Around Kingswear BY MIKE TREVORROW
New Historians A few years ago, Kingswear Histori- ans ran an interesting programme of talks. For various reasons this folded but was very much missed by villagers who wanted to know more about the past of the area in which we live. As an experiment, a talk by local historian, John Risdon was held to gauge interest. It was obvious that there was lots of sup- port for an on-going programme, so there followed a monthly series of talks. The talks focus on history in and
near Kingswear. John’s introduc- tory talk on the River Dart covered developments on both sides of the river and how the rise and fall of fortunes was affected by the shipping and railway industry. The following speaker, Alan Forster, had done some intensive research on the Greenway Frieze. As well as charting the journey of the US Coast Guard from Houston to Greenway where they were based for D Day, he pointed out many of the unnoticed features in the frieze including a col- lision at sea caused by the difficulty of manoeuvring the Landing Craft Infantry, or ‘Lousy Civilian Idea’ as they were nicknamed. The following talk continued the ship theme when Chris Phillips from the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society, came to talk about the Kingswear Castle, actually built in Kingswear Creek and now owned by the Society and operated by the Riv- er Dart Railway and Steamboat Co. We were then lucky enough to
have another talk from John Risdon, this time on Totnes. Since then, several of us have visited the town to look for points of interest that we had previously passed by. Having an
expert point out the existing medie- val features makes visiting a familiar place far more interesting. Our next talk, from local resident
Chris Ryan, featured the unlikely development of a golf course on the hill above Hoodown. The course was exceptionally hilly and access was poor, needing a good half mile walk from the station up- hill to the club house, and despite the high hope of locals, it did not become the hoped-for magnet for visitors. The original club house was a classic art-deco building. Unfortunately, the club never managed to lay-out more than twelve holes because finances and geography were both against it. Today, only the Club House remains which is now in private ownership and much changed and enlarged from the original. The last talk of the season was
given and indeed performed by Rosemary Griggs, an expert on the local Champernowne family, pioneers in Tudor exploration , she talked about and ‘became’
Lady Katherine. Katherine was the strong and assertive mother of about eight children, two of whom were Humphrey Gilbert and Walter Raleigh who both became ultimate explorers and adventurers. Rosemary was dressed in very
fine period costume, which she had researched and made herself, and for part of the talk she was herself as a speaker describing events of the sixteenth century, but she also took on the character of Lady Katherine using appropriately archaic language. Later in the talk Rosemary analysed the costume she was wearing and explained the complex business of rich ladies’ dress from the period. She told us about the extraordinary Sumptuary Laws which laid down what people could wear, according to their rank, what materials their clothes should be made from and what colours they should be. All fascinating stuff. This was very well-received and it was clear from the large number of questions that the event had gone down very well indeed. As this was the last talk in the se-
ries and likely to be a bit different, it was opened up to families at the school in the hope of encouraging some younger historians. Planning for next year’s programme is un- derway with a September talk on holidays in Torquay 1851 style. Ibiza has nothing on this! Talks are normally held the third Monday of the month, 7.30pm in the Village Hall, and all are wel- come. It would be most appreciat- ed if anyone interested in joining the organising group could make themselves known to Sue Pudduck at any of the talks; she is looking for help to keep things on track-
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