The Francis Frith Collection.
You are here:

Wembury

Wembury photos

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

3
View all 3 photos of Wembury

Wembury maps

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

Wembury area books

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

Memories of Wembury

No memories of Wembury have been shared yet - be the first!
Add your memory of Wembury or of a photo of Wembury.

Devon memories

Home Away From Home

We were one of the early families to have a caravan at Bovi. This was what the campers called it back then. Caravans were positioned randomly before terraces were excavated in the field over the fence from the green above Sandy Parlour (Bovisand's third beach). There was a community of campers and Christmas parties each year were fabulous for us kids. A good present could be depended on. We spent all summer holidays there and there wasn't a corner of Bovi we did nt know. An interest in ships was always big in our family and this was the perfect place to see trans-Atlantic liners when they called into Plymouth. The boom of the coastal defence guns off Wembury frequently startled us when target practice was being conducted. Our parents were very active and we were taken on coastal walks to Heybrook Bay, Wembury and Jenny Cliff frequently. Sometimes this included walking home to Billacombe when we had missed the last bus. My dad made a trailer from an old pram which... Read more

A Very New Broadway

In 1962 my parents and I (12 years old) moved from Bristol to open Victoria Wine (later to become the Wine Market before reverting back to Victoria Wine). There were still several empty units awaiting occupation. I can recall most of the shops that were open, starting at the fire station end was James & Rosewell hardware, a ladies hairdresser, Lloyds? Bank, newsagent, service road, Barclays Bank, ladies & childrenswear, coffee bar (bane of our lives with noisy motor bikes racing around every night), South Devon Textiles, Co-op, Midland? Bank, Sharp & Savage TV, our shop, Dingles foodshop. Mays florist, Millbay laundry, Widgers decorators, Dewhurst, Pearkes grocery, Lockharts hardware then lastly was Fine Fare which was one of the first supermarkets to open in the UK.
There was no development on the south side at this time. It was another 2 or 3 years before Woolworths, then another year or two before Co-op (Plym House?), Boots and Halfords appeared.
We had the pleasure of the sight of cows grazing... Read more

My Stay at Collaton Cross

I lived in Collaton Cross for a short while when my Husband was in the R.A.F. My surname then was TURTLE. My son Nicholas was born in the house in Collaton Cross. He was ill at birth and taken to Freedom Fields Hospital in Plymouth where he had a successful operation and is now a strapping six foot 3inches and very fit. I had a Daughter Julie and another son Tony. I enjoyed my stay at Collaton Cross and used to enjoy walking into Newton Ferrers. I had very friendly neighbours who were very helpful when my son was born and in hospital. My husband was working from R.A.F. Mountbatten on air/sea rescue. As I recall Newton Ferrers was a very pretty village which I hope some day to revisit,I also hope that my son will decide to visit his place of birth in the not too distant future.
I feel that I did enjoy the area but sometimes,when you are young and bringing up a family, you do not... Read more

Living at Collaton Cross

I must have only been about 3 years old although it seems when I recall the memories, that I was older. I remember roller skating on the "hangars" at Collaton Cross. These were actually the remains of the RAF hangars (presumably where they originally stored the planes?) and were large slabs of concrete on which the children of the estate used to play. I have no idea how long we lived there for with my sister Christine and mum and dad, Julie and Ted Bedwell. My dad was stationed at RAF Mountbatten and I didn't yet go to school so cannot remember much else. I have returned and it looks much the same although the houses are now private rather than RAF quarters.

My First Memories

I was born in Garden Village, Billacombe in 1944 and lived there until I was 8 years old. My memories are very strong of walking up Pleasure Hill to Sunday School at Pomphlet, walking to and from Goosewell Infant School and buying cream buns from Goodbodys Bakery on the way home. We lived with my grandparents who kept chickens, had wonderful apple trees, raspberry bushes and gooseberries in their garden. Summers were very colourful. We did not own a car and my mother used to walk us to all the woods in the district such as Staddiscomb, Radford, Saltram and Colesdown where picking primroses and bluebells were a strong feature of my memory. I have always been haunted by Dickens 'A Christmas Carol' after seeing Plymstock School's version in a Christmas concert. These were the days when steam trains ran on many branch lines and my most vivid memory was of catching the train to Steer Point and collecting shells for the chickens. We owned a caravan at Bovisand where we spent a lot of... Read more

East Stonehouse - 1800

My great great great great grandfather Charles Penery, was born at East Stonehouse in 1800/01. He was buried at Ford Park Cemetry in 1874. He married Mary Ann Penery (nee Baskerville) born in 1801. She was burried at Ford Park Cemetry in 1887. They lived in Francis Place and Fore Steet and raised three sons, William James Penery (born 1826), Thomas Edwin Penery (born 1832), Richard Penery (born 1835) and a daughter Mary Jane Baskerville Penery (born 1840). My great great great grandfather William James Penery, had a son Charles William James Penery born in 1852 who had a son called Ernest Luscombe Penery born in 1884. I would be pleased to hear from anyone with memories of, or if related to, this family. Warren Penery South Africa warrenpenery@gmail.com

A  Naval  Hideaway.

What a great little place to be when in the RN. I was serving on the Boom Defence Boats in 1954/5. These boats were coal burning, and I was a stoker, so it was pretty hard work!  We spent most of our time in Pembroke Dock, but now and again we had to do some work in the Plymouth area, and berthed in Turnchapel, a real hideaway, no Naval Patrols, no Naval Officers, as our Skipper used to leave for his home in Plymouth, well I think that's where he went!!  Then we all used to go up to a little pub, just up the road from the jetty, on a hill, brilliant little place, good beer, always a sing song, nice female company!! And everyone was happy, that is until closing time!  Yep, that's fifty odd years ago now but I will always remember Turnchapel, although for the life of me, I am unable to remember the name of that pub. I remember the name of one of the... Read more

© Copyright 1998-2012 Frith Content Inc. All rights reserved.