Christmas Cheer

Every Christmas, there used to be a booklet sold in Plymouth called 'Christmas Cheer'. The one pictured here cost one shilling and dates from 1955. The front cover shows children having a snowball fight by Drake's statue on the Hoe. The booklet was 64 pages long and featured some interesting stories including tales of the Old Stoke Gibbet, Plymouth in 1855, Disaster in the Sound, Christmas in the Air Raids, the Story of Gogmagog, an article about the old people of Plymouth, as well as plenty of Christmas quizes and the odd ghost story. The tale of the Stoke gibbet is a dark and macabre one. It is a true story that tells of the murder of a dockyard clerk on the night of July 21st, 1787. Philip Smith was brutally bludgeoned to death near to Stoke Church. His murderer, a John Richards, together with an accomplice, William Smith, were both soon apprehended. Richards was a dock worker who had earlier been suspected of killing a Fore Street sentinel. At first, there were no clues to who had committed the crime but Richards soon boasted of the crime and was, shortly afterwards, arrested. However, there was little evidence against him and he was soon released. A hat found beside the body was identified as belonging to Richards' accomplice, William Smith. Hearing of this, Smith fled to Dartmouth but was soon caught and admitted to his role in the murder and implicated Richards. Both men were tried for murder at Heavitree. They were found guilty, condemned to death and executed in 1788. The judge in the case, Judge Buller, declared that their bodies wouldn't by given to surgeons for dissection, which was usually the case, but were to be 'suspended between Heaven and Earth as they were fit for neither.' The corpses were brought from Exeter to Stoke and displayed near the scene of the crime. This gruesome practice was common at the time. The bodies were hoisted in wire cages and chains on a gibbet erected on the muddy Deadlake beach just below Stoke Church. Smith's body stayed there for seven years before the gibbet collapsed and Richards' body stayed there slightly longer. People avoided the spot and it was said to be 'the terror of some and the disgust of many'. Nettleton's 'Stranger's Guide to Plymouth' says that the gibbet stood in place upwards of 38 years near the Mill-bridge until it was blown down in the gale of 1827. In 1788, a bestseller called, 'The Genuine Account of the Trial of Richards and Smith' sold 25,000 copies. Some were sold around the base of the gibbet. Long after the gibbet disappeared, people shunned the area after dark which, during the 1830's, left the area quiet enough for grave robbers to carry out their grim practices in the secluded Stoke churchyard. I hope to include some more stories from 'Christmas Cheer' and hopefully, they'll be a lot less morbid!

Kinterbury Villa 1923

This old postcard from 1923 is probably the only photo of Kinterbury Villa, who played against local teams and hailed from St Budeaux. They were the winners of the Junior League Cup in that year. When the team disbanded in 1924, some players left to join other teams including the popular nearby team, the Saltash Stars. Football was as popular then as it is now and there were many local teams including Woodland Villa who were great rivals of the St Budeaux teams from 1918 onwards. Most of the names of the players have long since been forgotten though two members of the team at the time were Bob Foster and Reuben Woolway. Bob, who played inside left, left the team to join the Saltash Stars and later played for Cornwall. Reuben was the team's goal keeper and later joined Looe FC.

The Forum in Devonport

Passing the Forum in Devonport today, it's hard to imagine that it once formed part of the busy and popular, Fore Street. The heavy bombing during the Second World War and the demolition afterwards, has left the now bingo hall almost on an island with constant traffic passing all day long.

The Forum was once a popular and busy picture house. The cinema, which seated 1,800, opened on the 5th August, 1939. It's first film was 'Honolulu', which was shown at 5pm, which starred Robert Young and Eleanor Powell. It was built by Charles Tyler of Swansea and was run in conjunction with the nearby Hippodrome. Due to the heavy bombing in the war, Fore Street was partly cleared away and taken over by the dockyard and the cinema was never fully restored

to its former glory. Television also played a part in dwindling audiences. The cinema stayed open until 14th May, 1960 and soon after, it opened as a bingo hall. Bingo seemed to lose favour for a while but now appears to be as popular as ever. The photos show the bomb damaged Forum, Fore Street (including David Greig)as it once was, and the Navy helping to clear rubble, shown passing the damaged Forum.

The State Cinema

I pass the State Cinema in Victoria Road, St Budeaux, nearly every day. Of course, it's a long time since it's had that name. I read recently that there are plans to demolish it which I think would be a great shame. In March 1939, just before the start of the Second World War, the St Budeaux cinema company was formed. They had a capital of £10,000 which was all in £1 shares. Perhaps if the cinema had been proposed further into the war, it might not have been built due to the lack of materials and resources. On 16th October, 1939, a month into the war, the State Cinema opened at the junction of Victoria Road and Stirling Road. It seated 1,000 people and was the first cinema in Plymouth to be fitted with a four channel stereophonic system. The first film shown was 'That Certain Age' starring Deanna Durbin and Melvyn Douglas. The seats were 6d, one shilling and 1/6d. There were two shows daily. The cinema was certainly popular and attracted huge queues whenever a new film was showing. It escaped the bombing during the war and stayed open for many years after.

I can remember in the late 1960s, queueing with my mum and brother to see films like 'Oliver' and 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'. I particularly remember queueing for Oliver because it was pouring down with rain and the queue went right around the building. I remember one evening, our parents took us there to see 'Ice Station Zebra' probably one of the most boring films I've ever seen!

In 1970, the name of the cinema was changed to the Mayflower to coincide with the Mayflower celebrations of that year.

Eventually, the popularity of the cinema seemed to die off with the introduction of the video recorder. The Mayflower closed its doors to the film going public in 1983 and it became a carpet warehouse and, some time later, a snooker hall.

Once the cinema closed, the building was never kept in a particularly good condition and seems to have deteriorated ever since. Today, it stands boarded up with many of the younger generation not even realising it was once ever a cinema. It would be a great shame to see it go and hopefully, there'll be some way to preserve it.

Dad's Army

Remember the 1970s when there was actually something decent to watch on the telly? We all used to love Dad's Army then and it seems to have been repeated ever since! I was reading the other day about Arnold Ridley who played Private Godfrey in the show. In Dad's Army, Godrey's character was that of a former conscientious objector but in real life, Ridley fought as a Lance Corporal with the 6th Somerset Light Infantry during the First World War. When war broke out in August 1914, Ridley wanted to enlist straightaway but he was rejected because of a broken toe injury that he had endured while playing rugby. The following year, he tried to enlist again and was accepted and was sent, with other raw recruits, to train at Crownhill in Plymouth. The regimental Sergeant Major told them that they would not be seeing their families for a while because,'you will all be bleeding well dead on the Western Front!' Ridley was lucky to survive the battlefields of the Somme after being rescued by a fellow soldier who was later killed himself. In later life, he had nightmares and suffered terrifying flashbacks. After the war, Ridley became a successful playwright but then experienced financial ruin until he regained fame in the classic sitcom. Arthur Ridley's story made me think about the real Dad's Army who protected Plymouth in the Second World War. The Home Guard, originally called the Local Defence Volunteers or LDV, was made up of members of the public who were told by Anthony Eden and his government to register, if they were interested in joining the LDV, with their local police station and when they were needed, they would be called up. Police stations found themselves deluged with volunteers and in just 24 hours, 250,000 people from all over Britain had registered their names. Although the age limit was supposed to be 65, many older members, some in there 80s, managed to enrol. Numbers grew and eventually one and a half million people registered their names. Eden promised them uniforms and weapons but they ended up with armbands and had to use whatever they could as weapons. These included pitchforks, brooms,umbrellas. golf clubs, pikes and catapults. Eventually, they were fitted out with denim uniforms and some rifles arrived. Churchill changed the name of the LDV to the Home Guard in 1940 and he saw that they received proper military training. The Home Guard contributed to civil defence by helping to put out fires, clearing rubble, guarding damaged banks and shops and preventing looting. They also captured stray German parachutists and showed that they were ready to fight the enemy if they landed on British soil. By 1943, the fear of German invasion was fading and the Home Guard found that they had lost most of their purpose in the war and numbers started dwindling. In October 1944, the government announced that the Home Guard would be disbanded the next month. There were no medals awarded and in total, 1,206 members of the Home Guard had either been killed on duty or died from their wounds, and 557 more sustained serious injuries. In December 1944, King George VI, the Home Guard's Colonel-in-Chief, stated, 'History will say that your share in the greatest of all our struggles for freedom was a vitally important one.'

Memories of the US Army in Saltash Passage, 1944

I was lucky to know Marshall Ware, the St Budeaux historian, and I have many of his cuttings and notes amongst my collection. Marshall wrote down many things that happened in the Second World War and some of his reminisces I've included in my book, 'Memories of St Budeaux.' When the American troops took over Saltash Passage in preparation for D-Day in 1944, everyone was issued with special passes so that they could enter the area. Marshall remembered, 'We all had identity cards but Saltash Passage residents were issued with yellow Certificate of Residence Cards. It bore the holder's National Registration Identity Card number and stated that the holder was thereby certified to be a resident within the specified area and that it must be carried out of doors at all times and shown to any Constable or member of His Majesty's or Allied Forces on duty. It bore the signature of the holder and was signed by the Chief Constable of Plymouth and the distribution was completed by 19th April 1944. One resident, wearing tennis gear, forgot to carry his card and was taken in a jeep for interrogation to the US Naval Advanced Amphibious Base at Vicarage Receiving Barracks at St Budeaux.' The troops were very friendly and polite to the local residents and were loved by the children because they would give them sweets, gum, cocoa and other items that were rationed to the English. The Americans didn't have their food and supplies rationed at the time and were happy to share it with the locals.

Maurice Dart remembered, 'I remember the American's camp at Vicarage Road. When I was a boy, we would go down to the gate sometimes and they would give us chocolates and sweets and items to take home, such as tins of cocoa, biscuits and butter. My mother used to tell me off for scrounging but she was pleased to receive it all!' The rare photo above shows the smiling faces of the American troops as they left for D-Day. Residents remember that the area was a hive of activity while the troops were there but, one day, they awoke to find that they'd all gone, leaving just a baseball bat behind.

The Hoe Lodge Gardens 1930s

This photo of the Hoe Lodge Gardens in the 1930s is an old picture used by the Keystone Press Agency. A quick search on the internet shows that Keystone are still in business.

Looking at this photo, not a great deal has changed over the years and the only noticeable thing that is now missing is the old bandstand which was destroyed during enemy bombing in the 1940s.

This picture would have been featured in a newspaper or magazine at one time though it's impossible to discover what the story behind it was. This is possibly the only copy of this picture that survives. There is some information written on the back in pencil which reads, 'A pretty scene of the flower gardens on Plymouth Hoe. In the background can be seen Smeaton Lighthouse.'

It must be spring as one of the two girls in the picture is admiring the tulips while the other girl is holding an umbrella. In the background, Smeaton's Tower is painted as it is today though it's seen some variations over the years including being painted green and white during the 1960s.

Some think that this might have been in honour of Plymouth Argyle but it was probably because green and white are the colours of Devon. Also, in the background, can be seen the Victorian watchtower.

The garden had a small pond in the days before the Prejoma Clock. The clock was erected in April 1965 in memory of the parents of a Mr John Preston Ball.

It's amazing that this photo was taken approximately 70 years ago and how little has changed. Incidently, this photo was another 99p buy on Ebay. An absolute bargain, I think!