Doddiscombsleigh memories
Here are memories of Doddiscombsleigh and the local area. You can start now: Add your own Memory of Doddiscombsleigh or a Doddiscombsleigh photo.
THe New Inn
My parents ran the New Inn (now The Nobody Inn) when my grandmother died, and we moved from Higher Ashton to take over the tenancy. The Pub was owned by the St Annes Well Brewery who operated from Exeter. Many memories flow from those days. School with Miss Mary Wippell Mallet who had the typical bun hairstyle, and lived with her sister in the school house just below the school. The school inspector?attendance officer called on a weekly basis, he was called Mr Bray, commonly known as "Donkey Bray", he used to drive in his black Austin 7. When Miss Mallet retired she and her sister went to live at Tedburn St Mary. She was replaced by a Miss Harper, a rather younger lady, who had many seemingly revolutionary new ideas. The village came alive when a neighbouring farmer, Reg Lovey, was spied journeying through the back fields and entering the School House at evening times, such things were never heard of, eventually they moved to Honiton and got married.... Read more
Memories of Devon
Heather And Gorse Clog Morris Entertain at The Teign House Inn, Christow
It was the weekend of the Royal Wedding and on Sunday, the day before the May Bank Holiday, everyone was in a party mood.
We took a party of dancers and musicians to the Teign House Inn which is a delightful country pub several miles north along the lanes from Christow. The jolly landlord provided a camping field for some folks to to stay for the entire long weekend as there is a tradition among Morris Dancers to rise at dawn on May Day to greet the sun at the start of summer!
On this particular Sunday we had more than fifty dancers and a lot of musicians too. We came from many different "sides" around Devon and Cornwall. I brought along my small piano accordian and played along with the band for the Heather and Gorse Clog Dancers. They looked splendid in their blue and white kit with shiny black clogs although they did find it tough dancing on the grass!
A Ramble in The Dunsford Nature Reserve And Lunch in The Royal Oak
Today I joined a group of friends on an organized ramble through the Dunsford nature reserve run by the Devon Wildlife Trust. My friends are all dancers and musicians with Heather and Gorse Clog Dancers but on this occasion we were happy to enjoy a five mile circular walk on a beautiful early Spring sunny Devon day instead of our more usual dancing at a pub!
We started our ramble at Steps Bridge, close to where we parked our cars in the Dartmoor National Park car park next to the Youth Hostel. The reserve entrance is just past the Exeter side of the bridge and we followed the footpath and bridlepath along the valley floor, from Steps Bridge to the Clifford Bridge where we played “Pooh Sticks” (just shows how grown up Morris Dancers can be!).
By the time we returned to Steps Bridge it was lunchtime and we were feeling quite thirsty so we all made our way to The Royal Oak in Dunsford for... Read more
The Wakely Family
I was born in Lower Shillingford (Shillingford Abbot) in 1939. My grandparents Francis and Jane Wakely lived in Rectory Cottage, Higher Shillingford (Shillingford St George). My grandfather was gardener at the rectory. He was also the sexton at the church, gravedigger, bellringer and caretaker at the church.
At Christmas time we would walk from Lower Shillingford to Higher Shillingford a distance of about three miles to attend the midnight service at the church on Christmas Eve. My grandmother would not attend the service as she was stone deaf. She looked after my little brother instead while we were at the service. It was always bitterly cold and I remember starlit nights and chattering teeth. The church furnace was lit early in the day and it was warm and bright with the light of the many candles saved for this occasion .It was full of holly and ivy that my grandfather had collected to decorate the church. I loved this service and often think about it even now. After the service... Read more
Snow Snow And More Snow Winter 1946
1946 was a very bad winter, we were snowed in for weeks.The promised Christmas pantomime visit to the Theatre Royal in Exeter never materialised. It always seemed to happen like that in those days. The winters were very hard and my parents told me that when they were young they could remember the River Exe frozen solid and market stalls set up on them. Getting out of bed with the frost patterning all the windows and the linoleum on the floor freezing cold was a nightmare. If I got half a chance I would go to bed with my vest and liberty bodice on to avoid some of the cold in the morning. People don't know that they have been born these days, with their central heating and fitted carpets, and they still moan that they are cold in the occasional cold snap.
Bond Family
I have not been to Whitestone, but my great-great-grandmother...Susannah Bond was born there in 1799. She moved to Newton St. Cyres and married Thomas Crump there. Are there any Bond's still in Whitestone who might be distant relatives ?
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- Streatham, Greater London
- Greenock, Renfrewshire
- Ilfracombe, Devon
- Seaton Carew, Cleveland
- Harrow Weald, Middlesex
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- Kitts Green, West Midlands
- Aldershot, Hampshire
- Virginia Water, Surrey
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- Ipswich, Suffolk
- Rockfield, Gwent
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- Plumstead, Norfolk
- Coalville, Leicestershire
- Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey
- Frizington, Cumbria
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- Grantham, Lincolnshire
- Reigate, Surrey
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