Post Office And Quay c1955, Instow
Post Office And Quay c1955, Instow Ref: I14017
Memories of Post Office And Quay c1955, Instow
Ladies Hairdressers at Instow
My mother - Hilda Florence Allen - worked as a hairdresser in Instow for a time during the Second World War. At the time she was married to Douglas Steer although the marriage did not survive long and she later joined the WRAF and was posted to Egypt for the remainder of the war years.
She had happy memories of Instow and took me there with my father for one of my earliest summer holidays probably around 1949. I revisited just this weekend in 2008 and tried to locate the hairdressers shop where my mother had once worked but there has been so much change that it proved impossible. I did walk along the sandy beach and thought deeply about having previously walked here almost sixty years ago! I looked across the water to Appledore and thought how beautiful the area is.
Family Home
Ahh Instow.. Always in my heart. Gran moved from Plymouth to Bickleton (2mls inland from Instow) c1930. Mum (Nancy Rooke) went to Instow school. During the war years she met Dad (Ron) married (1942) and moved to Staines where I grew up. Every year, with my two brothers, Doug and Andy, we would have our holidays with Gran, Aunt Lila and Uncle Ray (Spiers). Travelling down by train, watching out for the derelict tower on top of the hill above the old village near the School. Uncle Ray worked at the REME camp. They moved into Instow c1960, gran passed away 1963. We moved to Newton Abbot, Devon in 1964. Mum, Dad, Doug and Andy moved in with Aunt Lila and Uncle Ray c1966. Andy went to Instow School. Andy now lives in the same house that Aunt Lila had. I particularly remember the beach, Norman Johns' ferry to Appledore, I think he went to school with Mum. So many memories.
Instow & local memories
Read and share memories of Instow and Devon inspired by Frith photos.
