Dancing on the Hoe

Al fresco dancing on the Hoe began during the first week of May 1941 and was a success from the beginning. The idea was first suggested by the Lord Mayor, Lord Astor. Lady Nancy Astor regularly took part and among her dancing partners was the Duke of Kent.It raised people's spirits and brought everyone together.

Noel Coward, who was a friend of the Astors, said at the time, 'After all that devastation, on a Summer evening, people were dancing on the Hoe. It made me cry - the bravery, the gallantry, the Englishness of it!' The dances continued for many years. A huge dance was held on the Hoe, at the end of the war, to celebrate VE Day. Lady Astor was born in America in 1879.She married Waldorf Astor in 1906 and they lived at 3 Elliot Terrace on the Hoe. She was the MP for Sutton from 1919 to 1945. During the Second World War, Lord and Lady Astor were the Mayor and Lady Mayor of Plymouth. Lady Astor was well known for her straight to the point way of talking. She had once said to Winston Churchill, ’If I was your wife I would give you poison!’ to which Churchill replied, ’If I was your husband, I’d drink it!’

Lady Astor died in 1964.

Saltash Passage and the US Army base, 1944

In January 1944,the US army set up camp at Vicarage Road in preparation for the D-Day landings. Altogether, it housed 60,000 troops on their way to the Normandy landings. It was also a reception centre for returning troops from July 1944. The whole operation was highly secret and from May 1944, anyone who wanted to visit relatives in the area had to apply for a permit and would be escorted to the address by military police. They would also have to give a specific time when they would be leaving. The mission was codenamed Operation Overlord. The codename for the many US bases around Plymouth was 'sausages'. During this time, the river was full of ships loading men and equipment. One day the river was full of ships and the next day, it was completely empty as the troops headed towards the beaches of Normandy. Children in the area loved the American troops and would pester them for sweets, chewing gum, chocolate, food and cocoa etc. The Americans weren't affected by rationing and were very generous to the locals especially the children. In the city, they even paid for and organised parties for them. The large majority of troops in Plymouth were from the 29th Armoured division which went on to land at the Omah and Utah beaches. Omah beach was the codename for one of the main landing points for the troops on 6 June 1944. Unfortunately, it is where the Americans suffered their heaviest casualties. The Vicarage Road camp was decommissioned in September 1945. Tamar Terrace was later renamed Normandy Way and Vicarage Road was renamed Normandy Hill to commemorate the troops that passed this way on their way to the D-Day landings. A monument stands in Saltash Passage to commemorate where a slipway was built for the departure of the US troops. They constructed slipways or 'hards' which were known as 'chocolate box hards' to the troops. Sections can still be seen there, some are scattered along the foreshore. A tablet commemorating the event was unveiled on Normandy Hill, known as US Army Route 23, by the Mayor of Cherbourg in May 1947. A memorial was later erected in the gardens and the plaque on it reads: 'This tablet marks the departure from this place of units of the V and V11 corps of the United States Army on the 6th June 1944 for the D-Day landings in France and was unveiled by His Excellency John Hay Whitney, the Ambassador of the United States of America. May 1958'.

Gog and Magog

One of the earliest recorded mentions of the Hoe area comes from Geoffrey of Monmouth who wrote about Plymouth Hoe in 1136 when he told the story of the giant, Gogmagog (which he originally calls Goemagot). The story of Gogmagog's Leap told how Brutus, the great-grandson of the Trojan hero, Aeneas, came to Albion with his followers and decided to settle. He called the land ‘Britain’ which was meant to be a derivation of ‘Brutus’. Brutus drove out the giants who inhabited the land sending them into the mountains in the west. One day, while holding a festival at the port where they first landed, Brutus and his men were attacked by a group of giants who they killed all except one who was called Gogmagog. He was said to be 12 cubits high. A cubit would have been about one and a half feet which would have made Gogmagog about 18 feet tall. It was said that Gogmagog could wield an uprooted oak tree as a weapon. Brutus kept Gogmagog alive so that he could wrestle with Corineus, the then Duke of Cornwall, who loved to wrestle with giants. When the opponents met for the first time, Gogmagog gripped Corineus so tightly around his middle that he broke three of his ribs. This enraged Corineus who then threw Gogmagog off nearby cliffs and he fell to his death on the jagged rocks below. This was all said to have happened on Plymouth Hoe and the chalk giants that once appeared on the Hoe represented this wrestling match. There is a record of the chalk cut giant being on Plymouth Hoe in 1486 and a record in the City Archive shows a receipt for a bill for cleaning and weeding the giant. The bill was paid by the Earl of Edgcumbe. It is uncertain when the figure first appeared. Town records from 1486 onwards call the figure Gogmagog but in Carew's Survey of Cornwall in 1602, he refers to there being two figures on the slopes of the Hoe, both wielding clubs. One was bigger than the other and he calls them Gog and Magog, splitting the name into two halves. Several years later though, the smaller figure was being referred to as Corineus so the figures obviously commemorated the earlier wrestling match mentioned by Geoffrey of Monmouth . The figures were unfortunately destroyed when the Citadel was built in the reign of King Charles II.

Laurel and Hardy

When I was a kid, I would love watching Laurel and Hardy on the tv on Saturday mornings. Perhaps not too many people know that Laurel and Hardy once appeared at the Palace Theatre. The date was the 17th of May, 1954 and Stan and Ollie were touring the country appearing in a show called, 'Birds of a Feather'. The shows in Plymouth were to have been their last shows of the tour. Playing on the same bill, at the time, were Harry Worth and 'Wonder Horse Tony'. Unfortunately, Oliver Hardy had a severe bout of the flu and also had a mild heart attack and the show was cancelled. Ollie spent the rest of his stay in Plymouth recovering at the Grand Hotel on the Hoe. Laurel and Hardy had visited Britain once before in 1932 when they were mobbed wherever they went. When they returned in 1954 they were handicapped by age and illness but still managed to give an exhausting thirteen shows a week.

After they had to pull out from the show, Stan Laurel wrote a letter to the manager of the Palace Theatre, William Willis, apologising. It read:

'My Dear Mr Willis,

Please pardon delay in acknowledgement of your kind letter of the 22nd.inst. which was deeply appreciated. Many many thanks.

Mr Hardy is feeling better but, of course, is still very weak. However, we are sailing for the States on June 2nd, so I think the voyage and rest will do him a lot of good.

We too were very much disappointed, not being able to fulfil our engagement with you - unfortunate for all concerned, could have been a profitable and happy week. Anyway, we hope to have the opportunity and pleasure of meeting and playing for you again in the near future.

Mrs Laurel and Mr and Mrs Hardy join in kindest regards and every good wish always, and remember us kindly to Mr Heath, the staff and regular patrons.

Very Sincerely:

Stan Laurel.'

Mudlarking

In Victorian times, a mudlark was someone who searched along the banks of the Thames for anything that had washed up and could be sold. The practice was usually taken up by children or widows with no income. They would be lucky if they made a penny a day selling what they found. Today, mudlarking is a popular pastime and people still search the shores of the Thames for the 'big find'. A licence costs £7.50 a day and finds can date back hundreds or even thousands of years to Roman times.

You don't have to live in London to go mudlarking though. It's possible to find artefacts dating back to Roman times on the shores of the Plym and many farmland areas used 'Dock Dung' which was a collection of all the rubbish from Plymouth including pottery, bottles, jars, clay pipes as well as more unsavoury produce such as horse droppings, night soil, offal etc. The latter was seen as perfect manure for farmer's fields and it could be bought for so much a ton. It would then be transported from Plymouth by barge up river to any farm that had access to the water. Special wooden jettys were built where the dung could be sorted. All the sharp items such as bottles, pipes, pottery etc was taken out by workers and thrown into the nearby marsh. The dung was then carried in wicker baskets to the nearby fields. It was quite a profitable exercise and the returning barges would carry back stone or farm produce. The sorted pottery and bottles etc have lain in the mud ever since and it's possible to find clay pipes, Codd bottles, clay ink wells, clay marmalade jars, the remnants of old Victorian shoes and , if you're lucky, even coins.

These jettys are found all over but have all rotted away over time. Part of the jetty still remains on the river bank at Church Town Farm near Saltash and there are thousands of pieces of pottery from the the turn of the 20th Century nearby. Other areas where there are finds in abundance are at Antony Passage, Forder, Ernesettle Creek and Tamerton Foliot Creek. Clay pipes from the 1600s have been found at Empacombe and many finds date back hundreds of years. It's an interesting pastime and there's all sorts to be found. Try not to upset the locals though!

The Romans and their connection with the area

Plymouth didn't exist when the Romans created Exeter though there is evidence that they occupied the area. Roman Way leading downwards from Kings Tamerton is said to be the route that the Romans took on their way to Cornwall. A Roman signalling station is thought to have existed at the top of the hill. Roman Way was previously called, 'Old Wall's Lane' ,in the 1800s, which would suggest an earlier settlement. The area was excavated in 1934 by a Mr E N Masson Phillips who discovered an early fortification. Soapwort has been found growing nearby and this was a herb used by the Romans and is usually only found on the site of an old settlement. Roman Way lies on the second oldest route traceable in Plymouth which travels east to west from Saltash to Plympton. There seems to be no record of Roman coins being found at Roman Way though a hoard of Roman coins was found at Compton Giffard in 1894 and this lies on the same route. There were a thousand coins and none were later than AD 280. It was suggested by the British Museum that the coins could have been used to pay the Romans that were stationed in the area. A similar hoard was found at Marazion near Penzance. Roman coins have also been found at Whitleigh and by the Plym. Many people believe that Stonehouse got its name from an ancient stone house, now long gone, that once stood in the area. It was named by the Saxons who must have been referring to the ruin of a previous civilisation. If that was the case, then only the Romans would have had the ability to build it. The Romans left in 410AD. In the early 1980s, the Evening Herald reported the find of a Roman coin on the shores of the River Plym. The article read: 'Eighteen hundred years ago this coin must have been lost on the shores of the River Plym. It has been identified as a bronze 'as' and depicts on one side Antoninus Pius, who was Emperor of Rome from 138 to 161 AD, and on the other, Annona, the goddess of the corn-harvest. This valuable clue to Plymouth's past was found recently, in the mud of the River Plym near Marsh Mills by Peter Jones, 15, of Efford who was digging not for Romans but for worms.'

Buffalo Bill’s Visit To Plymouth, 3rd June, 1904

Buffalo Bill visited the city on 3rd June, 1904.

The event was covered in the local newspaper:

'Buffalo Bill’s Visit To Plymouth.
3rd June, 1904.
To-day Colonel WF Cody, known the world over as Buffalo Bill, gives two performances at Plymouth today in the course of his final tour of Great Britain with his unique exhibition of life in the Wild West. The location of the show at the Exhibition Fields, Pennycomequick, will make it readily accessible to residents of Plymouth, Devonport and Stonehouse, and special arrangements are being made by the railway companies to enable residents in outlying districts to witness the performance. No fewer than 800 horses participate in the show, and three special trains are employed to convey them and their properties from place to place. They arrived at Plymouth early this morning, and unloading, which occupied about two hours, began at 5.30. This show was patronised by thousands of people yesterday, on the occasion of its first visit to Bodmin. By the addition of a number of genuine Japanese soldiers to his Wild West, Colonel Cody has acted only in response to a great public desire to see and learn something of these remarkable little men. Another new feature introduced is a daring leap through space by a cowboy on a bicycle. This rider starts from a height of 95 feet, and riding swiftly down an incline jumps from the incline across 40 feet of space to a continuing platform, and thence out of the arena. It is a most daring feat. The really big feature among the new things introduced by the colonel for his season, however is “Custer’s Last Stand” or “The Battle of Little Big Horn”. In this, over 300 men and horses participate, giving the most realistic representation of differing methods of warfare pursued by white and red man ever attempted, and making faithful representation of the massacre of Custer and 300 members of his regiment by a band of over 7,000 Indians led by the famous old chieftain Sitting Bull, whose only son, Willie Sitting Bull is now a member of Colonel Cody’s company, and is a daily participant in the mock battle. For the benefit of the country visitors, the Great Western Railway will run a late special train, which will leave Millbay at 10.55 pm calling at North-Road and Mutley for Plymstock, Billacombe, Elburton Cross, Brixton Road, Steer Point and Yealmpton.'

Execution on Plymouth Hoe

Between the Naval Memorial and the Hoe Lodge Gardens, there is a cross with the number '3' embedded in the pavement. This marks the spot where three Royal Marines were executed by firing squad on 6 July, 1797. Their names were Lee, Coffy and Branning and they were found guilty of attempting to excite a mutiny at Stonehouse Barracks. Another Marine, M Gennis was convicted of a similar crime and sentenced to 1000 lashes and transported to Botany Bay for life. The incident was reported in the Sherborne and Yeovil Mercury on Monday 10th July,1797. It read: 'PLYMOUTH, July 8 - On Wednesday morning an express arrived here from the War-Office, with a warrant for the execution of Lee, Coffy, and Branning, three marines who were last week tried by a General Court-Martial, and found guilty of an attempt to excite a mutiny among the marine corps at Stone-house Barracks and on Thursday at 12 o'clock the troops at this place and in the neighbourhood, consisting of the Sussex fencible cavalry, four companies of the royal artillery, the Lancashire, East Devon and Essex regiments of militia, the 25th regiment of foot, royal independent invalids, and Plymouth volunteers, assembled on the Hoe, and formed in a half circle in order to witness the execution. M Gennis, another marine tried for a similar crime, and sentenced to receive 1000 lashes, and to be afterwards transported to Botany Bay for life, was brought on the ground soon after twelve o'clock, and received 500 lashes, and then conveyed back to Stone-house Barracks. At half past one o'clock, Lee, Coffy and Branning were marched from the Citadel under the escort of a party of marines, with a coffin before each, preceded by the band of that corps playing the Dead March in Saul. The former was attended by the Rev. Dr. Hawker; and the two latter by a Roman Catholic priest, who after praying with them near an hour, quitted them, and they all three knelt on their coffins for a few minutes, when an officer of marines came and drew the caps over their faces, and a party of twenty marines immediately came down and put a period to their existence by discharging the contents of their muskets through their bodies, after which all the regiments marched round them in solemn procession, the whole forming, perhaps, one of the most awful scenes that the human eye ever witnessed. They all behaved in a manner becoming their melancholy situation, and apparently very resigned and penitent. About thirty thousand people were supposed to be present at the execution'. There was more to the execution than mentioned in the newspaper though. Ten thousand men of the Fleet and garrison were there to watch them die and most of Plymouth appeared to have turned out too. When the three men faced the firing squad and the shots were fired, Coffy and Branning fell forward, dead, into their coffins. However, Lee was not hit and had to go through the whole procedure again. The reserve firing squad lined up, took aim and fired but again Lee was untouched. Once more, they loaded up, took aim but again missed Lee. In the end, a sergeant came up behind him and shot him dead at close range. It seems odd that the firing squad missed Lee three times and perhaps there was some sympathy with him amongst the troops. Earlier fourteen seamen had been hanged at the yardarm on their ships in the Sound. This was to be Plymouth's last public execution.

Houdini in Plymouth

Harry Houdini, 1909. Houdini appeared at the Palace Theatre of Varieties during August 1909.There was much excitement at his appearance and he challenged five joiners and mechanics at Devonport Dockyard to make a box from which he wouldn't be able to escape. They produced the box and Houdini was nailed inside. It took him twelve minutes to get out. Another of his daring feats, involved him being securely handcuffed and diving from Halfpenny Bridge at Stonehouse. The story was covered in the next day's Western Morning News:

Western Morning News, Wednesday August 18th 1909. “The Handcuff King” An Exciting Performance. Harry Houdini, the “Handcuff King” who was performing at the Palace Theatre of Varieties, Plymouth this week gave a remarkable exhibition of his skill yesterday afternoon at Stonehouse. The intrepid performer had previously announced his intention of diving from the Halfpenny Gate Bridge, securely handcuffed, and this caused a huge crowd to assemble on the bridge itself and on the adjoining quays and banks. Prompt to time Houdini appeared, stripped and poised himself on the parapet of the bridge. He was then handcuffed with his hands behind his back, while elbow locks were also worn, the chain passing around the neck. This accomplished, he immediately dived into the stream and disappeared from sight. Easily within the minute, the “Handcuff King” reappeared on the surface, carrying his fetters aloft in his right hand, while the crowd heartily cheered his exploit. Subsequently, Houdini said that he had performed the diving trick over fifty times. He was capable of staying under water well over three minutes, but should he not appear in three minutes there were always ready two or three assistants who would swim to his rescue. The handcuffs and chains weighed 18lb.

The Blue Monkey

Although the public house has now been knocked down, the area near to the Higher St Budeaux Church will probably always be known as the Blue Monkey. It had previously been called Church Inn, St Bude Inn, St Budeaux Inn and Ye Old St Budeaux Inn before becoming the Blue Monkey. The owner of the Church Inn was a Lord Graves who owned the Barton of Ernesettle in 1798. He was also Lord of the Manor of Agaton. Frances Martin is recorded as being the landlord of the pub in 1823. He was responsible for changing the pub's name to the St Bude Inn, in 1828. In 1862,the War Department bought the then named St Budeaux Inn. In 1914, the Secretary of State for the Department sold the premises, which included a stables, to James Alger for £1,050. Alger changed the name of the pub to Ye Old St Budeaux Inn on 4 May 1937. He later changed the name again to The Blue Monkey early in 1939 and later sold the Inn to the Octagon Brewery in December 1939 for £12,750. A newspaper cutting that used to hang in the bar said that a Mr Dunsford, the then landlord, changed the name to the Blue Monkey when the Stafford Regiment was stationed at Devonport. However, the deeds say that the name was changed in 1939 by James Algar. The reason, according to locals, was that Algar had seen a monkey which had escaped from a shed at Agaton on the roof of the Inn. Apparently, the change of name and the swinging monkey sign wasn't popular, even though it's the one best remembered, so it was replaced by a square sign , featuring a Naval Blue Monkey Boy, in honour of the boys who packed the guns with powder during the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. They were known as powder monkeys and the job left them with blue residue on their hands and this has also been taken as the origin of the pub's name, The Blue Monkey. Perhaps both stories are true and it would be interesting to think that a monkey once ran around on the roof of the Inn. Incidently, before the sign change, in the early 1980s, I was walking by the Inn and there was the swinging monkey sign, slightly battered and put out for the dustbin men to collect. I wish I'd picked it up and kept it as a souvenir now! I wonder if it still exists somewhere? In its final years, the Inn developed a bad reputation and finally closed and was eventually bricked up. It was for sale for many years before an arson attack destroyed the inside and the roof. From then on, its days were numbered and early in March 2007, it was unfortunately demolished.

Plymouth Zoo

I'm sure that many people will have fond memories of Plymouth Zoo. I remember going there in the late 1960s and a pelican called Percy following us around. It was a lovely place to start off with but got a bit run down and smelly towards the end. Amazingly, the zoo was only open for 16 years.It opened on Thursday April 19th 1962 at a cost of £30,000 and it had 13,000 visitors during the first three days. The zoo was owned by the Chipperfields and was a very popular attraction.It had many animals including chimpanzees, polar bears, seals, camels, giraffes and lions etc.There's a great movie at the Pathe News site and all the animals look very happy. I know the keepers were very interested in their welfare and got quite attached to the animals. When you're a kid, a zoo seems a wonderous place but when you're older and with hindsight, it seems unfair keeping them all cooped up in cages. I remember the chimpanzees at the beginning of the zoo would collect up gravel and throw it at the visitors! There was an article about a chimp in the news in a Swedish Zoo,three days ago,doing exactly the same thing and it was reported as if it was something new.

I remember the sweet popcorn that was sold at the cafe to feed the animals. All the kids always ended up eating it themselves though I'm sure it wouldn't have done the animals much good anyway. I remember there was a giraffe that was about to swallow a popcorn packet. Luckily, the keeper managed to get it off him before he choked!

There was a children's area with guinea pigs and rabbits and a huge tortoise which I believe was a gift from the Navy in the early 1960s.
The zoo closed on Sunday January 8th 1978 and was later converted into a skateboard park. Now, I think it's just a piece of waste ground.
We certainly had some good times there and I miss it but I think with concerns over animal welfare, I'm quite glad that it's no longer there.

Higher St Budeaux Church and the Civil War

I was driving by Higher St Budeaux Church recently when I noticed the piece of land that was being cleared nearby. I'm sure that many people will know that when the road was widened in 1910, musket and cannon balls from the Civil War were found here and some are kept at the city's museum. Marshall Ware wrote a very interesting piece about the the battle, entitled 'When Cromwell zapped St Budeaux', in the Evening Herald back in the 1980s. I'm sure that there will be many historical artifacts to be found but I don't know if there will be any sort of investigation. For anyone interested in the church and the Civil War, I have pasted a section from my 'St Budeaux' book below: 'Plymouth and its surrounding villages such as St Budeaux had sworn an oath to fight and die for the Parliamentarian cause. Those who did not comply faced hanging. However, in Cornwall, the people supported the Royalist cause and made raids across the water on parts of St Budeaux. For a time, the church at Higher St Budeaux was used as a garrison by the Royalists. On 16th April 1644, Lieutenant Colonel Martin, who commanded the Parliamentarian garrison at Plymouth, sent 600 musketeers, with 120 horses, to attack the 500 Cavaliers stationed at St Budeaux. Because of a mistake made by guides, the horses went one way and the attacking party went another way. Nevertheless, the foot soldiers arrived at the church, and not being expected, saw off the enemy and captured the church tower. Altogether, they captured 2 officers and 44 other prisoners. They also took three barrels of gunpowder, 20 horses and about 20 arms. It was said that most of the prisoners then joined the Parliament forces and who could blame them when you consider the alternative. On the 27th December 1644, St Budeaux was again the scene of much bloodshed. From Kinterbury, the Roundheads marched towards the church, which was now a garrison for the Parliamentarians, and fought for an hour and a half before the church was recaptured. The Royalists also captured a Major Stucley together with 20 officers and 100 soldiers. Ten of the defenders were killed as were seven of the Roundheads including a Major Haynes. A mound in a garden at Plaistow Hill, near the church, is said to be the place where those who died in the battle are buried. During the siege of Plymouth by the Royalists, the inhabitants of St Budeaux would take provisions into town for the men and their horses. Prince Maurice issued a warrant which stated, 'To the constables or tythingmen of Saint Budeaux and Pennyross, threatening proceedings against all who should carry with him horse, oxen or kine, or sheep or other provision for men or horse into the said town of Plymouth for the relief of the rebells there.' After the battle, the church was little more than a wreck and it wasn't restored until 1655.'

Plymouth local history

Welcome to my Plymouth local history blog.
Some of you will have read my books and I hope that you will find this blog interesting. I will try to include articles and photos that I think will interest people about the area they live in and also articles about surrounding areas such as Saltash and Mount Edgcumbe.
I hope you enjoy it.
Best wishes,
Derek Tait.