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Beesands
Beesands maps
Historic maps of Beesands and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Beesands maps
Beesands area books
Displaying 1 of 26 books about Beesands and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Beesands
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Devon memories
Widdicombe Children's Home
Anyone who knows or went to Widdiecombe Home, can you get in touch, do you have some photos, or memories. I went there as a young boy 6 years old, hope to hear from someone, hoping to visit all around south Devon shortly. I remember goingto the beach, and seeing the lighthouse as it always shone in the home.
Widdecombe House
I and a few other chidren were sent from Portsmouth authorities to this school which was for malajusted children. Mr Benions was the principle and it was run on the lines of a Rudolf Steiner School. We had no schooling and were made to work scrubbing and cleaning all day. The punishments were tremendous. We tried to get letters out to tell our parents but they were all censored. When Portsmouth Authorities found out we were all removed. The next thing I knew was the headlines of a Sunday Paper stating "The School to shock Britian". If any one has a cutting of this paper could they please let me know the date. It was around 1959. I remember Norris who has posted the other memory. I remember a shed on the road from Widdicombe House to Torcross in which cattle were slaughtered and we helped. I can also remember Mr Benions taking a car load along Slapton Sands to help build a house on the top of the hill.... Read more
HALLSANDS HOTEL
I'm currently researching for a forthcoming book on the former (now demolished) Hallsands Hotel. If you have any memories of it from any era that you would like to share, I'd be delighted to hear from you.
Many thanks
Nick Gilman
hallsandshotel@hotmail.com
07904 449982
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 choir, and he and my aunty ran the Church House Inn.
Uncle often used to sing 'Bless This House' in the pub and I used to play the piano for him.
I came home and got married in the church in January 1963, with full choir and bells. It was SO COLD, that was a really bad winter. The reception was at The Torcross Hotel and there was even ice at the edge of the sea.
Coming to Devon
We were living in Barry Island in south Wales, I was getting ready to take the 11 plus, one day when I came home from school my dad was waiting to tell me that we were on the move to Devon. We had spent four years on the Nells Point navy station and it was time to move on. We arrived at Kingsbridge train station and a taxi was waiting for us and what a journey it was, all the way to Prawle Point signal station. What a place to be with no transport and no electric, only oil lamps and the toilet across the yard. One good thing was that my dad didn't have to go far to the signal box. School was next to think about, it was a long way to go to the village and school, later my dad bought me a second-hand bike but oh, the hills and the narrow lane, pits everywhere, and several times I went over the handlebars. The school had really... Read more
I Was Born There
I remember going to school at Strete in the Easter, up to the summer holidays, as a 4 year old in 1964. When we were due to return, we had to go to Stoke Fleming primary because Strete primary had closed. All the Rowdens, Ewings, Harises and Yabsleys blamed me for the school closing. I was totally gutted! I lived in at No 3 Severns Corner, where I was born, with my mother and four sisters. Our next door neighbours were the Skinners, the father's name was Bill. I remember one son's name was Richard, who used to scare me while wearing a WW2 gas mask. I had many wonderful memories of Strete as a child and remember many locals names. We moved from Strete to Dartmouth in 1970, where a new chapter in my life started.
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...
