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Branscombe
Branscombe maps
Historic maps of Branscombe and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Branscombe maps
Branscombe area books
Displaying 1 of 26 books about Branscombe and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Branscombe
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Branscombe.
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Holidays
I can recall the busy weekends with cars overflowing onto the front green and adjoining fields. Ladies wore floral dresses and the men with slacks and rolled up sleeves. To buy an Ice cream or a cream tea for mum and dad plain tea 1/- cream tea 1/6d. (the tariff sign is still in the tea rooms today) was a sheer joy and to be able to help pull the boats up at the end of the day was something everybody rushed to do. We hoped it would enable us to have an extra 10 minutes when we next hired the rowing boats. These holidays were simple but enjoyable and it didn't matter if it rained. The smell of the sea and miles of horizon and cloud formation from Portland Bill to Start Point made everyday special. Being a pensioner I can spend most of the summer at Branscombe. The most wonderful place of my childhood
Devon memories
The Churchyard
I happened upon Salcombe Regis by chance late April and what a magic sight the churchyard was. The huge low-hanging white blossom tree was magnificent and yellow and white daffodils scattered among the old lichen encrusted tombstones completed the picture. I discovered that evening from long lost relatives, that several of my ancestors (Maeers and others) had been born in Salcombe Regis, and there would be many of them lying in that churchyard. So now I want to return and get to know the village and find out what it would have been like for my forbears who lived there. (I live in Australia so its quite a journey). This is a modern memory of Salcombe Regis, but its a magic one for me.
Harcombe 1829
My 3xG/Grandparents James and Mary Vincent lived in Harcombe according to the 1829 census and the children of which Elizabeth Vincent my 2xG/Grandmother was baptised at Sidbury and was buried at Cowick Street, St Thomas Parish, Exeter. I visited Harcombe some days ago and thoughts were running through my mind as to whether the building that they lived in was one of the buildings there today. I would appreciate any historical news and views of the area, some of the lovely thatched cottages and farmland where they might have lived as I believe they were farmers/labourers. john-bev@talktalk.net
Warners
As a young child I can remember several holidays taken at the Warners holiday camp at Seaton. The serious business of 'motoring down to Devon' was never taken lightly, lunch was prepared the night before to be eaten at Stonehenge, where one was free to sit upon the stones then, the Consul Mk2 was serviced or at least washed and polished, suitcases on the roof were wrapped in plastic, which made a noise all the way down! and off we would go. Arriving on Saturday morning, the mass exodus of new arrivals queuing for keys stretched around the huge white-fronted building, my brother and I would be keen to explore and visit the swimming pool (whatever the weather). Upon receiving the keys, home for the next week would be a wooden chalet with a sink, basic tea-making equipment etc, meals would be served in the restaurant, this formed the basis of the holiday camp regime, where the hall would be split into 2 halves, the 'cads' and the 'colleges', points... Read more
East Steet (Renamed Dolphin Street)
My Uncle Henry Haskell Hooper, owned Ivy House, East Street, the adjoining premises was his shop and yard. He was the local painter and decorator. I was born in Ivy House December 2nd 1940. My mother was the sister of Lillian Hooper (Nee Cooper)
David Broughton
Yank Worked At Harbour Inn 1965
As an 18 year old boy from Atlanta, Georgia (USA), I worked at the Harbour Inn during the summer of 1965. That's among my fondest memories, and one of the most enjoyable times in my life. I have fond memories of the Rodmores (who owned the Inn), Henry (head bar tender), Old Herbie, and the many fine people who visited the pub and lived there and in Seaton. I revisited Axmouth and Seaton in 1972 while enroute home from an 18 month tour in Thailand. I shall never forget the warm welcome I received as a "left-tenant" in the US Air Force ... I could not pay for a drink, or even my hotel room, becasue you wanted to say "thanks" for what America did to help you in World War II. I still get teary when I think of that. Thank you for being such wonderful people and friends.
My House - my Home
This is Southcombe Terrace, Axmouth. 6-13 Southcombe Terrace was designed by the architect Frederick Kett and built by Bert Warren around 1937/8 for the Stedcombe Estate. My parents, Rock and Olive Real, then in their mid twenties, moved into what must have been, their dream home, No. 10, Southcombe Terrace. My parents would have preferred an end terrace house - and could have had one - but the extra 6d per week rent was more than they could afford. At first my parents rented the house from the estate, but after the death of Miss Stephens, the estate owner, they later had the opportunity to buy it, which they did in 1966 for 1,200. My sister Anne was born in the house in 1938 and the fir tree, shown in the photograph, was Anne's first Christmas tree, which my parents planted on the verge after Christmas. Dad, a lorry driver, for Bradford's of Seaton, had rescued the little tree just before Christmas, after it had... Read more
