100 Years Ago

Christmas Eve at the Front

An interesting letter has just been received by Mrs Packer, of Broadclyst, from her husband, Corpl Packer of A Company, 1st Battalion Devonshire Regiment, who is serving with the Expeditionary Force in Northern France. In the course of a letter he describes a remarkable incident which occurred on Christmas Eve between the British and German trenches.

100 Years Ago - December 1919

The second Christmas since the Armistice, but the shadow of the War is still affecting the lives of local people. Although many families have been reunited, the papers this month contain several reports of the deaths of servicemen returning from active service, TB and influenza being rife on the transport boats.

Payments into the Bideford War Memorial fund have reached £1,000 but an editorial in the Gazette expresses regret that there are many who have not yet subscribed.

Food rationing is still an issue, with frequent announcements from the Ministry of Food. Supplies of poultry for Christmas will not be large. Turkeys are scarce and are likely to fetch high prices. The Ministry has reminded dealers that the order fixing maximum prices for poultry and game is applicable to the whole of the UK. Some people have been trying to obtain supplies from Ireland by offering more than the controlled price. Attempts to obtain prices in excess of these are illegal and offenders are liable to heavy penalties. Several local butchers have already been prosecuted and fines of up to £50 imposed.

Control over food supplies could last for a further three years. There is still a world-wide shortage of sugar and butter. As a result the butter ration has been reduced to one ounce per head per week.

Local traders are doing the best they can with supplies which are freely available. Farleigh’s Stores has raisins for 1s 4d per pound, with sultanas costing 1s 6d. Ready-made puddings in white basins are available in two sizes, priced at 2s 3d and 3s 11d. A variety of nuts is also on sale, together with plums, prunes, oranges and grapes. A bottle of raisin, orange or ginger wine would cost you 2s 6d.

W C Talbot, wine and spirit merchant of 1 High Street, Bideford, thanks his numerous customers for the return of all empties, so that he can prepare for the Christmas trade.

The Government has proclaimed a double Bank Holiday, with Saturday 27 December being an additional day off. Large congregations were seen at all church and chapel services. Bideford and District Hospital entertained patients and staff to turkey, plum pudding and mince pies, followed by a musical entertainment and special cakes for tea.

Mr Wm Copp, delivery agent for the London and South Western Railway, gave a supper to his employees at Ashton’s Hotel, Well Street, Torrington. The food was supplied by the Misses Ashton and the evening concluded with votes of thanks and the singing of the National Anthem.

In other news:

Bideford Town Council has been trying to come to a decision on a new uniform for the Town Crier. At present he has two outfits, one “a full knee-britches affair”, the other a working suit with cap. A sub-committee comprising the Mayor and Councillors Cann, Heywood and Chope finally concluded that the cost of two outfits was too great, so one decent uniform will be provided.

There was an exceptionally crowded attendance at the first of a series of Popular Sunday Evenings for the People, being held at the Palladium Cinema in Mill Street, Bideford. These have been arranged in order to stop the young people from running about the streets on Sunday evenings.

In an echo of past times, Robert Yeo of Manchester House, Bideford, is selling Maid’s overalls for 3s 11d and Maid’s dresses for between 9s 11d and 12s 11d.

Finally, the RNLI has decided that the “pulling and sailing boat” at Number 1 station (Appledore) will be replaced with a motor lifeboat. Number 2 station (Braunton) will be dismantled and closed. There will not be a financial saving but it will be more efficient, with the boat able to go out in any wind and at any state of the tide.

(A shilling in 1919 would be about £2.50 today, and a penny (d) would be roughly 20p, but online calculators vary.)

100 Years Ago - November 1919

For the first time we have a banner advert going right across the top of a page. This is for Tuck’s Zag-Zaw Picture Puzzles, which cost from 2/3d and are available from Coles and Lee at the Gazette offices. These were an early version of jigsaw puzzles, a craze which seems to have started in the early years of the 20th century.

Dr Littlewood, captain of the Bideford Swimming Club, has suggested to the Council that a public swimming baths should be constructed near the present Pontoon at River Bank End. This suggestion has been passed to the River Bank and Parks Committee for consideration.

Two local farmers, one from Westleigh and one from Horwood, had rights of access over each other’s land. Due to a dispute over the sale of a rick of oats, a violent assault took place as one walked across his access to Bideford. Police became involved and charged both men with common assault. When the evidence was heard at Bideford County Sessions, one farmer was found guilty and fined two guineas. The case against the other was dismissed. Full details of this case with names and locations are available at the Archive on page 2 of the Gazette

The Profiteering Act 1919: A local committee has been established which has powers to investigate complaints regarding the pricing and distribution of goods. The act covers the following categories:

• Wearing apparel
• Household items
• Articles for mending and knitting
• Furniture
• Articles of food which are not controlled

Complaints must be made to the Clerk to the Council at the Town Hall, Bideford, within four days of the date of the transaction and must contain full particulars.

At the Children’s Court, two thirteen year old boys were summoned for stealing a quantity of lemonade powder valued at 7/- from a shed at the London and South West Railway goods yard. It was said that one of the boys crawled through a hole only 14” by 6” in size. The powder was on consignment to local grocers. Both boys were fined 3/- for trespass and the actual thief was bound over in the sum of £5 with twelve months’ probation.

Armistice Day: The paper publishes a letter from the King, which is reproduced below. All school pupils are to be assembled just before 11am for a two minute silence. In Appledore the period of silence and remembrance was observed at schools, shipyards and places of business, the signal being given by a rocket fired on Western Hill.

Although we are commemorating the first anniversary of the end of the War, in the Gazette edition of 11th November we learn that there are still soldiers on active service in Mesopotamia and India. Concerns have been expressed about the delays in getting them home, which are caused by shipping problems. The following week on 18th November, the paper announces that about half the territorials still serving in Bombay and Bazra will return by the end of the month; eight vessels have just sailed carrying over eight thousand soldiers.

A tank has been presented to Bideford Urban District Council in recognition of their achievements in War Savings. It is to be delivered on 19th December. As the tank weights over 30 tons it is not possible for it to cross the bridge, so it was proposed to site it at Chudleigh Fort. An alternative location was the garden at the Barnstaple end of the bridge, where it would be seen by more people, but this area is liable to subsidence. Permission would also need to be sought from the Bridge Trust.
Does anyone know whether this tank was ever delivered?

100 Years Ago - October 1919

The national rail strike

The rail strike was affecting people all over the country and on October 7th, the headline in the Gazette is “Men refuse offer of arbitration”. The following article states – “the men are demanding that a man who received 18 shillings a week before the War and now receives 18 shillings plus 33 shillings shall have a minimum of 60 shillings; the Government have offered a minimum of 40 shillings plus 11 shillings (residue of war wages) until December 31st and thereafter until the cost of living has appreciably and permanently fallen. Then the 11 shillings will be reduced only in proportion”.

Inflation at this time was running at over 14%.

The effects of the strike were being felt locally, as 400 men in the North Devon area were involved in the strike action. The Barnstaple Great Show has been postponed and mail services have been reorganised – all forms of road transport have been requisitioned and mail is also being moved by steamboat and seaplane. It is felt that a good mail service has been secured under the circumstances. Milk producers who normally send supplies daily from Bideford to Exeter are now allowed to turn their milk into butter and sell it without restraint, and there are no trains in steam in the whole of the North Devon area.

Surprisingly, on page 8 of the same paper, we find a short paragraph headlined “STRIKE SETTLED” – the minimum wage has been raised by 2 shillings and the present wages will remain fixed for twelve months.

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In other news….

Hanson’s Shipping Yard are taking on apprentices in association with Bideford Municipal Science, Art & Technical School, on a programme that has recently been devised. The course is set out in the paper in considerable detail and was intended to attract military men as well as boys over the age of 16.

The newly formed association football team at Appledore are making good practice (sic). At present they train on the Burrows but a field has been procured at the entrance to the town and it is hoped to soon be able to have visiting teams there.

At the New Inn Hotel, Bideford, Mr R I Ashton has auctioned 714 acres of land, being the outlying portions of the Pine Coffin estate situated between Bideford and Clovelly. In every instance the tenants had a further two years tenancy to run. Full details of the farms, names of tenants and the prices paid are given in the paper. It is reported that purchases by the tenants were loudly applauded by the large company present at the auction.

Clovelly fishermen have had exceptionally large catches of herrings which have been selling for 5 to 7 fish for a shilling in Bideford.

The water supply problems have re-emerged. Northam’s water is being cut off overnight every night, while Bideford is only being served four days a week, their water coming from the Northam reservoir. There was only 3” of rainfall in September, as against an expectation of 12”, and the reservoirs are now virtually empty.

Finally – there is a jam jar shortage. To ensure a regular supply of jam, the Combe Martin Jam Company asks customers to return all empty jam jars to their local grocers. Is this an early example of recycling?