The news in May 1964
Mr Short, or Captain as he was well known to many, was paid respects from bell ringing colleagues throughout the Hartland Deanery assembled at Littleham Parish Church. His bearers were Messrs F Daniel, F Baily, H Smale, Hillman, K Poole and R Daniel – of Alwington tower.
Sixteen year old Miss Delys Gent was chosen to be this year’s Queen of Torrington May Fair carnival which takes place Saturday May 9th. Chosen as her four attendants were Mrs Yvonne Squire, Miss Loveday Tucker, Miss Rosemary Badcock and Miss Dawn Sanders. The crowning ceremony was performed by Mrs B Whittaker of Dolton. The other competitors were Misses Jennifer Wickett, Anne Gill, Carmela Atard, Diane Hearn, Linda Bryant, Margaret Rose, Margaret Keenor, Barbara Hookway, Margaret Harris, Shirley Tuach, Beryl Trathen, Maureen Luxton, Beryl Tucker and Susan Jewell.
The Battle of Trafalgar caused almost as much chaos in Torrington as it did in the French navy way back in history. Two 30-foot three masted galleons fully rigged and in full sail, left a trail of damage and a litter-strewn ‘battlefield’ as they re-enacted Nelson’s famous victory of 1805. The galleons were one of the most ambitious entries ever seen in a May Fair Carnival. They were entered jointly by two Torrington building firms – Messrs Alexander Bros and W H Tolley – and a firm of plumbers, Messrs Sing and Gist. A later article stated that the builders were disappointed about the judges’ decision to award Yarnscombe Women’s Institute the award for best entry.
The Ministry of Housing and Local Government has accepted Torrington Town Council’s proposals for the erection of old people’s flats on the site of the old Clinton almshouses in New Street. The flats will be in two blocks, one of six and the other of four. The Town Clerk, Mr S J Parkes, told the Council’s General Purposes Committee that builders in the neighbourhood were being invited to tender for the work. The number of outpatient attendances during February and March at Torrington Cottage Hospital was 134, which was good for a hospital of that size.
Items from Darracott Farm, Torrington, are for sale.
Gush and Dent Ltd, of Hampshire has applied for a factory site in Castle Gardens, New Road, Torrington.
Do you remember the Rendezvous Grill Bar at the Globe Hotel in Torrington?
New Roman Catholic chapels for Hartland and Torrington.
Local smiths at Hartland, Mr T H Conibear and his merry men, son Jimmy and assistant Dennis Jeffery, strike hard and well.
Among bequests by Mr Peter Francis Carew Stucley, who died on March 7th, aged 54, is £500 upon trust for the repair and upkeep of St Nectan’s Church, Hartland, so long as they keep in good order the tablet to his late brother, Major Lewis R C Stucley, in that church, and the cross in the churchyard commemorating his parents. Mr Stucley, an underwriting member of Lloyds, left his home, the Old Parsonage, Buscot, Faringdon, Berks, to the National Trust, with furniture and effects not otherwise bequeathed. In his will he expressed the hope that any future tenant should be ‘a citizen of the USA engaged in academic, artistic or literary studies.’ His estate amounted to £73,528 gross.
Bungalows at Northgate, Hartland, will each cost £400 more according to the firm of Sellick Nicholls Williams Ltd.
Mr Herbert Smith, who has been stationed at Hartland lighthouse for nearly 10 years, is shortly leaving to take up a similar post at Dungeness lighthouse – one of Britain’s newest lighthouses.
The Church Hall underwent a transformation scene on Thursday evening. Immediately after the WI entertainment was over all traces of it were swiftly removed and the stage was taken by Graham and his Green Echoes who provided music for the Hartland Young Farmers’ Club dance. This was very well attended, over £40 being taken at the door.
Market raises £64 for School funds in Clovelly.
A call for medical help from the British ship Belvedere, a mile out in the Bristol Channel, was answered by Dr W K Somerton, of Hartland. He set off from Clovelly in a small open boat crewed by Clovelly lifeboat coxswain, Mr William Braund, and the mechanic, Mr Charles Shackson. On reaching the Belvedere he found Pat Donovan, of Kinsale, County Cork, had sustained a badly gashed face. The doctor returned after having inserted five stitches.
A clear run for lifeboat and sand on Clovelly shore!
Devon County Council has refused to remove ‘dangerous’ bottlenecks on the road leading from the trunk road to Clovelly.
Buckland Brewer B had the best record of any of the 80 teams competing in the five divisions of Bideford and District Skittles League last season. It brought them the division II title. Buckland were skippered by Cyril Babb, at 54 the ‘old man’ of the side. The rest of the team’s ages range from 18-21. Pictured with their trophies at the annual dinner of the Skittles League held at Westward Ho! the team comprises John Prance, John Babb, Brian Jeffery, Graham Rowland, Cyril Babb and Ernest Dennis. Regular player Ivan Rowland could not be in the picture as he was ill as the time.
Buckland Brewer Young Farmers’ Club have been credited with 15 proficiency certificates. Chairman Mr M Poole welcomed four new members – R Ley, B Mills, J Pickard and B Brown.
Police Constable Brimble came across 12 goats belonging to Mrs Edith Mary Brimacombe, of Higher Twitchen, Buckland Brewer.
A group of young men who have been redecorating the parish room at Buckland Brewer have offered to do the same to the Parish Church. Reporting this in the current issue of Hartland Deanery Magazine, the Vicar of Buckland Brewer, Rev R G Richards, says that the offer has been gratefully accepted, adding ‘This is a tremendous undertaking and entails the thorough spring-cleaning of the building. There will be much work required from a team to do the clearing up when the main work has been accomplished. Any volunteers?’ The notes also refer to work on the parish room and the fact that expenditure of some hundreds of pounds will be needed fairly soon. The Church Council is reported as unanimous in a desire to hand over their rights as managing trustees to a properly constituted Village Hall Committee.
An Appledore motorist, Lawrence William Bunn, of 13 Meeting Street, who was fined £4 for failing to comply with a traffic sign, told the magistrates in a letter that he was being followed by a police car. He was travelling slowly and remarked to his passenger he would not be caught speeding, but he did not notice the red traffic light until it was too late.
A new chapter in the use of Appledore Hall is expected to begin soon.
Bellringers from the parish and Holsworthy district, and other church friends, gathered at Bradworthy Church Hall for the presentation of a watch and cheque to Mr Richard Grills Collacott, on his 80th birthday and in recognition of his 61 years’ service as a bellringer at Bradworthy Parish Church.
Westward Ho! does not need a new hall. This point was made by Mr A Owen at the annual meeting of the Community Association held in the Kingsley Hall. Mr Morgan is replaced by Mr W Powell as President; Mr Gold as chairman; Mrs Eagle as secretary; Mrs Ingrouille, treasurer; Mr Clark, auditor; Mrs Feron, membership secretary; committee members, Mr and Mrs W Westoby, Mrs T Ayres, Mr and Mrs J P Anderson, Mr and MRs Pope, Mrs D Hudson, Mrs E M Hilder, Mrs W Powell, Messrs A Feron, A Owen and F C Twose.
As a memorial to her husband who died almost two years ago, Mrs M E Salmons, of 5 Nelson Terrace, Westward Ho! has just completed an altar frontal for the church there. What has been a labour of love has occupied her for two winters – in the summer she is busy running her store. It has been a mammoth undertaking which Mrs Salmons also designed, is made up of 132 individual pieces of material in three shades of green. Help has been forthcoming from Mrs Shelby, who teaches at Bideford Art School. The altar frontal is to be dedicated by the curate, the Rev H Winters, next Sunday.
Plan produced by Northam Chamber of Commerce for the redevelopment of the slipway area at Westward Ho! was being misunderstood by some local people, it was suggested. The main bone of contention, said Mr R H K Evers, was the bowling alley because it was thought it would cause noise and lead to late nights. The chamber should make it known that the bowling alley was only a minor portion of the scheme – it was ‘not all that important’.
Over £1,000 to stage Instow Horse Show.
Abbotsham election – After 27 years as Abbotsham’s representative on Bideford Rural Council Mr C W M Turner lost his seat at Monday’s election to Mr R B Richardson. In the only contested election in that rural area, the result was R B Richardson, 68; C W M Turner, 47; Major G J E Lomas, 32.
Kenwith Castle Residential Country Club at Abbotsham is opening Wednesday May 13th 1964.
Borough Farm, Alverdiscott, is sold to Mr E G Dunn.
A gift sale of sheep, conducted by Messrs Kivell and Sons realised £238 towards the cost of redecorating Alverdiscott Methodist Chapel and adjoining schoolrooms. With a further £74 received in donations, the trustees needed only £20 more to meet their expenses, and this they soon had when the chapel was officially reopened last week. Introduced by the Rev J R Legg, Mrs Annie Friend – a former member of the chapel who now lives at Dawlish – unlocked the door with the key handed to her by Mr Frank Ford. A bouquet was presented to Mrs Friend by four year old Thelma Ford. Members of several other places of worship were among the large congregation who packed the newly decorated chapel for a service conducted by the Rev Wilfred J Tyrer, a former minister of the Bideford Methodist Circuit and of the Alverdiscott Chapel. Mr Tyrer addressed a capacity congregation at a thanksgiving meeting held in the evening under the chairmanship of the Rev J Owen Clutterbuck. Past and present women members served tea in the schoolroom. Before the evening meeting Mr David Reed led the congregation in community hymn singing. Mrs G Ford and Mrs R Moore provided organ accompaniment.
Woolsery and District Agricultural Show has a new president, Mr George Jacob, succeeding Sir Dennis Stucley, Mr J Paton of Foxdown, Parkham, and the late Mr P F C Elwes of Walland Carey.
Peppercombe road gate, near Horns Cross must be kept unlocked.
Mr and Mrs Isaac Luxton, of North View, Shebbear, celebrate their golden wedding anniversary with three of their four bridesmaids – Mrs Gertie Bridgman, Mrs Olive Leonard and Mrs Ada Johns. The best man, Mr John Gilbert, of Torrington, could not be there.
At 91 Mrs Louisa Hearn of 15 North Street, Northam, proves that she still has ‘plenty of puff’. At a party given by the WVS Over-60s club to mark the recent birthday of its oldest member and the 10th anniversary of the founding of the club, she not only blew out the candles in fine style, but she also gave a spirited performance of an old ballad. After an excellent tea served at tables decorated with camellias provided by Mr Palmer, entertainment was given by Mrs W Powell and members of the Westward Ho! Follies with music by Mrs and the Misses Houldridge. Guests included Mrs Turner, Miss A E Lee, Mrs E M Hilder, the Rev A E Green, the Rev M and Mrs Lucas, Miss Phillips, Mrs Crompton, Miss Adamson and residents of Fairlea and The Chalet.
Northam Football Club’s first dinner, held at the Ring o’ Bells Hotel, Bideford, was a profitable one – the club received a £40 cheque from their Supporters’ Club which was formed just a few months ago. In the picture Mrs Frances Gale is seen handing the cheque to Mr Ray Aggett. Looking on are Mr Fred Patt, Mrs Patt, Mrs E Lloyd, Mr Alan Gale, Mrs Aggett, Miss M Inniss and Mr Leslie Patt. Over 90 attended the dinner.
Bideford Town Silver Band finds itself facing the music of something that approaches a crisis in its declining numbers.
A Bideford boxer is a likely choice for Olympics. On the night of April 13th 1959 at Bideford’s Pannier Market a raw, 16 year old stepped into the boxing ring for his first fight. It did not last long. In the second round the referee stopped the contest to save the youngster from further punishment. What the referee and the big crowd watching did not realise was that they had just had their first glimpse of a youngster who, in the space of five short years, was to boost Bideford’s prestige in the world of amateur boxing to unprecedented heights. The lad who took so much punishment in that, his first fight, was Tony Brogan. In just a few months time Brogan expects to be packing his bags for a trip to Tokyo and the Olympic Games. The young man, now farming in Okehampton, had indeed ‘done Bideford proud.’ And quiet Tony will not let himself forget the help he received.
Jubilant player-manager Ken Whitfield raises his arms in triumph as he is chaired by excited team mates after Bideford’s win over Weston which gave them the points to cinch the Western League championship. In the photo are Lol Chappell, Roy Burnett, Tony Long, John Penny, Alan Marsh, Barry Kelland, Peter Bennett, Tony Irons, Derek May, trainer Bill Finn. Graham Bond and John Gauntlett.
Players want to pay more to ease rugby Club’s finance problems.
Members of Bideford Labour Party learned with regret that their chairman, Mr E C J Batstone, is leaving the district owing to business commitments. He made the announcement at a successful dance at the Moose Hall organised by the Party and Young Socialists and at which he was MC. Constituency Party chairman, Mr F Dennis, of Torrington, thanked him for all he had done for the movement locally. In a draw Mr L Mullholland won a chicken dinner and Mr K McKenzie fruity. Refreshments were served by the women’s social committee and Mr T Davis (Young Socialists chairman) thanked all responsible for the success of the evening.
At 2am on Monday, Mr Jack Morrish, of 2 Torridge Place, Bideford, awoke to the noise of flames from a conservatory downstairs. The family fought the outbreak with buckets of water until the arrival of two fire appliances from the Bideford station. It took almost an hour to deal with the outbreak in which a cupboard and some furniture burned fiercely.
The Whitsun weekend gale, which had Appledore and Clovelly lifeboats and an RAF helicopter out searching for a boat with three young men on board, might also have had the mfv Training Ship Bideford, with nine Sea Cadets and four officers on board, in trouble. The training ship had been scheduled to spend the Saturday night in Bideford Bay but Lt-Cmdr T Rowe, unhappy about weather conditions decided to cross the bar and moor at Appledore. Under Lt-Cmdr Rowe’s command were Sub-Lt D Blackman, Mr V Pike, Mn, and cadets D Thisby, J Butler, R Ellis, M Langmead, P Selley, P Downing, R Mellows and D Chapman. On Monday the vessel berthed in its usual position alongside Bideford quay.
Did you hear the Prime Minister, The Rt Hon Sir Alec Douglas-Home, KT, MP in the Pannier Market in Bideford?
A steam yacht belonging to Capt Miller of Padstow arrived at Bideford where she is to be converted from coal firing to oil firing boilers at the Band End shipyard.
Mr Harold Walter saves his son, Michael Walter, and Graham Jones.
