The Healthful Devon Coast

Rich in scenic beauty and healthful climate, the Devon coast, both north and south, was a propitious location for the modern seaside resort. Although he also photographed coastal resorts in Wales, Bedford particularly concentrated on this new type of town and its surrounding landscape in Devon. He took twice as many photographs here as he did in either Wales or the Midlands. Three resorts—Torquay on the south coast and Ilfracombe, and the small, twin towns of Lynton/Lynmouth on the north coast were his primary focus. His photographs were used as souvenirs, as elements in the creation of a place myth and as part of place promotion. As such, they represent ideas about the definitions of nature, how nature might be used, how an individual or group identity might be created in reference to nature, and what benefits might accrue from an experience of landscape different from the home environment.