Alexander Graham Bell

Amazingly, the first telephone installation in the UK was in Plymouth at Tor Grove in Weston Peverel, now known as Pennycross. Alexander Graham Bell was visiting the town in 1877 to lecture about the invention of the telephone when he stayed at the residence of Robert Bayly. Bayly was elected to the first Devon City Council and was also a Justice of the Peace. His father founded the Marine Biological Association. While staying with Bayly, Bell installed the telephone line which connected the house and the gardener's cottage. It remained in use for many years before the apparatus was presented to the Plymouth Museum. Alexander Graham Bell was born in 1847. Both his mother and wife were deaf which interested him in experimenting with hearing devices which eventually led on to his invention of the telephone. The patent was applied for in 1876. Although he is most famous for this invention, he felt that it intruded on his more important scientific research and refused to have a telephone in his study. In 1888, he became one of the founding members of the National Geographic society. Bell died in 1922. During his funeral, it was reported that, 'every phone on the continent of North America was silenced in honor of the man who had given to mankind the means for direct communication at a distance.'

Stanley Gibbons

Perhaps stamp collecting isn't the hobby that it once was. When I was a boy in the 1960s, every kid that I knew collected stamps. Times change and perhaps the name of Stanley Gibbons isn't as well known to younger people as it would have once been. Edward Stanley Gibbons was born in Plymouth on the 21st June, 1840, coincidently in the same year that Britain issued the Penny Black. His father, William, owned a chemist shop in Treville Street. Stanley had an interest in stamps from when he was a boy and joined his father's business after the death of his eldest brother.His father encouraged his stamp collecting hobby and a stamp desk was set up within the chemist's shop. Between 1861 and 1871, Stanley Gibbons built up his own stamp business which proved to be very popular. On the death of his father in 1867, he took over the chemist shop but found himself heavily involved in the business of buying and selling stamps which took most of his time and eventually, the chemist shop was sold. After he married, in 1872, he relocated his business to London where he employed women to separate sheets of stamps in the evening. He was reported to the local authorities by neighbours who were suspicious of all of the young women who attended his address and surprisingly, this was investigated although they found nothing untoward. By the time Gibbon's first wife died in 1887, the business was a great success. He later married his housemaid, Margaret Casey in 1890 before selling his stamp business to Charles Phillips for £25,000. Soon after, he retired. Gibbons married for a third time after the death of his second wife in 1901. He travelled extensively all over the world for pleasure and to purchase stamps. Gibbons third wife died in 1905 and he married for a fourth time but this wife died in 1908 and he married, amazingly, for a fifth time in 1909. They are believed to have separated before his death because he makes no mention of her in his will and leaves his entire estate 'to a dear friend, Mabel Hedgecoe'. Gibbons died on the 17th February 1913. His string of wives, most of whom died relatively young, has given rumour to some wrong doing on his part but this has never been proved. Stanley Gibbons is nowadays seen as a successful business and perhaps the person behind it is somewhat forgotten. However, almost one hundred years after his death, his name is, and will probably always be, forever linked with the immense, worldwide hobby of stamp collecting.

Prehistoric caverns at Stonehouse

I recently came across a cutting from the Evening Herald from the 9th November, 1960. It carries a report about prehistoric caverns at Stonehouse and reads:

'Stonehouse's prehistoric limestone caverns, discovered in the 18th century and since lost to modern knowledge have, it is believed, been rediscovered by builders excavating foundations for a new warehouse in George Street. Directing a pneumatic drill into limestone boulders, a workman found the rock giving way to expose a 10ft shaft with two long fissures squeezing from it. Remains of prehistoric rhinoceroses, horses, oxen, deer and other animals were once found in the caverns but were destroyed when the Athenaeum was blitzed in the last war.'

I haven't been able to find any follow up to this article but isn't it amazing that this all probably exists beneath the streets of Stonehouse and it's such a shame that the remains found in the 1700s were destroyed in the war. The story of Cattedown Man is well known and his remains were discovered in limestone caves in the Cattedown area of the city in 1887. With him were the bones of 15 early humans together with the remains of woolly rhinoceros, woolly mammoth, deer and lion dating from the ice age. The remains are approximately 140,000 years old and are the oldest remains discovered in the British Isles.

Prehistoric remains have been found in Ernesettle Woods, at Mutley and Keyham as well as Stonehouse.

It's amazing what is beneath our feet but also incredible that very little of this history ever seems to be mentioned. I certainly haven't read anything at all about the Stonehouse Caverns in the last 40 years.

The location of the Cattedown caverns is meant to be a secret, for fear of fossil hunters etc, but it's well known that they are located beneath the fuel depot there. It would be incredible to be able to visit them and it seems a shame that the area is off limits to local residents.

The Kloof, Saltash Passage

The Kloof can be found near the end of Wolseley Road at Saltash Passage. The house was built by James Ware (shown) in 1914. James Ware owned and ran Ware's coal and coke business from Ware's Quay which, today, would be opposite the Ferry House Inn. The quay was built in 1898 by James Tripp using stone from Little Ash Quarry. It was taken over by James Ware and renamed and used by him until 1922.

The Kloof was built just before the First World War and may not have been built at all, if built at a later date, due to the lack of materials that were available as a direct result of the War. In later years, the fields by the Kloof were rented out for a variety of uses. These included stabling horses, a local business growing fruit and vegetables and an enterprise growing daffodils in the Spring. A variety of animals were kept there for commercial use also, including pigs, sheep and chickens. The fruit and vegetable business was run by Frederick Johns who delivered to the St Budeaux area with his horse and cart. In the Second World War, the US army used the field to house their troops and vehicles.

Many older residents will remember Marshall Ware who lived at the Kloof for most of his life. He had a passion for local history and wrote two books about St Budeaux. He also had a passion for wildlife and I remember that he told me that he would climb into trees to photograph the eggs of birds but would never take them to collect. I also remember him telling me how he remembered his father planting the many trees that now surround the field at the Kloof. Marshall seemed to know the name of every plant, flower and bird in the area and, at the time, would happily tell me all about them. Some of Marshall's stories can be found in my books 'Saltash Passage,' 'St Budeaux,' and 'Memories of St Budeaux.'

Plymouth : Tales From The Past

I know that there are many people who would rather sit down and flick through the pages of a book than read content from the internet on a computer screen. Many people aren't connected to the internet and for this reason, I've compiled all my favourite stories of Plymouth's past in a new book which will be available from bookshops and online over the next couple of weeks. There are tales of famous people connected with Plymouth including Charles Darwin, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Scott of the Antarctic, Cora Pearl, Lillie Langtry, Nancy Astor and many more. There are also stories of Christmases during the War years, trams, entertainment, the Civil War, Romans, pubs, buildings, executions, carnivals, comedians and much more.

More recent history includes articles about Plymouth Zoo, Westward Television, Benny Hill and The Beatles visit to the ABC.

I hope that the new book will be of great interest to the many people who enjoy reading about the history of Plymouth and who also enjoy the many quirky stories that originate from its past.

'Plymouth Tales From The Past' (ISBN 9780956078148) will be available from the end of May from all good bookshops and costs £9.99.

Putty Philpott

This photo shows Putty Philpott who, at one time, was quite a well-known figure in the city. He led the Plymouth, Stonehouse and Devonport Carnival, shown here in 1926, which raised money for the Royal Albert Hospital (later Devonport Hospital). He was known as a giant of a man although this referred to his generosity as well as his weight. He was ex-Navy and also an ex-publican and, at twenty stones, was once the heaviest man in the services. After leaving the Navy, he ran the Brunswick Hotel in Stonehouse and would entertain people by playing the banjo beside the log fire there. Stars from the Palace Theatre would come to watch and would join in with his many songs including, 'South of the Border down Stonehouse Bridge Way' which he adapted from the more well-known, 'South of the Border'.
During the Second World War, The Brunswick Hotel was destroyed by a land mine and Putty then became the landlord of a pub in Devonport which, by coincidence, was bombed on his very first night there. He ended his days as the landlord of the No-Place Inn at Eldad Hill.
In between running various pubs, Putty also appeared in concerts performing his many songs which included, 'Figgy Pudding'.
Thr Plymouth, Stonehouse and Devonport Carnival lasted all week and Putty was often the Carnival king. Regular events included fancy dress competitions, parades and stalls.
When he died, the pall bearers had to be 'fortified at the local bar' before carrying out their bulky task!

Devonport tram

At first glance, it's hard to place where this lovely pre-war tram is passing in Plymouth. There are several clues though. By enlarging the photo, a street sign can be seen beside the front of the tram which says 'Chapel Street'. Also,
in the background, can be seen the word 'piano' and I can recognise this as the shop belonging to Hocking's Pianos which stood beside the Forum Cinema (now the Mecca Bingo Hall). The Forum, which was at the end of Chapel Street in Fore Street, stands just to the left of Hocking's and Fore Street with its wonderfully ornate buildings continued until it met the dockyard gates. The Second World War not only devastated Fore Street but also Chapel Street and none of the buildings shown in this photo still stand. The Forum is still there, of course, but the rest of Fore Street including the Devonport Market were incorporated into the dockyard and have been unseen by civilians for many years. Recently, the area enclosed in the dockyard has been refurbished and building work still continues.

For comparison, I took a photo today of the area as it looks now. Just for good measure, I made sure I got a picture of the tram's future replacement! The Forum can be seen in the far background on the left and an Esso garage stands where all those lovely buildings used to stand.

Walking further down, I thought that I could see tramlines in a pothole in the road. A similar thing was reported in Saltash Passage recently. On the way home, I decided to photograph the gates at HMS Drake for a 'then and now' project I'm putting together. I was surprised that because I'd taken a photo of the gate, I was then questioned by the police, complete with machine guns, for half an hour! I pointed out that a photo of the HMS Drake gates could be found easily on Google Earth and my pictures came out terrible anyway! They were very nice about it all though and said these were 'sensitive times' but, if you're thinking about photographing any Naval, or any other military establishments, think twice! I think we parted on good terms and I still haven't got a decent photo of the gate!