The Stoke Gibbet

Driving or walking by Stoke Damerel Church in Paradise Road today, it's hard to imagine the grisly practices that were once not only carried out in the graveyard but also at the nearby 'Deadlake'. The Deadlake was the name given to the upper part of Stonehouse Creek which has long since been reclaimed. If you ever get a cold shiver, especially at night, when passing by this way, then the following tale might be the reason why.

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 1830s, left the area quiet enough for grave robbers to carry out their grim practices in the secluded Stoke churchyard.

Today, it's hard to imagine that all this once went on and the area has changed considerably over the years although the church still stands. Walking through the church grounds today, many of the older gravestones have been laid flat and form a pathway. One of the headstones once marked the grave of Cornelius Tripe who was the Mayor of Devonport between 1838-1839.

Thankfully, the days of the gibbet have long since disappeared as have names like 'Cornelius' and Tripe' which seem to belong to a past time when the world seemed a lot more grim!

Eric Webb

When I was writing my first book on Plymouth, for Tempus in 2003, I sent a letter to the Evening Herald asking if anyone had old photos of the city. One of the people who kindly wrote back was Eric Webb. From the moment we first met up, it was obvious that we were going to be very good friends. Eric was very well-spoken and reminded me of someone who had just stepped out of a 1940s Ealing film! He had a great sense of humour and fun of someone 70 years younger! Eric was 88 when I met him and was living in a warden controlled flat at Southway. The warden was lovely and Eric told me that she had once been on tour with Tommy Cooper. Eric had lost his wife, Barbara (Babs), the year previously and he missed her greatly. One of the photos that he lent me showed Babs with her workmates from E Dingle's working on a farm during the war. They had all given up their two week holiday to help the war effort in 1939. She was 18 at the time.

Later, Barbara  joined the WAAF (the Womans' Auxiliary Air Force) and Eric worked for army intelligence in London. They first met on a train but it was another year before they saw each other again and married. Their honeymoon was spent in Richmond, Surrey in a basement with strangers, sheltering from heavy enemy bombing. They were happily married for 58 years.

One story that I remember Eric telling me was of one of his earliest memories from when he was a boy. During the First World War, there were Zeppelin raids over Britain and Eric remembered hiding under the bed with his mother. Eric had a candle so that they could see but the mattress was made of horse hair and slowly started smouldering! They both survived unscathed though!

Eric had lots of wonderful memories which he said that he was putting in his autobiography. He'd bought a computer and had learnt to use it and stored stories, poems and limericks and used it to make his own Christmas cards of which he sent out hundreds every year. He seemed to have kept every friend that he'd ever made and people would phone him up often who he'd known from school or from his army days. I remember he said that his commanding officer had phoned him up on his birthday and said, 'How's Little Eric? (Eric was only about 5 ft 2"). He'd write us long letters, often comical and jovial and phone us regularly to see how we were getting on. We often went out together and the last photo shown here was taken at Cotehele. He said it looked like he was a ferry cruise owner touting for business!

Although Eric was in his 80s when we first met him, strangely, I always saw him as the young man in the first photo shown on this page.

Eric seemed to be liked by everyone he met. We had some great times and he shared some great memories with us. We'd often go around  to his flat and I remember his favourite tv programmes were Emmerdale and Heartbeat. I think that he yearned for England as it was in the 1960s! His favourite film, which he watched time and time again, was Jungle Book.

Eric died in August this year aged 95 and we miss him greatly. He was certainly a wonderful bloke. I never did get to read his autobiography!

New circles at Churchtown Farm

This year has revealed more circles in the grass at Churchtown Farm, near Saltash, in the field close to Wearde Road. Many are perfect circles with, what appears to be, openings at the front. It has been suggested that these could form part of a Bronze Age settlement. There have been traces of Neolithic and Bronze Age settlements found around Saltash and implements such as skin-scrapers and arrow heads have been found in fields on the outskirts of the town. However, although there definitely seems to be some sort of structure underneath the grass, it could point to something more recent. The most obvious answer would be that maybe old farm buildings or cow sheds once stood there.

There seems to be very few old photos that show Churchtown Farm in the early part of the 20th century. They might also be structures left when the railway and the two viaducts over Forder were originally built (the route of the older viaduct can still be seen and stinging nettles grow where its supports once were). The other explanation is that they could show where wartime buildings once stood. Barrage balloons were flown over Point Field and the circles in that field could show structures left by the army.

I wonder if anyone knows the answer? Perhaps it's all down to visits from aliens!!

New books available this month

I have two new books out this month, both are published by Amberley and both feature the River Tamar. The first is 'River Tamar Through Time' which includes many old and new photos of the river. Within its pages are pictures of Plymouth, Gunnislake, Calstock, Cotehele, Saltash, Devonport etc. Many of the older photos haven't been seen in print before.

The second book features a year on the Tamar.
I'm lucky living right beside the river and I've spent the last year photographing all aspects of it as it changes throughout the seasons. Included are photos of the regattas, the wildlife, the people and the many villages and places beside the river.
The book features full colour throughout.

I hope that both books will prove enjoyable to anyone who loves the River Tamar much as I do. If you live beside the Tamar, you might even spot someone within the pages that you know!

Both books are available at all bookshops throughout the region including Waterstones and WH Smiths and can also be bought online at stores such as Amazon, Foyles, Blackwells etc.
Larger Tesco stores also stock many of my books so pick one up next time you're getting your shopping!

Cornwall Street in 1960

Here's a rare photo showing Cornwall Street in 1960. At first glance, it looks much the same as it does today. Ivor Dewdney's shop can be seen on the right and is still in the same place today and just as popular. Does anyone remember the cat that used to sit in the window? He probably wouldn't be allowed in there today!
It's hard to make out any of the names of the other shops in the photo but most, if not all, will have changed ownership over the years. Of course. Woolworth's further up the street is also now long gone. The memorable shop I remember in Cornwall Street but at the other end, was the Magnet where we'd go for our dinner every Saturday before returning home by 4pm to watch the wrestling on World of Sport.
Surprisingly, even though the road wasn't pedestrianised then, there's very little traffic travelling up and down the road. The parked cars look very old-fashioned, I can recognise a Triumph Herald, compared to today's cars as does the way people dressed at the time.
It's odd to think that this photo was taken 51 years ago. In some ways, nothing seems to have changed but in other ways, everything seems to have changed!

Lopwell Dam

Here's an old photo of Lopwell taken in 1936. It features members of the rowing club of St George's Methodist Church.
The photo is interesting because so much has changed in the background. The house still stands, although slightly altered and, of course, today, Lopwell Dam is positioned where the rowers are on their boat. Until the 1980s, it was possible to walk by the house, watch the salmon in the leap and feed the swans by the riverside. Today, however, the area is fenced off and gated.

The second photo was taken on Good Friday in 1957 and shows a couple of boys from St Budeaux on a trip to Lopwell with their teacher. The view remains much the same today. It's interesting seeing the early colour used in this photo and it looks like it might have been hand-tinted.

The final photo shows the house and the area as it is today. I'm not sure when the walkway across the river was put in although the stones used look very old. Nowadays, the water pumping station, which was used in BBC TV's 'The Vet' several years ago, is now a popular cafe.

Photos from Plymouth's Past

Here are some lovely photos kindly lent to me by Gary Fawbert. The photos were taken by Gary's late grandfather who was a keen photographer and developed most of his own films. All photos seem to have been taken in about 1937.
The first photo shows a rare shot of the Gaumont Theatre in Union Street. The Gaumomt Palace was opened in 1931 and, much later, became the New Odeon. The building, although empty, still stands today. Showing at the Gaumont at the time the photo was taken was 'Melody For Two' and 'Jungle Princess'. There are several pushbikes and a child can be seen passing the cinema pushing a doll's pram. The Union Street arch can be seen in the background together with a strange contraption attached to a motor bike.

The second photo shows the bandstand on Plymouth Hoe. The bandstand was very popular but was dismantled in the Second World War so that its metal could be used to help the war effort. The photo shows many people, some with prams, gathered to watch the next concert. The third photo shows a ship passing by Mount Batten. The RAF station would have still been there at the time and one of its officers would have been TE Shaw (Lawrence of Arabia).

They're a great set of photos and I hope to include more in a future blog.