Abbotskerswell
Abbotskerswell maps (2 available)
Map of Devon
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
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Abbotskerswell books (17 available)
Abbotskerswell memories
Read and share memories of Abbotskerswell and Devon inspired by Frith photos
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Devon memories
Dornafield Midsummer Promenade
Totnes Rotary Club invited Heather and Gorse Clog Morris to dance at the Dornafield Midsummer Promenade along with other entertainers. The weather was dry and cool for a mid-June evening and just right for some vigorous dancing!
Refreshments were available in the open air bar on this lovely caravan and camp site. A large crowd of holidaymakers and evening visitors made it a succesful charity fundraising event. The dancers rounded off their performance by inviting the audience to join in a massed processional dance which was great fun for the fifty or sixty who accepted the challenge!
A memory of Two Mile Oak contributed by John Howard Norfolk
Newton Abbot, Haccombe House 1890
My mother lived at Haccombe House and worked for Lord & Lady Carew from the age of 13yrs. in 1914 until about 1930. The Carew family had other residences in London, Highcliffe (Bournemouth), and South Brent. Their staff (servants) moved around with them during the different seasons.
Haccombe House was owned by the Carew family for many years, there is still a Lord Carew in the House of Lords.
Probably the reason why in the 1881 census there were only 4 people entered is that the family were residing at one of their other residences at that time.
My mother and all the servants were required to attend two services at the estate church every Sunday. In the 1950s the Rev. ...read more here
A memory of Newton Abbot contributed by Margaret Hawkins
Wolborough Church
My paternal grandparents, William Harris and Millie Bray were married here 30th July 1921
No idea why they chose this church, although beautiful, they were living in Garston Avenue at the time and there are several churches closer than Wolborough
A memory of Newton Abbot contributed by Joan Coughlin
family ties
I am at present looking into my family history and have discovered today that my maternal grandmother Mrs Beatrice Maud White was married in this church on the 3rd July 1920.
I have not been to the church before but on my next visit to Newton Abbot I shall certainly give it a visit.
Elizabeth Brown Plymouth.
A memory of Newton Abbot contributed by elizabeth brown
Extracts From Abbotskerswell & Devon books
This view was taken from the building at the very end of Morton Crescent. To the immediate left is the Imperial Hotel,
seen in its original architectural design, changed now after the fire in the 1970s.
An extract from from"Exmouth Photographic Memories".
By the middle of the 20th
century we see something
resembling the modern
scene. There is the more
familiar red telephone
box on the traffic island,
a modern post box, and
Belisha beacons to aid
pedestrians wishing to
cross the road. In the
centre of the photograph
is the white tower of the
Pavilion Theatre. Much of
the street furniture was
removed by the start of
the 21st century, leaving
a more traffic-dominated Esplanade.
An extract from from"Exmouth Photographic Memories".
The construction of a substantial
sea wall, seen here in section to the
right, led to Exmouth’s prosperity
as a seaside resort. Before the
wall was built, much of the sea
front was marshland and sand
dunes, and subjected to constant
flooding. The first section of the
wall was completed in 1842, paid
for by the local landowner John
Rolle. It was 1,900 feet long and
constructed from Devon limestone.
The designer was John Smeaton, a
veteran engineer and the designer
of London Bridge.
An extract from from"Exmouth Photographic Memories".
This fine view looks across the
clock tower and Morton Crescent
to the estuary of the River Exe, with
Starcross and the Haldon Hills in
the distance.
An extract from from"Exmouth Photographic Memories".
The wall was designed to deflect the waves that so often come up the English Channel from the south-west on stormy days.
This scene has changed little in fifty years, though now a shelter from the wind stands on the position of the nearest bench
in the photograph. It was donated by local resident William Frederick Stokes in 1964.
An extract from from"Exmouth Photographic Memories".