Rare photo : St Budeaux's oldest cottage

The rare photo section of this blog will probably get updated quite regularly as I have many photos that won't have been seen anywhere else. The latest one comes from the Western Morning News and Daily Gazette of Friday 30th April 1937 and it shows St Budeaux's, then, oldest cottage.

The caption reads: 'Three hundred years old, Commons Cottage, in Vicarage Road, St Budeaux, Plymouth, is threatened with demolition for road widening. It ha been occupied by the Westlake family for 200 years and the present occupier, Mr John Westlake, aged 74, has lived there since his birth.'

More rare photos soon.

Rare Photo : Plymouth Hoe

Every week, I plan to post a rare photo on this site which you won't have seen anywhere else. Most come from old editions of newspapers that I've collected together. It seems a shame that many of these photos will never see the light of day again unless someone posts them on the net, so here goes!
This week's photo shows the ornate gate, now long gone, at the top of Lockyer Street where it joins Plymouth Hoe.

This picture comes from the Western Morning News and Daily Gazette of Friday 2nd October 1936.

The caption reads: 'The present entrance to Plymouth Hoe at the top of Lockyer Street, where Mr J J Beckerlegge, President of Plymouth Institution, last night suggested a wrought-iron gateway should be erected bearing the inscription 'Plymouth Sound, Gateway to the World.'

Plymouth's First Talkies

It's hard to imagine a time when people went to the cinema to watch a film that had no soundtrack, included subtitles and was, often, accompanied by music from a pianist.
Asked which was the first talking film to be shown in Plymouth and many people would probably say that it had to be The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson in 1927, which included the classic line 'You ain't heard nothing yet!'
However, the first talkie that was shown in Plymouth was called 'The Singing Fool' and it played during August 1929 .
The Western Morning News of the 8th of July 1929 carried the story:

'TALKIES FOR PLYMOUTH

Kinema enthusiasts in Plymouth will shortly have an opportunity of seeing and hearing the talkies.

The Western Morning News in officially informed that the Savoy Picture House is being wired for the new films and that during August, the first talkie film to be shown in Plymouth will be presented.'

The talkies didn't please all and the first film to be shown in Plymouth was soon reviewed in the Western Morning News of 15th August 1929:

'THE TALKIE COMES WEST

One cannot doubt after hearing the 'talkies' that they have come to stay. Despite a certain harshness and, of course, the slow drawl of the American voice, they have a dramatic force unattainable in the silent film.
This is simply illustrated in 'The Singing Fool' showing at the Savoy, Plymouth this week. Sonny Boy, the child on who the story hinges, lies seriously ill in hospital. His mother, by the bedside, suddenly observes a doctor and a nurse draw a sheet over his face. Piercing the quietude of the kinema comes the agonized scream of the distraught mother. This is a melodramatic illustration but it explains the wide difference between the silent and the talking film. The 'talkie' is a new and totally different form of entertainment, demanding the concentration of other senses. No longer can we affect a languid interest in the screen, for music and speech will soon dispel any drowsiness. Critics must remember that the 'talkie' is in its infancy and naturally will improve every year. It is to be hoped, at the same time, that our friends in America will eliminate their pronounced drawl from the films sent over here and that British enterprise will rapidly afford us opportunities of hearing our own artistes and music.'

The Singing Fool, like The Jazz Singer, also starred Al Jolson. It featured the song 'Sonny Boy' which was the first recording to sell a million copies.
The Savoy announced another talkie on its theatre posters which was due to show the next week following The Singing Fool. Entitled 'The Doctor's Secret', Vide Press called it 'the best talkie yet'. A long-forgotten film, it is thought that no copies still exist.
Many people were enthralled by the new medium. However, not everybody was pleased about the new talkies. Hatty Baker, a resident of Pomphlett, wrote a letter to the Western Morning News which was published on 30th August 1929. It read:

'Much has been written, more spoken, about the nerve-racking noise of the present day. Now, noise has invaded the silent film. The talkies are all very well in their way - a very noisy, somewhat chaotic and metallic way - but to women like myself who went at times to a kinema for rest and quiet, they are disappointing in the extreme.
When the talkie started and the noise banged out from a kind of box contraption (I do not know what it is called), the contrast after the human performers was painful in the extreme. The twang of the speech might, perhaps, be endured, though one hardly goes to an entertainment for that, in spite of one woman's remark : 'I enjoyed it so much; I cried all the time!', some people having curious ideas on enjoyment, but the metallic bang, bang of the box-band was hideous.
I returned with a headache, saying never again to the talkies.
Am I alone in such critisism? Are there not others who would like to see at least one good silent film with accompaniment?
All things pass and when this age of noise and turmoli passes, the talkie will surely (we hope and trust) will pass also.'

Hatty, like many, couldn't have predicted the future. Silent films were on their way out and in a very short time, every film would be accompanied by a soundtrack. The age of the silent film seems to come from a different world from nowadays where we are bombarded with sound from televisions, ipods, computers, radios and of course, incredible stereo sound systems in every cinema.

The Toll Gate, Halfpenny Bridge, Stonehouse

A while ago, I was kindly given a series of books called 'Days in Devonport' written by Gerald W. Barker in 1984. Inside one of them is a story told by Marjorie Claxton of an experience crossing Halfpenny Bridge many years ago in 1913. It's a lovely story and I thought that I would reproduce it here so more people can read it:

I remember Devonport, Stonehouse and Plymouth when they were three separate boroughs each thriving independently in their own particular way.
It was a pleasant walk from Devonport to Plymouth via Stonehouse. Transport was mainly by trams, which ran from the terminus in Fore Street, Devonport, down Chapel Street, stopping at Cumberland Gardens to pick up passengers, then on along past the Raglan Barracks on the left and Mt Wise on the right then down over the hill past the Brickfields, crossing Kings Road and on over the Stonehouse Bridge, through the toll gate commonly known as the Halfpenny Gate. Here, one was in Stonehouse where the trams stopped in Edgcumbe Street to pick up folk. The route continued through Union Street passing several theatres and cinemas such as the Grand, the Palace, the Savoy and the Gaiety and on to Derry's Clock, the Plymouth terminus. I remember the fascination of watching the conductor changing the trolley arm over onto the other overhead wire for the return journey. If the conductor happened to be short, this task would be tricky, as the arm was heavy and would swing and spark until it eventually clicked on the wire.

Underneath the Halfpenny Gate bridge was Stonehouse Creek, and at high tide, the stream reached as far as the Military Hospital. Boys from High Street had fine fun challenging one another to ride the logs. These huge logs, chained together, belonged to Fox Elliot the timber merchants and were towed up the creek by boat and left there to season. On the other side of the bridge, underneath it, were several boathouses approached from the Richmond Walk side of Kings Road. My uncle and aunt had a motor boat and used to take me with them on trips to Barn Pool, Cawsand and sometimes to picnic on the Breakwater. I learned to row a boat on Stonehouse Creek, mainly because my boy cousins used to tease me and I wanted to do as well as they.
I remember vividly the day I went to visit my aunt and uncle in Stonehouse. Being a lovely summer day, I felt quite important at being allowed to go alone at eight years of age. My home was at the Mt Wise end of George Street, Devonport, so I walked up through the beautiful Mt Wise Avenue, stopping for a few minutes to watch the naval officers playing cricket, then turned right past the ramparts and the New Cut leading to Richmond Walk, then down over the hill across Kings Road and to the toll gate. On production of a halfpenny, I was allowed through the turnstiles having been issued with a return ticket.
It so happened that my folks were going to visit friends so after about an hour, having had some lemonade and biscuits, I made my way back up over the bridge to the toll gate. Putting my hand in my pocket for my ticket, I was horrified to find that I'd lost it, and as the lady in charge was not the same one that I saw before, she would not let me go through. Strangely enough, the only other people around seemed to pass by in the tram or on bikes or horses and carts, so I was forced to turn back. However, I had an idea and went back, down by the brewery to the slip, hoping that I might see someone in the boathouses, or even find a boat there in which case I could row across, but alas, no people about and no boat. Then I knew the only way I could get home was a long way around, so I went along High Street, along by the Naval Hospital wall, which seemed endless, and turned up into Eldad Hill, to make my own way to Millbridge. Then the bottom simply dropped out of my world, for there at the bottom of the hill facing me was another toll gate. This was just too much. I was panic stricken whereon the floodgates burst and I remember saying, 'Whatever shall I do?' between my sobs. Then a kindly voice said, 'What's the matter? Why are you crying like this?'. Looking up, I had a blurred vision of a young soldier, who dried my tears as I had lost my handkerchief. He had a lovely face, so I blurted out my tale of woe, then he caught hold of my hand, escorted me through the gate and after asking where I lived and if I knew my way home, he gave me a penny and went on his way. I thanked him and ran through Fellows Place, up over Stoke Church Hill and past the Military Hospital. Then I came to a narrow road running between the Albion football ground and the Devonport South Western Station yard and the railway. There had recently been talk of a murder there, so being not only tired, but terrified, I took to my heels as if the very devil himself was after me. Out through the Rectory across Kings Road, on up over the Brickfields, down through Mt Wise Avenue and eventually home.
More tears were shed then from sheer exhaustion and relief being safely back with my mother. I remember the look of sheer amazement on her face, as she held me close while I poured out my story. Softly, she told me that she hoped that I had learned to be more careful as I had lost my handkerchief as well as my ticket. When I gave her the penny, she handed it back to me telling me to keep it as it was dated 1905, the year I was born.
Several years later, I went to join a friendly society, and remember the surprise I had when the gentleman who opened the door, took my name and address, then said, 'Aren't you the young lady who lost her toll gate ticket?'.
Then I remembered his face and after the meeting, he escorted me home, met my mother, and became a close friend of the family. His young friend later became my dear husband for thirty years, during which time my children always knew my soldier friend as uncle. Both soldier and husband have passed on but I remember a lifetime of happiness and friendship brought about by the loss of a halfpenny toll gate ticket. By the way, I still have that 1905 penny!

Tommy the Elephant

In May 1871, Plymouth was visited by the then Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Alfred Ernest Albert. He had been on a world cruise and arrived in Plymouth Sound on the 19th May of that year. With him he brought a baby elephant which he named Tommy.
The crew of the ship marched down Fore Street in Devonport with Tommy at their head and this is probably the only photo of him that still remains. No-one knows what became of Tommy but perhaps he ended up in one of England's many zoos.
The Prince went on to become Vice-Admiral, Channel Squadron, Commander-in-Chief, Devonport in 1890 and later became Admiral of the Fleet.

Bronze Age finds at Warleigh

I regularly take my dog for a walk at Warleigh Woods, near to Tamerton Foliot village, and for several months, there have been lorries travelling back and forth as a solar farm is created nearby.
Apparently the work has now stopped because finds from the Bronze Age have been discovered during all the digging work.
Tamerton Foliot and the Warleigh Estate are steeped in history and also have connections with the Romans.
Many years ago, local historian, Marshall Ware, told me that his interest in history began when he was given a greenstone neolithic axe in 1910 by Mr H Montagu-Evans. Similar axes were found in the 1960s near to the Brown and Sharpe factory site. Marshall's axe was excavated in 1898 by a team of soldiers, headed by a Captain Mullens, by Ernesettle Woods, which pointed to it being one of the earliest settlements in the area.
It will be interesting to discover exactly what has been found at Warleigh and there must be many more relics and much more history that lays yet undiscovered.

Dartmoor Through the Year

Amberley have just released my latest book, 'Dartmoor Through the Year' which features full-colour photos of Dartmoor throughout the seasons.
It's available from all good book shops and also from Amazon here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dartmoor-Through-Year-Derek-Tait/dp/1848683553/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1361307139&sr=1-1

Bill Haley

The King of Rock 'n' Roll, Elvis Presley, never visited Plymouth (or England) but the father of Rock 'n' Roll, Bill Haley, did.
On 22nd February 1957, Bill Haley and his Comets appeared for one night only at the Odeon in Frankfort Street. Tickets for the circle were 8/6 and also on the bill were the Vic Lewis Orchestra together with comedians Malcolm Vaughan and Kenneth Earle. Also featured was Desmond Lane with his tin whistle!
Bill played to an audience of 3,000 who, according to a report in the Herald, 'clapped and stamped their feet to the music'. The report said that the show was definately not for 'squares' and included the 'monotonous, pounding rhythm of electric guitars, string bass, and drums'. The show ended with the three songs 'Shake Rattle 'n' Roll', 'See You Later Alligator' and 'Rock Around The Clock'.
Hundreds of fans waited outside the venue hoping to get a glimpse of Bill but both he and the Comets left by a side door after the concert and were taken to their next venue at Southampton.  The tour was promoted by Lew and Leslie Grade and other venues included: February 1957: 6th  The Dominion in London for 4 nights, 10th The Gaumont at Coventry,
11th The Odeon at Nottingham, 12th The Odeon at Birmingham, 13th The Odeon at Manchester, 14th The Odeon at Leeds, 15th The Odeon at Sunderland, 16th The Odeon at Newcastle, 17th The Gaumont at Bradford, 18th The Odeon at Glasgow for 2 nights, 20th The Odeon at Liverpool, 21st The Capitol at Cardiff, 22nd The Odeon at Plymouth, 23rd The Gaumont at Southampton and on the 24th The Gaumont State at Kilburn for 3 nights.
March 1957:
1st The Hippodrome at Belfast for 2 nights, 3rd The Regal at Edmonton, 4th The Davis at Croydon for 2 nights, 6th The Carlton in Norwich, 7th The Gaumont at Doncaster, 8th The Gaumont at Wolverhampton, 9th The Gaumont at Cheltenham and on the 10th back to The Dominion in London.
The Comets included Johnny Grande on accordion, Billy Williamson on steel guitar, Ralph Jones on drums, Rudy Pompilli on saxophone, Al Rex on bass and Franny Beecher on electric guitar. Other songs included in their set were Razzle Dazzle, Rock-a-Beating Boogie, Mambo Rock, The Saints Rock and Roll, Rocking Through The Rye, Rip It Up, Rudy's Rock, Don't Knock The Rock, Live It Up, Crazy Man Crazy and Hook Line And Sinker.

Nazereth House at Devil's Point

Many people who regularly walk at Devil's Point will have noticed the building work that has been taking place at Nazareth House.
Before Nazareth House was built in the 1970s, the site used to house the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe's Winter Villa. The photo on the left shows the grand old building that once stood there.

The Winter Villa was built at Stonehouse in 1855 and was seen as a more comfortable and suitable dwelling for Ernest Augustus, 3rd Earl of Mount Edgcumbe (1797-1861), who was, at the time, in poor health. The house had fifty rooms but was little used after Ernest's death in 1861. By 1900, with the house no longer being used by the Edgcumbe family, it was leased to a prominent local family. In 1927, the premises were sold to the Sisters of Nazereth who were a Roman Catholic Order. The building was converted into a school and orphanage for young girls and opened in 1932 with a new name, Nazareth House. Orphans from Saint Teresa's Orphanage at Gasking Street, Plymouth were soon transferred to the the new building.

In the Second World War, the girls were evacuated to Elfordleigh and a regiment of Royal Marines were billeted there. The building was partly destroyed during heavy bombing and the cleared site was used for a chapel. After the war, the nuns and girls returned and were housed in what remained of the building. However, during the 1970s, because of maintenance bills, what was left of the Winter Villa was removed and a purpose-built orphanage was constructed in its place. Beside the small orphanage, there was also an old folks home. Recent reconstruction and rebuilding has taken place after the building was found to contain asbestos.

The second photo shows residents of Stonehouse holding a garden fete in the Winter Villa in 1912.

The third photo shows the villa as seen from Plymouth Sound.

Neil Armstrong

When I was 7 years old, back in 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. I remember, at the time, that everyone was amazed by this. Every boy had a collection of Airfix models that either made the Apollo rocket, the Lunar Module or an astronaut. I had an astronaut hanging from my ceiling for years! Blue Peter showed you how to build a rocket out of a Squeezee bottle, together with other parts, and I had one balancing on my window ledge for months. Heinz beans gave away some fantastic posters of the space project that we all had pinned to our walls and Findus gave away free flexi-discs of the voices of the astonauts talking to mission control during the moon landing. For a while, everyone was moon-mad. I remember our teacher at Knowle Primary, in West Park, letting some of the kids in the class watch the moon walks on the tv that was kept by the assembly hall. Everyone had black and white televisions in those days and we all sat mesmerised as we watched the flickering images broadcast live back from the moon. After it was finished, we had to go back to class and tell the other kids, who hadn't been allowed to watch, what it was all like. We were all fascinated by space travel and imagined that people would soon be living on the moon and then Mars. Of course, none of it ever happened and Neil Armstrong's trip seemed to be the peak of NASA's achievement. It seems odd now but when the final man walked on the moon in 1972, just three years later, people had lost interest and were turning off their tellies in their droves. The same thing happened with the Space Shuttle program. It got in the end that, unless one of them crashed, their missions weren't even reported on the news. It was all very incredible but, people being what they are, soon get fed up with it all.
When Neil Armstrong died a couple of days ago, a part of my childhood went  with him. Days of anticipation watching the flight to the moon, the live broadcasts of the moon walks and the pomp and ceremony when the astronauts arrived back on Earth. It was all fascinating stuff especially for a small boy.
I read somewhere that there's more technology in a modern washing machine than there was in the lunar module (although I find it hard to believe!).
They were great days and there's nothing like it nowadays. The 1960s and 1970s were great times, full of adventure, when anything seemed possible.
No matter where space technology takes us, Neil Armstrong will always be remembered for being the first man on the moon and will always remain an icon of the 20th century.

D Day in Saltash Passage

In January 1944, the US army set up camp at Vicarage Road in preparation for the D-Day landings. Altogether, it housed 60,000 troops on their way to the Normandy landings. It was also a reception centre for returning troops from July 1944.
The whole operation was highly secret and from May 1944, anyone who wanted to visit relatives in the area had to apply for a permit and would be escorted to the address by military police. They would also have to give a specific time when they would be leaving.
The mission was codenamed Operation Overlord. The codename for the many US bases around Plymouth was 'sausages'.
During this time, the river was full of ships loading men and equipment. One day the river was full of ships and the next day, it was completely empty as the troops headed towards the beaches of Normandy.

Children in the area loved the American troops and would pester them for sweets, chewing gum, chocolate, food and cocoa etc. The Americans weren't affected by rationing and were very generous to the locals especially the children. In the city, they even paid for and organised parties for them.
The large majority of troops in Plymouth were from the 29th Armoured division which went on to land at the Omah and Utah beaches. Omah beach was the codename for one of the main landing points for the troops on 6 June 1944. Unfortunately, it is where the Americans suffered their heaviest casualties. The Vicarage Road camp was decommissioned in September 1945.
Tamar Terrace was later renamed Normandy Way and Vicarage Road was renamed Normandy Hill to commemorate the troops that passed this way on their way to the D-Day landings.

A monument stands in Saltash Passage to commemorate where a slipway was built for the departure of the US troops. They constructed slipways or 'hards' which were known as 'chocolate box hards' to the troops. Sections can still be seen there, some are scattered along the foreshore.
A tablet commemorating the event was unveiled on Normandy Hill, known as US Army Route 23, by the Mayor of Cherbourg in May 1947.
A memorial was later erected in the gardens and the plaque on it reads:
'This tablet marks the departure from this place of units of the V and V11 corps of the United States Army on the 6th June 1944 for the D-Day landings in France and was unveiled by His Excellency John Hay Whitney, the Ambassador of the United States of America.
May 1958'.

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.
Maurice Dart recalled, '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 always pleased to receive it all!'
The rare colour photo 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.

Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee

It was lovely to see the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations earlier this month. There has only been one other Diamond Jubilee Celebration in the past and that was held on the 22nd June, 1897 to celebrate the 60th year of Queen Victoria's reign.
On the 23rd September, 1896, Queen Victoria became the longest reigning monarch surpassing the reign of her grandfather, George III.
A diamond anniversary would normally celebrate 75 years but in the case of a monarch, it is celebrated in the 60th year. Originally, it was brought forward during Victoria's reign because she had been out of the public eye for so long after the death of husband, Prince Albert, in 1861.

Celebrations were held up and down the country for the Jubilee and there were gatherings on the Hoe and all over Plymouth. Back in a time when there was no television or cinema, everyone came out in their thousands to take part in the events.
Two of the photos here show the huge bonfires that were set up on Plymouth Hoe. Beacons were set alight all over the country to mark the celebration. The history of beacons being lit across the country spans back many hundreds of years and was once used as a means of communication between towns and villages. Beacons were also lit during Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee in 1977.

The other photos shown here show much activity taking place at West Hoe with many people taking rides on huge swing-boats erected there. Everyone has turned out in their finest clothes. The final photo shows Old Town Street decorated and festooned with flags.
Buildings in and around Plymouth that were erected to celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee include the Turnchapel Jubilee Hall and the Technical College in Paradise Road in Devonport.
Victoria Park was named after the Queen, as were many other streets and locations in the area. However, the park wasn't finished in time for the Diamond Jubilee and didn't open until 1905.

In 1887, festivities for the Diamond Jubilee lasted two days covering 20th and 21st June. It concluded with a procession through London which, according to Mark Twain who witnessed it, 'stretched to the limit of sight in both directions'.
Queen Victoria was born on 24th May 1819 in London and was the only child of Edward, the Duke of Kent, and Victoria Maria Louisa of Saxe-Coburg.

At the age of 18, she succeeded her uncle, William IV to the throne in 1837. She married her first cousin, Prince Albert, in 1840 and they had 9 children. When Albert died, Victoria never recovered from his death and remained in mourning until she herself died 40 in 1901 almost 4 years after her Diamond Jubilee. It'll probably be a very long time before another monarch celebrates their Diamond Jubilee so I hope you made the most of the celebrations earlier this summer!
(Photos courtesy of Chris Goddard and Plymouth City Council Libraries)

Plymouth's Prehistoric Past

Last month, I wrote about Plymouth's first car and this month I'm travelling even further back in time with a story about some of the area's earliest creatures and also the story of one of Plymouth's earliest men, dating back approximately 140,000 years.
It's hard to imagine that the area today known as Stonehouse once had prehistoric animals roaming across it. Deep beneath the streets of Stonehouse lie ancient caverns. A story in the Evening Herald of the 9th November, 1960 carried a report about the prehistoric caverns at Stonehouse. It read:
'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 it's amazing that all this probably still 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. Excavated by local historian and naturalist, R N Worth, the finds were meticulously recorded and are considered to be one of the most important discoveries ever documented regarding the history of Homo Sapiens in Europe.
With Cattedown Man 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 human remains discovered in the British Isles.
Other caves within Plymouth, containing ancient bones, have been discovered in the 125 years since the discovery of Cattedown Man. Prehistoric remains have been found in Ernesettle Woods, at Mutley and Keyham as well as at Stonehouse.

 

The surviving remains found at Cattedown are kept at the city museum in the city.
Fossil remains were also discovered at caves at Oreston but were never documented, although they are referred to in several scientific papers. The remains, incredibly, were thrown away as being of no great importance and because they 'contradicted the Biblical Account of Human origins'.
It's amazing what lies 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 close to 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.
When you think of prehistoric animals such as woolly mammoths, you imagine that they once inhabited areas such as Siberia or North America. It's certainly incredible that they once walked very close to where many of us are now sat reading this month's blog!

Plymouth's first car

It's hard to imagine today, with the endless stream of traffic, that Plymouth once only had one car. Dr Francis Pearse, who was a dental surgeon, was the first person to own a car in the town. The car was a German Benz which dated from around 1896. Pearse drove it for many years until it became outdated in the 1930s. He objected to having to pay £2 10 shillings a year in rates to garage the car so threatened to bury it.
Newspapers around the world picked up on the story and one, the Barrier Miner Newspaper, published in Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia in 1931, read:

FIRST TO RUN IN THE STREETS OF PLYMOUTH
London, March 15.

Sooner than pay rates on a car shed, Dr Francis Pearse of Plymouth, decided to bury a famous old 4½-horse-power motor car. Dr Pearse bought the car in 1900. It was the first to be run in the streets of Plymouth, where it has since been a familiar sight at pageants and processions. It participated in the London to Brighton old crocks' race in 1926. Dr Pearse then spent £20 to win a 2/6 bet that the car would complete the distance. Dr Pearse offered the car to the Plymouth Museum which refused it. Unable to find a purchaser,he arranged to bury the vehicle near the cemetery, saying that he had only kept it out of sentiment, and therefore burial was the decent thing.

A later story reported that he had carried out his threat and the car had been broken up.

The Winsconsin State Journal of 3rd August 1931 read:

MAN BURIES CAR 30 YEARS OLD

Rather than pay taxes on the 'garage' where he had kept his thirty-year-old automobile, Dr Francis Pearse of Plymouth, England, has buried it. He drove it reverently through the city to the burial ground near the cemetery and had it broken up and interred. Dr Pearse bought the car in 1900 and had driven it until three years ago. He had paid no taxes on the old shed where he kept it but this year it was classed as a garage.

Somehow, the car ended up at the Brooklands racing circuit and the photo shows the doctor driving it to Friary Station so that it could be transported there by train. The story is told that he did indeed bury the car but it was later exhumed when a local motor dealer persuaded him to send it to Brooklands.
Another early car belonged to Marshall Ware who lived at the Kloof in Saltash Passage. At the time, it was the only car in the area and small boys would chase after it as it drove over the cobbles towards the Saltash Ferry which, back then, was only used by foot passengers and horses and carts.
The first garage in Plymouth for repairing motor vehicles was the Mannamead Garage in Elm Road. In 1901, it repaired its first 'horseless carriage' which, perhaps, was the one belonging to Doctor Pearse.

 Traffic has continued to grow steadily over the years. Nowadays, even the traffic of the 1960s seems minimal compared to today's busy roads.
Today, there are so many vehicles on the road that they're almost impossible to count. It's hard to imagine a far quieter time when the sight of a car would draw a crowd and would have young boys running after it chasing it down the road.

Plymouth Zoo

I'm sure that many people will have happy memories of Plymouth Zoo. I remember that we first went there when I was about 9 years old in the late 1960s. A pelican called Percy followed us all the way around the zoo, it was almost like he was giving us a guided tour! Over the years, I visited the zoo with my parents, my brother and friends from school.

It was a shilling to get in and there were many animals including chimpanzees, polar bears, seals, camels, giraffes and lions. The chimps were always my favourite but were obviously quite bored in their relatively small cage. The chimp cage was at the beginning of the zoo and if any smoker discarded a lit cigarette in their direction, one of them would pick it up and start smoking it. Unruly kids would chuck gravel at the chimps and the chimps would throw it back. I remember one school trip where the elephant took our teacher's umbrella!

It seemed a lovely place to start off with but got a bit run down and smelly towards the end. Amazingly, the zoo was only open for 16 years. It opened on Thursday April 19th 1962 at a cost of £30,000 and it had 13,000 visitors during the first three days. The zoo was owned by the Chipperfields and was a very popular attraction for many years.

There's a great movie on the Pathe News website showing the zoo in the 1960s and all the animals look very happy. I know that the keepers were very interested in their welfare and got quite attached to the animals. When you're a kid, a zoo seems a wondrous place but when you're older and with hindsight, it seems cruel keeping them all cooped up in cages. I used to watch the polar bears pacing up and down, doing repetitive movements and obviously being driven crazy by being locked up. Even as a naive kid in the 1960s, I felt sorry for them.

I remember the sweet popcorn that was sold at the cafe to feed the animals. All the kids always ended up eating it themselves although I'm sure it wouldn't have done the animals much good anyway. I remember once that there was a giraffe which was just about to swallow am empty popcorn packet. Luckily, the keeper managed to get it off him before he choked!

The cafe sold allsorts of souvenirs such as pendants, guide books, badges (I've still got mine) and my favourite, chimpanzee masks! I once wore a chimp mask all the way home on the bus and nobody said a word! As we got home, our next door neighbour was moving out and he shook my hand and said, 'Bye, Derek!' I still had the chimp mask on. That year, the mask ended up on our guy on Guy Fawkes night and ended up on the street's bonfire (in the days when you could build bonfires!).

The zoo also had a children's area with guinea pigs and rabbits and a huge tortoise which I believe was a gift from the Navy in the early 1960s. There were rides for smaller kids on ponies and mechanical giraffes.

The zoo closed on Sunday January 8th 1978 and was later converted into a skateboard park. Now, it's hard to work out where it once stood but probably forms part of Plymouth Argyle's ground.

Like many Plymothians, I had some great times at Plymouth Zoo in the 1960s and 1970s but today I'd be reluctant to visit any zoo as it now seems wrong, to me, to coop animals up in small, unnatural environments. It was all part of my childhood though and I've very fond memories of it.

The old oak tree in Saltash Passage

The old oak tree in Saltash Passage was cut down this morning (16th February 2012). It was probably well over 100 years old but has been dead for many years, maybe a victim of Acute Oak Decline which is caused by a bacterial infection.

The oak probably appears somewhere amongst these trees shown in a photo from about 1900. Many of the trees have been thinned or have disappeared completely over the years.

It's amazing to think that the tree was there before cars, radio and television. There have certainly been a lot of changes in the area in its lifespan. Trams would have rattled along the cobbled road beside the oak and church services would have been given in  the now long-gone St Peter's Church which would have stood across the way.

It's a shame to see it go and, for its long life, it was completely gone in little over an hour.

Three new books from Amberley Publishing

I've got three new books coming out from Amberley Publishing in the next few months. The first, 'Cornwall Through Time' will be published at the end of this month (February) and features old and new photos of Cornwall and includes photos of Saltash, Looe, Polperro, Antony, Hayle, St Germans, Sennen, Land's End etc.

The second book is 'Devon Through Time' which again features rare old and new photos from around the region.

The third book is 'Devonport Through Time' which shows the changes to the area over the last 100 years or so. It also shows the recent rejuvenation work and features Fore Street, Devonport Park, the Dockyard, Mount Wise, Mutton Cove and much more. All books will be available in bookshops such as Waterstones and WH Smiths as well at local Tescos and online.

Emmeline Pankhurst

Emmeline Pankhurst is well-known as being the leader of the British suffragette movement but her connection and arrest in Plymouth is perhaps less well-known.
Pankhurst was born in 1858. Her later political actions caused her to be arrested on many occasions. She founded the Women's Social and Political Union in 1898 and the group became infamous for smashing windows and assaulting policemen in their fight against political parties of the time. Pankhurst, her daughters, and other WSPU activists were sentenced to repeated prison sentences. Her arrest in Plymouth was carried in the Morning Post and read:

'THE MORNING POST DECEMBER 5 1913

MRS PANKHURST IN PRISON

DRIVE FROM PLYMOUTH TO EXETER

Mrs. Pankhurst was arrested on board the White Star steamship Majestic on arrival at Plymouth yesterday about noon from New York, and was subsequently taken to Exeter Gaol by motor car in charge of police officer and of detectives who had come from London. While at dinner on Wednesday evening she was informed of the action that the Government had decided to take, and when the Chief Constable of Plymouth, two officers from Scotland Yard and others instructed for the arrest went on board the Majestic Mrs. Pankhurst was asked to come to the Purser's office to see them. She refused to do so, and the police, going to the promenade deck, made the arrest in the presence of many of the passengers. There was no scene or demonstration. When the Chief Constable of Plymouth asked Mrs. Pankhurst to consider herself under arrest she demanded his authority, and was answered that a warrant, in the circumstances was unnecessary. Mrs. Pankhurst at first declined to move, but, after a short conversation with the police officers, went on board a special tender that they had chartered to take her ashore. At her urgent request she was accompanied by Mrs. Rheta Child-Dorr, an American journalist and personal friend.
The tender on which the police had embarked unnoticed, at a Devonport quay, proceeded on leaving the Majestic, not to the Great Western Docks, Plymouth, the usual place for ocean passengers to land, but steamed up the Hamoaze about three miles to Bull Point, the Government explosives depot for Plymouth Naval Station. There were in waiting two motor-cars. One was entered by Mrs. Pankhurst and her friend, the Chief Constable, and a Scotland Yard officer, and in the other travelled the Plymouth police matron and four police-constables. Mrs. Pankhurst had not been allowed to bring away with her any of her baggage.
On leaving Bull Point, from which the public are at all times rigidly excluded, the cars proceeded across country by way of Tamerton Folliot until the main road from Plymouth to London was reached. Then the route taken was through Yelverton and across Dartmoor, passing Princetown and Moreton Hampstead, and the cars arrived at Exeter at a quarter past three, Mrs. Pankhurst being lodged in the county gaol.
Anticipating that Mrs. Pankhurst would be landed at the Great Western Docks, a large crowd had assembled there. A Suffragist bank played, and Mrs. Flora Drummond and a bodyguard of about twenty Suffragists, with motor-cars waiting, were at the Ocean Quay, Devonport, to receive Mrs. Pankhurst in case she should be landed there. At both places considerable irritation was shown when it was realised that the enthusiasts had been outwitted by the police, but there was no hostile demonstration. Miss Grew, addressing the crowd at the Great Western Docks, said the plan which had been adopted was proof that a miserably weak Government dared not face the Plymouth public and arrest Mrs. Pankhurst ashore.'

Emmeline Pankurst's fight led to the Representation of the People Act in 1918 and, for the first time, women were allowed to vote.

Pankhurst died in 1928 and was commemorated two years later when a statue was unveiled in London's Victoria Tower Gardens.

The Georgia Boys

I wonder how many people remember the Georgia Boys who used to tour the pubs and clubs of Plymouth in the 1970s?

A friend has just started learning the guitar and it reminded me of when I was a boy and I took guitar lessons with Pete Martin who was one half of the Georgia Boys. The duo were regularly on Westward Television and Pete, being Canadian, did all the voice-overs on local tv adverts and also on Plymouth Sound when they required an American- sounding accent. Pete looked totally the part as a country singer, from his country and western shirts, his slicked backed black hair and his Canadian drawl. Outside his house in Peverell, he had a huge Cadillac which was covered with adverts for the Georgia Boy's many gigs. Pete taught me all the basic chords for the guitar and would sing country tunes for me. I was amazed when I managed to change from an 'A' to an 'E' chord but, even then, it seemed like I would never get the hang of it!

The last time I saw the Georgia Boys was in 1975 when Westward Television had an open day and they were making a guest appearance, that evening, on Westward Diary.

Unfortunately, I have no photos of Pete or the Georgia Boys but here's one of me from the time, complete with my £12 guitar from Woolworth's!

I love our crazy wallpaper! The photo must have been taken in about 1974.

Oh, and by the way, I never did get the hang of playing it!

Speedway programmes from the past

Kevin Glynn recently kindly sent me three Speedway programmes from the 1930s. They make fascinating reading.
The first programme is from the 'Central Park Road Races' which took place on the Bank Holiday (August 1st) of 1938.
The adverts make interesting reading and include long-forgotten businesses such as Oswald Neilson's grocery shop in Ebrington Street, Pike's Motor Cycles of Union Street and the Three Towns Dairy who sent cream by post and had cafes at Union Street, Westwell Street, Tavistock Road and Mutley Plain. There are also adverts for recognisable businesses such as Ford which were sold by Reeds Ltd in Cobourg Street. A new Ford Eight was £120, a Ford Ten was £145 and a Ford V-8 was £280. Vospers is mentioned in the programme but, back then, the name wasn't associated with car dealerships. They were, at the time, radio dealers and had premises in Russell Street. It's strange to think how much would change in the forthcoming years with the outbreak of war and many of these premises were probably obliterated in the blitz of 1941.
The second programme dates from Sunday May 13th, 1953 and features the 'Dartmoor Scramble' and the prize was the 200 Guinea 'Patchquick' Trophy. The race took place between Hayford and Buckfastleigh. There's an advert for Pike's on the back of the programme so they must have made it through the war although their premises are now at Alphington Street. They're billed as, 'the Leading Motor Cycle Dealers in the West of England.'
The third programme comes from September 1956 and features the 'Clearbrook Scramble'. An advert appears for Pike's again, this time at Millbay Road. They now have much competition and there are also adverts for many other motor cycle dealers.
It's amazing that these programmes are over 50 years old (one is 74 years old) and cover the year before the war until a time when Plymouth was still being rebuilt. They're certainly an incredible record of a hugely popular sport.

Jousting on the Hoe

I was interested to see Roy Westlake's photo of jousting on the Hoe in this week's 'Looking Back' column in the Herald.
The article requested that anybody with information about the event and date to get in touch.

I was there on the day and took many photos and borrowed my dad's cine camera (I was 16 at the time) and made a short film which is on YouTube and is shown below.


 

The year was 1978 and, as you can see, the lighthouse was still painted white. I think that the show lasted all day and was either in May or June. It started off with the jousting event and then there was a break before the characters from Planet of the Apes did a show, much to the delight of the kids. I filmed that too and the movie is here:

 

There were lots of other events going on during the day and there were celebrities there as well. The only one that I can remember though is Carolyn Jones, who played Sharon Metcalfe in Crossroads from December 1977.
Both the jousters and the apes used the old Hoe Theatre as their dressing room. They all posed for many photos but unfortunately, I've lost them over the years (I certainly wished I'd kept them!).

Shown here are a couple of screen captures of the Apes' performance.

I've been contacted by Planet of the Apes enthusiasts in the past and apparently this is the only surviving film of the many live shows that took place all over the world in the 1970s.

It's interesting to watch the movies almost 34 years later, not just for the events but also for the fashions of the day!

Tamerton Foliot in the 1960s

This photo of Tamerton Foliot, probably taken in the early 1960s, really reminds me of my childhood. When I was a kid, we'd wander everywhere and one of the places we'd end up would be the small village of Tamerton Foliot. A friend in my street seemed to know the whole area although we'd both just moved in at the same time in 1968. We'd take the road past Ernesettle Woods and up through Milford Lane in Whitleigh heading towards the village. In those days, there was no housing estates such as Badgers Wood or Holly Park and much of the area was farmland. It wasn't unusual to wake up in the morning to discover a cow asleep in your garden. It's hard to imagine now!
Following the narrow lane down towards the village, there appeared to be only one house, 'Casa Silva' which had a big 'Private' sign on its driveway. We never dared to venture up there. On the left were just open fields where Holly Park stands today and the farmer's milk churns, full of milk, would be placed beside the roadway, waiting to be picked up. Today, the road is quite busy but back then, I never remember a car passing us.
Once in the village, we would always head to the corner shop (now gone) where we'd buy sweets and bubble gum cards with our pocket money which was made up of large pre-decimal pennies and threepenny bits. We'd always get a gobstopper and suck it on the way back, taking it out every so often to see if it had changed colour!
It's probably not the sort of thing kids get up to nowadays but back then it seemed like a big adventure. Once we were back home, we were soon out again, climbing trees, building dens or shooing cows out of our gardens.
Things have certainly changed over the years!