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West Anstey
West Anstey maps
Historic maps of West Anstey and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all West Anstey maps
West Anstey photos
We have no photos of West Anstey, although we do have photos of these nearby places:
Knowstone| Dulverton| Bishops Nympton| Withypool| North Molton| Stuckeridge| Winsford| Heasley Mill
West Anstey area books
Displaying 1 of 26 books about West Anstey and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of West Anstey
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Devon memories
Farming Apprentiship at Wadham Farm Aged 18yrs
In response to an advert in 'Farmers Weekly' I was sent down from London to gain farming experience with Mr and Mrs Robb at Wadham Farm, before entering agricultural college at the age of 18 years. Locals took me in hand, teaching me to thatch, water divine, tickle trout and the whole cycle of the farming year. I was present during Lynmouth Floods of 1952. I have vivid memories of farming life and tricks played on me by locals! I travelled round Devon, playing rugger for Tiverton.
If this is of interest I can expand in more detail.
Adrian Marsden-Jones.
Church
This is the church where my Uncle Michael George Sinnott is buried.
Court Hall Remembered
From 1946 until 1949 I was a boarder at Court Hall. At the time I was there Lady Poultimor lived in a cottage in the grounds and kept parrots. There were stables at the rear of the house and a full pack of hounds was kept there along with hunting horses.
The school's head mistress was Mrs Barkway nicknamed Barky she had driven ambulances during the war. She had a daughter named Janet .
The vicar's wife Mrs Prue taught me history her hubby preached in the church alongside the house and we would go to the church on Sundays via a huge wooden iron clad gate set back in the hundreds of rhodedendren bushes which lined the perimeter walls.
The house was beautiful and how sad it was pulled down, it had hand laid parquet floors on the ground floor and a secret stairway which was entered by a green baize covered door up windy stairs to the floor above. There was a massive painting... Read more
Memories of A Four Year Old
My memories of Court Hall School started in 1955 when I went with my brother from our London home, at the tender age of four and five. My father was told not to visit us for 3 months and so we were left. The head was Mr. Owen Reidel, and his wife Simone, who was French. They had two children, Nicole and Anthony. I remember the school as huge and rambling, and the ground equally so. There was a kitchen garden and Mr Reidel kept bees. There were two classes, Mr. Reidel taking the older group, and another teacher the younger ones. I don't remember her name unfortunately. There can only have been at the most 20 children in the school, probably in the primary age range. Many of the children had parents working abroad. I do have some photographs. We went for walks in the surrounding countryside, and collected natural history objects which were made into museums. I am still an avid collector today, and also love primroses which... Read more
"After The Fair" at The White Horse Hotel, Bampton
This view is exactly the same as the hotel now looks in 2008 - although sadly the landlord, Robin, died just this year. It was his wish that the traditional music and dancing that follows the Bampton Fair should continue outside his pub after his passing.
I went along on Saturday 1st November and watched Devon based Grimspound Border Morris perform outside the White Horse Hotel along with three other teams of dancers including Sweet Coppin clog dancers from Taunton. Although the White Horse Hotel itself was closed we danced outside to honour the landlord's memory and later went inside other bars in the town to join in music sessions with visiting Breton musicians. My wife Elizabeth joined in some of the border dancing and loved it. It was a chilly day but a lot of fun.
Morris Dancing After The Fair at Bampton
I went along on Saturday 1st November and watched Devon based Grimspound Border Morris perform outside "The Swan" along with three other teams of dancers including Sweet Coppin clog dancers from Taunton to mark the close of the 2008 Charter Fair.
Sadly the landlord, Robin, died just this year. It was his wish that the traditional music and dancing that follows the Bampton Fair should continue outside his pub after his passing. Although "The Swan" itself was closed we danced outside to honour the landlord's memory and later went inside other bars in the town including "The Quarrymans Rest" to join in music sessions with visiting Breton musicians. My wife Elizabeth joined in some of the border dancing and loved it. It was a chilly day but a lot of fun.
St Michael's Church
St Michael's Church hall is a typical meeting hall for community events and is the venue for monthly dances organised by the Bampton Folk Dance Club. I first started going to these dances a couple of years ago with my wife Elizabeth and we enjoyed the live music by the 'Friendly Folk Band' and the new caller invited each time. It's a bit of a throwback to years gone by with a cup of tea and a biscuit midway through the evening. The fun makes one quite nostalgic for memories of dances attended years ago!
