Newton Poppleford lies in the Otter Valley in East Devon. It is an Anglo-Saxon town whose name originates from 'The New Town/Farm of the People's Ford' - a ford that was free to cross or controlled by a non-tax collecting toll keeper. The town grew slightly with the building of the railway at its Eastern fringes and grew slightly more with Dr Beeching's plan of removing it. The village is on the banks of the River Otter, as the 'ford' part may suggest. The ford was located at the widest, and therefore the shallowest and slowest flowing, part of the river for a few miles in either direction. The Victorians rather stupidly built the village's bridge over the site of the old ford, instead of building it on one of the narrower parts of the river about 10 yards on either side.

It is bordered by the hamlets of Harpford (full of rather large houses), Venn Ottery (full of rather small, yet quaint, houses) and Dotton (full of a lawnmower and tractor-parts shop). Neraby, over to the east and the summit of the impossibly long and steep Four Elms Hill, lies the Regency town of Sidmouth.

If one squints, Newton Poppleford is quite pretty but also mind-numbingly dull (a frequently occurring characteristic of Devon villages). Although it seems to give an impression of quaintness it does in fact extend further back from the main road on which it is established¹.

The village extends outwards into several well-hidden modern housing developments. They are:

• A housing estate badly modelled on a Swiss village, that has every single road, close and cul-de-sac named after a bird.

• A housing estate cleverly compressed into an area roughly the size of a first-class stamp, with a rather pretentious 'King Alfred Way'.

• A housing estate that seems to have isolated itself from the world. Sometimes referred to as 'The Bermuda Triangle Estate' as people are seen to enter, but never leave.

• The infamous School Lane. Originally a bunch of 1940s and 50s pleasant Council Houses, it has sprawled ungracefully over Newton Poppleford's eastern hillside. Like most modern British estates, it was built with a combination of pebble-dash and no imagination. The roads are signed 'No.s 12-26' etc.

• A housing estate that was built on a floodplain, and has so far been lucky. It uses the American idea of making two looping roads that appear to form a crescent but are in fact two almost-meeting cul-de-sacs, apparently purely to annoy motorists.

Other housing in Newton Poppleford is very much an amalgam of thatch, bungalows and terraces.

Nightlife and Entertainment

Put simply... there is none, although the people do try. There are two well-established pubs in Newton Poppleford: the Exeter Inn and the Cannon Inn. A third pub, the Turks Head, did exist but was demolished for a road-widening scheme. The Exeter Inn is the more popular for two reasons:

1. It is closer to the centre of the village².
2. It is closer to the Chinese take-away/fish and chip shop.

However, both are equally welcoming, but offer a quieter, more laid-back attitude to that found in many of Britain's inner city bars, pubs and other drinking establishments. Like all British country pubs they proudly serve local beers (Otter Beers and Ales) that no-one from outside a 10-mile radius has ever heard of, and a box of dominoes that have been used once or twice by a man called Frank.

The Parish Council and elderly community³ do try and put on some forms of entertainment weekly or monthly, such as bridge club (a game only understood by elderly women and those who learn how to play it via osmosis when visiting Las Vegas).

There is also a playground with the 'Pile Producing Swings' named because of their incredibly close proximity to the floor. The playground is situated within a sports field.

There is also a rather interesting rock.

This is where Newton Poppleford's entertainment runs dry.

Buildings and Places of Interest

Newton Poppleford does boast a Norman Church of the highest preserved quality. Although the congregation is diminishing, the Church itself is wonderful, and even has a lantern tower (a popular feature of Devon churches).

The village also has a pleasant school of just a few pleasant students and staff.

The hamlet of Harpford is also of interest if you wish to see how people richer than you live. It is filled with many fine houses including the ominous Harpford House (which seems to have provided the template for the Haunted House at Alton Towers) and The White House (perhaps to the surprise of the American Government).