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Combe Cellars

Combe Cellars maps

Historic maps of Combe Cellars and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis.   View all Combe Cellars maps

Combe Cellars area books

Displaying 1 of 26 books about Combe Cellars and the local area.   View all books for this area

Memories of Combe Cellars

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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 Dancers Entertain at Stokeinteignhead


Stokeinteignhead has a beautifully appointed new village hall which was the venue for a fundraising Family Ceilidh on 24th November.

The event was well supported by the village community and raised a lot of funds. The band - "WoRTS 'N ALL" - gave their performace free and we all had a great time dancing at their Family Ceilidh. An interval entertainment was provided by the Heather and Gorse Clog Dancers who performed four of their favourite dances: Hindley, Marston, Walton's Parade and Slapton.  

It was a really lovely evening and the dancers looked very smart in their kit of blue skirts, white blouses, black waistcoats and shiny black clogs. For me it was an especially memorable occasion as my wife Elizabeth had recently joined the local morris side and this was her first opportunity to dance in public with them. For me too it was a first - I joined in with their band playing my Hohner piano accordian.  Altogether it was a lovely evening in... Read more

Father Christmas Visits Stoke-In-Teignhead Village Hall


The villagers organised a wonderful welcome for Father Christmas when he arrived at the village hall. They had prepared a 'Victorian Christmas Fair' with arts and crafts and local produce for sale indoors, and outside there was a hog roast, mulled wine, real ales and roast chestnuts!

The huge crowd of villagers were entertained by the Heather and Gorse Clog Dancers and I went along with my piano accordian to play in their band. It was a gorgeous sunny winter's day - sun shining brightly and not a cloud in the sky but I don't think the temperature went above freezing once! I finished up playing my accordian with my gloves on!

Our dancers struggled a little with the surface outside as there were grassy pavers with the gaps filled with gravel - these proved to be too slippery in the cold conditions so after just one dance almost every dancer had to change out of their clogs into a safer pair of shoes with more grip!... Read more

Blackpool Stores

Fore Street c1965
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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

Ness House c1955
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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

From Torquay Road 1895
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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.

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