52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 17. Favourite Place.

 THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME

I have been fortunate in my life to have travelled to many countries around the globe and there are a handful that I would be happy to live, but I am doubly fortunate to live in a part of the UK that I happily return to after each adventure.

So what has this to do with family history, you may ask? Well, the answer is that in discovering my cousins and receiving old photographs of my ancestors I have discovered that this area has been a constant draw to my paternal family since the 1920's/30's.

My Great Grandfather and my Grandfather's siblings all lived in and around the North of, South Western area of London and surrounding counties. I was bought up in a small village in Berkshire, an area now within a stones throw of the M25, (London orbital road), places such as Harlow, Willesden, Wembley, Bedfont are frequent addresses associated with the wider family. 

However my own small offshoot of the family moved to the North Devon coast in the early 1980's, we have moved around the area a few times and I am not willing to disclose precise locations but never more than a few miles from the beach.

The first pictorial evidence is of my Great Grandmother Edith Perry nee Youell at Lynton, possibly 1920's/30's.

 Kindly shared by family SS. 

Within the same folder was an old post card of Newberry Beach, Combe Martin. 

It is probable that Edith and Arthur would have travelled by train from London to Barnstaple or Ilfracombe. They may have stayed in a hotel or Guest House in Ilfracombe and travelled by coach/charabanc to Lynton etc. Or until 1935, the railway ran from Barnstaple to Lynton, where they may have spent their holiday.

Ilfracombe was a very popular town in Victorian times, most of the hotels and Victorian villa guest houses that were popular until the latter end of the 20th century are now divided into apartments and flats, a few remaining as family homes. Whilst researching the area in the 1930's online, I discovered  an interesting perspective in the form of letters, that a couple had sent back to their family in Waterbury Connecticut of their trip to the UK in 1913. The writer having travelled by ship from the US to Plymouth and then travelled on to Lynton & Ilfracombe, where they stayed at The Ilfracombe Hotel, now no longer standing.

from: Affection Ninety years of Family Letters: White Grigg letters 1907-1914.

The Ilfracombe Hotel (devonheritage.org)

"... We came through from Lynmouth to this place (Ilfracombe) yesterday afternoon, by Char-a-banc, which sounds very French for England and is a long six seated motor car, each seat holding 4 people and it was full too."

Describing the journey "... How they made the steep grades and sharp curves is beyond explaination. It was a beautiful 10 mile run and even if my heart was in my mouth, my eyes were of use to me."

" I have sent rather silly postcards to the kiddies and a picture book to you of Lynton. It will give you some idea of the beauties. This place is very attractive (Ilfracombe) but is crowded with the excurtionists and trippers and is more like an Atlantic city at the highest point of the season. The rocks and hills are magnificent."

The writer then goes on to discuss the following days boat trip to Crevye. Not recognising this nameplace, I was a little confused but the reading the description it was clear that the place being described was Clovelly. I suppose to an American hearing a Devonian accent the mistake was understandable. I really enjoyed reading through these letters, viewing my home area from a historical and visitors viewpoint.

Now if you do not wish to walk up the cobbled street of Clovelly the journey can be taken from the harbourside by LandRover. Donkeys are no longer used as pack animals. Locals take their shopping from the top of Clovelly by sledges. 

 Clovelly High St c 1920's 

Modern Day Clovelly geograph-5630199 by Richard Sutcliffe

In 1954, Arthur and Edith's grandaughter and husband spent their honeymoon in the area, as did my own parents in 1959.

As a child, I spent many happy holidays near Woolacombe and as previously stated we moved here in the 1980's

It was only a few years ago, on meeting up with my fathers cousin, that we discovered that she too had moved to the same area and yet we did not know. Perhaps even more co-incidental is that she had lived in the adjoining road in the village where we live now. My sister and our cousin recognising each other and their chats whilst out with their dogs, without ever knowing their kinship. 

So whilst my favourite place, is the area I am fortunate enough to live now, it also appears to resonate with my ancestors and wider family.