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EVENTS 2012 :
The Roman South West
In AD43 during the reign of Emperor Claudius, a Roman force of 10,000 under the command of General Vespasian, invaded England. Derek Gore's superb talk on the subsequent events & influences on our own region of Dumnonia enthralled a packed hall at our first event of the year.
After over 30 battles including the conquering of the Isle of Wight (known then as Vectis), the Romans spread westwards. Over the years, advances in aerial photography have identified many of the sites of their temporary camps & forts, & subsequent excavations have revealed more archaeological evidence. Two good examples of this are found at Bolham (near Tiverton) & Bury Barton (near Crediton), dispelling earlier theories that the Romans never made it past Exeter.
Their forts were sometimes built on the foundations of earlier Iron Age structures & the importance of iron is evidenced at Hembury in East Devon, where remains have been found of workshops for the smelting of the ore - there was also iron production going on in the Blackdown Hills. The region was important too for corn, cattle, gold, silver, tin, copper, lead & pewter - all very useful & valuable to an invading army & their country back home.
Again with the aid of the aerial maps, Derek was able to point out the routes of Roman roads eg. Dorchester to Exeter along the line of the A30, & on Sourton Down. Forts & settlements sprang up at various points en route, including those recently discovered at Calstock & Restormel. It is believed that an important port was set up at Topsham & the movement of goods to & from Rome & other parts of Europe across the sea was extensive. Our minerals went out & in came Roman soldiers' necessities of wine, olive oil & garum (a type of fish sauce). Much of the incoming goods came in inside huge storage vessels; finds of Samian & other cooking ware having become quite widespread in subsequent excavations. It is likely that cooking pots were eventually made locally (Axe Valley) & traded with the soldiers.
There was of course a huge impact of the Romans' activities on the local population. At first it would have been very one way with the invaders taking what they wanted by force, beef, mutton, eggs etc., as well as timber from the forests for their forts. However as time went by, it would seem that the soldiers who were very well paid , would spend their money locally & the inhabitants traded regularly with them. The first use of coins in Dumnonia came from this period.
A Roman legion was based at Isca (Exeter) in AD55 after the rest of the country was made secure. After they left, the city expanded beyond the original boundaries, though many of the fortifications can still be seen today. Romanised farmsteads or villas started to appear in the countryside, the one at Holcombe being a particularly fine example, complete with its bath-house.
Evidence from this early period of our history continues to appear, as the recent discoveries at Calstock confirm, so there is plenty more to come on this fascinating subject - made more so by our splendid speaker - many thanks again to Derek Gore.
EVENTS 2011 :
Tavistock Abbey & the Isles of Scilly
A packed hall of members & friends, warmed by complimentary mince pies & a glass of wine, enjoyed Dr. Tom Greeves talk which brought to an end our 2011 events programme.
Tom explained how the Benedictine Abbey in Tavistock was once the richest in Devon, & in the 12th century granted lands for a priory in the Isles of Scilly (IOS). This was built on St. Nicholas Isle, now known as Tresco, housing 6 monks & the Prior. Tom told of the early monks crossing the Tamar for the first time in their lives & making for Sennen Cove which was probably the nearest point of embarkation, the rough seas they faced & the bleak first impressions that they must have had of the Isles. The first Prior called Turold was told to "keep a firm peace", which he was quick to enforce with the reported beheading of 120 pirates!
Explorations on the IOS have discovered even earlier signs of Christianity. On the small island of Tean (originally St. Theona's) there is the site of an 8th century church & a cemetery containing 16 graves. On St. Agnes , the remains of old harbour quays have been found along with the holy well of St. Awana (the only one on the whole IOS). Further relics of old churches & chapels have been found on St. Mary's & St. Martins. A 6th century memorial stone similar to those at Tavistock vicarage was found on Tresco.
The Priory would have been a busy place with lots of international travellers passing through the islands, though the monks were probably a bit fearful of visitors (particularly pirates). Breton jugs & querns are among some of the artefacts that have been found. In 1302, a man named Thomas Rychin killed a Tavistock monk & sought sanctuary in the Priory , later escaping though no further trace was found.
Documents found in the Bedford collection refer to leases recorded in the 14th century to priors on "Reschaw" (Tresco), & several of these priors went on to become Abbots at Tavistock. There is no mention however of the IOS in the records of the Dissolution of the Monastaries (1536-41).
Tom said that there were lots of "happenings" on the IOS around the times of the Priory. The infamous Bishop's Rock was often used as a place where miscreants were marooned & left to die as the seas claimed their souls. Another place where ill sailors were taken & where pilgrimages were organised was St. Helen's Isle, where it is thought there was a chapel, church & visitors quarters. In the 15th century the site was despoiled & funds to rebuild (as part of purgatory reduction) were not used to full effect, the site falling into ruin, & being further exposed during WW2.
A remaining link between the IOS & Tavistock may lie under the town square. Graves were discovered there a few years ago during construction work - were some of these ex priors of the Priory of St. Nicholas on Tresco?
A talk full of historical interest & a certain amount of humour, thanks once again to Tom.
Remembrance & the Great War - the Creation of Devon's 2,000 war memorials
Lest Devon Forgets is the title of Dr. Todd Gray's new book (Devon Book of the Year) & this was the basis of his illuminating talk, full of fascinating detail & history.
From 1919 onwards, the villages & towns of Devon were often locked in controversy over the selection & erection of memorials to the war dead. One of the first to be built was in Washfield near Tiverton, the unique monument being a shelter with a simple memorial tablet fixed to the wall. But then every community's monument was unique in both form & dedication - these days they mean different things to different people & except on special occasions are often ignored.
After the Great War, the people of Devon felt the need to honour the dead & committees were formed to decide on the types of memorial, where to put them , whose names were to go on them & how to finance them. This led to huge controversies & divisions within the parishes. Suggestions for the type of memorial included village halls (the most common - for all parishioners "coming together in peace"), playing fields, libraries, hospitals, with the vicar often rooting for repairs to his church! ....& of course various forms of crosses.
Even the choice of a cross was subject to much difference of opinion - Celtic, Latin or Maltese?...raised up as in a Calvary? Granite or another local stone? The choices were very much an expression of place & religion. Totnes erected a Sword of Sacrifice with its unique downward pointing bronze (only one of its kind) sword, others had the sword pointing upwards. Other styles of memorials include the pylon (Torquay), obelisk (Paignton), column (Plymouth), ornamental sculptures (Exeter) & many stained glass windows in churches.
Size & positioning was also important, mostly depending on cost, but also elements of competitiveness within (Exeter) & between different towns & villages. Funds would usually be raised by public subscription & often fell short of the required amount needed, requiring a change in design. The names to go on the memorials also had to be decided on - eg. to which parish did the dead belong? - confusion on this issue sometimes led to some being missed or even duplicated in another locality.
In later years after WW2 & the Falklands, names were added for these conflicts, some memorials also added those who were wounded & served in the various wars.
The above is a very brief summary of Todd's detailed talk & anyone who is interested in finding out more is recommended to read his superb book.
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Sir Frederick Stratten Russell (Freddie)
Last year the Marine Biological Association (MBA) celebrated its 125th anniversary & our speaker Dr. Ann Pulsford thought it was fitting that "Freddie" was elected a Royal Society Local Hero. The Director of the MBA from 1945-65, he was also the senior editor of their journal. He also had a very distinguished war career.
Born in Dorset but later moving to Newquay, he soon developed an interest in natural history, in particular marine life & the decline of fish stocks. At the start of WW1 he joined the RNAS at Hendon, but after a serious accident during pilot training & a long convalescence, he became an aerial observer, serving in Dunkirk. His job involved taking photographs of the the coastline whilst suspended under the plane's fuselage, suffering several narrow escapes, and was awarded the DSC, DFC & the Croix de Guerre.
A 1st class Honours degree in marine biology at Cambridge was followed by a post in Egypt, where he studied eggs & fishes. Then in 1924 he joined the MBA in Plymouth as Assistant Naturalist, becoming an enthusiastic angler & golfer in his spare time. He wrote his first book "The Seas" & started sampling programmes & publishing pioneering works on zoo plankton, jellyfish & other indicator species. His observations on the effects of changes in sea temperatures on fishing stocks became known as the Russell Cycle. He was a born survivor & managed to fight off being stung by the deadly box jellyfish whilst on an expedition on the Great Barrier reef. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1938, one of the yougest ever.
He served as a highly respected pilot officer in RAF Intelligence in WW2 & in 1945 was appointed Director of the MBA. His first task was to rebuild the labs & other parts lost in the Blitz, but also added new labs & a library. From then on he developed the MBA into an internationally recognised centre of expertise, himself winning many awards, honorary degrees & visits from eminent scientists. He also published many books with his own illustrations, including the classic volumes of "The Medusae of the British Isles".
He was knighted in 1965 on his retirement & spent much of his later years on his hobbies of painting & photography. He was also President of the Dartmoor Association & assisted in the editing of the classic "Worth's Dartmoor".
A truly remarkable "local hero".
Kilworthy Farm
"A Cathedral of Dung" is one of the descriptions that stayed with me after this fascinating visit, hosted by Sandra Vallance & her husband, & ably supported by Barry Landitt whose family previously farmed here.
The buildings were constructed in the 1850's by the 7th Duke of Bedford mainly from Hurdwick stone & other local materials, the whole place being designed as a cattle fattening centre. Calves were brought in & fed to the the point ready for market, a sort of early battery farming. The massive buildings hold first floor cowhouses where the cattle were kept in rows of stalls. Water was fed into individual granite troughs by iron feeder pipes, with chutes for dung leading to the undercroft.
This undercroft - the "cathedral" is a very impressive structure indeed. Extending the full width & length of the buildings above, the huge granite columns support the floor of similar material above, with additional iron straps providing extra strength. A central aisle with granite kerb stones runs up each of the 5 bays providing access for carting the dung onto the fields. Swallows flitted in & out above our heads as we stood & marvelled at the sheer magnificence of the building.
Water was taken off the Wallabrook & brought in on a leat to the wrought iron 30ft diameter waterwheel which can still be seen in its wheel pit in front of the farmhouse. This was used to drive threshing & other machines for processing the grain to feed the cows. Winnowing machines, chaff cutter, root slicer & cake breaker are some of the machines which would have been operated in the impressive granary barn. All the buildings have a clever, well designed system of interconnecting doors or chutes to allow materials & waste to flow easily.
The stableyard consists of several other buildings including a cart shed, carpenter's & blacksmith's shops & a stables/harness room. On the arches of some are the carved heads or masks which are thought to represent the Kings of Israel.
English Heritage stepped in & provided funds for the restoration of the buildings in 2003 & the place is now more traditionally farmed by the Vallances, hosting other group visits as well as running an established B&B business.
The visit was rounded off with a superb tea of home made pasties, scones & cakes. Huge thanks again to the Vallances & especially to Barry for the wealth of knowledge & history that he contributed - a truly remarkable place.
Pictures courtesy of Sandy & Ken Rickard
An exploration of Wigford Down
Liz Miall led 20 intrepid supporters on this interesting excusion of the Down and fortunately the rain which had been around all day did not return. A lovely grassy area with superb views towards the sea & beyond, the Down was quite well populated in the Bronze Age & consequently there are still lots of interesting features to see.
Cadaford Cross marked the start of our walk, originally erected by the monks of Plympton, part of a monastic path to Tavistock, linking with the nearby Stony & Urgles crosses. Above the old china clay pits now used by anglers, ancient cairns & boundary reaves are dotted on the side of the hill, with a sunken peaty pool ( half empty on the day) marking the summit. A retaining circle here, some 24 feet in diameter is notable for its very large stones, as is the round house further down the hill to the west. Here a large hawthorn tree guards a very prominent circle of stones. Nearby are more of the same, along with the remains of a medieval longhouse.
Climbing back up the slope we encountered the line of 7 boundary markers engraved with the letter L. These were erected following a dispute on land ownership between Sir Ralph Lopes & Mr. Scobell; intriguingly only the former's initial appears. Next stop was the Dewerstone with its stunning views out to Plymouth Sound. This was almost certainly the site of an Iron Age promontory fort with the steep valley protecting one side & fortifications guarding attacks from the Down itself.
On the top rock there are various inscriptions, the main one being a memorial to the poet Noel Carrington. There are huge buttresses of rock below, favourites with rock climbers. One of these, a Mike Rabley, discovered in 1960 a Bronze Age pottery cup in good condition, now in Plymouth museum. On the return route we passed by Cadworthy Tor with its lovely quartz veins & then the well preserved kistvaen (stone chest - burial chamber) & its massive capstone - fragments of a pottery beaker were found here when excavated back in 1900.
We then retraced our route passing through remains of more settlements, with signs of other field systems & ancient pounds in the Cadworthy fields below, back to the Counting House, the former office of the Wigford Down china clay works.
A big thank you to Liz for leading us & passing on her knowledge of the Down, a place often overlooked by the motorist driving past, but nevertheless an area full of interest - and only partly visited on our walk & described here.
Horrabridge - a village walk
Jill Fitzsimmons, ably supported by her husband & other members of the family, led a large group of about 45 Society members & friends on a very interesting stroll around the village. The rains held off as the group were taken around the sites of the old mills, leats & mine shafts, many of the remains of which have long since disappeared. Indeed much of the village these days is taken up with new housing developments.
Farming, tin & copper mining, wool manufacture & an early hydro electric turbine have all featured in its history. Some of the relics of a forgotten age can still be seen, an impressive wall with in built mortar stones one fine example. The aftermath of a very busy period of mining in the 19th century has indeed been a feature of much activity in the area over the last few years.
When an old mine shaft opened up in a house on the appropriately named Copperfields estate, it started a huge investigation & extensive surveys which revealed many problems of a similar nature. A huge project was eventually started to fill in & shore up the shafts, stabilising & even demolishing some of the houses. A lot of this was around the old Wheal Franco mine, the humps & bumps of which can still be seen, along with the old mine captain's house - now a private residence.
The walk was rounded off by a display in the London Inn of old photographs, maps & historical records....& for some a welcome pint - a nice way to end a fascinating tour of the area.
"Military Tales between the Wars"
Elizabeth Maslen is a very experienced academic with a wide range of skills and experience.This background was ably illustrated in the precise and elegant construction of the talk she gave to an appreciative audience at Meavy Hall.
The talk , based on the research for her next book, was mainly a consideration of the role of The British Legion in the period from its formation on May 15th 1921 until the outbreak of World War II in 1939. The main purpose of the British Legion was straight forward: to care for those servicemen and their families who had suffered disability and hardship during World War I.
The timing was significant. In 1921, as well as the victims of the war there were 2 million unemployed and the future looked bleak for many people.The disaster of the failing
Politians and some senior members of the British legion believed that a strong bond existed between the ex-servicemen in
Later, as unrest grew and with the emergence of Oswald Mosley’s Blackshirts, the Legion formed a Voluntary police force to help keep the fragile peace. It was virtually unarmed, was ineffectual and was soon disbanded. The British Legion reverted to what it did best; caring for the poor, disabled and shocked victims of war and their dependants.
Elisabeth Maslen provided a fascinating summary of those complex decades between the two World Wars.
"Alphabetical Dartmoor"
Len Copley stepped in for the unavailable Tom Soby, with an unusually angled talk on the beautiful variety of Dartmoor, ranging from Bronze Age antiquities to modern military artefacts , landscapes & wildlife, fully illustrating the rich & varied history of the moor.
Starting with the letter A on the Arne Head stone at the head of the Erme, Len weaved his way through the alphabet all the way to the Zeal Tor tramway built in 1847 to carry peat from Redlake to Shipley Bridge. Amongst the industrial ventures encountered on his journey were the Haytor tramway constructed to take granite from the moor via the Stover canal to the port at Teignmouth ; the moorland granite & limestone quarries used in the construction of the Plymouth breakwater & the war memorial in the Falklands; the Rattlebrook peat works - oil from the peat reputably a treatment for frostbite; copper & arsenic (used for boll weevil control in the US & a cure for baldness!) the Sourton iceworks & the china clay pits.
Len mentioned some of the ancient customs such as initiation rites on Hangingstone Hill (young lads on their first drift being hung upside down) & the practice of sleeping overnight on the roof of a warm limekiln with the very real possibility of either falling in or being overcome by the fumes - & as a social meeting place for communal roasting of potatoes! Ring Rock marked the nearest access point for farmers on horseback heading for Cranmere Pool. Then there was the Venville blowing stone used on the drifts to summon up & check the cattle. Another interesting waymark is the Take-Off stone of the Turnpike Trust, a change point for the "cock horse" on the transport routes.
Wildlife & nature was not forgotten - from the beautiful ammil (a frost effect) to adders, foxes (apparently 4 per square mile on the moor), bee boles or straw hives, raven's nests, feather beds of sphagnum moss (used an antiseptic field dressing ) & sheep - watch out for dead ones in the stream above where you've stopped for a drink!
Len covered many more fascinating topics than the 26 letters of the alphabet too numerous to mention here, but included the leats & waterways, the caves of Buckfastleigh, inscribed stones, a vug & the smallest cross on Dartmoor made from a propeller shaft.
A huge thank you to Len for coming along at such short notice & with a very enjoyable A-Z & moor......
"We were there - Plymouth in the 1960's"
Through a combination of impish boyhood reminiscences & excellent archive film footage, Graeme Spink from the South West Film & TV Archive & Lawrence from our own society, gave a thoroughly entertaining talk to an audience of over 70 members & friends. Various film clips were shown during the evening with the pair providing humorous anecdotes & commentary throughout.
Drawing on their memories from life at the Coburg Street PSM, they recounted how they watched the changing face of post war Plymouth from their classroom windows - buildings being demolished & new ones arising - one particular amusing incident recalled of a 7 storey row of toilets left on a pipe as the walls crumbled around them! Not always replaced to everyone's satisfaction, many of the new buildings were described as "dismally unmemorable" & "disturbingly lopsided" (a reference to the new Civic Centre).
The new Central Library was well liked with its excellent facilities & our "boys" remembered how a lady there would read them stories. Department stores opened up in the town accompanied by '60's rock music & they recounted the free trips for residents on the Saltash ferry - originally steam powered, then diesel.
Graeme enthused about how he had sneaked in to see the Beatles when they came to play at the ABC cinema, film footage showing the group themselves sneaking through to the main stage via the Athenaeum tunnel to avoid the huge crowds. Other big crowds were shown frequenting the Mount Wise swimming pool, well remembered here was the liberal use of bleach for cleaning which lingered on the skin.
Three other very amusing clips were adverts for Millbay Cleaners, Dingles - with a very well spoken voice-over & Plymouth Sports Stadium at Pennycross featuring pony racing. The Excel bowling alley in Mayflower Street was remembered as being exciting & the cool place to be, "heavies" on the door stopping you if you walked out with a pair of the special bright orange shoes still on your feet. Schoolboys were often in trouble here apparently through smoking, swearing & fiddling the slot machines.
Other memories included the Rotunda self-service petrol station - the first one west of London - with fuel in 1963 at 1/9d per gallon! Graeme remembered being dragged up onto the Hoe in all weathers & his "tortuous" times at Maker Camp - the spartan conditions, creaky beds & disgusting food. Once they sneaked off to the pub but were rumbled by the teachers.
The final clip was a promotional holiday destination film advertising the delights of the region such as Dartmoor, the beaches, the Dart steamers, Buckland Abbey & Paignton Zoo.
Many thanks to Graeme & Lawrence for their memories & entertaining commentary.
Vikings in Devon
Derek Gore entertained an attentive audience with this potted history of the marauders from Scandinavia & their influence on events over 1,000 years ago.
The first mention of Vikings in Devon in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles was in 836AD when an army (probably Norwegians) landed at Carhampton in North Devon, defeating the troops of Egbert, the King of Wessex. This was an important royal estate which the young marauding males had known about in advance, arriving in their light & fast ships on prevailing winds, their chief targets being the taking of portable wealth such as silver, to reinforce their political positions back home.
England back then was a divided kingdom, Devon was part of Wessex, & Egbert , already in control of much of the south, made numerous raids into separatist Cornwall. This prompted the Cornish to side with the Viking raiders, big battles taking place in Lydford (825AD) & Hingston Down (838AD) where Egbert finally triumphed. However a year later he died & was succeeded by his son Aethelwulf.
There then followed over thirty years with various Anglo-Saxon kings wrestling with some of the most serious invasions in English history with big Viking fleets taking control of large areas such as Northumbria & East Anglia. Alfred the Great's arrival as a warrior king heralded many victories as well as continued losses & a brief peace settled on the land in 871AD. This was shortlived however & the invaders continued to sweep through the country into southern England including Devon. Alfred did win his share of battles creating forts (burghs) in Exeter, Totnes & Lydford amongst others.
After Alfred, a number of Saxon kings held the crown as fresh Viking armies came over from Brittany & Ireland. Tavistock Abbey was destroyed in 997AD & Lydford also came under attack though held out. In 1003AD Exeter was stormed & destroyed. Finally Canute, a formidable Viking warrior defeated the armies of Edmund Ironside, becoming the acknowledged King of all England. In a sometimes ruthless reign, he was of course most famous for his belief that he was more powerful than nature, attemping in vain to turn back the tidal waters on the Sussex coast.
Canute died at the age of 40, the throne then being seized by his illegitimate brother Harold. By 1042AD the throne had swung to the Saxons in the shape of Edward the Confessor & then briefly in 1066 to Harold 11 (Godwinson). William the Conqueror then ended the era of the Vikings & Saxons ushering in the coming of the Normans.
Many aspects of the Vikings still remain with us. It is thought that Gwytha, mother of Harold 1 founded St.Olaves Church in Exeter. Many artifacts of Scandinavian design can be found in Cornwall like stones & crosses & numerous place names can be traced back to these pillagers of long ago.
Many thanks to Derek for his fascinating & informative talk.
The History of China Clay working on South West Dartmoor
Our year of events kicked off with Dr Bob Bruce tracing the origins of this process on the moor & the current issues of today. Bob firstly related how china clay was formed : following the intrusion of granite 300 million years & the exposure of the county rock, feldspars were converted to kaolinite after reaction with surface water.
In the early 18th century, fine porcelain imported from China was the sign of wealth, but the recipe for its manufacture was an industrial secret. Then along came a Kingsbridge born weaver's son by the name of William Cookworthy. He became a chemist/scientist & fascinated by the whole project, he carried out various experiments to try & perfect the process. He eventually discovered that the kaolin in association with petuntze (a type of granite) & the way it was heated were the key factors. Also most importantly these materials were to be found in Cornwall & on Dartmoor.
In 1827 good quality clay was discovered at Lee Moor. The extraction was a very long & manual process starting with various elements of sand, stone & mica. These had to be separated in turn to leave the final residue of clay. This was dried & cut into loaves before being transported by packhorse to Plymouth & distributed by ship. The techniques of extraction were ever changing, tramways were built & big powerful hoses called monitors blasted out the materials in huge quarries.
There were various areas of operation around the south west part of the moor, early ones being small family companies, before the majors of ECC & WBB got involved. Both these companies are now foreign owned. As well as the current active pits around Lee Moor & Shaugh, there are many visible remains of the old workings. Old tramways, leats, mica traps & settling pits exist all around the area including Shaugh Bridge, Shipley Bridge, Redlake & Crownhill Down.
Many of the operations have affected items of historic & archaeological interest including prehistoric stone rows, reaves, cairns & enclosures, some of which have been completely buried by the operations. However, the clay companies do have a policy of restoration after use & the success of this can also be seen in some places.
Bob concluded his talk by explaining that the current threats are mainly to Crownhill Down, the face of which will probably change for ever in the near future. The china clay pits of Headon Works are extending fast across the down with the additional spectre loomimg of the re-opening of the Hemerdon Tungsten mine. The demand for both these materials continues, china clay (used in paper making, paints, cosmetics & pottery) & tungsten (very hard material for tools etc). Also the current high world price for tungsten (also known as wolfram) & the large deposits in this area make it commercially viable.
EVENTS 2010 :
Incomers to Devon
Members & friends were greeted with a complimentary glass of wine & mince pies, before Devon born author Helen Harris concluded our events programme with a talk based on her book of the same name. Helen kicked off with a poll of the audience of about 60 people with only 3 acknowledging that their grandparents were born in Devon.
Helen suggested that there were 4 main reasons for people moving to Devon - those for land, industry, jobs & retirement. She then selected four towns & villages representing each of these categories.
The search for cheap land was one of the original reasons for the movement of people , from early prehistoric times. Land in north west Devon was cheap, the landscape dominated by the Culm Measures, an area of wet & acidic soils, remote & wild. However it was an area ripe for improvement & with the emphasis on food production, particularly after WW2, this attracted investment, the village of Bradworthy being a prime example. Its population has doubled in the last 50 years, with about 40% consisting of "incomers". Isolated but active & fairly self sufficient, the village has one of the largest village squares in the Westcountry, schools & some light industry.
The town of Tiverton, founded in the 7th century, was well known for its woollen industry, set up by John Heathcote who relocated from Leicester in 1816. Over 200 of his workforce came with him, many of them actually walking here! JH was a popular employer & the town prospered; he was succeeded by his grandson & up to nearly 2,000 people were employed. He founded a school for the workforce children & the mill is still active today making parachutes, nets & machinery belting. The population has trebled in the last 200 years to over 18,000.
Buckfastleigh was also involved in the woollen industry & has had an up & down history. However it has benefited from its location alongside the A38, good for commuters to the major cities of Plymouth & Exeter. Many people therefore have moved here to take up jobs & appointments. Lots of cheap workers cottages have been bought & modernised & property values have rocketed.
Torbay on the other hand represents increases due to retirement & the health & wellbeing benefits of the gentle climate & terrific coastal scenery. Originally consisting of four separate towns/ villages, the area saw a surge in popularity with the coming of the railways bringing visitors, who were attracted to a permanent move from other parts of the country.
Among the many effects of the incomers have been increased urban sprawl, inflated property values which have caused problems for young people wishing to buy, changes in speech & accents & road congestion. However they have also brought many benefits such as new energy & ideas, new skills, & increased activity & enthusiasm.....& in Helen's own words "we certainly wouldn't want to be without them".
Many thanks to Helen whose book is well recommended for further reading.
The Discovery & Excavation of a Roman Fort at Calstock
Imagine searching for silver mine smelting sites from the medieval period & finding remains of a Roman fort, dated around AD50-85? This is exactly what Dr. Chris Smart & colleagues discovered following geophysical & magnetic ground surveys in the area around St. Andrews Church at Calstock in 2008. These initial surveys found evidence of walls & ramparts, finds of national significance, in & around the modern burial grounds.
With backing from English Heritage, a major excavation project started in January 2009. Narrow trenches were dug close to existing graves & a larger area was unearthed in a part of the cemetery yet to be used for burials. The ditches were examined for types of soil, pollen & plant remains, with the results producing evidence of crops cultivation in previously open areas of grassland.
Signs of buried logs & post pits suggested supports for the ramparts. Also discovered was evidence of barrack blocks & granaries, a chambered oven & a furnace containing copper residue. Numerous pieces of pottery were also removed from the dug out refuse pits, some of this having originated from foreign parts such as Gaul. A local gravedigger donated a piece of classic Samian pottery (found 20 years previously) which still had the makers name on it. Other bits of items of interest retrieved from the soil included a sandstone whetstone, a quern for milling grain, & metal links from chain-mail armour.
The Romans were of course very interested in mining deposits & armies were quick to move into areas such as West Devon, itself then rich in lead, silver, tin & copper. The fort is estimated to cover an area of 2.72 hectares & is in a prominent position on a high ridge, also close to links by river. Evidence was also found of old Roman roads leading towards the Bere peninsular, thought perhaps to connect also with roads leading out of Exeter & still to be discovered routes along the south coast of Devon.
As a sort of postscript, Chris & his team have discovered evidence of Saxon/Norman activity dating from around the 9th & 10th centuries, in the form of 500 plus pottery shards originally sourced from various areas of the South West. Who knows...they may yet find their medieval silver smelting site!
A lively question & answer session rounded off a superb evening - many thanks once again to our speaker.
Behind Closed Doors
Jill Drysdale's cryptically titled talk took us back to Plymouth in the mid 19th century, described then as a "swamp". The Irish famine of 1845 had driven many people to the area looking for jobs & a better life. Unfortunately this led to huge over-crowding with people living in appalling conditions with no work & no money. This in turn led to many of them becoming desperate , the women folk of the household often taking to the streets, just to get money for food.
Their "occupations" were described as milliners & laundresses etc , but these were merely euphemisms for prostitutes - "fallen women". But this did enable them to dress up, wear nice clothes & of course earn money.
In 1850, along came one Robert Armstrong Flack, who was appointed as the Town Missionary on a starting salary of £60 p.a. He was a Catholic himself & spoke gaelic. A dedicated man, he spent the rest of his time until his death in 1873 trying to help get the ladies back off the streets, & working with the sick & needy.
He helped to establish various "hostels", such as the House for Fallen Women, the Plymouth Penitentiary, Workhouse & Dispensary. He worked long hours in the worst areas of the city, where he was often subject to abuse & violence. His help was not always appreciated! We know this from his detailed journals of which Jill had obtained copies & read out extracts.
In 1853/4 there was an outbreak of cholera in the city & many of the households were affected. In his journals he conveys the extent of the distress & suffering & the many, many deaths.
Mack's work was funded, not by the Church, but by benevolent Victorians, who probably thought it was good for their souls - to be supporting the needy! It would seem that Robert Mack never had a day off & he appears to have always enjoyed his work. A very unusual & dedicated man indeed.
Thanks to Jill for a look behind the closed doors........
Guided walk around Yelverton
After a day of almost continuous rain, the clouds parted 15 minutes before we set off, & Derek Roper led us on a very interesting & sociable stroll around the village, including a stop at a local hostelry!
Starting at Leg O'Mutton, close to the old runway of Harrowbeer Airfield, we passed through this old corner & centre of the village, learning how it has become an almost forgotten part of the area. Parking charges introduced a while back have not encouraged visitors, the post office & bank have gone & now the local pub has also closed its doors. Once on the main road, but bypassed with the coming of the airfield, this quiet corner has seen many changes with no doubt more to come.
We moved down Grange Road & along the old footpath past Harrowbeer Farmhouse, pausing to look at the old railway bridge & the entrance to the 600 yard tunnel which travels under Yelverton roundabout, emerging in Old Station Road. Several old houses line Harrowbeer Lane, though there has been much infilling here too.
Next stop was the Rock Inn where Sue Callow produced some fascinating photos & family trees, tracing the history of this old hotel, part of generations of her family now for over 120 years. After a welcome refreshment & a short guided tour, we passed by the old Moorhouse Hotel stone, visiting St. Paul's church, passing along the twin leats of Plymouth & Devonport & the old Princetown tramway. An old inscribed foundation stone at the back of The Parade was the final mystery of the evening.
Many thanks to Derek for his enthusiastic delivery, Sue Callow for her hospitality, & Stephen & Claire Fryer for their contributions to an enjoyable evening.
Visit to Brimpts Tin Mines
A very warm summer's day was the setting for 14 members & friends on a visit to these old mines on Dartmoor.
Meeting up in the morning at Dunnabridge Pound, we walked over firstly to the old North Mine, which is located on open moorland, about 1 mile north west of the South Mine, also known as the Duke of Cornwall mine. The main workings here were in the mid 1800's. Remains of the main shaft can be seen which originally reached a depth of 26 fathoms, though very little tin was extracted. Nearby is the outline of the horse drawn whim platform & two adit shafts. A flat rod system used to run across the moor connecting up the two mines & the nearby old waterwheel pit was visited along with the dressing floors (no sign of adders!).
The next stop was over at Brimpts Farm itself where the group paused, under the welcome shade of some large trees, for a picnic lunch. Staying under trees, deep in the wood, we followed the line of a shaft to the superb site of the waterwheel pit, one of the best examples on Dartmoor. Traces of the leat which supplied it could also be found. Further down in the field next to the farm we walked over the filled in shaft to the adit shaft, where an old waterwheel has been reconstructed.
These mines were first recorded in 1797, but went through various closures & subsequent reopenings under new owners, up until about 1856. Most of the machinery was sold off. Significant activity took place without much profit, though the remains of the workings today make for a very interesting exploration.
A superb leaflet was written especially for our visit, with a detailed history of the mines, including diagrams, which will help those who would like to explore further. These are available from the chairman for only £2 each.
Barn conversions & the Swing Riots of 1834
Terry Faull commenced his talk by stating that history is often written by the "winners" - this talk would be about the "losers", specifically in the field of agriculture, an area often neglected. He said that the modern trend of farm buildings ie. barns, being converted into living accommodation, bears an uncanny resemblance to events in the early 19th century, though with very different outcomes.
Terry painted a picture of idyllic rural life with happy workers bringing in the harvest, sitting in the sunshine, drinking cider, singing & dancing, but in fact, their life was not like that & conditions were much harsher. Most of them lived on a bare subsistence, their wages being linked to the price of bread with the Parish making up any shortfalls; this led to unscrupulous employers reducing their pay & expecting the Parish to fill the gaps. William Marshall, a steward of the Drake Estate, in 1794 described the workers in West Devon as "idle drunken fellows" & children were often expected to be apprenticed at the age of 8 until 21, living a life of drudgery & resentment. Needless to say, relations between the workers & their employers were not good.
The situation got worse after the Napoleonic Wars with the restrictions on imports ; wheat prices increased by 15% & the landowners made big money as they dominated the production of these crops. They employed servants, sent their children to public schools & considered themselves higher class. The "paupers" on the other hand had to make ends meet by breaking stones for the construction of roads to get Parish relief pay & those who could not work took refuge in the new workhouses being built eg. Tavistock (Maudlin Road). In the winter when outside work was not available, a very important, if not essential, activity was in the "flail" barns, thrashing the grain - hard manual work, but sociable with most of the family involved, & most importantly, supplementing their meagre existence. By comparison, an agricultural worker in 1827 earned about £31 p.a. - a landowner £30,000 p.a.!
The advent of the Industrial Revolution & the development of new machinery was the final catalyst for a major rebellion. The flail barns started being converted to house new equipment, often driven by horse power in round-houses, removing the need for hand thrashing. This sparked the first riot in Kent in 1830 & these quickly spread around the country. Threshing machines & tithe barns were destroyed , farmers were threatened & strong letters of protest were written to landowners, often signed "Captain Swing" - a sort of fictitious figurehead & a supposed reference to the fact that the workers would rather swing from the gallows, than accept the new situation. These protests were met by vicious reprisals from a government scared by similar situations in France. Rewards were offered, 2,000 people arrested, 19 executed (some for very minor crimes) & around 500 were transported to Australia. The government were determined to stop further rebellions, setting up a commission to change the laws. Poor Law relief was ended & a new generation of work houses were built . Conditions in these were much harsher, families were often separated, pay was poor & the work hard - they came to be dreaded, including the new one built in Tavistock in 1839 by Sir Gilbert Scott (Russell Court).
The Swing Riots did yield some achievements however. New machinery introduction was delayed until 1850; Methodism spread, encouraging the building of chapels & developing the education of the workers; village friendly societies were set up eg. Oddfellows & The Ancient Order of Forresters; & the rise of Chartism - the introduction of people's charters eg votes for all, secret ballots, paid MP's etc.
Many thanks to Terry for a thoroughly entertaining & enlightening talk.
How to steal the Common from the Goose
A quote from an old poem, but James Paxman, brought this to life with his excellent talk on agricultural & other developments on Dartmoor from the mid 18th century and the work of the Dartmoor Preservation Association (DPA).
The middle of Dartmoor was originally a hunting forest, for the use of the King & his followers, otherwise it was thought of as a barren & rough area of wasteland, hardly worth a mention. Early farming was of the strip & rotation type (remains of which can still be seen at Challacombe), requiring a lot of co-operation between landowners, plus areas of small sub-divided walled fields. The major enclosures started to come in the late 18th century & around then many changes occurred in the agricultural world.
Jethro Tull was a key figure with his new seed drill, "Turnip" Townsend introduced new methods of crop rotation, & Arthur Young founded the Board of Agriculture.Turnpike roads replaced the old tracks across the moor opening it up to heavier transport. Thomas Tyrwhitt founded Princetown & had big visions about the development of the moor - along with Buller & Bray, not particularly successful. Landowners descendants had a right to create additional newtakes (enclosures) of 8 acres, but this started to be abused by the exclusion of rocks & bogs etc, so creating much larger areas of enclosed land eg. Muddilake, near Two Bridges.
By the late 19th century, the image of Dartmoor was starting to change. Wm. Wordsworth with his lyrical ballads described it as a place of beauty, with value to the urban dweller, Samuel Rowe & Widgery popularised it with their books & paintings, guides were established & the coming of the railways promoted the moor as the "fairyland of the West", with day trippers arriving from London.
The improvers' effects on the moor led to concerns regarding the erosion of the commoners' rights to use the land in the traditional ways. The DPA was thus formed in 1883 & a definitive book was produced by them on these rights. Further enclosures were challenged & gradually these rights were upheld, no substantial enclosures have been made since, though the originals remain.
Farming is still an essential feature of Dartmoor, though its land has faced many challenges over time including quarrying, tin mining, china clay, the military, reservoirs, forestry & transport. Today, many challenges remain such as excessive vegetation growth caused by reduced grazing, peat bog reclamation, & the new tungsten mine on Crownhill Down.
James, as Chief Executive, explained that the DPA continues to try & meet these challenges today, actively campaigning to preserve the natural beauty & traditions of the moor for all to enjoy. Many thanks to him for his excellent talk.
Milemarkers of the Tavistock Turnpike Trust
Tim Jenkinson, County representative of the Milestone Society, produced a very interesting talk on the history of these fascinating objects & the work of the society in their identification & restoration.
The origin of milestones is usually accredited to the Romans; by the 16th century parishes were liable for the upkeep of the roads, & then in the 17th century the postal authorities got involved, the Turnpike Trust being created in Devon in 1750, with compulsory mile markers then in 1767(the county has the largest network of roads c8,000 miles). They are most commonly made of granite, though some were replaced by cast iron plates. In 1940, because of the war, many direction signs were compulsorily removed to confuse the enemy.
Tim illustrated the varying designs of milestones - some with Arabic and Roman numerals, some showing distances in miles, furlongs & poles, & others listing distances to several different places. Because of the place names indicated, some of the stones in West Devon are thought to originate from the mining era. Take-off stones such as the surviving one near Beardown were used to indicate where the extra horse could be unhitched. Other stones that can still be found indicate the start or end of the relevant Turnpike Trust's responsibility.
Tim also told us about the work of the Milestone Society which involves the discovery of milestones that have sometimes long been hidden in hedges etc., the recording of all stones on a national database & often their restoration. Some milestones are Grade 2 listed & have been micro-chipped to discourage their removal.
With the creation of the Tavistock Turnpike Trust in 1762 & late 18th century acts to improve roads across Dartmoor, to Plymouth & into Cornwall, toll houses were built, many in a distinctive octagonal style. These are also recorded on the database & we were shown pictures of some of those still existing today, several of which are in our locality, such as Horrabridge & Tavistock. The one at Shaldon was still collecting tolls up to 1947. Many of the remaining houses have been restored and are in use as private dwellings.
Tim closed this fascinating talk by encouraging us all to be on the look out for lost stones, there are still many that remain undiscovered & others that need restoration.
The Devon Dumpling
Professor Philip Payton related the story of "HRH", (Henry Richard Hancock), the local lad from Horrabridge who made his name in the copper mines of South Australia.
Born in the village in 1836, he initially worked in his father's foundry & then in the Sortridge Consols mine. A clever lad with strong practical skills & a burning ambition, he moved at the age of 23 to manage a silver lead mine. near Adelaide. Just a few years later, he took over as superintendant & then Chief Mine captain at the recently discovered copper mine at Moonta after a strike had removed the previous unpopular management. Henry soon realised the tremendous potential of the mine & set about recruiting extra workers & installing new equipment.
A great believer in the methods, practices & technology of Cornish mining & the skills of its miners, he set about building his "Little Cornwall". Workers were recruited from other parts of Australia, as well as Devon & Cornwall; he introduced steam engines, winches, tramways, lots of which were built & imported from England, including Tavistock. He designed & patented equipment himself including a percussion drill & a jigger. The output of the mine trebled & HRH started to become a successful & wealthy man.
When world prices slumped in 1874 the mine entered some difficult times. Relationships with the workers suffered, miners associations were formed & Henry was often lampooned in cartoons & reminded of his Devon roots, hence his nickname. But he was a strong & strict manager, often held in awe, but with a deep concern for the welfare of his workers. He was a devout Wesleyan & bequeathed land for chapels & schools, started various sports clubs, mutual improvement societies & introduced sick pay schemes.
In 1877 he took over as captain of the nearby Wallaroo mine & the two big mines were subsequently amalgamated with Henry as General Manager. After his first wife died of typhoid, he married again & had a further 10 children. He retired in 1898 & was succeeded by his eldest son who managed the mine until it closed in 1923.
Henry returned to Devon briefly, planning to settle in Whitchurch. However, his perceived ostentatious airs & graces did not not go down well with the locals & he returned to Adelaide. He died at the age of 83 in 1919 & is buried there.
Moonta today (the name means impenetrable scrub) is a popular place for retirement & for tourism - it is still referred to as "Little Cornwall" or the "Cornish Copper Triangle".
Many thanks to Philip for his excellent talk.
Devon Place Names
Robert Hesketh drew a large audience to our first indoor event of the year with a talk that underlined how much our place names reflect English history & heritage.
Most of Devon's place names have a story behind them, many going back to Anglo-Saxon times & the days of conquests & settlements. Some have Celtic origins eg. Dunchideock, though the Romans & the Vikings made little impression on namings. Later on, the Normans developed names from powerful feudal families adding their signature to an existing place eg. Sampford Courtenay, Newton Ferrers. The Saxons also attached their family names to places eg. Dittisham - Dedes home; Lympstone - Leofwine's farm. A few of Devon's names are of modern origin eg Kingsbridge, Princetown, Devonport.
Names often reflect the topography of the county eg. Hoe - a spur of land; Nes - a headland; combe - a valley; Snapper - from snaep meaning boggy land. Others describe the type of settlement eg. Stock - outlying settlement; Ton - a farmstead; Hamm - on marshy ground surrounded by water. Another derivation is from activities on the land eg. Sheepwash - what it says on the tin; Swincombe - swine valley; Plympton - plum valley. And of course there are locational type names eg. Uppacott, Westcott & interestingly Sutton (South town, now Plymouth). Rivers often take their name from their appearances eg. Meavy - lively stream; Clyst - clear stream.
Of course, the spelling & pronunciation of many of our names have changed over the centuries & comparisons with early records as contained in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle of the 9th century & the Domesday Book are interesting.
The origin of some place names cannot be easily reconciled & are often disputed, eg. the River Bovey. This is what helps to make the origin & translation of place names such a fascinating topic, which can be readily studied & researched by us all. Many thanks to Robert for his introduction to this subject - there are many good books on this for follow up, as well as the Devon Place Names Society.
EVENTS 2009 :
Tinners of South West Dartmoor - Life & Landscape 13th - 17th century
Responding to a request from one of our members for some medieval history, Dr. Tom Greeves produced a fascinating talk to end our 2009 programme on a high note.
Tom concentrated on our local area, noting that the earliest records of tin mining dated back to 1281, when reports on an incident at Meavy Head recorded the death of a miner, one of four working in that area. As early as 1303, tin production records exist for locations such as Stanlake, Nosworthy & Middleworth farms, as well as a longhouse near Gutter Tor. The hard physical & manual labours of the tinners gradually changed the landscape, their methods of streaming creating deep scarps & clearances on the moorland scene.
Later methods of tin working - open cast - caused even bigger impacts, Claziwell Pool being an example of a huge hole in the ground created by the tinners. Reports in 1638 talked of major pollution problems in Plymouth harbour due to the silt & debris washed down from these workings. Other deep shafts in the area included those at Keaglesboro & Furze Hill, near Horrabridge.
Water was a very important resource in tin production & the tinners were highly skilled in storing & moving it. Tom showed several examples of small reservoirs which were created near to workings as reserve supplies, many of which can still be seen in outline today. Also still very evident on the moor are remains of the tin mills, where the ore was crushed. Many examples of associated leats & wheel pits can be found, along with mortar stones which were used in the crushing process. Not so common, though 3 exist on the Walkham, are the blowing mills where tin was smelted, using water powered furnaces - here one can sometimes be lucky & find the mould stones in which the ingots of tin were formed.
Tom punctuated his talk with anecdotes & amusing stories of some individual miners, particularly the reports of a court case involving the theft of sheep. In many ways, this brought to life the
rugged nature of their existence whilst out mining. However, huge quantities of tin were produced on Dartmoor through the ages & no doubt there were some very wealthy beneficiaries. A highlight of Tom's outdoor research was probably the discovery of a bottle in Burrator reservoir, complete with the seal of John Elford of Longstone, dated 1661.Thanks to Tom for a fascinating 700 year journey looking at the tough lives of the tinners & the impact of their labours on the moorland landscape.
Arresting Women : Suffragettes & the struggle for Plymouth's prostitutes in the 1870's :
Dr. Todd Gray once again highlighted events from our recent past that have not always been well documented or talked about - "history that hurts". Reminding us firstly of the part that Plymouth played in the support of Oswald Mosley & his Blackshirts & dispelling some myths about the slave trade in Devon, he noted that we often liked to remember the nice things from our history.
Early images of prostitutes were of the seaside postcard type - jolly, rosy cheeked ladies with charm & warm personalities. However, using some of the earliest photographs from police files in the late 1800's, Todd showed that this was often far from the truth. Prostitutes & others classed as criminals then (sometimes after trivial offences compared to today) were subjected to harsh prison sentences quite often with hard labour. The images of these "ordinary" people & their crimes was thought provoking.
With 10% of the Armed Forces laid up with social diseases, prostitutes & Plymouth in particular (as a test case) became a focus for an Act of Parliament in 1860. The idea was to identify the women affected by disease ( often maliciously reported by men) & cure them, though they were kept in hospital, working long hours cleaning, with no wages, until they were free of disease. The Goverment tried to claim this a success as the number of prostitutes reduced from nearly 2,000 in 1865 to under 500 in 1873.
But, the Act was thought to unfairly punish women , whilst infected men still roamed free. This led to the early suffragettes coming down from London to speak out & further led to rebellions of working class women. On the other hand, some women, now free of the disease seized the opportunity to advertise themselves as clean & charge more for their services. The churches were up in arms. This all led to the beginnings of the Devon womens' movement & the rights of women generally.
Another fascinating talk from an excellent speaker, highlighting just how our past has often shaped the future, negative beginnings often leading to positive results.
The Wildlife of Dartmoor :
Our autumn series of events kicked off with an excellent talk by John Walters, co-author of the book with the above title. As a passionate artist, John has worked with David Attenborough on various projects, including snails & earwigs ! Aided by his superb photographs, John took us through the numerous habitats that exist on the Moor, a variety made possible by the traditional management of previous generations.
Climate changes in the past have also had an impact on the wildlife variety, animals such as elephants ,hyenas & woolly mammoths once existing before & during the ice age of 20,000 years ago. As the climate warmed, many plants & animals colonised the area from southern Europe. The impacts from increases in population have led to the extinction of a lot of species, though Dartmoor may have escaped some of these changes.
Today, there are perhaps almost 20 different types of habitat, ranging from blanket bog, heathland & rocky outcrops on the open moor to woodland, meadows & fields, rivers & reservoirs, caves & mines, and towns & villages. Some of the wildlife that these support were illustrated with John's photographs, images that have required hours & hours of patient study in uncomfortable hides & surroundings.
The list of wildlife recorded & filmed by John is extensive. Bog orchid, emperor moth, purse web spider, hornet robber fly, raven, devils matchstick lichen, ash black slug, wood ant, dormouse, roedeer, nightjar, marsh fritillary butterfly.........just a few to mention.
John ended his talk with some splendid short videos - a rather gruesome one of an adder eating willow warbler chicks ; a pair of adders dancing and a young cuckoo being fed by a meadow pipit.
Another excellent talk from a fine speaker & photographer.
A walk around Bellever
Thanks to Tony Burgess we were able to go ahead with this event - Liz Miall had unfortunately been rushed to hospital just a couple of days before with a burst appendix - we wish her well & understand she is now recovering at home. We joined up with a group from BTCV in Plynouth & had an enjoyable afternoon, though the theme became archaeological rather than the planned focus on the work of the Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust - more opportunities another time perhaps ?
Starting off on the Lich Path (the way of the dead, when coffins were transported for burial to Lydford), we progressed to the open moor. The walking here is now much more pleasant with better views following extensive felling of the pine forest. Tony guided us to various kistvaens, one in particular a very fine example complete with its own stone row. He also entertained us with a bit of magic around ley lines, waving rods & even stroking the granite ! Some more kistvaens were visited, followed by a climb to the top of Bellever Tor. On the way we observed the large pound on the slopes & some very active Dartmoor ponies. On the summit, Tony regaled us with tales from the Hounds of the Baskervilles.
On the way back, we detoured to visit the recently excavated roundhouse & were fortunate to see active work going on by two members of the archaeology group. One of them gave us an excellent explanation of the project, detailing their findings. We were able to see the post holes which would have supported the roof of a building, believed from the carbon dating to originate from around 1500BC. Many pieces of pottery had also been found.
This excellent walk finished off back at the hostel where we were treated to a very welcome cream tea. Many thanks again to Tony for stepping in & making this a very good afternoon.
A walk around Buckland Monachorum
After a day of of rain the skies cleared & around 45 members & friends accompanied our chairman on a guided walk around this historic village. Taking its name from the association with the nearby Cistercian Abbey, but once known as Churchtown, it still retains some of the old buildings & memories, though many changes have taken place in recent times. Part of the parish of the same name, it is essentially a farming community, though mining was also once a significant activity in the area - some of the farms are Grade 2 listed and still active working ones, with Cuxton in particular having been in the same family for over 100 years.
Other existing buildings with history include the Hostel (formerly the Baptist Chapel built in 1850), the old Lady Modyford school (1702), the Gift House (old almshouse established by the Drake family in 1661), no 1 The Village (scene of a 20th century murder & suicide), the Drake Manor pub (17th century) - still a very lively & active hostelry with landlady Mandy now in her 20th year in charge - and of course the Church.
Ken Farnham, master builder & local craftsman, also responsible for more modern alterations to the village such as the Chapel Meadow estate & the new Cof E aided Village School (opened 1976 after significant public subscription) guided the group around the outside & then inside of the church, relating the various changes throughout time made to the original 1490 building. There have been several restorations & additions including the vaulted roof of Drake's Chapel and the 70 feet high tower & its 6 bells. The Saxon font was discovered in 1857 during other repairs. Outside, the steps of the cross (erected as a memorial in Queen Victoria's time) were part of a preaching or market cross which stood on the old village green opposite the church gates.
Many thanks to everyone who turned out for this mere glimpse into the history of our church & village. Particular thanks to Ken for his assistance both on the walk & for his deep insights into the church history, also my thanks to Brian Salt for his local knowledge inputs & to Dave Butland for his interesting & amusing anecdotes en route.
A visit to the POW memorial cemeteries & museum at Dartmoor Prison
A warm sunny evening was the setting for our first outdoor event of the summer, with a healthy turn out of members & friends. Current curator Brian Dingle, ably assisted by previous curator David Francis, guided us under the "Parcere Subjectis" gateway, alongside the forbidding prison walls to the beauty & tranquility of the two cemeteries.
Here, they explained the origins of the French & American cemeteries, each memorial a different design, but impressive in their own right. The French one has been recently carefully restored, in time to welcome a delegation from France, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the prison & the over 1,100 prisoners who died there. The victims of the Napoleonic & US wars who had perished had originally been buried inside the prison walls, but their remains were relocated when the the convict prison opened in 1850.
It is hoped that a similar commemoration will take place for the Americans on their anniversary in 2012.
We were then escorted back to the museum to spend an hour looking at all the fascinating information & artifacts on display. Probably more aptly described now as a heritage centre, it has recently been expanded & holds an extensive array of historical information, as well as items made by prisoners, some of which can be purchased. Brian has many plans for the future & further visits are thoroughly recommended.
Your Humble & Obedient servant- a talk by Dr John Goodridge
The wording above was the signature line on correspondence from the officers of the Bedford Estates to their superiors. John Goodridge took members of our society through the history of the rich & powerful estates of the 19th century. The mid 1800's were a time of great change with the Russell family benefiting from the lands that they owned & that were administered by hard working stewards such as John Benson & Chris Healy.
By 1860 the Duke of Bedford was the 3rd richest landowner in Britain, with estates in Bedfordshire, the Fenlands, Dorset, London & Devon. (London was the smallest in size but yielded 70% of the total income).The work of the stewards was hard with the huge distances they had to cover, though their salaries were very good for the time. All correspondence was conducted by letter & before the mail service became fully operational, this was also a slow process.
Despite their assets, when the 6th Duke died in 1839, the estate was over £500,000 in debt, probably due mainly to the Duke's spendthrift nature of acquiring country mansions & various arts & treasures. Much tighter controls were introduced by Healy & helped by the economic boom particularly around the mining in West Devon, this debt had been reduced by half just 10 years later.
In the 1840's the Chadwick Report called for sweeping social reforms such as improvements in housing & sanitation. This was particularly required for Tavistock which at the time had only 507 houses for a population of over 4,000. Along came Theophilus Jones , the architect who made his mark with the design & building of many of the "Bedford Cottages", much of the finance coming from the success of the mines. These included Dolvin Road (Jones lived in no.1), Westbridge, Wheal Maria, Mill Hill & Parkwood Road.
John Benson, having been once jilted & suffering a nervous breakdown, eventually remarried (a relative of Mrs Bray) & had 9 children. He died at the age of 82.
Much has been written & heard about the Bedford Estates themselves, but the unsung heroes were the officers mentioned above, working long hours & travelling long distances in difficult times. Thanks to John Goodridge for an excellent talk bringing them back to life.
Smeaton's Tower & the Eddystone Light - a talk by Nigel Overton
The world's first offshore light, built on "rocks of dragon's like teeth" (according to William of Orange). Nigel gave us an illuminating talk on the history of the 5 lighthouses that have stood on the rocks 14 miles offshore of Plymouth.
After an early petition to Trinity House in 1664 to build a lighthouse had been turned down as being impractical, the arrival of the naval dockyard hastened the decision that the reef needed a light. An eccentric yet innovative Henry Winstanley was commissioned to build & the first lighthouse, made of wood, was completed in 1698. After severe weather damage, this was redesigned & rebuilt, 120 ft taller, a year later. Another huge storm in which over 6,000 people lost their lives , swept the lighthouse , including the keepers & Winstanley, off the rocks in 1703 .
John Rudyerd , the son of a wealthy merchant family, built the 3rd light in 1708 in a different style - timber clad & caulked with oakum to keep it watertight. This one lasted until 1755 when it burnt down down as a result of the candles catching the roof on fire. The keepers were rescued & one of them was found to have swallowed a lump of lead, though this was only discovered after he died a few years later.
Next on the scene was the founder of the Institute of Civil Engineers , John Smeaton. His tower , completed in 1759, was a radical new design, a mixture of granite, Portland stone & Plymouth marble, held together with his own invention of mortar - it also had much greater candlepower. This lasted for 127 years when concerns about the state of the rocks beneath it, caused it to be dismantled. Money was raised to reassemble it on Plymouth Hoe, where it was opened to the public in 1884, & is still standing as a tourist attraction today.
The current light was completed in 1882 by James Douglas who was later knighted for his achievement by Queen Victoria. Although the largest of the towers at 95 feet high, it had the benefit during construction of more modern building techniques & its candlepower was some 30 times greater than its predecessor. This was doubled again in 1956 when it was converted to electric power with a rotating light , a helipad was built on the top, & in 1982 it became an automated, unmanned operation. It stands today as a very important guide to the increasingly busy shipping lanes off our coast & a monument to inspiring engineering feats of the past.
Thanks to Nigel for a fascinating talk.
Mutiny on the Moor - a talk by Simon Dell
Despite his hectic lifestyle, Simon was on hand to deliver an excellent story based on his book of the same name. With the 200th anniversary of the opening of Dartmoor Prison, it was interesting to go back to 1932, when a"serious disturbance" started in B wing. Simon had gained an interest in the story when looking at old photos as a young YTS student.
The prison back in the 1930's contained a mixture of inmates - hardened men who had served in the war, old seasoned convicts & young "motor car bandits". The new governor brought in a harsh, strict regime of needless punishments, with both staff & prisoners demoralised by the changes. There were lots of plans to escape (many formulated in the church), most of which were foiled.
Breakfast consisted of porridge made in huge vats & one day early in 1932, it was deemed unfit for the purpose - maybe not an accident ? In order to keep the prisoners quiet, the governor ordered extra rations of margarine & potatoes. With the porridge failing again on successive days, prisoners' demands grew & tensions ran higher, with demonstrations & assaults on staff. This led eventually to a full scale riot.
The admin block was set alight & fireman, local police, military & reservists raced to the prison to charge & quell the disturbance. Many of the prison officers were saved by loyal convicts. Afterwards, the former governor returned to take over, Seale Hayne students ran the farm for a few months as convicts were not allowed out. The damaged buildings were demolished. An inquiry into the happenings suggested that some disillusioned officers may have smuggled in weapons.......
A series of riots took place throughout the country in 1990, Dartmoor prison coming out in sympathy with the one that started the troubles at Strangeways. Again major damage was caused in similar circumstances to 1932.
An excellent evening of story telling from our man in blue.
Tavistock Abbey - a talk by Gerry Woodcock
Gerry gave a well researched & entertaining talk at our February meeting.
Although nothing but a few ruined pieces of wall now remain, the Abbey from 976 to 1539 was the major contributor to Tavistock's wealth & welfare. The Benedictine monks lived a hardworking, co-operative & communal life & took responsibility for much of the welfare outside the confines of the Abbey. Over the years they established a monastic school & cared for the sick in a hospital that included an outpatients department. They also administered a leper colony, gave clothes to the poor & accommodation to travellers. They buried the dead in a small area of ground between the Abbey & the parish Church of St. Eustace next door.
Ordulf, Earl of Devon, who was the brother in law of Edgar, King of Wessex, founded the Abbey. Although attacked by the Danes in 997, it survived & had 39 Abbots during its life pre-1539.
Although the names of the first 3 Abbots remain a mystery, Gerry was able to name most of the others, describing in detail some of the more interesting ones, including Alfred the 4th Abbot, a highly political man who later became Archbishop of York & crowned William the Conqueror ; Geoffrey the first Norman Abbot; & John de Courtenay, a passionate huntsman of foppish apearance, who died of the Black Death.
The Abbey also aquired the fourth printing press to be made in this country in 1525. When Henry VIII closed the monasteries down, the monks received from £2 - £10 redundancy money, according to their length of service. The last Abbot received an annuity of £100. The Earl of Bedford, John Russell, became the owner of the remains of the Abbey.
As one of the leading authorities on the history of Tavistock, Gerry finished by answering a wide range of questions, rounding off a very interesting evening of local history.
Portraying local life in the 50's - a talk by Lilian Harry
Lilian kicked off our 2009 programme with a fascinating talk about her early days growing up in
After moving to
From the age of 5 years old, Lilian had aspired to be a writer, giving herself a grounding with short stories & articles for newspapers & magazines, before launching into full length books. She stressed the importance of research, to ensure that the facts in her books were realistic or at least believable to her readers, perhaps invoking their own memories of how life was in the past. One of her best research projects had taken her to Paris, discovering how carrier pigeons were smuggled out of the beseiged capital using hot air balloons, made from the materials used in the local fashion industry.
Lilian's own recollections stirred up members of the audience who responded with tales & questions from their own memory banks. All this emphasises the importance of local history & the need to write it down & record it, not necessarily in the form of novels, but somewhere - before it is lost & forgotten.
EVENTS 2008 :
The Life & Times of building the Avon Dam half a century ago a talk by Dr. Tom Greeves
Tom took us back to the time between 1954-1957 when the largest engineering project on Dartmoor in the 20th century, flooded 50 acres of the Avon valley, to provide a 305 million gallon reservoir & water supply for Torbay. Ably supported by recollections from society member Mike Williams, who was an engineer on the project, Tom displayed many old photographs obtained from one Nicholas Horne in Canada (who once ran a successful photographic business in Totnes).
The main contractors were Tarmac Ltd. & the project was a huge logistical exercise in terms of getting men & materials to the site with the narrow approach roads. Workers came from all over South Devon (even some from Liverpool), most arriving by buses which struggled through the lanes to arrive on time for the 8am starts. The road from Shipley Bridge to Brent Moor House (since demolished) was improved & then extended up to the dam site.
The River Avon was partially diverted through pipes to allow for the excavations & a huge cableway was built across the valley to carry & manoeuvre materials into place; carrying up to 6 tonnes in weight, this was a highly skilled operation. All sorts of buildings then appeared in the area as the massive construction started to take shape. Allowance was also made in the construction for a further raising of the dam by 15 feet which would have doubled its capacity - up to now this has not been required. The work was dangerous at times & one man lost his life after being knocked off the dam by a small crane.
The workers were looked after in the site canteen by Doris Trundle & Gertie May, the only women on site. This facility was good business for South Brent village shops which provided all the food.
Before the site was finally flooded, several archaeological surveys were carried out. The foundations of a medieval settlement which exists on the left bank & can still be seen in very dry conditions was thought to be originally managed by Buckfast Abbey & their herdsmen. A 16th century tin mill was excavated before the flooding & this contains many artefacts including mould & mortar stones & a furnace - this was again exposed in the drought year of 1976.
Tom's talk & the memories of Mike brought home both the sheer scale & the harsh & dangerous conditions of this amazing engineering project, many thanks to them both.
A raffle at the end of the evening raised 61 pounds for society funds - many thanks to those who donated prizes.
The Lost History of Devon - a talk by Dr. Todd Gray
In one of our most thought provoking talks to date, Dr Gray took us through the ages touching on a variety of historical events which have changed our heritage and why they are sometimes "forgotten". Starting with a series of paintings, he emphasised how the artists' impressions often changed our own perceptions of how things looked in the past.
He then started looking at why things change & why the records are often lost. Religion was one cause because objects have been removed and replaced as being dangerous or out of step with beliefs of the time, quoting the example of a statue of the Virgin Mary which was removed and reused as a base for a bread oven ! Another interesting case was that of a limestone carving on Plymouth Hoe depicting two giants wrestling, an annual event which was part of May Day celebrations, removed as Christianity conflicted with "heathen rites".
The cholera epidemic of the early 19th century had a major impact on town centres such as Exeter , where streets had been widened and buildings altered to create more space, allowing more air and sunshine to come through, also removing the accumulation of filth. This is a topic not often talked about today, especially as part of Plymouth's history where attempts to eradicate the disease were initially not so successful.
Other causes of change, perhaps more readily discussed today , are weather and disasters such as fire. Noted here were the destruction of Hallsands (a combination of natural causes and bungled officialdom) and the loss of the "dancing trees" in Moretonhampstead due to storms. Significant fires, mainly where thatch and cob were involved, had been seen in Ottery St Mary, Chudleigh and Tiverton - giving way to the replacement of these traditional materials by stone and slate. Modern traffic conditions have led to street widening and road improvements where old buildings have been sacrificed, also not forgetting the influence of political decisions eg. Beeching's closure of the railways in the 1960's.
More controversial topics are often swept under the carpet either because they are considered taboo or embarrassing, like for instance the relationships between local women and the American forces during the wars, many of which have probably had quite an influence on today's generations. Fascism is a particular example of a very uncomfortable part of Devon's history, with Plymouth in particular being strong supporters of the movement in the 1930's (largest membership of the party outside of London), welcoming Mosley and his Blackshirts at their frequent rallies in the area. Devon also played a big part in the slavery trade.
Dr Gray is a prolific author and has written many specific books on the topics mentioned above. This was an excellent talk which underlined why and how we lose history because of the restrictions we place on ourselves. It also emphasised how important it is to record historical events and to share them, with a view to learning from them in the future.
Statues of Sir Francis Drake around the world - a talk by Alan Gray
In a talk which could easily have been subtitled - things you didn't know about the Drakes - Alan, ably supported by his wife Jean, gave an illuminating account of "goings on" and relics of the period.
All in all, 5 statues have been discovered - in Plymouth, Tavistock, San Francisco, Offenburg (Germany) and Cork. Unfortunately, the one in Germany (built supposedly to commemorate Drake bringing the potato to Europe) was destroyed by the Nazis in 1939. Only the hands were rescued and are now in the local museum. The statue in Cork was also damaged beyond repair.
San Francisco still boasts a 30 feet high monument on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, an unusually lithe and athletic looking Drake shown acknowledging the crowds which greeted him on one of his stop offs whilst circumnavigating the globe.
Our own local figure standing on the roundabout in Plymouth Road was unveiled in 1883 by the then portreeve of Tavistock & Jean read an extract from the local Gazette of the days celebrations. A limited supply of special coins were minted of which two had been obtained by Alan and were on display at the meeting. The story behind this statue was especially interesting with 53 different "faces" of Drake having been under consideration before sculptor Joseph Boehm* was given the go ahead. Also, it seems that competition with the proposed statue in Plymouth had quite a bearing on timing of the build and thanks mainly to sponsorship from the Duke of Bedford, the Tavistock statue went up first.
Three years later in 1884, a 10 feet high replica of the Tavistock statue was erected on Plymouth Hoe with reportedly around 70,000 people present for the unveiling by the then Lady Drake, complete with brass bands, guards of honour and a 21 gun salute - Jean again reading from the local paper of the time.
Alan also showed many of the artifacts and relics of the Drakes including jewellery, coconut cups, flags, coats of arms and the famous drum.
* It seems the sculptor was quite a character and one of his most famous pupils was Princess Louise (daughter of Queen Victoria). He died a sudden and unusual death in her company, though possibly with a smile on his face!
Many thanks to Alan and Jean for an excellent talk.
Dartmoor Granite quarries - a walk with Liz Miall
13 intrepid members were expertly guided by Liz on a walk around the area once inhabited by several hundred quarry workers & their families. We started off at the site of the old Walkhampton Foggintor schoool, now known as Four Winds car park, which was attended by children up until its closure in 1936. The mision hall nearby has also long since gone. Liz pointed out examples of granite blocks that had been cut using the traditional methods of tare & feather & also sett makers bankers, where workers toiled to make granite setts for a penny a time.
We walked through the remains of West View (or Red Cottages) & associated quarry, past the still occupied & seemingly aptly named Yellowmead Farm, onto Hill Cottages & the main quarry itself. Alongside the old branch of the Princetown railway (granite sleepers can still be seen), are the remains of the old smithy, powder house, weighbridge & stables, along with a very curious archway. By the time we reached Royal Oak siding, the weather had finally turned against us & we retreated in the gathering gloom & wet.
The visit was greatly enhanced by the contributions of our own society member, Ivan Meade, who lived with his family at Hill Cottages, in his early life. Ivan was able to walk us through the ruins of his old front room & added many personal memories to the enjoyment of the evening. We dried out later in the cosy confines of a hostelry in Princetown.
A visit to Bere Alston
18 members & friends defied the summer showers & were rewarded with a fascinating exploration of this historic mining community. Trevor Bond & his local history society guided us around the village streets reminding us about life in the area both past & present.
Taking its name from its original Anglo Saxon owner, roughly meaning farm on the peninsular, the village was particularly active from the late 13th century through to late 19th. This was after the discovery of silver & then lead which resulted in a huge mining boom & an influx of workers from Cornwall. Tamar Valley fruit & flowers were also an important source of income & the adjacent railway was an ideal form of transport & communication.
The village has seen a huge increase in new housing in recent times & is still continuing to grow. It is still well served by shops, including butcher, post office, Co-Op, estate agents, bookshop, pub & fish/ chips - though this is a far cry from earlier days when there were around 32 shops & 9 pubs (for the thirsty miners ?)
Of particular interest now is the fascinating village Mosaic Map, the Square with its old miners cottages & old wheelwrights workshop, & the running tap on "Tap Hill" . There are many other areas of interest however, the histories of which were brought splendidly to life by Trevor & his companions. The evening was rounded off by refreshments in the Holy Trinity church hall, with a display of archive articles & photographs.
The village is also on the Tamar Valley Discovery Trail & there is a particularly useful leaflet available locally which will enhance any visit to the area.
Songs of the West - the songs of the Rev'd Sabine Baring-Gould
Local history met folk in a musical evening performed by the Wren Trust. Paul & Marilyn from the Trust entertained another large audience with a potted history of the famous , & some thought eccentric, squire & parson from Lewtrenchard & a rendering of some of his songs - even the members were singing by the end!
SBG was born in Exeter but moved to Lewtrenchard Manor in 1881. During his lifetime (1834-1924), he found time to father 15 children , renovate his house, travel extensively around Europe, write many novels including the Red Spider, plus pamphlets & magazine articles, collect & publish his famous Songs of the West & research other folklore & songs.... & even found time to re-erect fallen stones on the Moor. Altogether, he deposited a collection of over 200 such songs from the period 1600 to the 1900's with Plymouth University, but also collected a further 650 more on top of these.
He is probably best known for the song "Onward Christian Soldiers" but he re-discovered many other favourites including Widecombe Fayre, Rosemary Lane, Green Broom, Strawberry Fair & Devon Bellringing, plus the Death of Parker & Captain Ward (well known pirates). Paul & Marilyn used the concertina, guitar, accordion & the fiddle to good effect in re-creating the great man's work.
Later in his life, he organised concerts to raise money for not so well-off singers, in so doing he did "tidy up" some of the songs to make them more commercially acceptable. He died & is buried in Lewtrenchard, but thanks to organisations like the Wren Trust (now in its 25th anniversary year), his legacy will live on for future generations to enjoy.
Dartmoor leats & waterways
Len Copley entertained another large audience......no details to hand on this one I'm afraid. Your chairman was away in the Lake District & no-one else took notes....apologies. Here's a nice photo anyway........
Courtesy of Dotphoto
The Templer Way
Mike Perriam returned with one of his favourite talks regarding the 18 mile tramway & canal linking the quarries around Haytor with the port of Teignmouth.
The name is taken from the Templer family, James starting it off in the 18th century. After running away to sea at an early age & making himself successful & wealthy in India, he returned to Devon & bought the Stover Estate in 1765, building Stover House using stone from the nearby Haytor quarries. His son , also a James, subsequently built the canal to transport ball clay from the Bovey basin to the docks, replacing the expensive & laborious packhorse routes.
His son George then took over the estate in the early 1800's & started to develop the granite quarries, leading to the construction of the tramway which opened in 1820. Unfortunately George was more interested in in the arts & his sporting pursuits rather than business matters & the estate was soon sold on to the Duke of Somerset. The canal then became very successful from the transport of both granite & clay through till the mid 1800's, the granite quarries closing finally in 1860. The clay trade continued right up until 1939 when use of the canal ended & road transport took over.
Mike's talk digressed to scenes of Lake Havusu in the Arizona desert of the US where London Bridge now resides, built mainly of the granite from Haytor quarries. Mike's talk was an inspiration for all to walk the Templer Way starting from the quarries of Haytor & Holwell, tracing its route along the old tramway, through the Stover estate beside the canal, all the way to Teignmouth.
The Dartmoor Village
Jenny Sanders continued our new programme to a packed hall with a fascinating look at several local villages, tracking their development & changes over the period 1801 to present day. Several villages were compared including Walkhampton, Whitchurch, Peter Tavy, Lydford, Holne & South Zeal, looking at key facilities such as transport links, pubs, post office & shops, churches, village halls & activities such as fairs & traditions.
Another interesting aspect was the population change, which in most cases showed an amazing similarity between the beginning & end of the 200 year period, apart from an increase in Walkhampton. Several villages showed increases in the intervening period mainly due to the influx of miners, but then have reduced since.
Amongst the various facilities that have disappeared have been the well publicised village post office & shop, railway links, some schools, garage/ petrol stations, & the silver mint at Lydford! Bucking the trend, Holne has recently opened a new shop run by the community & there is still a thriving shop & post office in Whitchurch.
On another positive side, the village hall now seems to be a driving force in community life, with all sorts of sporting & leisure time activities taking place. Many of the schools are still thriving & village fairs & festivals (particularly the folk festival in South Zeal) still draw in the crowds.
Lively discussion continued at the end of Jenny's talk and despite the sometimes gloomy news that we hear about our villages & the changes taking place , there remains a confidence that they do remain great places to live.
Tavistock Canal
Our 2008 programme kicked off with Brian Woods and his unique interactive walk along the 4.5 mile route of the historic canal, via his cleverly woven digital photographs and laptop.
The brainchild of the mining engineer John Taylor, the first part of the canal was opened in 1805 to carry minerals from Tavistock to Morwellham. Brian carefully picked his way along its route from its take off on the River Tavy, singling out special points of interest and history, such as the high level aqueduct, built to span the Lumburn valley.
Brian dwelled for a while in the 1.5 mile long tunnel under Morwelldown, explaining that this had been an extremely difficult construction which took another 13 years to complete. He talked about the associated mining in the vicinity, pointing out the minerals and their dramatic colours in the rock, and how little clearance there was for the original boats - little of which is known. Finally he dropped down the incline plane to the quay on the River Tamar, though the canal itself still feeds into the hydro-electric power plant nearby.
Brian's wintry walk in the comfort of the Meavy Hall was a good way to start the year. This can now be enhanced by physically exploring the route itself (apart from the tunnel). We will also be visiting Morwellham itself in one of our future events.
Events from our 2007 programme included...............
The End of an Era - Tin mining on Dartmoor 1900-1975
Dr Tom Greeves recounted through stories & photographs the lives of the miners in the last century. He had previously met many of the miners who had worked in places such as Hexworthy, Golden Dagger, Vitifer, Owlacombe & the Mary/ Peter Tavy areas.
Tom had been lucky enough to visit these mine areas with the old miners & learn about their working lives. Conditions were tough in the early 1900's, with no electricity & shafts lit by helmet candles. The miners would often walk out to their places of work from Tavistock & spend a week at the mines. Vitifer mine in particular, near the Warren House Inn, was large with deep shafts & closed once but then re-opened with more modern machinery. There was a complex of buildings including the captain's house, bunkhouse, kitchen & cottages for the miners' families.
Copper, tin & arsenic formed the main output with varying degrees of success & profitability, the mines often closing & reopening on different scales of production each time. There was however a great spirit of togetherness amongst the workers themselves. Owlacombe mine was operated for a while from 1906 by an experienced South African engineer, but again struggled to make a profit.
Tom's excellent images brought back to members the harsh reality of this industry, less than 100 years ago.
Personal Memories of Yelverton
Dave German, founder chairman of the society, returned from deepest Cornwall to share his special memories of growing up in Yelverton & the neighbouring area. With the help of his impressive collection of historical slides, Dave fondly recounted the times spent with his grandparents in Yelverton Dairies, & the businesses of Pipers Ice Cream & Barretts in Moorland Villas & the Corner Shop owned by his parents at Leg O'Mutton.
He recalled moving houses on numerous occasions including a spell at Huccaby House, the previous home of a certain Robert Burnard. His slide journey took us along old railways, including personal memories of riding on the turntable; along old tollroads, leats & moorland tracks. Scenes of sports days & meetings of the hunt & pony shows depicted life on the Green before modern roads & roundabouts destroyed nearly all trace of lively days in the village centre.
The wartime airfield of Harrowbeer had changed the face of Moorland Villas & Dave recounted stories of the people who came to Yelverton for the health benefits & built beautiful houses, many of which still exist today.
Dave's talk was rich in his own memories not just of places, but the characters that he knew & was also memorable for his typically informal story telling & his images of past life in our area. We encourage more of our members to come forward with their own pictures & stories.
Trekkers badges & certificates were perhaps the order of the day when 21 members & friends finished exploring some of the abandoned farms & mines in the area of
Starting at the remains of Bal Mine & its cunningly concealed whinstone beside the carpark, we moved onto Middleworth. Remains of the fine barn still stand with some traces of the farm, vacated in 1919 like 28 others in the area following the building of Burrator reservoir & concerns over pollution. Further along the track, we passed East & West Deancombe farms & the old tin mine adit. Plenty to see here, including the staddles which used to support hayricks.
The remains of Outholme tin mine required some effort to reach, with a fast flowing stream, stiles & undergrowth slowing our progress. Worth it though to see a neat line of mortar stones beside the track plus the wheel pit, tail race & furnace. With the light fading & the midges turning up their venom, we returned along the edge of the woods & through the arboretum. Our guide went awol here, but the more intrepid members found the direct route first back to the carpark.
Harrowbeer Airfield visit
Over 20 members of the society, accompanied along the way by Pippa Quelch from Radio Devon, were treated to a thorough exploration of the old World War 11 site by expert guides from the Harrowbeer Interest Group (HIG), with the storm clouds staying just out of the way this time (after last year’s washout).
Splitting off into 3 smaller groups, we spent over 2 fascinating hours visiting the site of the old airfield which was operational between 1941- 46 , looking at the extensive remains of the old runways (built out of rubble from the blitz of Plymouth) , & numerous buildings including the control tower, blast bays, gun batteries, storage hangars, bomb, parachute & fuel stores. Various photographs were shown to us of the aircraft such as Spitfires & Typhoons & their squadron crews & a surprise VIP visitor diverted here (after the war had finished!) due to fog - the US President Harry Truman. We listened to stories of derring-do about Czech & Polish pilots & unfortunate fatalities too.
Afterwards, members retreated to the Knightstone tearooms (the original control tower) for refreshments, courtesy of Mike Hayes, who then opened up the museum in his garage, which is also full of fascinating artefacts, collected or sent in by ex-pilots & members of the public.
The visit was subsequently featured on Radio Devon, including interviews with our chairman & members of HIG. For further articles of interest on this topic, see copies of our Society's journals nos. 21 & 22.
Many thanks to the members of HIG who have a superb website at www.rafharrowbeer.co.uk & are holding another of their open weekends at the end of August.
Higher Dittisham
22 members and friends enjoyed the sunshine on their visit to this restored Dartmoor longhouse, near Walkhampton. Tim and Kay Miall were excellent hosts, providing an extensive tour of the house & outbuildings. After gaining of Grade 2 listed status for the building in the early 1990's , Tim & Kay, who were then living next door in the Victorian farmhouse, painstakingly & lovingly restored the former Devonmoor Pets Hotel to its original glory.
A farm is first mentioned on the site in records going back to the 13th century. A previous modernisation phase carried out in 1663 had produced the unusual 'L' shaped design , caused by the steep & rocky slope, & in the latest stage of restoration tons of earth & "modifications" were removed to reveal old original features previously covered up for years.
After walking back up the delightful foxgloved avenue of Jimmy Bickles lane, the group were welcomed by Sue & Bill Andrew, & treated to a tour of the 16th century Walkhampton Churchouse, also Grade 2 listed . A former inn, it was also used for handing out bread to the poor, collecting tithes & parish meetings. It stands close to an old monastic track which is still waymarked with an ancient stone cross.
The visit was rounded off in the church with a brief talk & a superb tea of scones & cakes.
Anniversary Event
Over 90 members & guests packed into the Yelverton Memorial Hall for our society's 25th anniversary event. We were first entertained by Tony Beard, who regaled us with stories from his home village of Widecombe in the Moor. In his own inimitable style of story telling, laced with humour, he recounted the history of the Church house, the village green & the popular annual fair, along with several references to certain vicars of dubious character. He also spoke on the research & publications of their own local history society & his life in farming, including ploughing up various historical artefacts, a lot of which he had brought with him.
An interval allowed members to take a glass of wine & some nibbles & the table around Tony was buzzing with interest.
A quick change & Tony was now the Widecombe Wag & he had the audience rocking with his songs, jokes & yet more hilarious tales.
In summary, an excellent evening & befitting of the occasion which graced 4 members who had attended the inaugural meeting of the society in 1982. The four are pictured below - left to right : Sybil Ball, Margaret Garton, Stephen Hughes & Ron Price.
