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Ideford
Ideford maps
Historic maps of Ideford and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Ideford maps
Ideford photos
We have no photos of Ideford, although we do have photos of these nearby places:
Chudleigh| Bishopsteignton| Kingsteignton| Chudleigh Knighton| Combeinteignhead| Teignmouth| Ringmore| Shaldon| Holcombe| Newton Abbot| Dawlish| Bovey Tracey| Cofton| Dawlish Warren| Kenton| Kennford| Abbotskerswell| Maidencombe| Starcross| Daccombe| South Knighton| Christow| Kingskerswell| Powderham| Watcombe
Ideford area books
Displaying 1 of 26 books about Ideford and the local area. View all books for this area
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Memories of Ideford
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Devon memories
Ugbrooke House
I visited Ugbroooke House in June 2009 for an Open Day they hosted to raise funds for local RNLI stations. It is a beautiful old stone mansion with a fascinating history associated with the Clifford family over the centuries. As well as opening their extensive grounds, terrace garden and lawns around the house itself, the staff were on hand to make sure everything worked smoothly to help the RNLI.
I went along to provide music on my piano accordian for the Heather and Gorse Clog Dancers - we were a little worried when we arrived as spots of rain were falling and our dancers in their heavy clogs were concerned to find no hard surface to dance on! Eventiually we arranged to share a square of well compacted lawn right in front of the house and it was a beautiful spot to perform. A grassy slope above us provided a comfortable picnic spot for the crowds in the afternoon sunshine, and the stone walls and flower beds... Read more
A Little Bit of Chudleigh History
When a boy, my father, Donald William Stevens, used to show visitors through the Pixie caves for 1/2d per person, with the light from a candle for illumination. After WWII he followed in his father's (William Henry Stevens) footsteps of being a Chudleigh shopkeeper, and opened a shoe shop at 7 The Square, (or Fore Street as some preferred). This shop was in business for 39 years, and sold all types of footwear from Wellies, plimsoles and brogues, although there was not much call for ballet shoes! Due to ill health the business was closed, and sadly he died in 1989.
My mother continued to live in Chudleigh until her death earlier this year at the age of 85 years. How Chudleigh has changed recently would have made my father weep, I'm sure, with the lovely views he enjoyed from his bungalow, with the leat and daffodills in spring, but life must go on.
Heather And Gorse Clog Dancers Entertain at Chudleigh
Chudleigh hosts a wonderful Christmas late night shopping evening each year when the Christmas lights in Fore Street are switched on. The shops stay open until late evening and their windows twinkle with fairy lights and decorations. Shops, cafes and pubs are crowded and stay open late in the evening, and the place is transformed into a fairyland of old-fashioned entertainment and street traders.
The Heather and Gorse Clog Dancers and I went along to provide part of this entertainment and I played my piano accordian in the band and my wife Elizabeth was one of the team of dancers. We took our one-year old granddaughter Anna in a puchchair and made sure she was well wrapped up to keep warm! We had a big band of squeezeboxes and drums. The dancers looked magnificent in their smart kit of black waistcoats, bright blue skirts and shiny black wooden clogs as they danced six times during almost an hour long performance. The best spot to play and dance... Read more
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 Morris Dance at Rixey Park
Among the attractions at this year's annual Rixey Park Tractor Rally were the Heather and Gorse Clog Dancers and their band - a local dance team based at Combeinteignhead.
For days beforehand the weather had been absolutely atrocious so the venue at Bellmarsh Meadows, on the Chudleigh Road, between Kingsteignton and Chudleigh Knighton, was absolutely sodden and truly muddy! We had been warned about this so made sure we arrived with our wellington boots.
Fortunately the organisers placed some boards in the centre of the arena so there was a small area of firm ground for dancing! I think this is the only tme in my entire life that I have played my piano accordian in public wearling my wellies!!
All around us were some of the finest examples of classic farming machinery, mainly tractors, but also horticultural machinery, stationary engines, classic cars and motorcycles. The event also marked the 50th anniversary of Massey Ferguson, the agricultural machinery manufacturer, so there were special displays... Read more
Chudleigh Knighton Cider Memories
I lived in Chudleigh Knighton when I was 11 years old until I was 15. That was 1932 till 1936. I was taught at the lovely school there. The head mistress was Miss Gill and her assistants Miss Bray and Miss Parkhurst. My family had broken up and I lived with my grandparents Mr. William Thompson and Mrs. Elizabeth Thompson who had a small orchard and bicycle repair business with a couple of petrol pumps there at Bungalow Voysey. Nearby were boys of my age, Jack and Len Rodman, Aubrey Beer, Michael Wills and Joe Bovey to name a few and a girl, Reenie Snell. My grandfather built the bungalow whilst I lived there. It was a timber frame with asbestos cladding in and out and a corrugated iron roof. I particularly remember a huge dining table whose top surface was large spare asbestos sheets piled one on top of the other and we ate many meals off it. It obviously had no effect on our lifespan. I loved the... Read more
