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Upottery

Upottery photos

Displaying the first of 3 old photos of Upottery.   View all Upottery photos

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Upottery maps

Historic maps of Upottery and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis.   View all Upottery maps

Upottery area books

Displaying 1 of 26 books about Upottery and the local area.   View all books for this area

Memories of Upottery

Upottery memories
Read and share Upottery memories

Displaying a selection of personal memories of Upottery.
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Freddie The Postman

Although born in Churchstanton in 1791 my gg grandfather James Doble moved to Upottery and I have had close relatives living in the village until my grandmother Beatrice Doble died in 1982.
My sister and myself were born, baptized and lived at Addington Cottages until the Sidmouth estate was sold in 1954 and we moved to Ilminster. My father, Maurice was a thatcher on the estate.
However, I spent all my school holidays at Upottery and one of my memories was of Freddie Smith the postman who did his rounds on a huge grey horse called Dandy. At 4 - 5 years old being on his back seemed like a long way from the ground.
I have so many memories of Upottery and the people who lived there and even returned and married in the church in 1969.

Upottery

My family of Hurford all came from Upottery and later in 1860s setteld in Luppitt just down the track!

Devon memories

Yarcombe Shop

I remember the shop at Yarcombe was owned by a Mr & Mrs Harding.
She always referred to her husband as 'Daddy', consequently the shop was known locally as "Daddy Hardings". It sold everything.

The Blue Line buses from Londons Victoria Bus Station used to stop at the Yarcombe Inn. They would put out a big company flag when the bus was due.

Kart Club

Hi there all you Karters. Just sitting here in Queensland, Australia and thought I'd pass on a bit of history regarding The Dunkeswell Kart Club. The club started as an 'offshoot' of The Torbay Motor Club of which I was a member, as were Allan and Gordon, Jim, Tony and Paul. One evening over a beer at the 'local' the conversation got around to Kart Racing, and an approach was made to the T M C to see if we could come to an aggreement to run some sort of activity involving Karts? 'Not interested' was the reply, so it was decided to go it alone. Over the next few weeks we raced at 'Denbury', looked at a possible circuit in the Ivvbridge area, and then owing to some sterling work on behalf of our small 'committee' by a couple of drivers came up with Dunkeswll. We raced there for a number of years very successfully. We of the Dunkeswell Kart Club also attended the T M C Odicombe Hill... Read more

The School

The Village c1960
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I think 1960 was the year my mother (Joyce Baxfield) was appointed headmistress at Offwell School.  She had been head teacher at Cotleigh before this.  I grew up riding my pony all around the area and have many fond memories, including taking a day off school to attend the hunt when it met right here in the picture!!  It was a blissful childhood and I am sure many of the friends I made then are still living in the area.   

My Time With The Army at Honiton 1968-1969

From 1968-1969 I was posted to Honiton with the Royal Welch Fusiliers. I was an army cook aged just 19 at the time. I thought that it was a lovely place,  posted to Hong Kong. I also remember an old American guy who ran a cafe on the High Street, he settled there after WW2. We used to drink at the Volunteer pub. My camp was Heathfield camp, I expect it has been built on now? I must pay a visit some time to see what it like now.  Robert Fuller

Reflections From Childhood

I was born at Reeds Hill Farm in 1942. I started school at a two room school in Chardstock, we walked to school which for me was a long way and I usually got my older sisters who had to walk from the farm past my school to catch the bus to the senior school in Axminster.  I remember the school getting big cases of food from Canada which was shared out to us to take home.  There were all sorts of things we couldn't get because of rationing.  All that I can remember were the big bags of sweets!!!  We moved into Axminster when I was 7 or 8.  But I still like to go and visit Chardstock, when I go home to England, from the USA where I have lived most of the time since 1966.
I rode as a professional steeplechase jockey there and in US and have also trained many winners on both sides of the Atlantic.
I try and get back to see my... Read more

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