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Ilfracombe
Ilfracombe maps
Historic maps of Ilfracombe and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Ilfracombe maps
Ilfracombe area books
Displaying 1 of 26 books about Ilfracombe and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Ilfracombe
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memories of Ilfracombe.
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1970's in The Carlton
My family ran the Carlton from the early 1970s. We lived there for a year or two in the flat which was on the right where the garage is in the picture here. I remember cycling around the place on my blue plastic tractor (I was born in 1971 was I wasn't old). We found that some guests came into the flat and used our bathroom so we hid a fake rubber severed hand poking out of the toilet. They never came in again. Mike Ward used to play the Hammond Organ in the Caribbean Lounge (which was once a snooker room). The Lions Club would come in and I would try to win a huge lion every week but never did. After years of trying they presented me with a small one which I still have!
WHY DID THEY KNOCK IT DOWN
I remember the last days of the Ilfracombe Hotel. It was a beautiful building but after years of neglect and then under council ownership it fell into disrepair (plus a certain hotelier/councillor didn't like it as it spoilt the view from his hotel) so despite thousands of signatures in protest it was knocked down the year we moved back to Ilfracombe after a year away. I remember seing the remains of the swimming baths as the sea washed into them before it was made into a car park. The hotel was made into…nothing. Just an expanse of shingle with the old concrete railings and posts left leaving some signs of what used to be there. I remember cycling along there and being told off by a council worker on his motor scooter (it's not ok to cycle along there with no one around but it's find if you drive there on a motorised vehicle apparently!). I used to love going to the museum which was the laundry of the hotel.... Read more
A Coastal Walk in North Devon
Last weekend I had a glorious gentle walk from Hunters Inn down the track to Heddons Mouth with my wife Elizabeth and two friends, Valerie and Jim.
We parked our car by the National Trust buildings up the lane from Hunters Inn, then put on some stout shoes, made sure our picnics were in our back packs and strolled down the track for twenty minutes or so to the rocky cove at Heddons Mouth. The river runs over the pebbly beach making a lot of noise and also the waves were coming crashing in on big boulders so it was quite exciting. We found some large flat rocks to sit on and enjoyed our picnic. Considering it was a mid-November day it was surprisingly mild.
After lunch we went back up the path and took the short stretch of coastal path to Trentishoe Church where we sat down on a bench in their peaceful churchyard for a well earned rest. From there it was an easy downhill walk... Read more
A Step Back Into Timeless Tranquility
I grew up in a northern city never realising that my grandmother was born in Ilfracombe in 1905. I knew she spoke differently but was only when I was 10 did I start to truly listen to the beautiful accent of my grandmother and the stories she told of her childhood in Ilfracombe. Sadly it was only after the death of close family that I started to research my beautiful family and retraced steps to my grandmother's home town. What a beautiful town. I spent 4 days searching for the old homes and amazingly found the public house owned by my x3 great grandfather George Coats was still standing. It was The Crown back in the 1840s but it was there. Sadly Compass Hill was no longer there. I read that one of the oldest of Ilfracombe's residents lived in Compass Hill. I believe she was my X4 great grandmother. I took my son with me as I believe it is important that he realises his family was not steeped... Read more
Runnacleave Hotel
I started work as an Hotel Receptionist at the Runnacleave Hotel on the 16th May 1970 and spent four wonderful summers there. It was my first time away from home and a bit daunting at first, but with the kindness and help of Anita Roberts, the owner, it became my home for the nest four seasons. I have so many memories of that lovely hotel, all the people I met and all the fun we had. Just a pity it is now a shadow of it's former self. I am putting together a history of the Hotel, so if anyone has any speical memories of their own, I would be glad to see them posted here.
Woolacombe Bay Hotel
I was a boarder at Adelaide College, while my father lived in London, my mother worked at Montebello Hotel. I recall the town then was crowded with American service people, who as I can remember were very generous with their gum and loose change! I also lived for a while at the Woolacombe Bay Hotel, the owners then were I think the Johnsons. I wonder if there are any photos out there of the College? I believe it was pulled down in the 1960s. Ilfracombe, what a lovely little town!
