The Ferry House Inn

The original house where the Ferry House Inn stands in Saltash Passage was built in 1575. It was recorded that it was converted into an Inn in 1850. However, in other records, the landlord in 1812 is said to be a Mr John Sole. Perhaps the
1850 date is wrong and maybe it should be 1805.

The Inn got its name from the ferry that left from the slipway opposite. Before the building of the Royal Albert Bridge, the ferry ran along the route of the bridge and not from the front of the Ferry House Inn which may suggest that the Inn had a different name originally. The history of the Inn itself seems very scant though there is much recorded about the ferry.

The ferry ran for at least six hundred years and carried passengers across the Tamar long before the Inn or the building existed.

Daniel Defoe,the author of Robinson Crusoe, crossed here in 1724 and wrote, 'the Tamar here is very wide, and the ferry boats bad, so that I thought myself well escaped when I got safe on shore in Cornwall.'

For many years, the Inn has provided food and drink for passengers on their way to Cornwall via the ferry.

It is still open for business although the last ferry ran in October 1961 the day before the Tamar Bridge opened to traffic.

The Inn is said to be haunted but no-one knows by who. Perhaps it's the ghost of an earlier landlord, the aptly named John Sole.

Plymouth Trams

Transport played a big part in linking the three towns. Plymouth's first tramway was opened in 1872 by the Plymouth, Stonehouse and Devonport Tramways Company. Before the advent of electricity, the trams were pulled by horses. The 4ft 8 inch track ran from Derry's Clock, along Union Street, over Stonehouse Bridge and ended at Cumberland Gardens in Devonport. In 1874, the line was extended to run to Fore Street in Devonport. Electric trams took over from the horse drawn ones in the early 1900's and the service eventually covered most of the area known today as Plymouth.

The photo shows a tram at Saltash Passage. Saltash Passage would have been the last stop by the river before this tram headed off back into the town. In 1923, the line was extended from St Budeaux along a track that had been closed since the First World War. The trip from the pier to Saltash Passage covered a remarkable 9 miles and was the longest journey in the city. The fare was 4d. This one's marked 'Theatre' and its final destination would have been by Derry's Clock.

By 1922, motor buses were running in the city and trams became a less viable proposition. In 1941, only the tramline from Drake's Circus to Peverell was still in use but this was discontinued after the war and the city's last tram ran on 29th September 1945.

The Great Liners

Plymothians would line the docks in the hope of seeing famous passengers disembark from the many ocean liners that called at Millbay. The Queen Mary was Cunard's pride and joy and famous passengers who docked at Plymouth on The Queen Mary included Gloria Swanson and Jack Warner who both arrived in the city in 1938. The Mauretania came to Plymouth regularly and delivered passengers and mail to the city. Film stars were quite often amongst the passengers and these included the American crooner, Bing Crosby. The Mauretania was built by Swan, Hunter and Wigham in Newcastle in 1907. It was the world's fastest liner from 1907 to 1927 and was part of Cunard Line's Liverpool to New York service. Charlie Chaplin disembarked from the Mauretania in 1931 to the delight of many Plymothians that had come to see him. The star of many silent films, he made his famous film, 'City Lights' in this year. Whilst in Plymouth, Chaplin was the guest of Nancy Astor at her home in Elliott Terrace on the Hoe. Also visiting Astor at the same time were Amy Johnson and George Bernard Shaw.The Mauretania made it's final eastwards crossing on September 1934, from New York to Southampton and was sent to the breakers yard on July 1935. The Normandie steamed into Plymouth Sound in 1937 after crossing the Atlantic in a record breaking time. The Normandie (pictured) was the industry's first 1,000 ft ocean liner. Walt Disney was among the many famous passengers who landed at Plymouth. The liner capsized and caught fire in New York while being converted for use in the Second World War.

Liner passengers would start their onward journey to London from Millbay Station. Many film stars including George Raft and Charlie Chaplin would board the trains here with thousands of less famous travellers. The station and hotels were built to accommodate the many visitors.

The days of the great ocean liners calling at Plymouth are now long gone but occasionally one drops anchor in the Sound but they are few and far between.

Plymouth Argyle

Argyle played their first full game in 1886. Their captain was F Howard Grose and the team met at Grose's home in Argyll Terrace. Originally called Argyle Athletic, they were named after Grose's admiration for the playing skills of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders regimental team. They originally only played away games as they had no pitch of their own and their practice sessions took place at Freedom Fields. In 1901, they started playing at the ground at Home Park which had been built for the Devonport Albion Rugby Club. In the first two years, Home Park was also the home to whippet racing and cycling tournaments. In 1903, they were allowed to join the Southern League and they then played their first game as Plymouth Argyle.

The photo shows the team in 1922. Back row: J Devine, F Cosgrove, J Muir, W Cook, P Corcoran, W Frost, J Little, C Miller. Second row: F Haynes (trainer), I Leathlean, J Hill, J Logan, R Jack (sec. man) J Jobson, C Eastwood, S Atterbury (assistant trainer). Seated: J Dickinson, B Bowler, H Batten, H Kirk, M Russell, W Forbes, H Raymond, W Baker, A Rowe. Front row: J Kirkpatrick, J Fowler, J Walker, T Gallogley, F Richardson, R Jack, J Leslie and A Wilson.

The Countess of Edgcumbe's pet pig

The Countess of Mount Edgcumbe, Emma Gilbert, had a pet pig which she called Cupid. Cupid led a charmed life eating at the dinner table of the Edgcumbes and even accompanying the Countess, Emma Gilbert, on trips to London. The Edgcumbes love of their pets can be seen at Fern Dell where many of them are buried. When a later Countess of Mount Edgcumbe, Caroline Georgia, died in 1909, she requested that a fountain be erected near the shore at Cremyll which bore the inscription, 'For the Doggies'.

When Cupid died in 1768, it was said that he was buried in a gold casket beneath the Obelisk at Cremyll.

A Kingsbrige man wrote a poem about Cupid on hearing of it's demise. It read: 'Oh dry those tears so round and big, Nor waste in sight your precious wind, Death only takes a little pig Your Lord and Son are still behind.'

Cupid's resting place is a mystery though, as it appears to have had a grave at Fern Dell. A monumental urn dedicated to the pig has long since disappeared. On one of his visits to Mount Edgcumbe, George III, on seeing Cupid's headstone, remarked to Queen Charlotte, 'It's the family vault, Charley! The family vault!'

The Honicknowle Carnival

The Honicknowle Carnival started in 1933. This photo shows the Maypole Dancers on their cart ready to take part in the Carnival of 1934. Pictured in Butt Park Road, this photo includes Constance Brimacombe, Winnie and Lily Lee, Beryl Ivey, Millie Shears, Joyce Chapman and Mary McKee.

The annual carnival was organised by Edgar Lewis and attracted thousands of people from all over the city. In the days before the building of the many housing estates in the 1950s, Honicknowle was a very different place with farms, quarries, a brick works and open spaces.The nearby Woodland Fort housed troops and at different times, also housed families and was used for recreational purposes.

Events in the carnival included maypole dancing (very popular at the time), ladies football, children's competitions ,fancy dress shows and various sports events. A Carnival Queen would preside over events. In 1933, the Queen was Hilda Pearn. In 1934, the Queen was Florence Ivey and in 1935, Agnes Lewis had the honour. The Parade was a very popular part of the carnival and included horses and carts from local farmers as well as local residents.

In 1939, Honicknowle Week, as the carnival was known, ceased for nine years because of the Second World War. In that year, Joyce Chapman was Queen. The Carnival was revived in 1948 and attracted more attention than it had in previous years because of the growth of housing in the area.The 1949 carnival included wagons and decorated horses. Thirteen Carnival Queens from other parts of the City took part in the parade and there were 130 entrants in the fancy dress parade. Joan Slater, who was Miss Honicknowle, presented the first prize to Valerie Steele and also presented the prizes for the juvenile talent contest. The day ended with old time dancing and an al fresco dance in the street.

The Carnival seemed to end once the new housing estates were built in the 1950s. The village life that was once Honicknowle had now gone. Farms were built on and the brickworks was eventually knocked down. A way of life had suddenly changed forever.

Scott of the Antarctic

Robert Falcon Scott was born in Plymouth on the 6 June 1868. He was a British Naval Officer and explorer who led two expeditions to Antarctica. The first, the Discovery Expedition lasted three years and began in 1901. His second expedition, the Terra Nova Expedition, which commenced in 1910, is more well known and was the expedition where, unfortunately, he lost his life. Scott led a team of five men in a race to reach the South Pole. When he arrived on the 17th January 1912, he discovered that he had been beaten to the position by the Norwegian, Roald Amundsen and his team. Scott and his team, which included Edward Wilson, H R Bowers, Lawrence Oates and Edgar Evans, made their way back but died of a combination of the cold, hunger and exhaustion.

Scott was born at Outlands House, the family home, in the Parish of Stoke Damerel.He was a distant descendant of Sir Walter Scott and he was the father of the naturalist, Peter Scott. Outlands has now gone and St Bartholomew's Church stands in its place. Within the church is a piece of wood bearing Scott's name. In 1908, Scott had carved his name on a tree at Outlands, from where the wood was taken.

Scott was 43 when he died and his body, and that of his comrades, remain at the camp where he was found. A wooden cross was erected on top of a high cairn of snow which covered the camp.

A memorial stands to Scott at Mount Wise in Devonport.

Mary Newman

It is interesting that Mary Newman's Cottage is in Culver Road, Saltash because she almost certainly never lived there. Mary married Francis Drake on the 4th July, 1569 at the church at Higher St Budeaux and this is recorded in the parish records. The records also show the marriages of three other women with the name Newman between 1552 and 1571, within the St Budeaux Parish, and it is assumed that they are all related. Stories passed from generation to generation by word of mouth say that Mary was born at Agaton Farm and was the daughter of the important Newman family.However, John Drake, the cousin of Francis, in a deposition to Spanish inquisitors in 1587, stated that Mary was born in London. It has been suggested that Mary was actually the sister of Drake's shipmate, Harry Newman, who it is recorded, came from St Budeaux.

Little seems to have been written down about Mary and much of her life is a mystery. There are said to be no pictures of Mary but, with her being married to such an important figure of the day, a painting may well exist, perhaps mistakenly listed as someone else. It has also been suggested that Mary, who would have been brought up in the parish of St Budeaux, may have lived at the old barn that still stands off Normandy Hill (see picture). Although the barn is from the 1500s, there seems to be little to support the story though it would be a better bet than the house in Saltash.

Drake was knighted in 1581 and was elected Mayor of Plymouth in the same year. Mary became Lady Drake and Mayoress. Drake bought Buckland Abbey in 1581 and they both lived there. They had previously lived at Looe Street in Plymouth. Mary, however, died two years later in 1583.

Two funeral services were held for Mary. One was at St Andrew's Church and the other was at St Budeaux, where her body was said to have been buried. Today, there is no sign of her grave at St Budeaux and past attempts to find it have failed.

Sir Francis Drake and Mary Newman had no children and there are no direct descendants of Drake. He married Elizabeth Sydenham in 1585.

Sir Francis Drake died in 1596 of dysentery while anchored off Panama. He was just 56 years old. He was buried at sea in a lead coffin off the Portobelo coast.

The Silver Mine Under Saltash Passage

Many people walking around Saltash Passage today might notice the subsidence that appears in the area. The wall beside The Ferry House Inn has been cordoned off for some time now. Above the wall, the path, serving the houses above, is falling away. This subsidence was thought to have been explained many years ago when local historian, Marshall Ware, suggested that this was the area where the pipe from the American fuel tank, kept in the old orchard, ran down towards the quay. However, subsidence has also been noticed in Little Ash Gardens and near the old wall facing the River Tamar. Even further up the road at Vicarage Gardens the pavement is showing signs of sinking.

A house in Little Ash Gardens has had to be under-pinned in the past and this all seems to be due to the underground mining that once took place in the area.

In 1837, Charles Trelawny excavated for lead-silver deposits under Saltash Passage. The mine tunnel ran from Kinterbury Creek under, what is now, the main road and up towards the quarry that is now Little Ash Gardens. It is believed that the house affected lies above this mine as does many of the homes within the area. With the disturbance of the bombing during the Second World War (an armaments barge was hit on the River Tamar), the mineshaft was probably disturbed.

Many years ago, the entrance to the mineshaft was sealed up to stop children from entering. The mines are still there but remain a secret to many visitors to the area.

Titanic Survivors

The Titanic,1912. On 28 April 1912, the Titanic survivors were brought back to Millbay Docks, fourteen days after the ship had sank. At 8am, the SS Lapland moored at Cawsand Bay with the 167 members of the Titanic who hadn't been detained in New York for the American inquiry. Three tenders left Millbay Docks to collect the passengers and the 1,927 sacks of mail that had been scheduled to be carried by the Titanic. The third tender, the Sir Richard Grenville, carrying the survivors, killed time in the Sound while the dock labourers and porters were paid off and escorted out of the dock gates at West Hoe. After midday, the tender was given the all clear and the survivors were allowed to disembark in an air of secrecy. They were then put on a special train from Millbay Docks to Southampton where they arrived at 10.10pm that night.

Little Ash Tea Gardens in Saltash Passage

Little Ash Tea Gardens was a very popular beauty spot and was visited by over twenty thousand people in one year. Now long gone, its location would have been at the far end of where Little Ash Gardens now stands. In the background of the photo, steps lead down from near to the fields at the Kloof. With the steep bank, it's easy to imagine this as Little Ash Quarry. Though it's hard to see, there are huge queues of people both on the steps and at the top of the steep drop. In the picture, there is a larger tent, with Little Ash Tea Gardens painted on the top in large letters, and a smaller tent with seats laid out underneath. Several large flag poles, with flags flying, mark its location. All around, there are coloured bunting flags and also a wooden picket fence along the edge. The van on the left of the picture belongs to a company called 'Day'. A programme of music was played by the band of the Plymouth Corporation Tramways and Transport. The conductor of the band, in the 1920s, was a Mr C E Lewenden and some of the tunes of the day that were played included; 'She Don't Wanna', 'I Want to be Alone with Mary Brown' and 'Trail of the Tamarind Tree'. Some of the patrons who attended the event included Vice-Admiral Sir Rudolph Bentinck, Major Leslie Hore-Belisha MP and Rear Admiral Oliver Backhouse, as well as many other Naval Officers. Combined with the Regatta, it was quite an event.

Here’s an advert for the tea gardens. It was then described as Devonport’s beauty spot (Saltash Passage, at the time, was classed as part of Devonport). It served high class teas and refreshments, had brass bands and park rides such as swings, roundabouts and see-saws. Frequent tramcars ran from Stuart Road, Morice Square and Tor Lane. The return fare for adults was 5d and for children 3d. Advertised as the ideal place for Sunday School outings. The Officials included the Lord Mayor who, in the 1920s,was Councillor W H Priest, G A Daymond of Mount Tamar Villas and Walter Wyatt of Baden Terrace. James Ware who lived at the Kloof, was treasurer until ill health stopped him taking part after 1928.

Dancing on the Hoe

Al fresco dancing on the Hoe began during the first week of May 1941 and was a success from the beginning. The idea was first suggested by the Lord Mayor, Lord Astor. Lady Nancy Astor regularly took part and among her dancing partners was the Duke of Kent.It raised people's spirits and brought everyone together.

Noel Coward, who was a friend of the Astors, said at the time, 'After all that devastation, on a Summer evening, people were dancing on the Hoe. It made me cry - the bravery, the gallantry, the Englishness of it!' The dances continued for many years. A huge dance was held on the Hoe, at the end of the war, to celebrate VE Day. Lady Astor was born in America in 1879.She married Waldorf Astor in 1906 and they lived at 3 Elliot Terrace on the Hoe. She was the MP for Sutton from 1919 to 1945. During the Second World War, Lord and Lady Astor were the Mayor and Lady Mayor of Plymouth. Lady Astor was well known for her straight to the point way of talking. She had once said to Winston Churchill, ’If I was your wife I would give you poison!’ to which Churchill replied, ’If I was your husband, I’d drink it!’

Lady Astor died in 1964.

Saltash Passage and the US Army base, 1944

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'.

Gog and Magog

One of the earliest recorded mentions of the Hoe area comes from Geoffrey of Monmouth who wrote about Plymouth Hoe in 1136 when he told the story of the giant, Gogmagog (which he originally calls Goemagot). The story of Gogmagog's Leap told how Brutus, the great-grandson of the Trojan hero, Aeneas, came to Albion with his followers and decided to settle. He called the land ‘Britain’ which was meant to be a derivation of ‘Brutus’. Brutus drove out the giants who inhabited the land sending them into the mountains in the west. One day, while holding a festival at the port where they first landed, Brutus and his men were attacked by a group of giants who they killed all except one who was called Gogmagog. He was said to be 12 cubits high. A cubit would have been about one and a half feet which would have made Gogmagog about 18 feet tall. It was said that Gogmagog could wield an uprooted oak tree as a weapon. Brutus kept Gogmagog alive so that he could wrestle with Corineus, the then Duke of Cornwall, who loved to wrestle with giants. When the opponents met for the first time, Gogmagog gripped Corineus so tightly around his middle that he broke three of his ribs. This enraged Corineus who then threw Gogmagog off nearby cliffs and he fell to his death on the jagged rocks below. This was all said to have happened on Plymouth Hoe and the chalk giants that once appeared on the Hoe represented this wrestling match. There is a record of the chalk cut giant being on Plymouth Hoe in 1486 and a record in the City Archive shows a receipt for a bill for cleaning and weeding the giant. The bill was paid by the Earl of Edgcumbe. It is uncertain when the figure first appeared. Town records from 1486 onwards call the figure Gogmagog but in Carew's Survey of Cornwall in 1602, he refers to there being two figures on the slopes of the Hoe, both wielding clubs. One was bigger than the other and he calls them Gog and Magog, splitting the name into two halves. Several years later though, the smaller figure was being referred to as Corineus so the figures obviously commemorated the earlier wrestling match mentioned by Geoffrey of Monmouth . The figures were unfortunately destroyed when the Citadel was built in the reign of King Charles II.

Laurel and Hardy

When I was a kid, I would love watching Laurel and Hardy on the tv on Saturday mornings. Perhaps not too many people know that Laurel and Hardy once appeared at the Palace Theatre. The date was the 17th of May, 1954 and Stan and Ollie were touring the country appearing in a show called, 'Birds of a Feather'. The shows in Plymouth were to have been their last shows of the tour. Playing on the same bill, at the time, were Harry Worth and 'Wonder Horse Tony'. Unfortunately, Oliver Hardy had a severe bout of the flu and also had a mild heart attack and the show was cancelled. Ollie spent the rest of his stay in Plymouth recovering at the Grand Hotel on the Hoe. Laurel and Hardy had visited Britain once before in 1932 when they were mobbed wherever they went. When they returned in 1954 they were handicapped by age and illness but still managed to give an exhausting thirteen shows a week.

After they had to pull out from the show, Stan Laurel wrote a letter to the manager of the Palace Theatre, William Willis, apologising. It read:

'My Dear Mr Willis,

Please pardon delay in acknowledgement of your kind letter of the 22nd.inst. which was deeply appreciated. Many many thanks.

Mr Hardy is feeling better but, of course, is still very weak. However, we are sailing for the States on June 2nd, so I think the voyage and rest will do him a lot of good.

We too were very much disappointed, not being able to fulfil our engagement with you - unfortunate for all concerned, could have been a profitable and happy week. Anyway, we hope to have the opportunity and pleasure of meeting and playing for you again in the near future.

Mrs Laurel and Mr and Mrs Hardy join in kindest regards and every good wish always, and remember us kindly to Mr Heath, the staff and regular patrons.

Very Sincerely:

Stan Laurel.'

Mudlarking

In Victorian times, a mudlark was someone who searched along the banks of the Thames for anything that had washed up and could be sold. The practice was usually taken up by children or widows with no income. They would be lucky if they made a penny a day selling what they found. Today, mudlarking is a popular pastime and people still search the shores of the Thames for the 'big find'. A licence costs £7.50 a day and finds can date back hundreds or even thousands of years to Roman times.

You don't have to live in London to go mudlarking though. It's possible to find artefacts dating back to Roman times on the shores of the Plym and many farmland areas used 'Dock Dung' which was a collection of all the rubbish from Plymouth including pottery, bottles, jars, clay pipes as well as more unsavoury produce such as horse droppings, night soil, offal etc. The latter was seen as perfect manure for farmer's fields and it could be bought for so much a ton. It would then be transported from Plymouth by barge up river to any farm that had access to the water. Special wooden jettys were built where the dung could be sorted. All the sharp items such as bottles, pipes, pottery etc was taken out by workers and thrown into the nearby marsh. The dung was then carried in wicker baskets to the nearby fields. It was quite a profitable exercise and the returning barges would carry back stone or farm produce. The sorted pottery and bottles etc have lain in the mud ever since and it's possible to find clay pipes, Codd bottles, clay ink wells, clay marmalade jars, the remnants of old Victorian shoes and , if you're lucky, even coins.

These jettys are found all over but have all rotted away over time. Part of the jetty still remains on the river bank at Church Town Farm near Saltash and there are thousands of pieces of pottery from the the turn of the 20th Century nearby. Other areas where there are finds in abundance are at Antony Passage, Forder, Ernesettle Creek and Tamerton Foliot Creek. Clay pipes from the 1600s have been found at Empacombe and many finds date back hundreds of years. It's an interesting pastime and there's all sorts to be found. Try not to upset the locals though!

The Romans and their connection with the area

Plymouth didn't exist when the Romans created Exeter though there is evidence that they occupied the area. Roman Way leading downwards from Kings Tamerton is said to be the route that the Romans took on their way to Cornwall. A Roman signalling station is thought to have existed at the top of the hill. Roman Way was previously called, 'Old Wall's Lane' ,in the 1800s, which would suggest an earlier settlement. The area was excavated in 1934 by a Mr E N Masson Phillips who discovered an early fortification. Soapwort has been found growing nearby and this was a herb used by the Romans and is usually only found on the site of an old settlement. Roman Way lies on the second oldest route traceable in Plymouth which travels east to west from Saltash to Plympton. There seems to be no record of Roman coins being found at Roman Way though a hoard of Roman coins was found at Compton Giffard in 1894 and this lies on the same route. There were a thousand coins and none were later than AD 280. It was suggested by the British Museum that the coins could have been used to pay the Romans that were stationed in the area. A similar hoard was found at Marazion near Penzance. Roman coins have also been found at Whitleigh and by the Plym. Many people believe that Stonehouse got its name from an ancient stone house, now long gone, that once stood in the area. It was named by the Saxons who must have been referring to the ruin of a previous civilisation. If that was the case, then only the Romans would have had the ability to build it. The Romans left in 410AD. In the early 1980s, the Evening Herald reported the find of a Roman coin on the shores of the River Plym. The article read: 'Eighteen hundred years ago this coin must have been lost on the shores of the River Plym. It has been identified as a bronze 'as' and depicts on one side Antoninus Pius, who was Emperor of Rome from 138 to 161 AD, and on the other, Annona, the goddess of the corn-harvest. This valuable clue to Plymouth's past was found recently, in the mud of the River Plym near Marsh Mills by Peter Jones, 15, of Efford who was digging not for Romans but for worms.'

Buffalo Bill’s Visit To Plymouth, 3rd June, 1904

Buffalo Bill visited the city on 3rd June, 1904.

The event was covered in the local newspaper:

'Buffalo Bill’s Visit To Plymouth.
3rd June, 1904.
To-day Colonel WF Cody, known the world over as Buffalo Bill, gives two performances at Plymouth today in the course of his final tour of Great Britain with his unique exhibition of life in the Wild West. The location of the show at the Exhibition Fields, Pennycomequick, will make it readily accessible to residents of Plymouth, Devonport and Stonehouse, and special arrangements are being made by the railway companies to enable residents in outlying districts to witness the performance. No fewer than 800 horses participate in the show, and three special trains are employed to convey them and their properties from place to place. They arrived at Plymouth early this morning, and unloading, which occupied about two hours, began at 5.30. This show was patronised by thousands of people yesterday, on the occasion of its first visit to Bodmin. By the addition of a number of genuine Japanese soldiers to his Wild West, Colonel Cody has acted only in response to a great public desire to see and learn something of these remarkable little men. Another new feature introduced is a daring leap through space by a cowboy on a bicycle. This rider starts from a height of 95 feet, and riding swiftly down an incline jumps from the incline across 40 feet of space to a continuing platform, and thence out of the arena. It is a most daring feat. The really big feature among the new things introduced by the colonel for his season, however is “Custer’s Last Stand” or “The Battle of Little Big Horn”. In this, over 300 men and horses participate, giving the most realistic representation of differing methods of warfare pursued by white and red man ever attempted, and making faithful representation of the massacre of Custer and 300 members of his regiment by a band of over 7,000 Indians led by the famous old chieftain Sitting Bull, whose only son, Willie Sitting Bull is now a member of Colonel Cody’s company, and is a daily participant in the mock battle. For the benefit of the country visitors, the Great Western Railway will run a late special train, which will leave Millbay at 10.55 pm calling at North-Road and Mutley for Plymstock, Billacombe, Elburton Cross, Brixton Road, Steer Point and Yealmpton.'

Execution on Plymouth Hoe

Between the Naval Memorial and the Hoe Lodge Gardens, there is a cross with the number '3' embedded in the pavement. This marks the spot where three Royal Marines were executed by firing squad on 6 July, 1797. Their names were Lee, Coffy and Branning and they were found guilty of attempting to excite a mutiny at Stonehouse Barracks. Another Marine, M Gennis was convicted of a similar crime and sentenced to 1000 lashes and transported to Botany Bay for life. The incident was reported in the Sherborne and Yeovil Mercury on Monday 10th July,1797. It read: 'PLYMOUTH, July 8 - On Wednesday morning an express arrived here from the War-Office, with a warrant for the execution of Lee, Coffy, and Branning, three marines who were last week tried by a General Court-Martial, and found guilty of an attempt to excite a mutiny among the marine corps at Stone-house Barracks and on Thursday at 12 o'clock the troops at this place and in the neighbourhood, consisting of the Sussex fencible cavalry, four companies of the royal artillery, the Lancashire, East Devon and Essex regiments of militia, the 25th regiment of foot, royal independent invalids, and Plymouth volunteers, assembled on the Hoe, and formed in a half circle in order to witness the execution. M Gennis, another marine tried for a similar crime, and sentenced to receive 1000 lashes, and to be afterwards transported to Botany Bay for life, was brought on the ground soon after twelve o'clock, and received 500 lashes, and then conveyed back to Stone-house Barracks. At half past one o'clock, Lee, Coffy and Branning were marched from the Citadel under the escort of a party of marines, with a coffin before each, preceded by the band of that corps playing the Dead March in Saul. The former was attended by the Rev. Dr. Hawker; and the two latter by a Roman Catholic priest, who after praying with them near an hour, quitted them, and they all three knelt on their coffins for a few minutes, when an officer of marines came and drew the caps over their faces, and a party of twenty marines immediately came down and put a period to their existence by discharging the contents of their muskets through their bodies, after which all the regiments marched round them in solemn procession, the whole forming, perhaps, one of the most awful scenes that the human eye ever witnessed. They all behaved in a manner becoming their melancholy situation, and apparently very resigned and penitent. About thirty thousand people were supposed to be present at the execution'. There was more to the execution than mentioned in the newspaper though. Ten thousand men of the Fleet and garrison were there to watch them die and most of Plymouth appeared to have turned out too. When the three men faced the firing squad and the shots were fired, Coffy and Branning fell forward, dead, into their coffins. However, Lee was not hit and had to go through the whole procedure again. The reserve firing squad lined up, took aim and fired but again Lee was untouched. Once more, they loaded up, took aim but again missed Lee. In the end, a sergeant came up behind him and shot him dead at close range. It seems odd that the firing squad missed Lee three times and perhaps there was some sympathy with him amongst the troops. Earlier fourteen seamen had been hanged at the yardarm on their ships in the Sound. This was to be Plymouth's last public execution.

Houdini in Plymouth

Harry Houdini, 1909. Houdini appeared at the Palace Theatre of Varieties during August 1909.There was much excitement at his appearance and he challenged five joiners and mechanics at Devonport Dockyard to make a box from which he wouldn't be able to escape. They produced the box and Houdini was nailed inside. It took him twelve minutes to get out. Another of his daring feats, involved him being securely handcuffed and diving from Halfpenny Bridge at Stonehouse. The story was covered in the next day's Western Morning News:

Western Morning News, Wednesday August 18th 1909. “The Handcuff King” An Exciting Performance. Harry Houdini, the “Handcuff King” who was performing at the Palace Theatre of Varieties, Plymouth this week gave a remarkable exhibition of his skill yesterday afternoon at Stonehouse. The intrepid performer had previously announced his intention of diving from the Halfpenny Gate Bridge, securely handcuffed, and this caused a huge crowd to assemble on the bridge itself and on the adjoining quays and banks. Prompt to time Houdini appeared, stripped and poised himself on the parapet of the bridge. He was then handcuffed with his hands behind his back, while elbow locks were also worn, the chain passing around the neck. This accomplished, he immediately dived into the stream and disappeared from sight. Easily within the minute, the “Handcuff King” reappeared on the surface, carrying his fetters aloft in his right hand, while the crowd heartily cheered his exploit. Subsequently, Houdini said that he had performed the diving trick over fifty times. He was capable of staying under water well over three minutes, but should he not appear in three minutes there were always ready two or three assistants who would swim to his rescue. The handcuffs and chains weighed 18lb.

The Blue Monkey

Although the public house has now been knocked down, the area near to the Higher St Budeaux Church will probably always be known as the Blue Monkey. It had previously been called Church Inn, St Bude Inn, St Budeaux Inn and Ye Old St Budeaux Inn before becoming the Blue Monkey. The owner of the Church Inn was a Lord Graves who owned the Barton of Ernesettle in 1798. He was also Lord of the Manor of Agaton. Frances Martin is recorded as being the landlord of the pub in 1823. He was responsible for changing the pub's name to the St Bude Inn, in 1828. In 1862,the War Department bought the then named St Budeaux Inn. In 1914, the Secretary of State for the Department sold the premises, which included a stables, to James Alger for £1,050. Alger changed the name of the pub to Ye Old St Budeaux Inn on 4 May 1937. He later changed the name again to The Blue Monkey early in 1939 and later sold the Inn to the Octagon Brewery in December 1939 for £12,750. A newspaper cutting that used to hang in the bar said that a Mr Dunsford, the then landlord, changed the name to the Blue Monkey when the Stafford Regiment was stationed at Devonport. However, the deeds say that the name was changed in 1939 by James Algar. The reason, according to locals, was that Algar had seen a monkey which had escaped from a shed at Agaton on the roof of the Inn. Apparently, the change of name and the swinging monkey sign wasn't popular, even though it's the one best remembered, so it was replaced by a square sign , featuring a Naval Blue Monkey Boy, in honour of the boys who packed the guns with powder during the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. They were known as powder monkeys and the job left them with blue residue on their hands and this has also been taken as the origin of the pub's name, The Blue Monkey. Perhaps both stories are true and it would be interesting to think that a monkey once ran around on the roof of the Inn. Incidently, before the sign change, in the early 1980s, I was walking by the Inn and there was the swinging monkey sign, slightly battered and put out for the dustbin men to collect. I wish I'd picked it up and kept it as a souvenir now! I wonder if it still exists somewhere? In its final years, the Inn developed a bad reputation and finally closed and was eventually bricked up. It was for sale for many years before an arson attack destroyed the inside and the roof. From then on, its days were numbered and early in March 2007, it was unfortunately demolished.

Plymouth Zoo

I'm sure that many people will have fond memories of Plymouth Zoo. I remember going there in the late 1960s and a pelican called Percy following us around. It was 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.It had many animals including chimpanzees, polar bears, seals, camels, giraffes and lions etc.There's a great movie at the Pathe News site and all the animals look very happy. I know the keepers were very interested in their welfare and got quite attached to the animals. When you're a kid, a zoo seems a wonderous place but when you're older and with hindsight, it seems unfair keeping them all cooped up in cages. I remember the chimpanzees at the beginning of the zoo would collect up gravel and throw it at the visitors! There was an article about a chimp in the news in a Swedish Zoo,three days ago,doing exactly the same thing and it was reported as if it was something new.

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

There was 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.
The zoo closed on Sunday January 8th 1978 and was later converted into a skateboard park. Now, I think it's just a piece of waste ground.
We certainly had some good times there and I miss it but I think with concerns over animal welfare, I'm quite glad that it's no longer there.

Higher St Budeaux Church and the Civil War

I was driving by Higher St Budeaux Church recently when I noticed the piece of land that was being cleared nearby. I'm sure that many people will know that when the road was widened in 1910, musket and cannon balls from the Civil War were found here and some are kept at the city's museum. Marshall Ware wrote a very interesting piece about the the battle, entitled 'When Cromwell zapped St Budeaux', in the Evening Herald back in the 1980s. I'm sure that there will be many historical artifacts to be found but I don't know if there will be any sort of investigation. For anyone interested in the church and the Civil War, I have pasted a section from my 'St Budeaux' book below: 'Plymouth and its surrounding villages such as St Budeaux had sworn an oath to fight and die for the Parliamentarian cause. Those who did not comply faced hanging. However, in Cornwall, the people supported the Royalist cause and made raids across the water on parts of St Budeaux. For a time, the church at Higher St Budeaux was used as a garrison by the Royalists. On 16th April 1644, Lieutenant Colonel Martin, who commanded the Parliamentarian garrison at Plymouth, sent 600 musketeers, with 120 horses, to attack the 500 Cavaliers stationed at St Budeaux. Because of a mistake made by guides, the horses went one way and the attacking party went another way. Nevertheless, the foot soldiers arrived at the church, and not being expected, saw off the enemy and captured the church tower. Altogether, they captured 2 officers and 44 other prisoners. They also took three barrels of gunpowder, 20 horses and about 20 arms. It was said that most of the prisoners then joined the Parliament forces and who could blame them when you consider the alternative. On the 27th December 1644, St Budeaux was again the scene of much bloodshed. From Kinterbury, the Roundheads marched towards the church, which was now a garrison for the Parliamentarians, and fought for an hour and a half before the church was recaptured. The Royalists also captured a Major Stucley together with 20 officers and 100 soldiers. Ten of the defenders were killed as were seven of the Roundheads including a Major Haynes. A mound in a garden at Plaistow Hill, near the church, is said to be the place where those who died in the battle are buried. During the siege of Plymouth by the Royalists, the inhabitants of St Budeaux would take provisions into town for the men and their horses. Prince Maurice issued a warrant which stated, 'To the constables or tythingmen of Saint Budeaux and Pennyross, threatening proceedings against all who should carry with him horse, oxen or kine, or sheep or other provision for men or horse into the said town of Plymouth for the relief of the rebells there.' After the battle, the church was little more than a wreck and it wasn't restored until 1655.'

Plymouth local history

Welcome to my Plymouth local history blog.
Some of you will have read my books and I hope that you will find this blog interesting. I will try to include articles and photos that I think will interest people about the area they live in and also articles about surrounding areas such as Saltash and Mount Edgcumbe.
I hope you enjoy it.
Best wishes,
Derek Tait.