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Harleston

Harleston maps

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

Harleston area books

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

Memories of Harleston

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Devon memories

Childhood And Marriage

The Church c1960
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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.

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

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.

Kingsbridge Grammar School

Fore Street And Grammar School 1895
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I attended KGS from 1952 - 1959.
The Old Grammar School seen in this picture had long been replaced by a much larger building in Westville, Kingsbridge.
For the first couple of terms, I remember walking in file from Westville, past the railway station, to this building where we sat on long benches and ate our school dinners.
It is a handsome building and now houses the William Cookworthy Museum.

Shopping in Fore Street, Kingsbridge

Fore Street 1918
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My memories relate to the 1950's when I spent school summer holidays with my grandmother, Lily Creber, and great aunt, Gladys Hill, at Windsor Road. There was an agricultural machinery repairer just around the corner, next to Church Street Post Office. Old machinery was stored in a yard at the bottom of Windsor Road, and being a pre-teen lad I used to explore the various items laying around! Grandmother owned the walled garden beyond the garages and I would walk through that garden to gain access to one of the alleyways that led up to the town. The one we used most was that which passed Lugger Brothers, Printers. We used to go to International Stores and buy sugar and prunes weighed out in blue paper bags! I also remember that Fore Street was two way traffic in those days! Western National buses on service 93 ground their way up the hill from after leaving the station yard with its black corrugated metal... Read more

Birthplace

Tackett Wood Cottages 1896
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My grandmother, Mary Honor Parsley, was born here in 'Ticket Wood in 1900, my mother Jacqueline Oldman too in 1925. Honor's mother was born Elizabeth Ford, sister to Philip the house owner I believe.
The big house is now gone and replaced with something much more contemporary!
Tackett Wood was/is the local Deb'n vernacular for the area.

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