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Launceston photos (210 available)

Old photo of Launceston

Launceston maps (2 available)

Old map of Launceston

Launceston books (5 available)

Launceston memories

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Cornwall memories

The picture house.

How many people remember the picture shows which were held in a hut at the top of the hill. I was one of the London evacuees billeted at Minions, and some of us would walk to the pictures and back again - how far was that! We were at Upton Cross school and I can recall the class being told to bring a lunch to school one day as Mr Bartholomew, our teacher, was to take us up on the moors, I think towards Sharp Tor, to see a bomb crater. Relations of the elderly couple I lived with owned Addicroft Mill, they were George and Ethel Pike, and we loved going there. I believe the Mill was bought at one ...read more here
A memory of Rilla Mill contributed by Eileen Banks

Bluecap

I remember well the Saturday Night Dances at the Bluecap Hotel in the 50's & 60's, now pulled down. The Bull's Head was more up-market. I lived at St Dominick and remember the Cattle Market. I was going to Callington Grammer School when King George V1 and family came to open the Royal Cornwall Show at Callington we all had the day off to go to the Show. There was a Youth Club where we played table tennis etc. and learnt to dance. I have nothing but fond memories of Callington.
A memory of Callington contributed by Brian Furse

St Cleer Church

St Cleer, Church interior 1906

This scene has changed little, except for the addition of carpeted areas and pews that look far more comfortable and inviting! I feel sure that every person who has walked through the doors of this church has been touched by what they have seen and the wonderful people they have met here. Todays community has added many other fine features like their fabulous millenium tapestry and the tea bar!!! I have loved this village, indeed my daughter was born here, and I have loved this church and my wonderful church family. It is with a heavy heart that I will soon have to leave here but St Cleer church will always be my favourite place and my ...read more here
A memory of St Cleer contributed by Michelle Coxeter

Burraton Post Office

Burraton, the Village c1960

Hi Bob. I remember your mother behind the Post Office counter. Your cat used to regularly attack our dog as we passed your front gate on the way to Burraton Park.  We both went to Saltash Grammar School in the late fifties.  I lived with Mrs Richards at 382 New Road a matter of a couple of hundred yards away near what used to be called the Coronation Inn and later was renamed the Rodney.  Roger's shop was further down New Road from us.  I believe it is now a Spar Store.
A memory of Burraton contributed by Raymond Guy

Extracts From Launceston & Cornwall books

Launceston, Parish Church, Interior 1899

The church interior is large, with granite arcades for the north and south aisles. The benches date from 1894. On the left is a wall monument to Granville Piper and Richard Wise, both aldermen and mayors of Launceston in the early 18th century.
An extract from from"Churches of East Cornwall Photographic Memories".

Launceston, St Mary's Church 1911

This photograph was taken in the year the beautifully carved oak chancel screen was completed by Rashleigh Pinwell. The oak choir stalls also date from this time. On the left are the pre-Reformation pulpit and the organ, which has 18th-century pipework. Both were restored in the early 1970s.
An extract from from"Churches of East Cornwall Photographic Memories".

Launceston, St Thomas' Church c1960

St Thomas’s was once a chapel of ease to St Stephen’s church, down in the valley next to the River Kensey and close to Launceston priory, of which some ruins remain. The building behind to the right has since gone. A photograph of the Norman font, said to be Cornwall’s largest, can be seen in the later section on Fonts and Fittings.
An extract from from"Churches of East Cornwall Photographic Memories".

Polkerris, Polridmouth Beach near Gribbin Head c1960

This scene has hardly changed for many years; the beach at Polridmouth is still only accessible on foot. Although we are just around the corner from St Austell Bay, this photograph gives us a good view of the prominent day mark erected in 1832 on the Gribbin Head as an aid for shipping entering the bay.
An extract from from"St Austell Bay Photographic Memories".

Polkerris, 1888

The old pilchard-curing cellar, or ‘palace’, beside the shore in the foreground was one of the largest in Cornwall. However, by the time of this early photograph the harbour seems already deserted by the fishing fleet, perhaps in favour of Mevagissey on the far side of the bay.
An extract from from"St Austell Bay Photographic Memories".