When Popham was built, three runways were laid down:08/26, 03/21 and a shorter one between them that's no longer there.
In retrospect, building 08/26 on about 06/24, with the clubhouse somewhere a bit different would have been a better idea. But it wasn't - it was built wiht 08/26 pointing right at the petrol station: which had been there for some years beforehand.
So, somebody realised that this was silly - the risk of an undershot approach on 26 or an EFATO on 08 was above zero, and thus it was sensible to put a 20 degree dogleg on approach to 26, or climb-out from 08.
It makes you work a bit harder on approach, and in reality turns 26 into a 650m landing runway, not an 800m runway - and has given a few people a few grey hairs on a windless approach onto 26. But, I'm not aware that it's ever actually caused an accident - so it's just something to make the place a bit more interesting.
G