Appledore

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.

It was in December 1939, after 45 years in the Merchant Navy, that Mr Dick Hocking, 47 Market Street, Appledore, stepped ashore for the last time.

But even now, at 81, his life is largely governed by the rules of self reliance he learned long ago. He lives alone, cooks his own meals, does his own washing and keeps his home ‘shipshape and Bristol fashion’. So much so that Mrs Jessie Lamey, one of his two daughters, he also has four sons, says that there is never any work for her to do.

Even Mr Hocking’s hobby is a craft that he learned years ago on board ships. He never fails to spend at least two hours each day making rope mats and he is probably among the last exponents of the art. The rudiments he learned as a boy after he left Appledore at the age of 13 for his first voyage in the Annie Laurie. When a Gazette reported called at his home he was putting the finishing touches to an ornate mat that is to be a present for his other daughter, Mrs Coral Cook.
The full Gazette article is dated 1 March 1963

Appledore-built Tug For Service In Persian Gulf

Named on Monday at Appledore shipyards was one of the biggest tugs ever to be built there.

She is the 330-ton Zaberdast which will operate in the Persian Gulf for BP Clyde Tankers Ltd. She is due to be completed in May and will then go straight to her area of operation. Work on a sister ship is to begin soon at the yard, announced a spokesman for Appeldore Shipbuilders Ltd. This should be ready for launching in the autumn. The 1,500hp Zaberdast is 130 feet long and had a 31 feet beam. Accommodation has been provided for a captain, three European officers, a wireless officer and a native crew of 26. She was named by Mrs V Gaunt, wife of the assistant manager of BP Clyde Tankers Ltd.

Gazette article dated 19 February 1965

Sea Trip For Four Teenagers

Four local teenagers are due this year to make what will be a trip of a lifetime, thanks to the efforts of the Vicar of Appledore, Rev Donald Peyton Jones.

After seeing films he had shown on the work of the Sail Training Association, they are due to take voyages on the ‘Winston Churchill’ and ‘Malcolm Miller’.
Stephen Dymond, of 14 Yeo Drive, Appledore, and Julius Parker, a pupil of Grenville College, Bideford, will be sailing on the ‘Winston Churchill’ when she sails out of Plymouth Sound on May 2nd bound for Lisbon in the Tall Ships race. They will later sail on to Teneriffe before flying back to this country.
A Bideford Sea Cadet, Stephen Metherell, who lives at 65 Clovelly Road, Bideford will be on board the ‘Malcolm Miller’ when she leaves Portsmouth bound for the Clyde on July 4th, and also taking a fortnight’s cruise on the same vessel, although not until October 3rd, will be Julia Bird, who is a pupil at Edgehill College. She will also sail from Portsmouth.
The Gazette article is dated 27 February 1976