The track from Furzebrook to the main-line junction at Worgret remained in use for ball clay traffic, later also serving the oilfield at Wytch Farm.
32.
It was also known as "'Blue Ball "', for the nearby blue ball clay deposits, but the local post office received the name West Decatur.
33.
The Bovey Formation is the major source in England for ball clay a highly plastic fine-grained kaolinitic sedimentary clay typically used by the pottery industry.
34.
With the coming of the London and South Western Railway line from Wareham to Swanage in 1885, much of the ball clay was dispatched by rail.
35.
The original Torrington and Marland Railway was built in the late 19th century to carry ball clay to Torrington from the Marland and Meeth clay pits.
36.
Until the late 19th century the river was an important part of the trade route for the export of Purbeck Ball Clay from the Isle of Purbeck.
37.
The ball clay workings on the Isle of Purbeck have left behind a legacy of numerous small lakes, the most notable of which is the Blue Pool.
38.
The line was built in part over narrow gauge line that was used from 1881 to take ball clay from claypits at Marland and Meeth to Barnstaple.
39.
Ball clay was an important mineral but its weight and bulk required efficient transportation; the material had been brought to main line railways by a gauge tramway.
40.
As the rural manufacturing and shipping importance of the area declined, the significance of Crediton, Fremington and Bideford waned also; ball clay however gained importance at Torrington.
