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Portholland, the Bay c1955

Portholland, the Bay c1955
 
 

Portholland, the Bay c1955 Ref: p243301

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Memories of Portholland, the Bay

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Portholland & local memories

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Heritage 1910 to 1920

My Dad grew up in Portholland, one of seven children. There were five boys and the stories he could tell. The boys would go out at night and splash water on windows and the next day listen to the residents talk about the storm during the night. They also went out in the morning and made the ladies come to the front door by shouting "fish for sale". The funniest was the boys putting sheets over themselves at night and gliding around as ghosts. That must have been something back in those days. My grandmother caught them one day because of mud on the sheets and told them not to do that any more because if the squire found out he would kick them out of the house. Maybe that was just a threat from their mother. I would like to think that the squire would think it just as funny as I think it is.

I know which house they lived in and I always visit Portholland whenever I go back to England.

Shared on 09 February 2008 by Sinclair Hugh.

My time in Portloe 1962

I was married in Veryan Church on 4th August 1962 to Michael Henry Symons Blamey and we lived in Rose Cottage in Portloe after our marriage. Our son Andrew Mark was  born in 1963 and towards the end of 1963 I moved back to Birmingham which is where I originally came from. I remember the winter of 1962 as a particularly bad one, the local bus had to have chains on its wheels in order to get in and out of Portloe, and I spent most of that winter pregnant and trying desperately to save the many frozen birds by keeping them warm on the Rayburn and trying to feed them without success. We had to get our water from the Ship Inn, the local pub. I also remember very windy nights when the men were called out to winch the boats further up the beach and the smoke blowing down the chimney and coating the walls of the living room with soot. Occasionally I would go out in Papa's boat, Vespers with a mackerel line, I never caught much as my hands were always wet and frozen and this townie couldn't feel when I had a mackerel on one of the many hooks! The film Crooks in Cloister was made there during that summer too, Barbara Windsor, Bernard Bresslaw, Old Man Steptoe and others I can't remember now, poor Barbara Windsor had to trudge up and down the beach in scorching weather in a fur coat and she must have felt even hotter than she looked, while the goat in the film munched his way through endless paper cups without anyone noticing!  I also worked part-time in the Lugger Hotel for a few weeks. I used to love sitting on the bench down by the beach and listen to the old men who told me stories of times gone by or smelling the air in the cellar where Papa, Tim, Joey and others used to sit and mend their nets.  They used to hang bait up on the harbour wall to get nice and ripe to put in their crab pots and it was very amusing to see visitors reaction to this and the many photos that were taken of what can only be described as a nauseous mess on the wall!! We used to have a communal mangle across the way from our cottages, the  biggest mangle I have ever seen covered by an army greatcoat, this had to be removed before you could use it and it was always covered in snails I remember, very offputting. To a townie born and bred, living in Portloe with a loo up the cliff in the back garden and all that went with Portloe was a massive shock to the system, not always one of the pleasantest, but I cherish every memory I had of Portloe and the people there, they were quite unique and I am so very glad I was privileged to be part of their community for a while. I went back to Portloe a couple of years ago and it has changed so much, but it still has the immense charm it always has and always will have. I am very lucky to have those memories of 1962/3.

Shared on 04 September 2008 by Pam Andrews.

Photo of Tregony, Fore Street c1955

Tregony, Fore Street c1955
Ref: t208306

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Penlee Stores, Fore Street, Tregoney

I was born in the same bedroom as my father at Penlee Stores, a little shop (now long gone) opposite Penlee House. My grandfather started the business, he was what is termed a hawker. He travelled the Roseland peninsula selling from his horse and cart anything anyone wanted or needed. His name was Stephen James Lidgey, known as Steve Lidgey. When he died, my father Leo Lidgey took over the business, and he and my mother ran it for many years.

The Lidgey name has now gone from Tregoney but in my childhood there were many who bore the name Lidgey. The first Lidgey in Tregoney was a George, born in Redruth in 1735, who married a Tregoney girl, Jane Dyer, on 30th September 1755 at St Cuby Church. My sister still lives in Tregoney with her children, under her married name. I, after my divorce, returned to my maiden name Lidgey. I was born a Lidgey and I will die a Lidgey.




Shared on 02 September 2009 by Ruth Lidgey.

Photo of Tregony, Town Clock c1955

Tregony, Town Clock c1955
Ref: T208308

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Childhood Memories

My granny and grandfather owned this house also, we always called it Fairpark House. My grandfather's brother hanged himself in the back kitchen. My granny died there. I know the house very well. My gran, two aunts and uncle lived there. I have many, many happy memories of Fairpark House. It was called Isis House when my granny bought it. I remember everything about the house and gardens. Chickens were kept in the old Fairpark field behind the house. I loved feeding them with Uncle Stan or Aunty Win, and collecting eggs. What happy times.

Shared on 02 September 2009 by Ruth Lidgey.

Photo of Tregony, Town Clock c1955

Tregony, Town Clock c1955
Ref: T208308

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Town Clock

I am tracing my family history, and one of the stories that I have come across is that one of my ancestors Richard Eva 1734-1806 made the clock for Tregony, and have been told the story that it was hidden to save it from being sold to Australia, I was also told that the clock survived as part of a pigsty on a farm and was found in 1961, but was found too late as it had recently been sent to a scrap yard.  

Shared on 04 February 2009 by Joan Owens.

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