{"id":12585,"date":"2022-04-01T09:05:09","date_gmt":"2022-04-01T09:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brentorpc.org.uk\/?page_id=12585"},"modified":"2023-03-11T14:23:28","modified_gmt":"2023-03-11T14:23:28","slug":"brentors-past-in-pictures","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.brentorpc.org.uk\/?page_id=12585","title":{"rendered":"Brentor\u2019s past in pictures"},"content":{"rendered":"
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If you have an interesting photograph of Brentor why not\u00a0 send it to the editor at<\/em> editor@brentorpc.org.uk<\/a>\u00a0 for \u2018Picture of the month\u2019 and as an addition to the Brentor Living Archive.<\/a><\/p>\n

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A Brentor family photo at Crossways\u00a0<\/b><\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/a>This photograph was taken in the 1890s. \u00a0The group are pictured in front of Crossways, the house that was Downing's butcher's shop in North Brentor village until the 1990s .\u00a0 The photographer was standing on the present location of the Brentor War Memorial, before it was installed after the end of WW1.
\nThis is one of many photographs in the Brentor Living Archive and was copied from the original owned by the Downing family.<\/em><\/p>\n

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The Brentorians in 1967<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/strong>The Brentorians in 1967, performing the comedy \u2018Brush with a Body\u2019 by Maurice McLoughlin. \u00a0Photo courtesy of Carol Butson.<\/i><\/p>\n

The Brentorians performed in the Village Hall, at that time in the former school in Church Lane, adjacent to Christchurch. \u00a0The building was sold in the \u00a0early 2000s and is now a private house called The Old School House.<\/p>\n

The performers are, from left to right, \u00a0George Raine, Carol Cooper (seated), John Sibley (with sack), Harold Deacon, Betty Raine (seated), Gerry Mathews, and Val Busby (seated). \u00a0Thank you to Judy Baxter for identifying them.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Liddaton Halt<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

\"\"Liddaton Halt was a tiny railway station opened on 4th April 1938 by the Great Western Railway on the Launceston and South Devon branch line. \u00a0It was to serve the hamlet of Liddaton and\u00a0opened much later than most other stations on the railway line from Plymouth to Launceston, which had started operating in 1865.<\/span><\/p>\n

The single platform was a wooden structure with a small wooden passenger shelter, originally lit by a single oil lamp.\u00a0 There was a single platform name board.\u00a0 A bridge carrying the lane from Liddaton to Coryton over the line was situated at the Tavistock end of the platform and still exists today near Broad Park. The railway was a single track with no passing loops or sidings.<\/span><\/p>\n

This photograph was probably taken in the 1950s from the bridge.<\/span><\/p>\n

From 1st May 1953, on weekdays and Sundays, '<\/span>where train service permits<\/span>', cheap day return tickets, first and third class, were available:<\/span><\/p>\n

To Launceston or Tavistock South station<\/strong>
\ncost 3\/6d (17.5p) first class, 2\/3d (11p) third class.<\/span><\/p>\n

To Plymouth North Road Station<\/strong>
\ncost 8\/9d (43p) first class, 5\/9d (28p) third class.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Halt was closed to passengers on 31st December 1962.<\/span><\/p>\n

This photograph is one of several recently sent to the editor by Sue Swanborough and will be added to the Brentor Living Archive collection. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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North Brentor Village Centre, about 1910<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The centre of North Brentor village centre has changed remarkably little since the time when this photograph was taken \u2013 probably around 1910.<\/b><\/p>\n

Windsor Cottage, on the right, was the village Post Office. \u00a0There is \u00a0no telephone box and a complete lack of telephone and power cables that now crisscross the sky. \u00a0Transport was mainly by horse, so no parked vehicles! \u00a0The village water supply was from the spring in the wall to the left \u2013 local people regularly did their washing there.<\/span>The church, Christchurch, was opened in 1857 as a \u2018chapel of ease\u2019 for those who found it difficult to get to St.Michaels on Brent Tor. \u00a0The cost of \u00a31,003 was covered largely by\u00a0Isabella Holwell (then owner of the property now called Bonnaford), who made a bequest in her will towards building the new chapel.<\/p>\n

The field to the left was in private ownership \u2013 it is now known as \u2018The Eastcott Memorial Field\u2019 and was purchased in 1979 by the Brentor Parochial Church Council from the proceeds of two half shares in other local fields given by the late Mrs Eastcott of Windsor Cottage, the village postmistress. It was agreed that the field should be preserved from any development and kept for the benefit of the village. \u00a0Most of the field is still grazed but part of it was landscaped with help from Dartmoor National Park to provide a village wildlife pond and a \u2018pocket park\u2019 for the use of local residents. \u00a0The income from the rent of the field was to be used for the maintenance of the pocket park.<\/p>\n

You can find out more about the Eastcott Memorial Field by clicking here.<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Photograph courtesy of Sue Swanborough.<\/em><\/p>\n

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The Devon Belle Pullman<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This photograph shows the 'Devon Belle' Pullman train about to pass under the (now demolished) bridge under Station Road near Brentor station, some time between 1947 and 1950. \u00a0West Blackdown and Gibbet Hill is in the background.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The service between London Waterloo and Ilfracombe, with a portion of the train travelling on to Plymouth, did not last for long as a named train service. \u00a0It was introduced by the Southern Railway on 20th June 1947 and continued until September 1954. The train travelled from London to Exeter with a \u2018Merchant Navy class\u2019 \u00a0Pacific engine. \u00a0 Four coachs went on to Plymouth through Brentor and the remaining eight or ten went north to Ilfracombe.\u00a0<\/span>It was the only \u2018non stop\u2019 service between Waterloo to Exeter.<\/p>\n

With a decline in passenger numbers,\u00a0<\/span>from 1950 the Plymouth section ceased <\/span>and the final Devon Belle service to Ilfracombe was run in September 1954.<\/span><\/p>\n

Photograph courtesy of Tony Dommett, whose grandfather Charles Dommett, who may have taken the photograph, lived in 2 Station View and worked on the railway.<\/i><\/p>\n

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West Blackdown, probably 1940s<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/a>This photograph shows the West Blackdown end of Station Road, which appears to be a fairly rough track.<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is no sign of the cattle grid that now exists, so livestock from the moor must have been free to wander into the village. Woodgord house is to the left, with Brentor Station behind it.\u00a0 Station View, then known as Council Houses, is to the rear on the left.<\/p>\n

Photograph courtesy of Tony Dommett, whose grandparents Charles and Laura Dommett lived in 2 Station View (then called 2 Council Houses) from the 1930s. \u00a0Laura Dommett was still in Station View in the 1980s and took an active part in village life.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Brent Tor by L. Lightfoot, about 1838<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\"\"<\/a>

\"BREN-TOR, DEVON\" Print by L Lightfoot<\/p><\/div>\n

This small antique print, only 10cm wide, shows a woman and dog, with Bren Tor in the background and foxgloves in the foreground.\u00a0 St Michael's church on the top of the tor can only just be seen in through the mist.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was drawn and engraved by L. Lightfoot and originally produced for Thomas Dugdale\u2019s part-work survey published as 'The Curiosities of Great Britain' or 'England Delineated'\u00a0 between 1838 and 1860.<\/p>\n

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If you have an interesting photograph of Brentor why not\u00a0 send it to the editor at editor@brentorpc.org.uk\u00a0 for \u2018Picture of the month\u2019 and as an addition to the Brentor Living Archive. A Brentor family photo at Crossways\u00a0 This photograph was taken in the 1890s. \u00a0The group are pictured in front of Crossways, the house that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":13583,"menu_order":54,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12585","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brentorpc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brentorpc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brentorpc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brentorpc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brentorpc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12585"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.brentorpc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12585\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14436,"href":"https:\/\/www.brentorpc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12585\/revisions\/14436"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brentorpc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brentorpc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brentorpc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brentorpc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}