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Ashwell
Ashwell maps
Historic maps of Ashwell and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Ashwell maps
Ashwell photos
We have no photos of Ashwell, although we do have photos of these nearby places:
Bishopsteignton| Combeinteignhead| Kingsteignton| Ringmore| Shaldon| Teignmouth| Newton Abbot| Holcombe| Chudleigh| Chudleigh Knighton| Maidencombe| Daccombe| Dawlish| Kingskerswell| Abbotskerswell| Watcombe| Dawlish Warren| St Marychurch| Cofton| South Knighton| Bovey Tracey| Babbacombe| Torquay| Ipplepen| Kenton| Starcross| Ansteys Cove| Torbryan| Lympstone
Ashwell area books
Displaying 1 of 26 books about Ashwell and the local area. View all books for this area
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Memories of Ashwell
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Devon memories
Heather And Gorse Clog Dancers Dance at The Passage House Inn
On the north bank of the Teign estuary between Bishopsteignton and Kingsteignton is a waterside pub - the Passage House Inn - reached at the far end of mile long lane. This was the venue for an evening of music and dancing provided by the Heather & Gorse Clog Dancers from nearby Combeinteignhead. It was early May but sadly someone forgot to tell Mother Nature this year as Spring has come late so the evening was damp and breezy with not a soul outside the pub to enjoy the entertainment!
However the handful of dancers and the band still put on a show of garland and molly dances looking splendid in their blue and white kit with shiny black clogs. The band of accordians and drums played a selection of jigs and polkas until the combination of cool breeze, midges and light rain finally drove everyone inside to the warmth of the bar!
Bishopsteignton And The Commercial Inn
My aunt and uncle, Dot and Mick Perkins, ran the Commercial Inn, now renamed the Bishop John de Grandeson. I don't know when they took it over but they ran it for over 30 years. As a child my mum and dad, aunts, uncles and cousins all stopped at the Commercial for Christmas. I remember Mick's pigeon loft and loads of empty gin bottles stacked out the back of the pub. This is now a nice garden. Putting old pennies in the one armed bandit and pulling on the handle when the pub was shut, playing darts in front the roaring fire. Chasing my cousins up and down the stairs and passages and being told off by Dot for disturbing the customers. I remember being paraded with cousins in front of "Major X" and "Captain Y" by Dot. I think there was a military home somewhere near by (Grantley??). We used to walk across the fields from Bishop down to the estuary and some days when the sun shone and... Read more
Heather And Gorse Clog Morris Dance at Rixey Park
Among the attractions at this year's annual Rixey Park Tractor Rally were the Heather and Gorse Clog Dancers and their band - a local dance team based at Combeinteignhead.
For days beforehand the weather had been absolutely atrocious so the venue at Bellmarsh Meadows, on the Chudleigh Road, between Kingsteignton and Chudleigh Knighton, was absolutely sodden and truly muddy! We had been warned about this so made sure we arrived with our wellington boots.
Fortunately the organisers placed some boards in the centre of the arena so there was a small area of firm ground for dancing! I think this is the only tme in my entire life that I have played my piano accordian in public wearling my wellies!!
All around us were some of the finest examples of classic farming machinery, mainly tractors, but also horticultural machinery, stationary engines, classic cars and motorcycles. The event also marked the 50th anniversary of Massey Ferguson, the agricultural machinery manufacturer, so there were special displays... Read more
Blackpool Stores
As a child my annual family holiday was spent in Shaldon, first staying at The Teign Crest as a baby and small child, later at The Clipper. Two weeks of blissful freedom - shoeless and carefree. Not many cars in the village in the 1960s, so we children ran wild, only turning up at feeding times. Great family mackerel fishing jaunts, or trips up river to Coombe Cellars in the Hooks' boats. Fabulous clotted cream from Mary at the Dairy opposite The Clipper, and hot bread rolls from Petes the bakery (now a bistro).
The shop front in this picture of Fore Street is of 'Blackpool Stores' - possibly our own family name for an emporium that was an Aladdin's cave for my brother and I, selling everything from crabbing lines to cheap watches. I am convinced that the woman in the picture is my mother - disputed by some members of the family, but I'd know her back view anywhere!
The family have taken their holidays in Shaldon at... Read more
The Most Beautiful Place to Grow up
I just ‘stumbled’ across this site whilst looking for information about Shaldon. How lovely to recall childhood memories. Viewing the photographs, the shot of the Ness House c1955. I grew up there; we lived at the Ness House throughout the 1950’s, I attended Shaldon Primary, was a choir boy at St Peter’s Church and a cub with the 1st Shaldon pack. I imaging one of the car parked outside the Ness House is my father’s, there weren’t that many about at that time.
I return to the Ness regularly, it still is the most beautiful place.
Wedding Celebrations in Shaldon
Thursday 14th August 2008 was a sunny summer day for the wedding of a lovely Japanese girl, Nakki, to Ra - the son of one of the Heather and Gorse Clog Dancers - Jane.
Following the ceremony in Paignton, there was a barbeque party at Platway House which is an old mansion up the hillside above Shaldon with amazing views across the river just like the view shown here.
As both Nakki, the bride, and Jane, the groom's mother are dancers, there was plenty of entertainment in the Platway House garden from the Heather and Gorse Clog Dancers plus their merry band of musicians. We had a large tent but it was scarcely needed as not a drop of rain fell on this sunny day. I joined in the music with my piano accordian and the first dance was - of course - the "Wedding Reel" danced to the tune of "Portsmouth". It was great fun and a lovely way to celebrate a wedding.
Shaldon Regatta
This view is a photograph just in front of the Ferryboat Inn at Shaldon - a popular haunt for the sailors and oarsmen taking part in the annual Shaldon Regatta. As part of the week long programme of entertainments there was an evening of morris dancing and mumming by the Ferryboat Inn.
It was a warn and dry August evening and crowds filled the tables on the beach in front of the Inn waiting for the entertainments to begin. First up were the Heather and Gorse Clog Dancers looking really smart in their blue skirts, coloured ribbons, white blouses and black waistcoats. Their shiny clogs stamped out the rhythm of the jigs and polkas played by the band, including me with my Hohner piano accordian. After a couple of dances it was the turn of the Grimspound Mummers who entertained the crowds with the traditional St Gorge mumming play.
Good fun was had by all and it was a lovely evening helped by great company,... Read more
