My Memories Of Lifton

A Memory of Lifton.

My Memories of Lifton.

I was born in 1946 lived in Lifton until I got married in 1971. I lived in Fore Street, next door lived Mr Brown, he used to repair shoes in his little shed in the garden and I used to watch him working. Just a few doors away was Bill Keast, he was the watch repairer in the village. Jordan's Bakery was next to Bill, where we could get fresh bread and cakes daily.
I was rescued from a fire in our front room one day by Jan Murrin who had looked in our front room window and spotted the clothes which were drying in front of the fire were well alight, he came in and took me up to the bakery where I was spoilt just a little.

Taylor Shop again in Fore Street, I remember taking a grocery list in to the shop and Mrs Jago would get things off the shelf and pack it all in the shopping bag for you, no self-service in those days.
Mr & Mrs Williams took over from Bill Taylor, and the Phillips family continued on from the Williams family.

At the top of Fore Street was the Post Office, Mr Dustan was the post master, Kevern Batten was the post man. Kevern was also the village barber, he had a little shop behind the Arundel Annex in Broad Street. Next was Aunt Daisy's shop, she used to sell wool cotton etc. Kevern used to have a barbers shop under the men's institute, the institute had a snooker table and a table tennis table plus a dart board, they also used to have weekly whist drives held on a Monday.

There was a band in the village along with the Toc H. I remember the carnivals we used to have, having been dressed up a couple of times, once as a cowboy and once I had to have a beard, the beard was made out of cotton wool and stuck to my face with golden syrup.

We had a scout hut in Hornepark, I went to the first and last meeting both on the same day because on the night of our first meeting there were strong gales and during the night and a tree was blown over right on top the scout hut, never again did we meet up, that was my time in the scouts.

Along the lane up to Hornepark were allotments. Now there are a lot on bungalows on that land.

At the top of Duntz Hill was the sledging field, this was enjoyed by most of the village, it seemed to snow every winter back then. Mr Harris owned the field.

At the top of Fore Street was the primary school which I attended, Mr Kelynack was the headmaster, Miss Parker & Mr Tucker were the other teachers. The old primary school classroom is now being used by the Arundel Arms. Next door was the Police Station with 2 police houses, Maurice Gloyn was our policeman. The old Police Station is now the Courthouse Bar.

Next down was the Arundel Arms Hotel owned by Oscar Morris, he was also the man who started the Ambrosia Milk Factory which used to employ lots of Lifton people.

Again down in Fore Street was another grocery shop, Baileys. When I was 14 I delivered groceries for them on a bike with a big basket on the front I did deliveries most evenings for 10/- a week, 50p in new money. This shop was bought on compulsory purchase in 1960 for 900 to make way for the road widening

Next to Baileys was our bank, Lloyd's, I think someone would come out from Launceston to open it just one or two afternoons a week. We also had a cafe on the corner called Seagull Cafe where we could get fish & chips once or twice a week, Ern Stevens and his wife Gwen ran that. Audrey King took over and continued with the business when she retired the cafe was closed forever.

I remember a man called Skipper Pring he lived next to the cafe, he only had one leg, he used to sit just inside his front room window which was always open, he would chat to everyone as they went by, a real character.


Opposite side of the road was the Cottage Hotel run the by Mrs Kirkham she had two children Rosemary & Robert, it is now called Lifton Hall. But sadly most of this disappeared in the late 1960s when Fore Street was widened.

Just along North Road lived Charlie Walters, he only had one leg but he managed to get about with his crutch under his arm, he used to mend and repair any clothing.

On the junction of the Crescent there was a pig sty, I remember hearing the pigs as I walked by. This was knocked down in the 1960s and in its place was built Venner's Grocery Shop, this was built by Bill Venner and run by Bertha. The shop would open very early in the morning to catch the early workers going to Ambrosia, the shop would still be open after all the village had gone to bed. Bill was a real character, he with John Deacon built the Church Hall, Bill would always dress up in his red and green outfit and be seen at the football matches especially the cup finals, he also did the Billy Butlin walk in the early 1960s from John O'Groats to Lands End. I remember walking to Lewdown with I think the rest of the village to escort him home through Lifton when he walked through the village that night, we were all very proud of what he had done, we were all cheering and shouting.

100 yards further along was the doctor's, Dr Lee was the only doctor in the village for a long time. When he left the Dr's Sutherland took over, their surgery was then at St Mary's until they had a new surgery built along North Road.

A new Primary School was built opposite the cemetery in 1961 it was opened on 23rd October 1961 by Mr J A Day, vice chairman of Devon County Council, the cost of the new School was 29,311, built by Okehampton Building Company to accommodate 120 children, Mr S G Horrocks was the first headmaster.

The river further down North Road in Dec/Jan 1962/3 was frozen solid for weeks, I remember boys riding their motor bikes and scooters up the river on the ice, some boys still have the pictures.

Further along and over the river bridge I remember going to butcher Martin's yard for our meat. Butcher Martin had a big shed where he had a slaughter house, we could always be sure of fresh local meat. We also had another butcher in the village, Freddy Parsons, he would deliver meat on his regular rounds Tuesdays and Saturdays, butcher Hawken also used to deliver meat.

On again was the blacksmiths shop run by Jim Stacey, he always had a roaring fire in which he would put his iron work to get it red hot

Out to the main road there was and still is S.T. Lane hardware shop, this I remember was run by Reg Meddleton, for many years he would come out from Launceston every day on the Western National bus. Also working there was Harry Bevan, he would go around the village supplying heating fuel. It is still going today run by the Yeo family.

Opposite side of the road was The Lifton Milling Company run by Henry Williams .

Further along was the Fox & Grapes run by Maurice Blatchford, I spent many a night in there drinking his famous Younger's Mild, a beautiful pint superbly kept, and rough cider at 6d a pint. I have seen a lot of holiday makers stop off for a pint or 2 of that and they were not so steady on their feet when they left. Sadly no longer a pub

On another 200 yards to Sammy Cole's shop situated by the old rice mill (in 2007 there were houses built there). Sammy used sell all sorts, after Sammy died Rene Matthews took over until the rice mill was closed down

Opposite was the Railway Station, this was closed down in 1962. A lot of boys went to Plymouth on a cold December morning on the last train to run between Lifton and Plymouth, we were all looking forward to returning home on what was to be the last steam passenger train to run, we got to Plymouth fine but during the day the snow started to fall, we all arrived at North Road Station platform 8 to return to Lifton but it snowed so heavy that no trains were able to run, everywhere was frozen solid. We spent the night in the waiting room, all huddled up together. Sunday morning I walked into Plymouth, the snow was knee deep all over, what a sight, just snow everywhere. I walked up to the Hoe where I knew some people who used to live in Lifton, Mr & Mrs Fredrick, they made me some soup and let me sleep there. Monday I was told there were buses trying to run as the snowplough had been out clearing the way. I left Plymouth at 11am and remember the snow higher than the bus in places, arrived back in Lifton late afternoon, really glad to have made it back. A weekend that I will never forget.

Next was the old Ambrosia factory where they produced a lot of dried milk, my granddad Ern Parish worked there all his working life, 50 years, he was one of the first people taken on. Annie Dyer was another who worked there all her life. My mum worked there during the Second World War, packing tins of National Dried Milk which was sent all over the country.

The new factory was built on the opposite side of the railway line in the late 1950s. I worked there myself from 1963 to 1968. The field in which it was built was owned by Mr Whitfield who lived at Higher Weir, he used to keep chicken, geese etc in this field. There were two cottages opposite the entrance to the new factory.

Next to the old factory on the A30 was the Mill which is still there today having grown a lot in size, this mill has had several different names over its time. There was a leat which ran from Edwear some 2 or 3 miles up river which provided power to help run the mill. As boys we would go in the mill on a Saturday when no one was around, open up all the trap doors, then slide down a long chain that went from the top of the building to the bottom and land on a pile of sacks which we piled up...

Going back up to the village:
Den Nicholas with wife Stella had the garage, he used to help us repair our push bikes, then motor bikes, cars etc, and his aunt Mrs Smithson used to sell little nick-nacks in her little front room shop. Then in the early 1960s he had the petrol station built, during the summer months when the traffic was busy he would stay open all night on Fridays.

Our milk man for many years was Horace Littlejohns, talk about the fastest milkman in the west, his one speed delivery service, we were lucky in Fore Street as we would get our milk before tea time. He once went to Bude for the day, his comments when he got home were "I will never do that journey again in one day, it was too far to go".

Going down Leat Road, there is the cricket field where we would meet up in the evening in the summer months the boys would play football or cricket usually after school we would usually finish at 20 to 8 - why? Because the train would pass by that time every evening on its way into Launceston. There were always a lot of the village boys there, we would leave our bats and balls behind ready for the next evening's games and they were always be there. I wonder if the same would happen today.

Nearly all the boys went on to play in the village teams, cricket, football, all the games were well supported by the people of the village. After the football matches we would all go in the river to wash the mud off, no hot showers, then a pint or three in the Fox after.
Lifton had a successful football team in the early 1950s. I was the mascot in 1953. Lifton won the Launceston Knockout Cup. On the way home the bus stopped just before Polson Bridge and the team and lots of supporters walked over the bridge plus the band was playing, I was on my dad's shoulders (Dad was the team captain), holding the cup aloft, this being the first time the cup had left Cornwall, this was a real memory for me, being only 7 years old at the time.
Shared on 19 November 2007 by Brian Keighley. Updated Feb 2010

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