Wembury Point Holiday Camp, 1930s

Many people who go for a walk at Wembury Point will know that the area once incorporated HMS Cambridge but perhaps they won't know what the area was used for in the 1930s. There are clues to be found on the foreshore including the remains of an old swimming pool.

Before the Second World War, the area was the location of a busy and very popular holiday camp. The Southern Railway Handbook of 1936 carried an advert for the camp at

Wembury Point. It was described as, 'a smaller type camp with that family holiday atmosphere.' The camp boasted that it featured a licensed club, excellent food and cooking and comfortable bedrooms. Pastimes included cricket, tennis, dancing and table tennis. The advert also stated that the camp was, 'on 100 acres by the sea with its own riding stables, safe bathing and good fishing.' There was accommodation for 150 and the cost to stay started at 35 shillings a week.

It all seemed to come to an end at the beginning of the war. In 1940, a Gunnery Range was established at Wembury and the whole area was later acquired by the Navy in 1950. The holiday camp and all the fun that was once had there, seems to be

long forgotten but here are a few rare photos that show what the area was once like. These are the only pictures that I've ever seen of the camp in use although I'm sure there must be many more tucked away somewhere. Older residents of Plymouth may remember visiting the camp when they were small or will have photos of their parents having fun there.

The photos featured here show an advert for the camp, people roller skating on the roof of the main building, a group photo taken in 1938, exercising on the grass and the bar which doubled as a games room complete with table tennis tables. How times change!

Tamerton Foliot

The history of Tamerton Foliot dates back hundreds of years and I hope to feature more about it later in this blog. There doesn't seem to be many photos of Tamerton Foliot on the internet so I thought that I would feature some here.

 

The first photo features the once very busy railway station. At one time, it was very popular and looks very well kept in this picture, complete with tidied lawn and Pampas Grass. The station master and his wife along with a porter can be seen in this photo which dates from the early 1900s. The station has been disused for many years now but the station house and platform can still be found near the beginning of the nature reserve. Nowadays, it's been turned into a family dwelling.

The next photo is from the 1880s and shows Fore Street. The chapel is on the right. There is a lot of activity in the photo and many people seem to have come out to pose for the photographer. Wandering through Tamerton Foliot today, it still has the feel of a village that hasn't changed for hundreds of years although the scene has certainly changed since this picture was taken.

The next photo was taken at the bottom of the village and features Tamar House in the middle which was once a coaching inn. To the left, is Island House. Some of these buildings have now gone though it's quite easy to work out from where this was taken.

The man with the cart is the local road sweeper, Jack Maker. This photo was taken in the 1920s. He kept the streets clean at Maristow, Bickleigh and Tamerton where he lived with his wife, a Miss Baker, who was the cook at the local vicarage.

Finally, the football team shown is the Tamerton AFC Cup Winners. This photo is from the 1948/49 season. Included in this photo are R Smith, H Bryant, J Pedrick, W Reeves, G Copp, C Tutton, A Morgan, E Glasson, W Bryant, N Richards, R Rendle, H Hunt, A Cutler, A Short and M Mabin. The little boy is the team's mascot, Kenneth Glasson. I hope to feature more old photos and some of the history of the area at a later date.

Plymouth Hoe in the snow

With the recent snow downfalls, I thought that I would include a few photos of a snowy Plymouth Hoe. The first photo shows the tree-lined walkway up to the Hoe. At one time, sheep were regularly grazed on the banks of the Hoe. Here, they're being tended to by their owners as they desperately search for grass to eat.

The second photo shows a Victorian snow scene. Smeaton's Tower can be seen in the background and much of the Hoe looks like it does today. The memorial on the bottom right has now long gone though. The third photo shows a Victorian lady making her way up from the Pier. The

clock appears to read 7.50am. The tramlines can clearly be seen on the road and a horse and cart are approaching the Pier entrance. In the background can be seen the snow covered roofs at West Hoe. Elliot Terrace can also be seen on the right and a group of men have gathered above the Belvedere. Again, not much has changed in this scene.

The fourth photo dates from a later time and shows a man pulling his son on a sledge. In the background, three men are having a snowball fight. It all looks lovely to see and it makes for some great photos though I bet many of the people in these photos were glad to see the back of it. There would have been no central heating, cold weather payments or electricity in Victorian times and the cold weather probably meant misery to many.

More photos from the St Budeaux Carnival, 1919

 

Here's two more photos of the St Budeaux Carnival from the Western Weekly Mercury of Saturday, 9th August, 1919. Please click on the pictures to see them larger. The first photo shows the group of officials who organised the carnival, which took place on the previous Monday. The picture shows two policemen, the ferryman, local businessmen and men and women from the community. There is also a schoolboy in the front row. Lots of fancy hats were worn by the women. In the second picture, local people are dressed up for a procession through the town which, the paper states, caused roars of laughter from the crowds that had gathered to see them. Amongst the group are several clowns, minstrels, pixies, farmers, a policeman, a brick layer, a cavalier, a labourer and a banjo player. It looks like it was quite an event. I wish I had more photos from newspapers of the years after this carnival but it seems that most have long since been thrown away. There would have been a happier outlook to the Carnival of 1919 as the First World War would have recently ended though there would also have been much sadness at the loss of so many young men from the area. The carnival of this year was also known as the Peace Carnival.

The Great Blizzard of March 1891

With the heavy downfall of snow recently and with the whole country coming to a standstill, I thought that it would be good to write about one of the most remembered blizzards which devastated the area over 100 years ago. The Great Blizzard of March 1891 affected many parts of the country particularly the South West. The strong gales and heavy snowfall hit Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Herefordshire and Kent. London was also hit by the strong winds and snowfalls. The devastation left behind included uprooted trees and many fences and roofs were blown away also. The storms were so ferocious that much of Cornwall and Devon was cut off from the rest of Britain for four days between 9th and 13th March, 1891. In this time, over 200 people were killed as well as 6,000 animals. At a time when there were no cars, no electricity, no televisions, few telephones and no wireless, the heavy downfall meant that you really were cut off from the rest of the country. The Times, in March 1891 stated that 'no such storm had visited the West of England within remembrance.' Temperatures dropped below zero and snow drifted in places up to 15 feet high. A train heading from Yelverton towards Princetown was trapped by a large snowdrift and remained in place overnight. It's 3 crew and 6 passengers huddled in a carriage and were finally rescued by a local farmer tending to his sheep. The line remained shut for several weeks afterwards. The photo shows a Victorian snowball fight on Plymouth Hoe. A boy hides behind the snowman to give the appearance that he too is throwing a snowball! I hope to include more photos of snowstorms from the past hundred years on this blog over the next week.

German Prisoners of War, St Budeaux

This rare photo, featured in a local newspaper during the early 1940s, shows captured German airmen helping to build pre-fabricated homes for the people of Plymouth. In the background can be seen the church at Higher St Budeaux. Many people will remember the pre-fabs that stood in the area long after the war had finished. They were only built to last for ten years but most lasted much longer. Some can still be found at the nearby Ernesettle Lane. There seems to be little mentioned about captured German prisoners of war within Plymouth and it seems ironic that the airmen were put to work building houses for the homeless when they would have caused the problem in the first place. They were known locally as 'Herrenvolk' which is a translation of 'The Master Race', which was probably applied to them sarcastically rather than with any respect. I can't find any reports of of how they were treated, although they were probably treated well, but local people would have despised them as many would have lost their friends, neighbours and families in the heavy German bombing particularly in 1941. Even so, local children would have been fascinated by them and probably pretended to machine-gun them every day on their way to school! Higher St Budeaux still has a village feel about it in this picture with very few buildings and plenty of open land. On the left can be seen the St Budeaux Foundation School which was demolished when the new road and roundabout were put in place, in the early 1980s, which led to the Parkway. Also in the picture is Higher St Budeaux Church and the nearby Inn, remembered fondly as 'The Blue Monkey.' A lot has changed over the years and it's strange to think that many of the roads and paths that are still in place were originally laid by German airmen.

The St Budeaux Carnival, 1919

Here's the front page of the Western Morning Mercury from Saturday, 9th August, 1919. I think this is probably the only copy of this that survives. I've had to scan it in two sections because it wouldn't fit on my scanner. As with all the photos on my blog, if you click on them, you can see them full size.

 

The front page carries the story of the St Budeaux Carnival and I feature parts of it in my book, 'Memories of St Budeaux'. The caption underneath read: 'The Peace Carnival held at Lower St Budeaux on Monday was a splendid successand  gave great enjoyment to thousands. Our photograph is that of some of those who took part in the day's proceedings and were attired in fancy dress.' Also on the front page was a story, carrying the headline, 'St Budeaux Sports'.It read: 'In the field attached to the Naval Camp at St Budeaux, the lower St Budeaux Peace Sports, which were interrupted on Monday by the bad weather, were continued on Wednesday evening. The success which attended the celebrations on Bank Holiday Monday, marked the proceedings again yesterday, and taking into consideration the spontaneity of the whole affair, great credit is due to the organisers. Everything had been greatly facilitated by the kindly co-operation of Commander Armitage and the officers and ratings of the Naval Camp. P O Stout, as chairman of the Sports Committee, put in a great deal of hard work. At the close, Commander Armitage distributed the prizes and a vote of thanks was passed by the committee to him and his understudies for all they had done for St Budeaux. Comander Armitage, in returning thanks, led cheers for the committee, who had 'done all the work'. After the sports, an al fresco entertainment was given by the 'Dons' Concert Party. Messrs Staddon Hancock (sports secretary), and Hare acted as starters. P O Stout (chairman of the Sports Committee) was clerk of the course.' The article then gives the names of people who won various events. These included the 100 yards, the egg and spoon race, catch-the-cockerel, the sack race, the obstacle race, field racing, the blindfold race, the wheelbarrow race, the potato race, thread-the-needle race, the skipping race, the girl's three-legged race, the veterans' race, the 100 yards ladies over 40 race and the committee race. The article also mentioned that in the tug-of-war for boys, the Weston Mill district beat the Saltash Passage district.

I have other cuttings from this era of St Budeaux together with similar photos which I hope to feature here soon.