Alwington
Alwington maps (2 available)
Map of Devon
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
Personalised maps
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Alwington books (8 available)
Alwington memories
Read and share memories of Alwington and Devon inspired by Frith photos
Growing up in the 1960's
We lived in Headon's Cottage, Fairy Cross - it had been an old German doctor's cottage in the 1700s, a Doctor Wacerill who is buried in St. Andrew's churchyard, and his faded plaque was still above the front door - walls made of cob and thatched roof etc. We were just up the road from Portledge drive - my grandfather William George Harris was woodsman and forester on the Portledge Estate for the Pine-Coffin family for over 50 years and his grandfather before him had been the estate foreman. As a boy I very often walked our Rottweiler dog , Limbo, down Portledge drive turning into the woods halfway down and making our way over some wooden bridges and past a ...read more here
Contributed by Derek England
Church going in the 1960's
As local village children we used to walk from Fairy Cross meeting other children from the council houses along the way and wind our way through the narrow lane, sometimes picking wild strawberries in summer - moving out of the way of cars that needed to pass us - usually on their way to church also - untill we arrived at St. Andrews, Alwington. We always sat up in the choir stalls with Mrs. Elston (who had been my first teacher at Abbotsham school - Alwington school, where my mother had attended, had closed some years previously because of low numbers and all from our village then went by bus to Abbotsham). I can remember at special services - Christmas etc. ...read more here
Contributed by Derek England
Devon memories
Church going in the 1960's
As local village children we used to walk from Fairy Cross meeting other children from the council houses along the way and wind our way through the narrow lane, sometimes picking wild strawberries in summer - moving out of the way of cars that needed to pass us - usually on their way to church also - untill we arrived at St. Andrews, Alwington. We always sat up in the choir stalls with Mrs. Elston (who had been my first teacher at Abbotsham school - Alwington school, where my mother had attended, had closed some years previously because of low numbers and all from our village then went by bus to Abbotsham). I can remember at special services - Christmas etc. ...read more here
A memory of Alwington contributed by Derek England
Growing up in the 1960's
We lived in Headon's Cottage, Fairy Cross - it had been an old German doctor's cottage in the 1700s, a Doctor Wacerill who is buried in St. Andrew's churchyard, and his faded plaque was still above the front door - walls made of cob and thatched roof etc. We were just up the road from Portledge drive - my grandfather William George Harris was woodsman and forester on the Portledge Estate for the Pine-Coffin family for over 50 years and his grandfather before him had been the estate foreman. As a boy I very often walked our Rottweiler dog , Limbo, down Portledge drive turning into the woods halfway down and making our way over some wooden bridges and past a ...read more here
A memory of Alwington contributed by Derek England
Extracts From Alwington & Devon books
On the day Queen Victoria
died, the postmistress at
Lee`s old post office was
taking down a telegram
announcing the Queen`s
death when she was
struck by lightning in the
left eye and blinded.
An extract from from"Ilfracombe Photographic Memories".
Morte Point`s reputation as a sailors` graveyard was
never more deserved than on 26 October 1859 when
eight ships - the I`ll Try, the Matthew Thompson, the
Rose, the Thistle, the Hannah, the Clara, the Anne, and
the William Robertson, were lost. From one ship, all the
crew survived; from the other seven, all but four men
were lost.
An extract from from"Ilfracombe Photographic Memories".
It is thought that the first
ocean-going ships to visit
this harbour belonged to
the Phoenicians, who came
to trade for silver around
400BC.
An extract from from"Ilfracombe Photographic Memories".
The Velindra was just
one of the paddle
steamers that were
the lifeblood of
Ilfracombe`s tourist
industry in the latter
part of the 19th
century and the
first half of the 20th.
Before the building of
the pier, passengers
often had to be
ferried to and from
the steamers, which
anchored off Warp
House Point.
An extract from from"Ilfracombe Photographic Memories".
The slopes between Little Hangman and Sherrycombe, to the east, were often descended by
local women to gather laver (seaweed) from The Rawns. It was carried in 20lb bundles up
the steep cliffside and taken home to be cooked with vinegar and bacon. Laver is still served
in local cafes today.
An extract from from"Ilfracombe Photographic Memories".