Downderry, Cornwall

Holidays in Downderry

Uncle Tim owned the left side of Tremmor Cottage, next to St Nicolas Church, as a holiday home. He would let it out privately to friends and family. Subsequently he changed his holiday venue to the house next door - Firside Cottage. Unfortunately he took up permanent residence there a few years ago.
Thus my last family holiday in Downderry was... [more]

HOLIDAY MEMORIES

I have many happy, if rather boozy, memories of Downderry! I first went there in 1983 until my final visit in 1996, where I had 12 fantastic holidays there, most of the time in glorious sunshine. I went with my parents each year (apart from one) and I  was amazed by the beauty of the place. That stunning sea view as... [more]

Hessenford

I have just read the memory of the fishing trips and the use of the jeep to tow the fishing boat down the beach to launch it into the sea at Downderry. I also remember that jeep as if it were yesterday. My Grandmother, Marjorie Buckley, was the Headmistress of Hessenford School in the 40's and 50's (maybe into the 60's... [more]

Fishing with Billy

Billy was a hero to we boys. In the daytime you could go crabbing with him; at night, out drifting. He drove an old open jeep and at times you would see five, six or even seven boys clinging to parts of this ex-US vehicle as it bounced its way up the slipway, or tore through the Cornish lanes on the... [more]

Downderry coastguard

I first visited Downderry fifty years ago on my honeymoon. My husband's (Bill Polwin Baxter) father William Henry Polwin had been coastguard there towards the end of the 19th century - my mother-in-law was born at the coastguard house in St Mawes. It was a beautiful day and we swam in the sea at the bottom of the garden. I am... [more]

Wide Sea Hotel, Downderry

I last stayed at the Wide Sea Hotel in 1966. Margaret Eliott the owner was to marry my father, Hilton Devitte in 1967. I wondered if the hotel still existed today, and what had happened to Margaret Devitte nee Eliott. We also had wonderful holidays at Whitsand Bay Hotel in the 1950s as a family and I was glad to see... [more]

Holiday and Family Tree research

I stayed at the Wide Sea Hotel in the mid to late 1950s when I was about 8.  My grandparents were also staying at the hotel and probably they had stayed several times before. My grandfather came from Cornwall which is probably why he went holidaying there from Chingford in Essex/London.

Good times

I used to live in the little cottage you can see there, It was a very beautiful place.

Cornwall County Memories

The balconied St Germans Hut was a shooting box belonging to the Earl of St Germans, set high on the cliffs about a mile east of Downderry. In the 1920s a visiting permit could be obtained from the steward at the family seat of Port Eliot, St Germans, and 'if warning be sent to the Hut, a simple meal can be... [more]

Churches of East Cornwall Photographic Memories

The church interior is shown here just a few years after it had been built, looking towards the east window. There is plenty of daylight from the windows, but note the oil lamps hanging from the timber ceiling; part of the heating arrangement is seen on the left, foreground. There is seating for 100. An oak pulpit was installed in 1893.

English Villages

The house on the right, outside which the rather formidable-looking woman is standing, is reputed to be the oldest in Downderry. The subject of her conversation with the equally stern-looking woman with the donkey cart is probably not last night's party.