WI Raise Over £50 At Alwington
Over £50 was raised as a result of the annual sale of work organised by Alwington W.I.
Yeo Vale House to be Knocked DownFarmer Mr Norman T Westaway was given permission by Bideford Rural Council to demolish
Skittler MarriedA Fairy Cross skittler, Mr Brian Charles Daniel, third son of Mr and Mrs F Daniel, of Woodbine Cottage, Alwington
President of the Royal North Devon Golf ClubLieut-Col E C Pine-Coffin of Cleave Barton
Six ginger biscuits7 February 1958
World War 1 commemoration2 March 1918
30 July 1918
In aid of the Village Hall repair fund7 March 1958
District Commissioner attends ceremony2 May 1958
Chosen by the Queen with a gold handled bodkinThird member of the family to hold the office of High Sheriff of Devon
The Coffin family in America look upon Portledge House as their ancestral homeClan Coffin gathered in 1881 to honour Tristam and Dionis
WI Raise Over £50 At AlwingtonOver £50 was raised as a result of the annual sale of work organised by Alwington W.I.
WI Raise Over £50 At Alwington - 16th November 1962
Over £50 was raised as a result of the annual sale of work organised by Alwington W.I.
The variety of stalls supervised by members included cake, produce, parcel, handkerchief, jumble, miscellaneous and bran tub. Tea was also served by members.
Mrs B Daniel, of Little Torrington, judged the large number of entries in the cake competition, awarding: 1, Mrs C Jeffery; 2, Mrs G Lewis; 3, Mrs L Lott.
There followed a social evening and a skittle competition, winners being: 1, Mr F Leverton; 2, Mr G Smale; 3, Mr R Lewis. Draw prize winners were; premium bond, David Metherll; chicken, R Daniel; cigarettes, Mr J Bailey; sherry, N Hillman; chocolates, D Metherell; nylons, Mr J Wicketts; basket of fruit, Mrs W Hockin.
At the October meeting of the W.I Mrs H Hillman presided. A report on the Autumn Council meeting was given by Mrs C Jeffery, who was thanked by Mrs G Lewis. Miss Bird, a representative from S.W.E.B., gave a demonstration of...
Yeo Vale House to be Knocked DownFarmer Mr Norman T Westaway was given permission by Bideford Rural Council to demolish
Yeo Vale House to be Knocked Down - 17th December 1971
Farmer Mr Norman T Westaway was given permission by Bideford Rural Council to demolish historic Yeo Vale House, Alwington, a ruin. The owner of the house cannot be found.
Skittler MarriedA Fairy Cross skittler, Mr Brian Charles Daniel, third son of Mr and Mrs F Daniel, of Woodbine Cottage, Alwington
Skittler Married
A Fairy Cross skittler, Mr Brian Charles Daniel, third son of Mr and Mrs F Daniel, of Woodbine Cottage, Alwington, and Miss Cynthia Jane Weeks, elder daughter of Mr and Mrs E Weeks, of Meadow Vale, Merton, were married at Merton Parish Church. The Rector (Rev. W J G Nelson) officiated.
There were four bridesmaids - Misses Venus and Rosalind Weeks, Syliva Braund and Ruth Daniel. Best man was Mr Gail Riddell.
Gazette article dated 12 February 1965
President of the Royal North Devon Golf ClubLieut-Col E C Pine-Coffin of Cleave Barton
Lieut-Col E C Pine-Coffin of ‘Cleave Barton’, Durrant Lane, Northam, who, on Monday, became president of the Royal North Devon Golf Club, is a member of one of the oldest families in the country.
Until Portledge House became a hotel in 1947 it had been their seat since 1200. Col Pine-Coffin, in addition to owning the Portledge estate, is lord of the manor of Alwington, Goldworthy and Monkleigh. Like many of his forebears – a Coffin, of Portledge, was with Henry VIII on the Field of the Cloth of Gold – he was a professional soldier. From 1915 until the end of World War 2 he served with the Indian Army. Captured by the Japanese at the fall of Singapore, in common with so many others he spent the remainder of the war building the infamous Burma railway, which claimed the lives of a large number of prisoners. In the First World War he served in Mesopotamia, and, following the Armistice, took part in three campaigns on the Indian North-West frontier. He joined the Royal North Devon Golf...
Six ginger biscuits7 February 1958
At the January meeting of the Alwington WI, the President (Mrs N Westaway) welcomed the Misses M Allin, J Becklake and M Pickard as new members.
Final arrangements were made for the birthday party in February.
Names were taken of members able to accept the invitation to the Dolton and Dowland WI party in March. An unusual and interesting talk on ‘Witchcraft’ was given by Mr Ian Kelway, of the County Education Dept. Mrs Allin thanked the speaker on behalf of the members. Tea hostesses were Mrs Kistenmacker and Mrs Taylor.
The competition – six ginger biscuits – was judged by Miss Farleigh, of the SW Electricity Board staff. Competition winners were Mrs Lewis, Mrs Westaway, Miss K Boundy. The first two will be entering biscuits in the group meeting completion in April.
Gazette article pubished 7 February 1958
World War 1 commemoration2 March 1918
A collection has been made in the parish towards sending a parcel to each man from Alwington who is now serving in His Majesty's Army and Navy, as a token of remembrance from the parish.
Miss A Lott collected £15 17s. 8d., Mr G Bailey £6 7s., Mr R Pennington £4 4s. 6d.; Proceeds of entertainment, £6 - total amount £32 9s. 2d. A committee has been appointed to select the parcels and forward to each man.
Gazette article dated 2 March 1918
30 July 1918
Alwington
For the four best cottage allotments prizes have been awarded as follows: - Bailey, Woodtown, 1; J Daniel, Spamone, 2; J Beer, Woodtown, 3; T Glover, Woodtown. 4. The scheme was promoted by Major Kirkwood. Mr G Sleep, head gardener at Hartland Abby, was the judge, assisted by Messrs Sherriff and Luxton. Mr Sleep and Mr Sherriff also visited the school garden and commended the boys for their work, which as they said deserved a much better piece of ground.
Gazette article dated 30 July 1918
In aid of the Village Hall repair fund7 March 1958
A pig was given to be cut up for prizes for a whist drive held at Alwington Village Hall on Friday to aid the village hall repair fund.
There were 25½ tables and the duties of the MC were carried out by Mr L G Elston. Door stewards were Mrs Taylor, Miss M Hillman and Mr T Headon.
Prize winners were: Mrs S Brend; Mrs J L Parsons; Mrs V Headon; Mrs E Metherell; Mrs D Cornish; Mrs C Hedden; Mrs Rawle; Mr K Poole, Mr R Stoneman; Mrs H M Butler; Mr R Poole; Mr P Colwill; Mr E J Grigg; Mr G Lewis; Mr M Curtice; Mr F W Heard; Mrs A C Glover; Mr D R Wickett; Mr W G Tucker; Mr R Cooper; Mr E H Rowbottom; Felix; Mrs E M Cork. Mrs J Bailey was the holder of the lucky number ticket.
The full Gazette article is dated 7 March 1958
District Commissioner attends ceremony2 May 1958
Two mothers of Brownies, who had themselves been Girl Guides in the original Company, were among the many parents and friends attending the first enrolment held by the 1st Alwington Girl Guides and Brownie Company since it was re-formed last December.
Three members of the 1st Weare Giffard Guide Company formed the colour party and the ceremonies of enrolment were performed by the District Commissioner Mrs Coham-Fleming, assisted by Mrs P Metherell, Guide Captain, and Mrs J Hopper, Brown Owl.
The nine Girl Guides enrolled were Valerie Bailey, Wendy Beer, Janet Daniel, Mary Kay, Rosina Kay, Ann Lewis, Sylvia Martin, Jane Moase and Valerie Smale.
Patricia Daniel, Jill Dyke and Alice Kay were enrolled as Brownies.
Following the enrolments, the District Commissioner talked about the life of Lord Baden Powell and explained how the Guide Movement began.
The full Gazette article is dated 2 May 1958
Chosen by the Queen with a gold handled bodkinThird member of the family to hold the office of High Sheriff of Devon
One of Devon’s oldest country families – the Pine-Coffins – provides the new High Sheriff of Devon.
Lieut-Col John Pine-Coffin who lives with his wife, son and two daughters at West Drydon, Fairy Cross, will be the third member of his family to hold this centuries old office.
The first of these was in the reign of King Henry VIII, and the second in the reign of King James II.
The Queen followed tradition at a Privy Council at Buckingham Palace when she used a gold handled bodkin to prick the names of the Sheriffs for the ensuing year for all the counties of England and Wales except Cornwall and Lancashire.
Lieut-Col John Pine-Coffin whose family has a link with Alwington parish going back 800 years, is 51 and when he entered the Army just over 30 years ago he followed a family tradition of military service.
He was originally commissioned in the Devons and during the war he saw service in both the Middle and Far East. For 18 years he served with a parachute regiment and in 1963, when...
The Coffin family in America look upon Portledge House as their ancestral homeClan Coffin gathered in 1881 to honour Tristam and Dionis
Standing in a lovely and typically Devonshire combe, leading to Bideford Bay, is Portledge House, one of the ever diminishing number of estates in England which have remained for centuries in a family retaining the original name – in this case that of Coffin.
The estate is now owned by Colonel Claude Pine-Coffin of the Indian Army.
There are many branches of the Coffin family in America who look upon Portledge House as their ancestral home. Some sixty-three years ago there was a notable gathering there of the ‘Clan Coffin’, as it was called. A reader of the Bideford Gazette into whose possession came copies of American newspapers recording this occasion has kindly made them available.
From the American papers it appears that the ‘Clan Coffin’ gathered in 1881 to honour Tristam and Dionis Coffin, two ancestors of the Coffin family who emigrated to the United States of America in 1624 – four years after the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers from the Mayflower. The reports deal at some length...