The Great Liners

Plymothians would line the docks in the hope of seeing famous passengers disembark from the many ocean liners that called at Millbay. The Queen Mary was Cunard's pride and joy and famous passengers who docked at Plymouth on The Queen Mary included Gloria Swanson and Jack Warner who both arrived in the city in 1938. The Mauretania came to Plymouth regularly and delivered passengers and mail to the city. Film stars were quite often amongst the passengers and these included the American crooner, Bing Crosby. The Mauretania was built by Swan, Hunter and Wigham in Newcastle in 1907. It was the world's fastest liner from 1907 to 1927 and was part of Cunard Line's Liverpool to New York service. Charlie Chaplin disembarked from the Mauretania in 1931 to the delight of many Plymothians that had come to see him. The star of many silent films, he made his famous film, 'City Lights' in this year. Whilst in Plymouth, Chaplin was the guest of Nancy Astor at her home in Elliott Terrace on the Hoe. Also visiting Astor at the same time were Amy Johnson and George Bernard Shaw.The Mauretania made it's final eastwards crossing on September 1934, from New York to Southampton and was sent to the breakers yard on July 1935. The Normandie steamed into Plymouth Sound in 1937 after crossing the Atlantic in a record breaking time. The Normandie (pictured) was the industry's first 1,000 ft ocean liner. Walt Disney was among the many famous passengers who landed at Plymouth. The liner capsized and caught fire in New York while being converted for use in the Second World War.

Liner passengers would start their onward journey to London from Millbay Station. Many film stars including George Raft and Charlie Chaplin would board the trains here with thousands of less famous travellers. The station and hotels were built to accommodate the many visitors.

The days of the great ocean liners calling at Plymouth are now long gone but occasionally one drops anchor in the Sound but they are few and far between.

Plymouth Argyle

Argyle played their first full game in 1886. Their captain was F Howard Grose and the team met at Grose's home in Argyll Terrace. Originally called Argyle Athletic, they were named after Grose's admiration for the playing skills of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders regimental team. They originally only played away games as they had no pitch of their own and their practice sessions took place at Freedom Fields. In 1901, they started playing at the ground at Home Park which had been built for the Devonport Albion Rugby Club. In the first two years, Home Park was also the home to whippet racing and cycling tournaments. In 1903, they were allowed to join the Southern League and they then played their first game as Plymouth Argyle.

The photo shows the team in 1922. Back row: J Devine, F Cosgrove, J Muir, W Cook, P Corcoran, W Frost, J Little, C Miller. Second row: F Haynes (trainer), I Leathlean, J Hill, J Logan, R Jack (sec. man) J Jobson, C Eastwood, S Atterbury (assistant trainer). Seated: J Dickinson, B Bowler, H Batten, H Kirk, M Russell, W Forbes, H Raymond, W Baker, A Rowe. Front row: J Kirkpatrick, J Fowler, J Walker, T Gallogley, F Richardson, R Jack, J Leslie and A Wilson.

The Countess of Edgcumbe's pet pig

The Countess of Mount Edgcumbe, Emma Gilbert, had a pet pig which she called Cupid. Cupid led a charmed life eating at the dinner table of the Edgcumbes and even accompanying the Countess, Emma Gilbert, on trips to London. The Edgcumbes love of their pets can be seen at Fern Dell where many of them are buried. When a later Countess of Mount Edgcumbe, Caroline Georgia, died in 1909, she requested that a fountain be erected near the shore at Cremyll which bore the inscription, 'For the Doggies'.

When Cupid died in 1768, it was said that he was buried in a gold casket beneath the Obelisk at Cremyll.

A Kingsbrige man wrote a poem about Cupid on hearing of it's demise. It read: 'Oh dry those tears so round and big, Nor waste in sight your precious wind, Death only takes a little pig Your Lord and Son are still behind.'

Cupid's resting place is a mystery though, as it appears to have had a grave at Fern Dell. A monumental urn dedicated to the pig has long since disappeared. On one of his visits to Mount Edgcumbe, George III, on seeing Cupid's headstone, remarked to Queen Charlotte, 'It's the family vault, Charley! The family vault!'

The Honicknowle Carnival

The Honicknowle Carnival started in 1933. This photo shows the Maypole Dancers on their cart ready to take part in the Carnival of 1934. Pictured in Butt Park Road, this photo includes Constance Brimacombe, Winnie and Lily Lee, Beryl Ivey, Millie Shears, Joyce Chapman and Mary McKee.

The annual carnival was organised by Edgar Lewis and attracted thousands of people from all over the city. In the days before the building of the many housing estates in the 1950s, Honicknowle was a very different place with farms, quarries, a brick works and open spaces.The nearby Woodland Fort housed troops and at different times, also housed families and was used for recreational purposes.

Events in the carnival included maypole dancing (very popular at the time), ladies football, children's competitions ,fancy dress shows and various sports events. A Carnival Queen would preside over events. In 1933, the Queen was Hilda Pearn. In 1934, the Queen was Florence Ivey and in 1935, Agnes Lewis had the honour. The Parade was a very popular part of the carnival and included horses and carts from local farmers as well as local residents.

In 1939, Honicknowle Week, as the carnival was known, ceased for nine years because of the Second World War. In that year, Joyce Chapman was Queen. The Carnival was revived in 1948 and attracted more attention than it had in previous years because of the growth of housing in the area.The 1949 carnival included wagons and decorated horses. Thirteen Carnival Queens from other parts of the City took part in the parade and there were 130 entrants in the fancy dress parade. Joan Slater, who was Miss Honicknowle, presented the first prize to Valerie Steele and also presented the prizes for the juvenile talent contest. The day ended with old time dancing and an al fresco dance in the street.

The Carnival seemed to end once the new housing estates were built in the 1950s. The village life that was once Honicknowle had now gone. Farms were built on and the brickworks was eventually knocked down. A way of life had suddenly changed forever.

Scott of the Antarctic

Robert Falcon Scott was born in Plymouth on the 6 June 1868. He was a British Naval Officer and explorer who led two expeditions to Antarctica. The first, the Discovery Expedition lasted three years and began in 1901. His second expedition, the Terra Nova Expedition, which commenced in 1910, is more well known and was the expedition where, unfortunately, he lost his life. Scott led a team of five men in a race to reach the South Pole. When he arrived on the 17th January 1912, he discovered that he had been beaten to the position by the Norwegian, Roald Amundsen and his team. Scott and his team, which included Edward Wilson, H R Bowers, Lawrence Oates and Edgar Evans, made their way back but died of a combination of the cold, hunger and exhaustion.

Scott was born at Outlands House, the family home, in the Parish of Stoke Damerel.He was a distant descendant of Sir Walter Scott and he was the father of the naturalist, Peter Scott. Outlands has now gone and St Bartholomew's Church stands in its place. Within the church is a piece of wood bearing Scott's name. In 1908, Scott had carved his name on a tree at Outlands, from where the wood was taken.

Scott was 43 when he died and his body, and that of his comrades, remain at the camp where he was found. A wooden cross was erected on top of a high cairn of snow which covered the camp.

A memorial stands to Scott at Mount Wise in Devonport.

Mary Newman

It is interesting that Mary Newman's Cottage is in Culver Road, Saltash because she almost certainly never lived there. Mary married Francis Drake on the 4th July, 1569 at the church at Higher St Budeaux and this is recorded in the parish records. The records also show the marriages of three other women with the name Newman between 1552 and 1571, within the St Budeaux Parish, and it is assumed that they are all related. Stories passed from generation to generation by word of mouth say that Mary was born at Agaton Farm and was the daughter of the important Newman family.However, John Drake, the cousin of Francis, in a deposition to Spanish inquisitors in 1587, stated that Mary was born in London. It has been suggested that Mary was actually the sister of Drake's shipmate, Harry Newman, who it is recorded, came from St Budeaux.

Little seems to have been written down about Mary and much of her life is a mystery. There are said to be no pictures of Mary but, with her being married to such an important figure of the day, a painting may well exist, perhaps mistakenly listed as someone else. It has also been suggested that Mary, who would have been brought up in the parish of St Budeaux, may have lived at the old barn that still stands off Normandy Hill (see picture). Although the barn is from the 1500s, there seems to be little to support the story though it would be a better bet than the house in Saltash.

Drake was knighted in 1581 and was elected Mayor of Plymouth in the same year. Mary became Lady Drake and Mayoress. Drake bought Buckland Abbey in 1581 and they both lived there. They had previously lived at Looe Street in Plymouth. Mary, however, died two years later in 1583.

Two funeral services were held for Mary. One was at St Andrew's Church and the other was at St Budeaux, where her body was said to have been buried. Today, there is no sign of her grave at St Budeaux and past attempts to find it have failed.

Sir Francis Drake and Mary Newman had no children and there are no direct descendants of Drake. He married Elizabeth Sydenham in 1585.

Sir Francis Drake died in 1596 of dysentery while anchored off Panama. He was just 56 years old. He was buried at sea in a lead coffin off the Portobelo coast.

The Silver Mine Under Saltash Passage

Many people walking around Saltash Passage today might notice the subsidence that appears in the area. The wall beside The Ferry House Inn has been cordoned off for some time now. Above the wall, the path, serving the houses above, is falling away. This subsidence was thought to have been explained many years ago when local historian, Marshall Ware, suggested that this was the area where the pipe from the American fuel tank, kept in the old orchard, ran down towards the quay. However, subsidence has also been noticed in Little Ash Gardens and near the old wall facing the River Tamar. Even further up the road at Vicarage Gardens the pavement is showing signs of sinking.

A house in Little Ash Gardens has had to be under-pinned in the past and this all seems to be due to the underground mining that once took place in the area.

In 1837, Charles Trelawny excavated for lead-silver deposits under Saltash Passage. The mine tunnel ran from Kinterbury Creek under, what is now, the main road and up towards the quarry that is now Little Ash Gardens. It is believed that the house affected lies above this mine as does many of the homes within the area. With the disturbance of the bombing during the Second World War (an armaments barge was hit on the River Tamar), the mineshaft was probably disturbed.

Many years ago, the entrance to the mineshaft was sealed up to stop children from entering. The mines are still there but remain a secret to many visitors to the area.

Titanic Survivors

The Titanic,1912. On 28 April 1912, the Titanic survivors were brought back to Millbay Docks, fourteen days after the ship had sank. At 8am, the SS Lapland moored at Cawsand Bay with the 167 members of the Titanic who hadn't been detained in New York for the American inquiry. Three tenders left Millbay Docks to collect the passengers and the 1,927 sacks of mail that had been scheduled to be carried by the Titanic. The third tender, the Sir Richard Grenville, carrying the survivors, killed time in the Sound while the dock labourers and porters were paid off and escorted out of the dock gates at West Hoe. After midday, the tender was given the all clear and the survivors were allowed to disembark in an air of secrecy. They were then put on a special train from Millbay Docks to Southampton where they arrived at 10.10pm that night.

Little Ash Tea Gardens in Saltash Passage

Little Ash Tea Gardens was a very popular beauty spot and was visited by over twenty thousand people in one year. Now long gone, its location would have been at the far end of where Little Ash Gardens now stands. In the background of the photo, steps lead down from near to the fields at the Kloof. With the steep bank, it's easy to imagine this as Little Ash Quarry. Though it's hard to see, there are huge queues of people both on the steps and at the top of the steep drop. In the picture, there is a larger tent, with Little Ash Tea Gardens painted on the top in large letters, and a smaller tent with seats laid out underneath. Several large flag poles, with flags flying, mark its location. All around, there are coloured bunting flags and also a wooden picket fence along the edge. The van on the left of the picture belongs to a company called 'Day'. A programme of music was played by the band of the Plymouth Corporation Tramways and Transport. The conductor of the band, in the 1920s, was a Mr C E Lewenden and some of the tunes of the day that were played included; 'She Don't Wanna', 'I Want to be Alone with Mary Brown' and 'Trail of the Tamarind Tree'. Some of the patrons who attended the event included Vice-Admiral Sir Rudolph Bentinck, Major Leslie Hore-Belisha MP and Rear Admiral Oliver Backhouse, as well as many other Naval Officers. Combined with the Regatta, it was quite an event.

Here’s an advert for the tea gardens. It was then described as Devonport’s beauty spot (Saltash Passage, at the time, was classed as part of Devonport). It served high class teas and refreshments, had brass bands and park rides such as swings, roundabouts and see-saws. Frequent tramcars ran from Stuart Road, Morice Square and Tor Lane. The return fare for adults was 5d and for children 3d. Advertised as the ideal place for Sunday School outings. The Officials included the Lord Mayor who, in the 1920s,was Councillor W H Priest, G A Daymond of Mount Tamar Villas and Walter Wyatt of Baden Terrace. James Ware who lived at the Kloof, was treasurer until ill health stopped him taking part after 1928.