Squire Browns Now Pontings

A Memory of Barton.

The thirties were the very early days in my life. My mother would take us up  to Greathill where we would sit and have a picnic, not a lot to eat but a chance to play in the fresh air. We were all very happy together. Sometimes we might see a skylark rising above us singing away. We used to try to find the nest but never did. My mother would tell me the skylark took off well away from its nest. Barton was also where Squire Brown's house was, a large place where we had an outing day from the church, it would be at Easter time and the helpers would hide chocolate eggs for us children to find. I remember that you had to have six stars for attendance on Sundays to be allowed on the trip.
The Greathill I talked about was the high part of Torquay, that was where we could look right over the fields to the sea, not many houses then to cloud our view. Further down was Coakers farm, now only a road sign to mark it by. Walk along Moor Lane, Farmer Ching lived in a cottage, he had an orchard, yes, we would shin up the trees and fill our shirts with apples and run off when we heard the dog barking. All us locals knew of the greenpond that collected water from the springs that fed it. Sometimes moorhens would nest there, and sometimes it would freeze over and we would skate about like kids do. Does anyone remember Mary Pinkham? Her house is still there. Church Road is where Brunel had a chapel built, Stoneman the builders turned the building into  two dwellings in 1947?, I'm not quite sure about the date. I lived in Barton village for some years, quite a lot of history in the village. I think Upcott, the house opposite us, was once a pub. The quarry at the back of us was worked by a Mr  Gillard whose son Harry was an architect and was a friend of mine. A little further up the road Sharhams lived, I believe the house was once a post office. There is much more to say but perhaps I have said enough.

MR Eric harwood.

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