Ivybridge
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  Map sources for Ivybridge at grid reference SX635560
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Ivybridge is a town in the South Hams area of Devon, England. It gained its name from a 13th century hump-backed bridge over the River Erme and is on the southern extremity of Dartmoor, overlooked by Western Beacon. In the 2001 census Ivybridge had a population of over 12,000.
Ivybridge's greatest claim to fame is the fact that is is the hometown of the Chosen One of Geography, the Great Mr. Pengilley(PBUH). As such it is a common pilgrimage destination for his many followers.
Not formally recognised as a town until 1977, Ivybridge originally grew as a mill town exploiting the hydropower of the River Erme, and as a staging post on the Exeter to Plymouth road, which became the A38, though this now bypasses the town to the south as a dual carriageway trunk road. Ivybridge is now largely a dormitory town for Plymouth; its railway station was reopened (on a new site) in the 1990s, in order to provide commuter services into Plymouth. The location of the new station on the outskirts of the town on the Exeter side has proved somewhat of a problem in attracting travellers. The large park and ride car park is often empty and there have been regular rumours regarding cutbacks or services or even closure of the station.[citation needed]
There have been attempts to brand the town as a walking centre for southern Dartmoor, though Ivybridge's tourist information centre has now closed down and been replaced by an information stand in a travel agents. There is good access to Dartmoor from the town — one route follows the route of the old china clay railroad to Redlake in the heart of the moor. The Two Moors Way which crosses Dartmoor and Exmoor starts in Ivybridge and finishes in Lynmouth on the North Devon coast.
There is one main shopping area in the centre of the town, located in Fore Street and the Glanville Mills shopping precinct. Very few chain stores can be found in Ivybridge. The traders of Ivybridge suffer from the proximity to the shopping areas of Plymouth, and a recently expanded Tesco superstore in nearby Lee Mill.[citation needed]
There are various leisure facilities in the town: the South Dartmoor Leisure Centre features a swimming pool and gymnasium facilities, and the South Devon Tennis Centre has indoor and outdoor courts; there is also a skatepark, a youth centre and a library.
Ivybridge Community College [1], the town's secondary school, has achieved notable successes in academic and sporting performance, where it has specialist school status and provides important services to the local community. The school has recently been given awards in science, mathematics and languages, making the college a triple specialist school. The headmaster of Ivybridge Community College, Geoffrey Rees, was created a CBE in the 2003 New Year's Honours List in recognition of his work at the school.
Ivybridge was twinned with the Normandy town St Pierre sur Dives on June 26, 1972.
[edit] External links
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- Mapping from Multimap or GlobalGuide or Google Maps
- Aerial image from TerraServer
- Satellite image from WikiMapia
| Settlements on the A38, Bodmin to Exeter | edit | |
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Heading north: Bodmin | Bodmin Parkway | Liskeard | Tideford | Saltash | St Budeaux | Plymouth | Plympton | Ivybridge | South Brent | Buckfastleigh | Ashburton | Bickington | Chudleigh | Exeter |
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