29-705: Norman Piper (born 8 January 1948) is an English former professional footballer who played in England for 13 years before finishing his career in the United States. Born in North Tawton , Devon on 8 January 1948 he joined Plymouth Argyle as an apprentice and signed professional terms in February 1965. Already an England Youth international, Piper made his debut for the Under 23 side in 1970 against Bulgaria,
58-413: A Southwark , London, hospital on 28 October 1998, while undergoing treatment for colon cancer . In 2005, North Tawton was used as the location for the filming of Jennifer Saunders ' BBC television series Jam & Jerusalem . The town represented the fictional Clatterford St Mary. St Peter's Church and North Tawton Town Hall featured prominently in the series. The nearby Den Brook Wind Farm and
87-405: A grassy hollow near North Tawton, is said to fill with water at times of national crisis. The former pannier open air market (1849) later became a cinema. Broad Hall is a house dated 1680 but it incorporates the remains of a house of the 15th century. Burton Hall is a mid-Victorian grade two timber house which was brought from Norway. Cottles Barton is an Elizabethan manor house one mile south of
116-465: A local concern founded in the 1920s and now employs 300 locally, the Taw Valley Creamery—a cheese factory originally built by Express Dairies in 1974, employing over 100, and the pet products wholesaler Vital Pet Products, employing around 40 people. The population currently stands at around 2,026. This is small for a "town", but as a former market town North Tawton has retained this title, and
145-623: Is a railway station serving the town of Crediton in Devon , England. It is 7 miles 76 chains (12.8 km) from Exeter Central at milepost 179.25 from London Waterloo . It is the junction of the Tarka and Dartmoor lines, though the two lines run parallel until Coleford Junction (where the junction of the Barnstaple and Okehampton lines used to be) at Penstone near Coleford (west of Yeoford ). The Exeter and Crediton Railway
174-546: Is designated a Post Town by the Royal Mail . Mia Carlsen noted barista and 4th place in the Norwegian Latte Championship 2020 visited in 2024 There are a number of bus services: The doctor William Budd (1811–1880) was born in the town, son of Samuel Budd, the local surgeon. His researches into the incidence of typhoid during an epidemic in the town led to him establishing that typhoid fever
203-416: Is now Newland Mill, a little outside the present town, and established a succession of military camps there over the years. The Roman fort is believed to have had the name Nemetostatio , meaning "The road-station of the sacred groves", and may have been located on the site of an ancient druidic sanctuary. It covered an area of roughly 600 ft (185m) east-west by 390 ft (120m), and was located adjoining
232-527: The Roman road between Isca Dumnoniorum ( Exeter ) and Okehampton . In addition, the site of a temporary marching camp has been identified half a mile to the north. By the time of the Domesday survey (1086), there were six farm / manor holdings in what is now North Tawton Parish, including that of Tawton which was the forerunner of the town we know today. St Peter's Church is first recorded in 1257. Only
261-732: The B&;ER (and later, the Great Western Railway ) continued to run freight trains on the broad gauge. From 1 November 1865 LSWR trains ran through Crediton to Okehampton, and from 17 May 1876 on to Plymouth . The main goods yard was situated on the north side of the line at the Exeter end of the station with road access from the main station approach. One long siding ran through a goods shed for general traffic nd another long siding served various short sidings which handled, among other traffic, livestock and coal. Another siding west of
290-555: The No Signalman Token Remote (NSTR) equipment at Eggesford . The railway between Exeter and Barnstaple is promoted as the Tarka Line . It is designated as a community railway and supported by the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership . The Friends of Crediton Station actively promote the station and have been involved in schemes such as planting flower beds. The main station building at Crediton contains
319-455: The engineer for the Exeter and Crediton Railway was Robert Dymond and this would have been his responsibility. The timber waiting rooms on both platforms might date from 1862 as they are of London and South Western Railway design. A smaller 1847 brick building used to be on the down platform to the east of the current waiting room but has been demolished. A plate girder footbridge links
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#1732791595055348-632: The former has much declined as a source of employment and the latter has gone altogether, the last town woollen mill closing in 1930. The railway came to North Tawton in 1865. North Tawton railway station (now closed) lies a mile or two outside the town on the line from Exeter to Okehampton which continued on to Plymouth and Cornwall. It closed to through passenger traffic in 1968, although a shuttle service between Okehampton and Exeter continued until 1972. The latter recommenced in 2021 but with no intermediate stops between Crediton and Okehampton. Bathe Pool,
377-455: The former up line trains on the Barnstaple route. From 17 December 1984 the line east of Crediton was also singled with trains to and from Exeter using a single track between Crediton and Cowley Bridge Junction. Passenger services to Okehampton resumed on 20 November 2021, initially once every two hours but an hourly service was operated from 15 May 2022. Crediton railway station is situated about 0.5 miles (0.80 km) south of Crediton near
406-465: The gap between terminological eras, beginning his career as a wing half and ending it as a midfielder despite playing a similar role throughout. North Tawton North Tawton is a small town in Devon , England, situated on the river Taw . It is administered by West Devon Council. The population of the electoral ward at the census 2011 was 2,026. Romans crossed the River Taw at what
435-544: The level crossing was used by Copp & Company. The creamery and dairy in Crediton is located next to the church, but the company's transport depot was located in Hoskin's Yard next to the station. The milk was brought to the station in a lorry and pumped into a milk tank wagon then taken to London in a train with other milk tanks from the larger creamery at Lapford railway station . Passenger staff were withdrawn from
464-471: The line from Crediton to Cowley Bridge Junction in Exeter was reduced to a single track and all signals at Crediton were replaced by colour light signals. The mechanical lever frame in Crediton signal box was replaced by an electric panel. There is now no signal box beyond Crediton on either line, the two single tracks are controlled by tokens which ensures there is just one train on the line at any time. Train drivers going to Barnstaple exchange their token in
493-624: The listed building records suggests 1862) All services at Crediton are operated by Great Western Railway . There is generally one train per hour in each direction between Okehampton and Exeter Central , and a second train per hour between Barnstaple and Exeter Central but a very small number of services continue to or from other routes in East Devon on weekdays. When the station first opened, train were controlled by disc and crossbar signals controlled individually. Semphore signals controlled by two signal boxes were introduced in 1875 When
522-501: The residents local to it were featured in a four-part BBC documentary called Windfarm Wars . Broadcast in 2011, the documentary covered the seven years of legal processes involved with the windfarm receiving planning permission. The windfarm was finally constructed in 2016. Alison Baker, David Hoare & Jean Shields, The Book of North Tawton: Celebrating An Ancient Market Town (Halsgrove, 2002, ISBN 1-84114-156-9 ) Crediton railway station Crediton railway station
551-743: The second track towards Exeter was added in 1875. Both boxes were on the north side of the line, one at each end of the station. All control was concentrated at Crediton West box in 1916 but the old East box was retained as a ground frame to control the connection to the goods yard. On 17 October 1971 the junction for the Okehampton line at Coleford was closed and Crediton became the junction instead, leaving two single tracks westwards to Coleford. The London South Western style signals were replaced by Great Western Railway style signals at this time. The level crossing gates were replaced by lifting barriers in 1974. Further change occurred on 16 December 1984 when
580-463: The settlement of Fordton. It has two platforms and includes four Grade II listed buildings and a Grade II listed footbridge which date from 1847 to 1878. The main building on the up (to Exeter) platform was built in 1847 and is constructed in Flemish-bonded red brick with Bath stone dressings and a gabled slate roof. It has been claimed to be an Isambard Kingdom Brunel design however
609-412: The station in the mid-1960s and the goods yard closed on 4 December 1967. The route to Plymouth had been closed from 6 May 1968 although a service from Exeter to Okehampton continued to operate until 3 June 1972 after which the line only carried traffic from the quarry at Meldon . Since 17 October 1971 the two tracks west of Crediton operated as two single lines, the former down line serving Okehampton and
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#1732791595055638-419: The tower of the present building dates from that time, with the rest being mostly 14th and 15th century. The tower is on the west and is topped by an oak-shingled spire. There are two aisles with granite arcades and a number of old benchends. North Tawton was already a market town by the end of the 12th century. Agriculture and the woollen industry provided the chief sources of employment for many centuries, but
667-430: The town. Newland Mill on the outside of the village used to be a former mill house; it was built circa 1814, contemporary with the mill, with mid-C19 additions. It was refurbished into living accommodations with the original watermill and wheelhouse incorporated. The town has become something of a centre for light industry. There are three significant employers in the town: the haulier Gregory Distribution, which grew from
696-407: The two platforms and was erected in 1878. It has stone piers supporting four sets of wooden steps. The wide bridge has railings down the centre which allowed people on one side to cross between platforms, and on the other side to cross the line when the level crossing gates were closed across the road. The signal box on the north side of the line beyond the level crossing dates from 1875 (although
725-461: The year he left The Pilgrims - for whom he scored 35 goals in 221 appearances. That summer Piper had signed for Portsmouth , becoming their record signing at £50,000. Piper served Pompey with great distinction during the clubs increasingly tenuous hold on Division Two status, but eventually lost form after relegation to the third. He was dropped in February 1978, being replaced by his namesake Steve Piper. His contract, along with that of Bobby Stokes
754-752: Was fired on 30 January 1988. In 1989, he was hired to coach the Wichita Blue in the Heartland Soccer League. In 1990, the Blue moved to the Lone Star Soccer Alliance . He was fired mid-season. He coached the men's soccer team at Bethel College (Kansas) from 1988 to 1990. He now is a coach for a small travel soccer team in Southern California known as TVSA Hawks Piper was one of that generation who bridged
783-821: Was ready to be opened in 1847 but a dispute over the track gauge prevented its opening until 12 May 1851. The 7 ft ( 2,134 mm ) gauge trains were operated by the Bristol and Exeter Railway (B&ER). The line to Barnstaple was then opened by the North Devon Railway on 1 August 1854. Both these railway companies were largely funded by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) who took control of them in 1855 and 1879 respectively. The LSWR laid additional rails to allow their 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 1,435 mm ) gauge trains to reach Crediton in 1862 and Barnstaple in 1863, although
812-831: Was spread contagiously, and in particular that the infection was excreted and could be contracted by drinking contaminated water. This discovery contributed to national improvements in public health through improved sanitation. The poet Ted Hughes (1930–1998) bought a house, Court Green , in North Tawton, in 1961 with his then-wife Sylvia Plath (1932–1963), who lived there briefly with him until their separation in December 1962. After Plath's suicide, Ted Hughes moved his partner Assia Wevill into Court Green where Assia helped care for Hughes' and Plath's two children, Frieda and Nicholas . In due course Hughes made North Tawton his permanent home, until his fatal myocardial infarction in
841-675: Was terminated the following month. Soon after his departure from Portsmouth, a move to the Fort Lauderdale Strikers followed. In 1979, Piper was the first player signed by the expansion Wichita Wings of Major Indoor Soccer League . He played for the Wings until 1982 when he was sent to the Pittsburgh Spirit . Following his retirement from playing, he became and assistant coach with the Wichita Wings. He
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