Beesands, Devon

Childhood and Marriage

I went to Sunday School here from 1949, and I sang in the church choir from 1950 until 1960 alongside my Nan.I was also allowed to learn to play the organ, the church has (had?) a wonderful organ, 2 keyboards and foot operated keyboard pedals, plus more stops than I could ever get used to. An uncle also sang in the... [more]

My parents' cottage

My parents owned the centre of the cottages in this photograph for a number of years. Some of the happiest summers were spent on Mill Bay and playing on the green by Cowrie Cottage...

Salcombe Hotel

I worked as Baker- Pastry cook at The Salcombe Hotel when Peter Ryder was the owner. It was a great job, the bakery had a lovely view over the estuary & I first worked with old 'Billy' Carter who was in his 70s then & always wore a cravat when he went down to 'Burners' Victoria Inn every day at opening... [more]

Salcombe Parish Church

The church was built on land donated by the 10th Earl of Devon and the foundation stone laid in 1841 The architect was J H Ball who designed several other churches in Devon. The magnificent east window shows scenes from the life of Christ and commemorates benefactors of the church, especially the 11th Earl of Devon who died in 1888. Henry... [more]

summer holidays

Browsing through the Book "I Remember when..." published by The Francis Frith Collection, I was so delighted to see a picture of The Quayside in 1896 at Salcombe, Devon. There standing proud above the quay was 'Harbour Lights', the home and guest-house of my brother-in-law Syd Waldron and my sister Betty. What a feast of memories the picture evoked. Sadly Syd... [more]

Early teenage fun at The Salcombe Hotel

The Salcombe Hotel was at one time owned by the formidable Mrs. Ryder. She could be seen in her latter years being escorted to and from The Ferry Inn by Mike Philpotts, a long-term hotel employee. Mrs Ryder had a bulldog, wore a silver bulldog brooch and it is remarkable how some people are said to resemble their pets.......
The Hotel... [more]

Customs Quay Salcombe

This view shows Customs Quay and out of sight on the right is the Customs House. Mrs Florrie Gasson and her husband lived in the building and she would make a great show to the visitors of feeding the swans. A flock of 20 or so would swim in the water looking for her and she called each one by a... [more]

Courtenay Park Salcombe

This view of Courtenay Park is quite poignant for me.  It shows houses at the lower end of Devon Road and also the land on which Egremont Terrace was later built.

My parents lived in no. 10 Egremont Terrace from the late 1930s until they moved to St Dunstan's Road in 1970. We had a splendid view over the estuary... [more]