This sounds like an Alice in Wonderland riddle, but as in normal times Christmas is for many people the only time they go inside a church, I though it would be interesting to discover when a Church isn’t a Church, and the answer to the riddle is, when it is a Chapel of Ease, and…
The strong winds and big seas of this early November brought to mind “our” Eddystone Lighthouse and the great storm 1703. The Eddystone reef consists of three ridges of spiky rocks and two central rocks 14 miles SSW of Plymouth. For centuries the reef claimed the lives of countless sailors, increasingly so in the late…
Early hotel brochures often described Hope Cove as “A sleepy fishing village”, but was it ever the case? Tales of smugglers in earlier centuries indicate they were lively and interesting times, locals outwitting the many Coastguards working in the village, with plenty of contraband. So sleepy probably not, but is was a fishing village. There have…
This bumper apple year made me think of the time this area, and much of the south west was known for its cider apples and orchards. Most orchards have disappeared, but Reg Hall planted a new one in Galmpton abut 20 years ago using local cider apple varieties. There were hundreds of varieties, two local…
My first Slipway is at at Inner Hope and was used for launching the Lifeboats. In the 1700’s this area was known as Hope Gate. This slipway has good for access to all the beach at low tide only. This is one of the first lifeboats pre-1900; the slipway presumably built or improved in 1878 when…
10th July 1940 was the start of what was to be called the Battle of Britain, so I thought about bombs around here, and realised we do not know a lot. People know about the bombs in Aveton Gifford and Kingsbridge, indeed Mr Farleigh, builder and undertaker of Galmpton Cross, had his daughter May and…
With our Neighbourhood Plan started in 2015 nearly ready, I had planned to quote part of an article from the Gazette written in the mid 1970’s based on an interview with someone living in Inner Hope, but without giving the date. Sadly my filing system let me down, the folder containing cuttings had masses, but not…
I could not find anything last month that compared with the current lockdown; the snow of 1947 and the less dramatic snow of about 40 years are simply not comparable. This month however the 75th Anniversary of VE Day could not be ignored! During the war, there were many changes in the parish, initially a…
The picture in the Delving into the Past, The Gazette 14.2.20, of Kingsbridge Cottage Hospital, (which was built on land donated by Mr Ilbert of Bowringsleigh,) reminded me how lucky we are to have such a good local hospital where so many people from the parish have been looked after. Then I thought of two…
Well, may be not quite, officially Old Masters were artists painting before 1800, but artists have been drawn to Hope Cove since the mid 1800’s. Thanks to research started by Mike Clark, we know about renowned artists who came to Hope Cove and Galmpton. In the mid 1800’s The Earl of Devon encouraged his tenants…