What Happened at The Fair
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A very photogenic part of the world
The arrival of the actor Jim Broadbent in Kingsbridge last autumn to shoot some scenes for a film “The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry” prompted some old memories. Who remembers the 1950’s TV series Quatermass (which terrified me) and later the first series of “Maigret” in the early sixties both of which starred Rupert Davies? The…
The early occupation of Hope Cove
Welcome to the history page. We have had a good response to the first blogs, and feed back received means I am able to correct some information. Owen Masters tells me that the “green soap” was in fact, white Sunlight soap, It came from the SS Persier. She was en route from Swansea to Antwerp, with…
Was Hope ever a sleepy fishing village?
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…
Christmas at Hope Cove 1950
Snow at Christmas never really happened but the very dark nights and brilliant starry skies helped the Christmas feeling along. Curtains were drawn so room decorations could not be seen from outside and fairy lights outside the house were not a thing. Indoors trees were decorated with the usual stuff but also with clip-on candles….
Ghosts and bonfires
Being the season of ghost stories and bonfires, I thought I’d look for stories involving the parish, but came up with virtually nothing. There was a bonfire of course as part of the alarm system to warn the Nation of the approach of the Spanish Armada in 1588. The bonfire was at the end of…
Fun house to lighthouse
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…