Long Description:The River Avon is a river in the county of Devon in the south of
England.
It rises in the southern half of Dartmoor National Park in an area
of bog to the west of Ryder's Hill. Close to where the river leaves
Dartmoor a dam was built in 1957 to form the Avon reservoir .
After leaving the moor it passes through South Brent and then
Avonwick and Aveton Gifford and flows into the sea at Bigbury on
Sea.
I visited Plymouth on Saturday 03 February 2007 and found the
beautiful coast by accident. I have heard and read about Bigbury on
Sea & Burgh Island but never visited as I was never certain
where it was !!
Burgh Island is a small tidal island off the south coast of Devon
in England near to the small seaside village of Bigbury on Sea.
There are only two buildings of any significance on the island, the
larger being the Art Deco Burgh Island Hotel, the smaller being a
public house, The Pilchard.
At low tide the island, only 200 m from the shore, may be
approached on foot. At high tide, the Sea Tractor operated by the
hotel provides a ferry service. This unusual vehicle, the current
one dating from 1966, drives across with its wheels underwater on
the sandy bottom and its driver and passengers on a platform high
above.
Burgh Island is closely linked to Agatha Christie, as it served
as the inspirational setting for both And Then There Were None as
well as Hercule Poirot mystery Evil Under the Sun. The 2002 TV
adaptation of Evil Under The Sun used the island as a filming
location. Several scenes from the BBC’s 1987 dramatisation of
Christie’s story Nemesis were shot in the Burgh Island Hotel, as it
was felt that the location was ideal for the film.
Other famous visitors to the Burgh Island Hotel have included
The Beatles who used the hotel when they were playing a concert in
Plymouth, well away from their passionate fans. Noel Coward visited
the hotel, intending to stay three days and ended up staying three
weeks.
Other guests who have reputedly used the hotel include Edward
and Mrs. Simpson and it is said that Eisenhower and Churchill met
there in the weeks leading up to the D-Day invasion.
