The Sidmouth correspondent to The Western Times of Saturday, 9th April 1842 reported:
"On Friday, there was a large quantity of illicit brandy landed about a mile to the east of this town, unperceived by the coast-guard of the adjoining stations.
"The smugglers left behind them a boat used in landing their cargo from some larger vessel, and which was evidently made with a calculation as to its probable loss, it being made of the slightest materials, and not painted, It is in the possession of the coast-guard, and marked with the broad arrow."
For a second consecutive month (see my last blog!) the coastguard stations at Sidmouth and Weston did not notice a ship delivering a cargo of brandy to, on both occasions it can only have been, Salcombe Mouth. The ship would have shown no lights and the crew would have made no noise and would perhaps have navigated by what the National Trust calls 'the day-mark', the great, white, man-made area of flint stones high on Dunscombe(?) cliff, which would also serve, most nights, as a night-mark. (Does anyone know when this 'mark' was made?)
This is the first time I have read of smugglers using a cheap-and-cheerful, dispensable, unpainted boat 'made of the slightest materials' which could be abandoned on the beach to amaze and dismay the excisemen. The boat must at least have been sturdy enough to serve as a lighter.
The customs officers of Sidmouth and Weston seem seldom to have found any kegs of illicit brandy to mark with the ordnance's famous crow's foot. Does one sense a lack of urgency?
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