Allerford
Allerford maps (2 available)
Map of Somerset
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
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Allerford books (12 available)
- 4 photos on Allerford appear in 4 Frith books - View photos of Allerford
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Allerford and Somerset
Allerford memories
Read and share memories of Allerford and Somerset inspired by Frith photos
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You can also read memories of nearby places in Somerset below.
Somerset memories
Summer holidays
My grandparents lived in Porch Cottage in Luccombe.
I would often be taken to visit my grandparents but it was during the summer holidays I had the most fun.
Luccombe village is a magical place for a child and even more so in the summer months, it truly is one of the most beautiful places and the times I spent there are my happiest memories.
Karen Johnson granddaughter of Roy and Gladys Johnson.
A memory of Luccombe contributed by karen sankey
My childhood in Minehead
My auntie Mary used to run the donkeys on the beach. I spent each school holiday in Minehead Swimming Pool and remember the Juke Box in the cafeteria area very well. When I first moved to Minehead in 1953 I lived in the old Gasworks Cottage right on the front down past the harbour. I would be very interested if anyone has a photo of the Old Gasworks before it was demolished in the late fifties early sixties ? I had 10 aunts and uncles in the Webber family , most of whom have passed on now, and several uncles worked voluntarily on the Minehead Lifeboat, with Uncle Alf being coxswain for a number of years and uncles Jack and ...read more here
A memory of Minehead contributed by Barry Johns
wbardry@hotmail.com
P Aden :
I was at Butlins as well. (1962 - 1964)
I remember the big dipper thing; we used to call it The Mouse. I often went up on it.
I wonder what the camp is like now. Horrible dump, blasting out rap music probably.
A memory of Minehead contributed by First name Last name
My time at the camp.
I was born in Minehead, and have also lived in Dunster, Williton, Timberscombe and Rodhuish, and attended all the schools. I worked in Butlins Holiday Camp at Minehead from 1962-1963.
This was the first full year that the Camp was opened. Most of the time I was working the rides in the amusement park. I helped build the Big Dipper, which was 70ft high, but is gone now. Some nights I sang on the stage under the name of Elvis the 2nd, singing mostly his and Cliff Richard songs. When I was at the camp there was three Dance Floors, One for Rock & Roll, another for ballroom dancing, which once held the Come Dancing competition for the BBC. And the ...read more here
A memory of Minehead contributed by p aden
Extracts From Allerford & Somerset books
The ford that gave
Allerford its name lies
beside an ancient, two-
arched packhorse bridge.
The village’s thatched
former schoolhouse is
now home to the West
Somerset Museum of
Rural Life, which gives
a fascinating insight into
the daily lives of people
in the area not that
long ago.
An extract from from"50 Classics - Beautiful Villages".
This view of Allerford’s much photographed 15th-century packhorse bridge and ford looks much the same today. The guesthouse to the right now has a public bar. Beyond rises the side of Selworthy Beacon, forested in the early 19th century by Sir Thomas Acland, owner of the estate.
An extract from from"Somerset Living Memories".
Redevelopment of the Parade started c1870. Lime
trees were planted in the 1880s to start the Avenue.
The buildings to the left of photograph 31223 had
just been built, replacing houses with walled gar-
dens. The building in the centre of the row, at the
end of Bancks Street, was all that remained of the
older buildings. Then a bank, it is now an estate
agents. The building protruding at the end of the
row, in Wellington Square, is now a bank. Capron’s,
the building on the far left, became a well-known
garage. It was Minehead’s first garage, established
in 1908. Two other garages were established before
the First World War but a petrol shortage during the
First World War meant horse drawn carriages and
bicycles remained popular until the 1920s.
An extract from from"Minehead Town and City Memories".
The architectural style is actually one which
is common to areas around the Bristol Channel.
The oldest cottages are based on what is known
as a ‘cross passage’ design, whereby a passage
runs straight from front to back door, dividing
the house. In the original cottages there were
usually two rooms on the upslope side of the
passage and a ‘shippon’ (cow shed) on the
downslope side. In medieval times the living
quarters would have been heated by a fire in the
middle of the floor of the main room with the
smoke simply drifting out through the thatch,
blackening the roof beams as it went.
One house near Church Steps is called the
Hearth House, implying it originated from such
a cottage. None survive in their original state
and all have been enlarged. Most were enlarged
upwards, with bedrooms added, their little semi-
dormer windows breaking the line of eaves.
When this happened, the smoke from the fire
had to be diverted, so it was usual to add a
tall chimney to the front of the house, with a
bulging bread oven at its base. This tended to
happen in the 17th century, when the town grew
prosperous and chimneys became a status symbol
for householders showing off their new wealth.
An extract from from"Minehead Town and City Memories".
A promenade walk had been established along the street in the 1880s,
when some of the gardens were removed. Now, the level of the road
was raised to prevent flooding of the cottages on the far side. Hence,
they are now partly below road level, with a retaining wall in place to
buffer them from the floods which still arise from time to time. Most
of the doorways are still equipped with slots in which to insert boards
when there are flood warnings.
An extract from from"Minehead Town and City Memories".