to Inspector and then had a big patch of North Devon to look after.
I have a distant memory of going out with him sometimes in school holidays, maybe when I was 5 or 6, in his light blue pre-Farina Austin Cambridge, TTA 175. No police radios then, and the village constables did what was called point duty - they would be at a specific place and time a few times a week so they could be met if required, otherwise they could only be got hold of by phone in the evenings when they weren't out. I think the AA box at halfway house was a 'point' and I'm sure we went there.
It would be good to know if it's still there.
Google streetview Sept 2016 has it, a tiny layby and bus stop, on the A3052 just West of the junction with the B3180 by the 50 limit signs. In a dark tree covered corner.
Richard_C
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Richard_C wrote: 26 Aug 2018, 11:55
It would be good to know if it's still there.
Google streetview Sept 2016 has it, a tiny layby and bus stop, on the A3052 just West of the junction with the B3180 by the 50 limit signs. In a dark tree covered corner.
Its been a Grade II listed building since January 1989, so I hope its still there as of now.
Here's the street view location picture, which you refer to
As of today, the Halfway House AA Box on the Exeter to Sidmouth A3052 remains the only box yet to be claimed in Great Britain in the FCF Challenge.
Of course there is the more difficult to reach AA box in Jersey which is likely to be the last in the UK to complete the full challenge, but surprising that the Devon box is still unclaimed 2 years since the challenge was first laid down!
Well its going to be a Sunny sunday afternoon in Devon today. What better than a nice little drive out.
Bit too much for me to do an 800 mile round trip, but if you live nearish by give it a go!
When the M5 first opened I used to do Leeds and back in a day and still have time to visit some friends in Derbyshire on the way back, about 600 miles the round trip, wouldn't like to try it now.
