WIDECOMBE HISTORY GROUP Registered Charity 114684

WW2 Widecombe Roll of Honour

Newsletter Volume 35 – January 2017 Contents Committee Members Page 2 Note from Kirsty Page 2 Postcard Entrepreneurs Pages 2 and 3 Roll of Honour Pages 4 to 7 Moustaches! Page 8 Recruiting The Forces Page 9 The First National Park Page 9 and 10 Dartmoor Prison Bicentenary Pages 11 to 16 Lost Devon Pages 17 and 18 Life and Times of 17th c Mortonans Pages 18 and 19 Tavistock vs Taj Mahal Pages 20 and 21 Stepping Out of the Stoneage Pages 22 and 23 Dartmoor by the Sea Pages 23 and 24 Peter Hirst Memorial Walk Page 24 to 26 Widecombe Fair and Stover Lunch Page 27 Diary of Events Page 28

www.widecombe-in-the-moor.com email: history@widecombe1 -in-the-moor.com Hon Sec.: Margaret Phipps Tel: 01626 834737 email: [email protected]

Committee for 2016/17

*Terry French Chairman Peter Carrett Vice Chairman *Margaret Phipps Secretary *Roger Claxton Treasurer *John Walling Committee Member *Sue Boustead - ditto – David Ashman - ditto – Tim Whitten - ditto – Marcia Babbington Programme Organiser *Trustees of the Charity ------

Note from Me! The start of a new year is just ahead as I put this edition together sitting here at our home in Montana watching the snow falling. A huge thank you to all the contributors, without you there would not be a Widecombe History Group Newsletter. Kirsty

Postcard Entrepreneurs (my apologies, I did not make a note of who sent this)

Listening to our speaker Tracy Elliot-Reep at the April meeting, talking about establishing her publishing business in Widecombe, I was reminded of the number of “Postcard” producers the village has had over the years. These local businesses set out to produce a suitable Widecombe souvenir which also had a practical purpose. In Widecombe the following enterprises produced postcards: F.W. Broughton, Old Inn Widecombe Edward Dunn, Widecombe (almost entirely of himself in Tom Cobley costume) 2

M.M. Foot, Wayside Café, Widecombe Owen Harvey, Post Office, Widecombe Kernicks Pottery Stores, Widecombe A Ruth, Photographer, Ashburton.

These small businesses were in direct competition with the large suppliers such as Chapman & Sons of Dawlish, whose card catalogue is stored on the Devon Hertitage Web site. Firth & Co who had at least 80 different postcards depicting Widecombe and District, and Raphael Tuck & Co, who amongst other things published Beatrice Chases “Snapshots of Dartmoor” published in 1931. Set out are examples of cards some of the locals produced.

A R Ruth Owen Harvey

F W Broughton M M Foot

Roll of Honour Widecombe Roll of Honour by Peter Rennells

Back in 2014 Anthony, our Secretary, received an invite to the inaugural meeting of the Devon Remembers campaign in Exeter. We had, at last, enjoyed the first ‘dig’ of North Hall and thinking I was now on a ‘run down’ I volunteered to join him. I had a personal experience of my own family’s involved in WW1.

As far as the campaign was concerned (Devon Remembers) we were sadly lacking! Anthony, John Kimber and myself attended several meetings, studying the situation in other villages and our number one problem soon surfaced. Memorials to those who died were evident in various forms. However, recording the names of those who served and survived, we were sadly lacking. Widecombe had a list in the 1920’s but it was neglected and had disappeared. No supporting records were available from the Church. We had a major problem.

Leusdon Church records 6 who died and 47 who served and survived. Widceombe Church records six who died and had no other information.

Our first port of call, family and relatives, proved very scarce. It was only thanks to the memories of Bessie and Terry French, Ena Smerdon and Geoff Bamsey added to Anthony’s knowledge of all things Widecombe that we even got started. Our first approach was to get the details of the men who had died. It took us more than a year to investigate all 12. Access to national archives is not easy. A wide selection of history websites are helpful but not cheap. However the effort and the expense has been well worth it. Two from Leusdon came to mind with such different stores. The Struben Gold Mining Family and Sidney West’s death as a POW needed very careful research. For Widecombe we have the touching story of John Radcliffe 4 of Bagpark and his groom Henry Broome who both died in France within a year of each other. Eventually we began to concentrate on the ‘unknowns’ of Widecombe.

Combing the 1911 census gave us a list of names of those who could have been in the right age group to go to war. Then school records indicated boys who could have grown into service age. Stephen Woods’ books on Widecombe referred to ‘ex servicemen’ which a few clues. Then we had to take a serious look at Beatrice Chase and her Mr. Blue Jacket. We joined the Newton Abbot branch of the Western Front Association. John Ellis and his colleagues gave us a lot of guidance in local sources of information. From here on John K. became engrossed in the archives of local newspapers, particularly The Western Morning News and the Mid Devon Advertiser Recruitment tribunals in Newton Abbot frequently gave us names of farmers and their employees pleading for a stay of execution. Delays of call-up was only given in the event of harvesting time. A trecruitment march through Dartmoor villages earned a bad press particularly from Widecombe. However as the band had lunch in the village it is safe to assume that most men were working in their own locality and nowhere within sight or sound. A nil return was most likely.

Then we were advised by another History Group to get a copy of the 1919 election ‘list of absent voters’. This revealed a few names of men still serving overseas in 1911. The area included Widecombe, Leusdon, Postbridge, Poundsgate and Buckland. 29 possibilities. So slowly and gradually names were found and checked. Our list began.

We put on Recruitment Exhibitions at Leusdon, Widecombe and Princetown which aroused interest but few names. It soon became clear that more details records were kept of officers than the ‘other ranks’. One other source gave us considerable help, Michael

Nosworthy’s careful maintenance of the local British Legion Records. These dated from the 1920’s and contained the names of all the local members who had meetings and functions at the Old Inn, also their family members. Wonderful!

This turned out to be of great value as it contained over 60 names to be researched. Fortunately David Ashman arrived at this opportune moment and assisted greatly in researching this vast list of unknowns. Quite a few names had no Widecombe connection but eventually our list of names was up in the 30’s. Anthony, so enthusiastic, focussed on being able to display our list in the Church. From his long list of friendly contacts he produced Daphne Murphy our calligrapher. Her enthusiasm for the projects was to gratifying. From her home in Paignton she made trips to Widecombe, not just to check our list, but also its final resting place in the Church.

So we have reached the point where we have to bring these lads back to Widecombe and acknowledge their contribution. We appreciate how the interest and cooperation of Rev. Geoffrey Fenton, The Parochial Church Council, the entire membership of The History Group, the sadly diminishing group of village elders and enthusiastic leadership of Anthony Beard has made all of this commemoration possible. However the project is forever open. Once the restriction on the records of the Home Guard are lifted, more Widecombe and District names will be available for our research.

What now?

Hopefully Brian will have finished framing the Roll of Honour in time for its commemoration at the Remembrance Service on Sunday 13th November 2016 (note from Ed: He did). However thanks to Mary Pascoe, the project will continue. She noticed in Princetown Parish Church a Book of Remembrance dedicated to all local residents who 6 served in WW!. An everlasting account of their service and sacrifice. A very helpful records of life in the area, family names, addresses to guide anyone researching ancestors. We are making a start on our own village Book of Remembrance. Already we have a lot of family stories and background, but we also have a lot of almost blank entries. Still much research to be done. This is not a book that will have a happy ending, but we will know much more of their lives and that of their families. We hope to show that they are not just long-forgotten names on a memorial scroll. We will try to record the stories of their lives, before, during and after The Great War.

They are not just Servicemen – they are Widecombe Servicemen and their memories truly belong here.

Moustaches! Have you ever wondered why nearly all the army officers you see in picture of World War 1 wore moustaches?.

The answer is they were obeying Command 1695 of Kings Regulations which read “ the length of the hair will be kept short, the chin and under lip will be shaved but not the upper lip” Failure to comply could have lead to a term of imprisonment in army custody. However during the Great War it became more and more difficult for the men to comply and so on 6th October 1916 the order was dropped. ***************************** 1916 British soldiers serving on the Western Front were issued with “tin helmets” for the first time. This followed on from a similar issue to French troops. Therefore when looking at pictures of the Great War if the soldiers are not wearing tin helmets then the pictures were taken in either 1914 or 1915. ***************************** In 1916 Tanks were introduced to the battlefield for the first time. The total number of the British Tanks available was 47 and they were introduced at the Batlle of Flers/Corcelette on the Somme in September 1916. They were only limited success militarily but it is believed had a significant effect of the enemy troop morale.

Picture of Officers of 5th Battalion Devonshire Regiment in camp at Newton Abbot in 1912

Recruiting the Forces Extract from Western Times, November 1914, found by John Kimber

Whilst researching in the files of local papers John Kimber found the following article relating to recruitment for the forces during the Great War..

“A meeting for the purpose of stimulating recruiting was held at the Widecombe Council School room on Saturday. The Newton Abbot band was in attendance, and rendered selections in the village and at the meeting. Mr H. H. Hannaford, County Councillor, presided, and excellent addresses were delivered by Messrs J Cook and J H Dolton. Particulars as to pay and ages of entry to the various forces were given by Major Bearne. At the close a few names of recruits were taken………………..

A parcel containing socks, gloves, cuffs, tobacco and vaseline has been sent to the Mayoress of Exeter for the sailors and soldiers who are fighting for their country, by the scholars of the Leusdon Council School. The girls of this school are now knitting socks and scarves in their spare minutes and these will be forwarded in due course..” Western Times , Friday 20th November 1914 .

The World’s First National Park

Kirsty Peake took us from Dartmoor National Park to Yellowstone National Park. It was founded in 1872 for the purpose of protecting the thermal features. Comparisons were made between the two National Parks. We learnt that Yellowstone is a super volcano and saw the devastation of the last three eruptions compared with Mt. St. Helen’s in 1980. Kirsty explained about the thermal features and that Yellowstone has 60% of the world’s geysers. Not just geysers but hot springs as well! We saw rocks being formed, some hard and slow moving and others soft and fast moving. We explored some of the geology of the Park and saw the wonderful landscapes

9 it produces. There was an introduction to some of the animals that live in the Park, bears, bison, elk, big horn sheep, pronghorn etc. and the birds as well.

Dartmoor Prison Bicentenary

Simon Dell gave us a fascinating talk on 6th July on the topic of Dartmoor Prison. Simon retired after 30 years in the police force and has an extensive knowledge on his topic.

In 1775 the Turnpike Act saw the start of roads over Dartmoor. In 1785 the first buildings of Prince’s Town were started. An isolated part of the Moor owned by the then Prince Regent, who was also the Duke of Cornwall and Prince of Wales.

The Prince Regent had a friend called Thomas Tyrwhitt (knighted in 1812) who he made Auditor to the Duchy of Cornwall, among other titles (He became MP for Okehampton in 1796).

Tyrwhitt had a vision to commercialise and make land suitable for agriculture. As Prince’s Town started to expand the Plume of Feathers was built in 1785. Sadly, Tyrwhitt’s vision didn’t work. He needed another vision.

The war with France gave him that opportunity. French prisoners were held in prison hulks on the Tamar. Concern was raised about the possibility of a French force liberating these prisoners and then invading Britain as well as carrying contagious disease on to the mainland. Tyrwhitt put forward the suggestion of a prison on Dartmoor.

Daniel Alexander was the architect and, most importantly, Samuel Prout drew a social record of the construction. The prison was started in 1806 and finished in 1809. Capt. Cotgrave was the first Governor, from 1809 to 1812. He was followed by Capt. Shortlands. On his arrival at the prison he was appalled at the large amount of human bones lying in the surrounding countryside. These were all gathered up and split into two piles. One was designated French POWs and the other American POWs. Dartmoor Prison has the only American Cemetery in this country. There is also a cemetery for the French POWs.

Over the entrance is the quote “Spare the Vanquished”. Water was supplied by Walcombe head waters which became known as the Prison Leat. The prisoners were marched from Plymouth to the new prison. Many died on enroute. The POW officers were housed around Devon in villages. They could only walk one mile in any direction from the centre of the village.

As the Americans were trading with France and did not stop just because of the war, their ships became targets as well and many Americans were pressed into the British Navy and many were sent to Dartmoor. At its height Dartmoor had 15,000 prisoners in a prison designed to take 1000. In 1812 war with France ended and the French sent ships to take their fellow citizens home. This left the American prisoners, now American Citizens, still in Dartmoor. 1815 saw the Dartmoor Prison massacre. Many citizens of the USA were killed and 65 were injured. After this they were repatriated with the black citizens having to wait for the whites to be repatriated first. 1846 saw the Penal Servitude Act which stopped the transportation of prisoners. 12

Dartmoor Prison has the only American Cemetery in this country. There is also a cemetery for the French POWs.

In 1850 Dartmoor became a convict prison. Prisoners would have to break rock from a cubic foot to gravel, they pulled ploughs and made pastures.

The prison closed at the outbreak of WW1. In 1916 it was opened again to house Conscientious Objectors, they were released in 1919 and the prison became a convict prison again.

1932 saw another prison riot and all records were destroyed. Escapees were tracked by Mrs. Blakeston’s Bloodhounds. Frankie Richardson, part of the Kray’s gang, was sprung from Dartmoor and rumour has it he is now part of the foundations of the Chiswick Flyover! A riot in 1991 resulted in the death of one prisoner.

The review of the prison has been decided and the lease from the Duchy of Cornwall will not be renewed. Inevitably this will lead to the closure of Dartmoor Prison in the near future.

A question after the talk was: When did Prince’s Town become Princeton?’ It was felt that was with the arrival of the railways.

Simon’s talk was followed by a visit to Princetown which included visiting the Church, the Prison Museum and the French and American cemeteries.

We met in the Fox Tor Café for a bit of a warm before setting off to explore Princetown on a decidedly chilly day. Rain threatened, spattered a bit but no real downpours. Simon took us first to where the railway station had been and explained that Princetown had also had a horse drawn tram. He showed us the GWR boundary markers. We were able to inhale the fumes from the Dartmoor Brewery as we listened to him! 13

Walking up the road to the Church, Simon pointed out the old barracks building (Grade II) which is looking very sorry for itself. He also pointed out masonry work done by the prisoners as they built the walls.

The Church is seeped in history and there is a distinct atmosphere as you enter. Before entering we wandered around the graveyard, many of us remarked on just how young many were. Simon told us the tale of Mr. Palmer, a prison officer who was in charge of working parties outside the prison. Mr. Palmer would take the prisoners out, sit on a rock and fall asleep. When it was time to return to the prison, the prisoners would wake him up! One day Mr. Palmer did not wake up, he died on his stone while asleep. The prisoners returned to the prison with Mr. Palmer’s body. Such was their high regard for Mr. Palmer that they received permission to go and bring back the rock Mr. Palmer had sat on for all those years. They rolled it, levered it and pushed it back to the prison. There they put a commemorative plate on it and it stands at Mr. Palmer’s grave in the Church yard. At the other end of the graveyard are uniform lines of identical gravestones. These are prisoners who had enough to pay for an individual burial rather than in the mass grave. There is one separate and on its own. This marks the grave of a young lad who died in Dartmoor Prison when it had a Borstal section.

Inside the Church the first thing that strikes you is the magnificent window, donated by the USA organisation ‘The Daughters of 1812’ The Union Jack, Tricolor and Stars and Stripes flags all hang in the Church. The walls are granite but from rocks found on the ground and therefore have algae growing on them. This gives an incredible range of colours to the walls.

Moving on from here we headed for the Museum. It really deserves a long time for a visit. There is so much information that it is difficult to take it all in. It is well laid out and lots of examples of what the prisoners do while they are incarcerated. Visiting the cells in the museum is something else. Quite 14 uncomfortable really with all the written comments from prisoners printed and fixed to the wall. The visitors toilet is an old cell and it was quite worrying being shut in there! There was a big section of the museum devoted to the workings of the Prison Farm, no longer there. In fact that is housed in what was the cow shed.

From here our guide, Brian, who had been the Farm Shepherd for 20 years, took us down to see the French and American graveyards. This involved a walk around the perimeter wall. At one point we stopped at what was an old entrance to the prison but was walled up in 1999. One of the escapes happened through this entrance when three prisoners hijacked an oil deliver truck and drove it through (literally) the gates and made it to the main road before hijacking a car and driving off. The car ran out of petrol and they were soon recaptured.

This was the end of our trip to Princetown, some of us went home and some went back to the Fox Tor Café for a late lunch.

French Cemetery in Dartmoor Prison

American Cemetery in Dartmoor Prison

Lost Devon, Felicity Goodhall Felicity has written a book called Lost Devon because she wants to keep lost trades and stories in people’s mind.

She gave us snippets from the book and started with Bishop Leofric in 1016. He had combe from Crediton with 60 books which grew in number to 100. One of these books became the ‘Exeter Book’ which is incredibly rare. There was a translation of the book from the medieval English and it was realised that the book mostly contained riddles (not always clean!). The book survived because it was not read often. It was used to store leaves of gold and the outside cover (wooden) shows signs of being used as a cutting board! A large number of Bishop Leofric’s books went to the Bodelian Library.

Moving on to Queen Elizabeth I’s reign Felicity pointed out that in the Queen’s Salter there is reference to rabbit warrens in Devon. These were artificial rabbit warrens with stone chambers. The first warrens were mentioned in the 13th century. Records show that during this time at one King’s court during the Christmas period they consumed 1000 rabbits.

Charles Kingsley was the next snippet. He wrote the book Westward Ho! and when people turned up to see the town there was next to nothing there. Westward Ho! was then built. One of the buildings was the United Services College formed by Capt. Molesworth as a school for the brightest and best sons of officers in the colonial forces. One of the students was Rudyard Kipling and he started and wrote the school newspaper.

Industry featured next. Felicity started with the Devon Great Consols Mine. The biggest copper mine in Europe. The seam was found in 1844. Copper from the mine was transported from Morwhellam Quay to South Wales for smelting. When the copper ran out arsenic was mined. They produced half 17 the world’s supply of arsenic. Rodney Cruze commented that apparently you could see the arsenic miners in the dark as they glowed. Their lives were short, most dying in their 30’s.

From mining to shipping and in 1798 HMS Foudroyant was built in Devonport. She was Nelson’s favourite ship. At the end of her life she was sold to a German breakers yard but funds were raised to keep her in the UK. Unfortunately in 1896 she was driven on to the North Pier at Blackpool during a hurricane. It was decided that she could not be refloated and much of her woodwork can be seen in buildings in Blackpool.

Tuckenhay Mill started as a woollen mill but was changed to a paper mill. Tuckenhay became a centre for paper makers as Devon was ideal for the supply of rages to make paper because of its sails etc. from naval yards. The paper was hung on cow’s hair rope to dry as this didn’t mark the paper. Mourning paper for Buckingham Palace and stamp albums for King George V were made at Tuckenhay Mill.

A book on Devon has to have something in it about Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Lost Devon is no exception. There is the story of Brunel’s Atmospheric Railway, known as his ‘folly’. This was based around Starcross.

Felicity regularly visits Burma and teaches English at a small monastery school. Fees from her talks are donated to this cause.

The Life and Times of 17th C Moretonians – Bill Hardiman

Bill gave a very interesting talk on Mortonhampstead (longest place name in England) which started out as Moreton in the Moor. The Alms Houses were built in 1450 in the Italian loggia style and had a ‘make over’ in 1637. 16 families lived there and they became the work house. They nearly fell down in 1939 and the National Trust took them over in the 1950’s.

Mortonhampstead is made up of several Manors. One of which was the Manor of Doccombe owned by one of the knights involved in the murder of Thomas Beckett. As atonement it was given to the monks of Canterbury. Mardon, another Manor, has the largest hut circle in England. Moreton is mentioned in the Exeter Book and was a Royal Manor.

The W.H. Smith family owned 5,500 acres and what is now Bovey Castle

Bill gave some interesting dates. One of which was 1310 when the Courtenay family took over as Lords of the Manor and remained as such for 600 years. Sir Simon Leach was given Moreton as security on a loan of £3,000 to Courtenay, who was his God son. He was the son of a blacksmith from Crediton who apparently bought some iron bars which turned out to be gold. He trained to be a lawyer as they were the ones who made the money (nothing’s changed there then).

There was no rector in Moreton before the 17th Century and in 1672 a non conformist chapel was built, one of the first in the country. During the Civil War Moreton was for the Parliamentarians and Chagford for Royalists.

Customery Tenants were governed by Manorial Laws and could hold the tenancy for ‘3 lives’ (a ‘life’ is 33 years as Christ lived for 33 years).

Wool was the main source of income and in 1698 wool merchants petitioned against Irish ‘imports’.

The population of Moreton grew between 1544 and 1861 because of the wool and tin and then declined.

The Manors carried on until the 19th C and even in 1920 they still had control over woods.

Tavistock vs Taj Mahal by Andrew Thompson

The question is: Why is Tavistock so significant to have World Heritage status? It is Devon’s only World Heritage site.

Andrew went on to explain why professionals in world heritage feel justified in making this claim. He gave us an insight into the process of how a site can gain the title World Heritage.

The word ‘heritage’ has to be broken down into ‘tangible’ heritage which is the physical remains of the past, i.e. Cotehele House and ‘intangible’ heritage which is customs and behaviours, i.e. Widecombe Fair. On many occasions these two join by using the past in the present.

The values/significance of ‘heritage’ are listed as:

 Aesthetic  Historical  Educational and academic  Environment  Recreational  Cultural

Nominating a site for World Heritage status follows a process of:

 Tentative list  Nomination file  Advisory body  World Heritage Committee  Selection Criteria

A nomination must have outstanding universal value plus meet at least one of ten of the selection criteria. The significance of the site is so great that it transcends political and religious status.

Andrew gave a brief outline of the Cornish Mining World Heritage explaining that Tavistock matters as a product of mining. Tavistock has the best group of surviving foundry buildings in the world.

Tavistock has three key attributes for World Heritage status:

 Mining settlement (best example of metal mining town in Europe)  Transport infrastructure (canal – global firsts in building the canal)  Foundry buildings

On Saturday, following the talk, 27 of us enjoyed exploring Tavistock with Andrew as our Guide. Andrew produced maps of 1750 Tavistock and using those he then took us around to show just how much history still can be seen and how much is now hidden underground. A really interesting 2 hours.

Stepping out of the Stone Age, Nick Powe

Nick gave an interesting talk on the history behind Kents Cavern. Kents Cavern is a Unesco Global Geopark, one of 30+ in the UK. It has the world’s only geological themed children’s park. It was back in 1825 that Fr. John MacEnery started to explore the caves. His interest having been sparked by studying the ruins at Torre Abbey. It was William Pengelly who started the Great Excavation. This started in 1865 and carried on until 1880. Pengelly and his team removed the 1st floor which was 12,500 years old and then the 2nd floor which was 430,000 years old. They discovered that three species of man had used the Kents Cavern. In 1926 the Arthur Ogilvy Excavation discovered a human jawbone which was 41,000 years old. It still had three teeth in it. This proved to be the oldest human bone in NW Europe.

Over 1 million years two important ice ages impacted Kents Cavern, the Devonsian and the Anglian. It is possible to see evidence at Torquay of changing sea levels. Near Berry Head sea shells can be seen in the rocks. Berry Head was such an important headland that the guns based there during the Napoleonic wars pointed inland to stop Napoleon capturing it, had he landed in England. Caves underneath Berry Head have stalactites and stalagmites. These can only form above water level.

Kents Cavern was never ‘discovered’ it was always there. Roman coins from 21,000 years ago have been found. The oldest inscription dates from 1571. Kents Cavern formed 2.5 million years ago and a river ran through it.

Agatha Christie mentions Kents Cavern (under another name) in her book The Man in the Brown Suit. Nick Powe felt that originally the name would have been Kentis Cavern and over the years it has become Kents Cavern.

On wednesday 16th November 2016 thirteen members of Widecombe History group stepped into the Stone Age when visiting Kents Cavern. Its

22 one of the most important Stone Age sites in Europe. At a constant temperature 14degrees the caves were once the home of ancient humans sheltering from the extreme weather, making fires and carving tools for hunting the wild animals. Remains of bears, hyenas and woolly rinos have been found within the caves and we were shown what total darkness was like in the bear’s den.

The Victorians excavated the caves taking 15 years to removed 9000 tons of rock and soil finding 80,000 artefacts. Rock 400million years old producing some beautiful stalagmites and stalactites.

Kents Cavern is run by the 5th generation of the Powe family who are a direct decendant of a George Smerdon from Buckland in the Moor. George Smerdon’s daughter married Francis Powe who became the owner in1903.

A cream tea followed a wonderfully educational tour enjoyed by everyone. Margaret Phipps

Dartmoor by the Sea, Tom Greaves Dartmoor by the sea was the title of Tom Greeves talk, in actual fact the Isles of Scilly was the subject. Both Dartmoor and the Isles of Scilly are owned by the Duchy of Cornwall. Many similarities could be found mainly the type of rock, granite being very prominent in both areas. The Old Man of Gugh is a prime example of the type of standing stone found on Dartmoor. On Scilly the Tors are called Carns and there is much evidence of Neolithic people, excavation findings show an entrance grave as early as 2nd millennium BC on Buzza Hill on St Marys. Cist excavation has produced many treasures including pottery from as early as 2nd millennium BC. A sword and mirror from c.100BC . 100s of broaches from the Bronze age to the Romans used as offerings. Many other signs of Dartmoor are the standing stones, stone rows, gateposts, plug and feather stone cutting.

Sea levels have rissen over the years and the Islands have shrunk, maps showed a very noticeable shrinkage between 200BC and 200AD. A lighthouse was built on Bishops rock in 1850 as the Western rocks were notorious for shipwrecks having claimed countless ships and lives over many years.

Evidence of early Christianity showed a Roman altar stone now on Tresco. The priory church of St Nicholas was administered for 400 years by Tavistock Abbey in the 12th -16th century. On Tean there is evidence of an early Christian church and cemetery and on St Helens evidence of an 8th century AD complex.

Many other items of interest were shown from the Romans to 20th century and obviously the Isles of Scilly are steeped in history. Margaret Phipps

Peter Hirst Memorial Walk

On the 29th August, 22 Widecombe History Group members and 3 dogs met in Bel Tor car park to walk to Bel Tor to see the rock basins. Terry had kindly been able to ask the landowner for permission to access this private tor. The panoramic views from the top of the tor were spectacular. We then followed the stony track to Bel Tor rocks and Terry was able to tell us about a tawny owls nest that was there many years ago. Next we looked at some hut circles just off Dr Blackalls Drive. From our next position Mel Tor, views extended to the River Dart and Venford Reservoir and on to Hunter Tor. On Mid Summer's Day there was a tradition of rolling cartwheels down the hill. There were also some rock basins to view at Mel Tor.

We walked down the road towards Simon's Lake, and just off the road we were able to see a new dedication inscribed on a granite gate post that had been laid down reading 1910 CNG 1999 with BELOVED underneath. This 24 took us near Simon's Lake, many of us had never visited this feature of Dartmoor. The first time we visited it was teeming with tadpoles but this time the water was lower and Ann and Roger's dog took a fancy to a mud bath.

On our walk towards Eastercombe we saw more stone circles and then the ruin of a homestead that Aileen's relations lived in many years ago. Not all the group visited the ruins so we joined the rest of the group again at a site of probably one of the largest stone circles in the area. From this point we walked to Oulds Cross and then onto the reservoir that feeds Widecombe with water. The last interesting feature Terry pointed out to us was the Widecombe 3 Mile Stone which unfortunately has become very eroded and is hard to see the inscription.

It was a lovely day and we all agreed it was a great walk, with many interesting features that Terry was able to point out to us. Dartmoor always gives up surprises at each visit. Mo Wright

Widecombe Fair

The History Group’s involvement in Widecombe Fair was, we think, pretty good. The Heritage Marquee had a constant through-put of visitors all day. The wide range of subjects seemed to hold something for all. Regular and local visitors found something new, it is hoped, and visitors from far and wide possibly learned of something our county holds of which they had had no knowledge.

The Stover Canal Society, who we welcomed this year, had a very good presentation and its members were there in strength to talk to visitors and answer question.

Our members with specialist interests, the tin industry and World War One research and the intriguing story of the World War Two Hampden bomber which crashed on Hameldown, were also on hand all day.

On the lighter side, the £1 mystery jars caused amusement and many pleasing surprises. The model of The Old Grey Mare and her riders were regularly out for her outing and usually it too attracted an audience and a bevy of photographers.

All in all everyone, visitors and members alike, enjoyed a very full day, only made possible by the many members helping each in their own way. Aileen Carrett

Widecombe History Group Lunch

Peter Carrett organised the second excellent lunch at Stover Golf Club. It was well attended. The food was excellent and the company stimulating. Thanks Peter and here’s to the next one. It is worth noting that non members can use Stover Golf Club for coffees and lunches. 27

Diary of Events

January 4th New Year’s Party

February 1st Dr. Robert Wolton, Devon’s Amazing Hedges

March 1st Ann Widdecombe – Life and Times

April 5th Bob Mann – The Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould (a man of many parts)

May 3rd Annual General Meeting, to be followed by Simon Dell’s presentation on Dartmoor’s Sett Makers’ Bankers