Is the correct expression - Gone to the dark side?

[Jon39]

( Click to enlarge )








Aston Martin 1921 London to Lands End Trial, 26 March 1921, drivers Kate Martin and husband Lionel Martin.
It would be great to know the location. I tried searching Prospect House, but could not identify the correct one.

[AM-DB9]

Very cool old picture.

Maybe The Tors Hotel in Lynmouth? The terrain fits.
Tors Park, Lynmouth, Devon: Historic Building Record
It opened in 1886, at which time it was known as the Tors Park Hotel. The building was rapidly extended and altered several times including the expansion of the first floor and a second storey added by 1913 and the extension of the north-west tower to four-storeys high by 1922.

[Jon39]

AM-DB9 said:

Very cool old picture.

Maybe The Tors Hotel in Lynmouth? The terrain fits.
Tors Park, Lynmouth, Devon: Historic Building Record
It opened in 1886, at which time it was known as the Tors Park Hotel. The building was rapidly extended and altered several times including the expansion of the first floor and a second storey added by 1913 and the extension of the north-west tower to four-storeys high by 1922.

Thank you AM-DB9.
In Arizona, but you clearly have Devon knowledge.
I think you might be correct. Unfortunately the Google Street View driver, must have decided against making the complete climb. Possibly that upper part of Tors Park is still unsurfaced.

I have put a red pointer showing where the photograph might be. We can certainly see a building in the expected position.
It is further up than this photo (below), location marked by the white arrow within a blue circle.

We now need a young, fit and kind local PHer, to run up Tors Park in the morning and take a few photos to confirm.

For the 100 years ago photo to be so clear (need to click to enlarge) is wonderful. Can see Lionel Martin in the driving seat.
I am never sure with the early B&M Aston Martins, which car is which. Perhaps often complicated by the rumour, that registration plates were swapped between various B&M cars.





EDIT
I had not noticed before, but looking again at the enlarged photo, I saw the big name sign on the hotel on the other side of the valley.
Therefore my red arrow might be on the wrong side of the valley.

Edited by Jon39 on Thursday 20th February 21:19

[Simpo Two]

Jon39 said:

I tried searching Prospect House, but could not identify the correct one.

It seems to be in a place ending in 'combe'.

[Jon39]

Are you young, fit, and kind John?

We need a volunteer to run up and down in the hills and valleys of Lynton and Lynmouth.
No expenses paid.

[Blitzuk]

After spending many holidays going to Lynmouth and Lynton as a child and going there for the last few years for nostalgia since it's not too far from my parents. I'm pretty familiar with the area. I stared at that picture of the Tors hotel too long as I couldn't find a picture that correlated with that huge sign, even pictures from 1907 and 1910. The architecture was right on, but there was a something not right with the window being singular on the right and the back ground of the valley not sitting right until I realised we aren't looking from the side from the harbour entrance. Which looks like this.


It's the side of the Tors Hotel which that side does have a single window on the far right and the chimneys line up. For the location you are talking of in that original photo. My guess is it's on Lynmouth hill


If it's not, it's by Glen Lyn Gorge instead.

[AM-DB9]

Jon39 said:

Thank you AM-DB9.
In Arizona, but you clearly have Devon knowledge.

Your welcome, actually I have zero knowledge of Devon :-) ... Just curiosity and the good'ol internet.
Being a proud owner of an Aston Martin I couldn't resist trying to find out where that was.

[DickyC]

Have you looked at Beggars Roost, Jon?

[Jon39]

Blitzuk said:

My guess is it's on Lynmouth hill.

If it's not, it's by Glen Lyn Gorge instead.

Thank you Blitzuk.

Your type of local knowledge appears to be essential for solving this puzzle, because there are so many small roads and tracks in the area, without any Google Street View coverage.

I think we might be onto the right hotel (perhaps altered since 1921), but from your suggested possible location the angle of viewing the hotel is not the same.

[Jon39]

DickyC said:

Have you looked at Beggars Roost, Jon?

Thank you Richard.

Also in the same area and I have found a video taking us up the Beggars Roost hillclimb.


https://youtu.be/WgmeuqNEtbg?si=HjLovzQuN04rIqNg

For the short version, start at 8:20.





Disappointing though, because I could not see the location of our photograph. It is used for the Lands End Trial though.

[Blitzuk]

Jon39 said:

Thank you Blitzuk.

Your type of local knowledge appears to be essential for solving this puzzle, because there are so many small roads and tracks in the area, without any Google Street View coverage.

I think we might be onto the right hotel (perhaps altered since 1921), but from your suggested possible location the angle of viewing the hotel is not the same.

It's the same hotel. The hotel has been shut the past few years I went due to extensive renovations and a lot of building work. The cliff side it's built into tapers off in the top left hand corner the same way. The area is very winding with a lot of small paths, but a very heavy covering tree line going up Lynmouth hill. So it's either a lot further up. Or it's possible it's from Glen Lyn Gorge where there is no street view as it's a paid access.

The other possibility is that it could have been an old house in the cliff face of Lynmouth hill. The thing is in the past Lynmouth has suffered many severe floods and cliff/land slides which a lot of old photo's are in a little museum there and houses have either been lost/damaged/rebuilt in the last 100 years, so that building in which the photo was taken may not be there. While a lot is Victorian there is a pub the Rising Sun which is from the 1300's.

[DickyC]

Yes, sorry! I missed the Tors Hotel enlargement.

[DickyC]

The consensus is that the car is chassis B2. However, when it was built, the chassis numbers were as flexible as the registration numbers. The car in this form was sold to Miss Winifred Pink who raced it. It was last taxed in 1924.