Alfoxton House
Alfoxton House maps (2 available)
Map of Somerset
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
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Alfoxton House books (14 available)
Alfoxton House memories
Read and share memories of Alfoxton House and Somerset inspired by Frith photos
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Somerset memories
Childhood
My father came to Townsend Farm as the tenant in Sept 1940. The farmhouse is shown on the left in the picture titled Townsend. At that time I was only 15 months. My earliest memories are of the later war years. We had evacuees from Bristol living in part of the house. I also remember sitting on the garden wall which was alongside the main road and being thrown chewing gum by the American soldiers billeted at the nearby camp at Alfoxden. My brother and the boy in the other half of the house, Vernon, were green with envy when they got home from school.
My father had milking cows, milked by hand in the war ...read more here
A memory of East Quantoxhead contributed by Edwin John Summerhayes
Halsway Manor
I discovered this amazing place in 2006 and only wish I had known of it 50 years ago as it is an oasis of rural bliss where folk musicians and dancers meet like-minded people to practise and learn from one another. I first went there to meet some folk musicians one Sunday evening so I took along my piano accordian to join in the session in the Halsway Manor bar. It was really wonderful to be able to play in such a grand atmosphere. Since then I have returned a dozen times for similar music groups and on one occasion I went along on a summer afternoon to see the maypole dancing on the Halsway Manor front lawn.
A memory of Crowcombe contributed by John Howard Norfolk
Combe Florey Primary School
The village school in Combe Florey closed in about 1958 I believe, it exists as a private house now, but I can still remember the mile long walk to and from it, through the lanes every morning and afternoon. Mum would accompany us with younger siblings in a big green metal pushchair, so for her it was twice the distance. I remember little of the actual school, except that it was one big room with tall windows and a wood burning stove in it. The playground was on the other side of the road, so we were all hearded across at playtime and shut in, and then hearded back afterwards. I dont remember how many were at ...read more here
A memory of contributed by Kathy Farmer
Halscombe.house.washford .1942
I lived at Washford from 1942 to 1958. The house I lived in was Halscombe and I went to school in Minehead
and was in the sea scouts at Watchet. If anyone can remember me from that time, please get in touch. we went to school on the train in the good old days
Yours, Keith Duckworth
A memory of Washford contributed by keith duckworth
Extracts From Alfoxton House & Somerset books
Taunton is a town surrounded by water, with the Tone passing through its heart and the marshes not far away. It is
still possible to walk along the banks of the local waterways, just as these Edwardian children did nearly a century
ago. A canal to Tiverton once started from near French Weir.
An extract from from"Taunton Photographic Memories".
A splendid view over the heart of Taunton town. In late Victorian times many of the old buildings of Taunton were
demolished and new streets were created. Notice the early marked parking spaces in the street below.
An extract from from"Taunton Photographic Memories".
A fine example of a village stocks is to be seen at West Monkton, sheltered beneath the yews of the churchyard.
Notice the whipping post on the right. The shelter above is of a later date, for miscreants were seldom protected
from the vagaries of the English weather.
An extract from from"Taunton Photographic Memories".
Once much feared as a punishment, village stocks are now just a picturesque part of our history. They were mostly
used for minor offences such as drunkenness and petty theft. An Act of 1376 decreed that stocks should be set
up in every village as a way of controlling unruly labourers.
An extract from from"Taunton Photographic Memories".
This is really a church
without a village, for only
a few scattered houses
and farms are nearby. A
church has stood here
from at least Norman
times, though most of
the present building
is 15th-century, with
a 20th-century family
chapel added by Lord
Portman.
An extract from from"Taunton Photographic Memories".