September 2021. I wish I had listened to Granny. Avril Stone.
Avril, our Society President, explained how she came to write The Book of High Bickington. This is a history of the village illustrated with photos, some taken by Avril for a photographic assignment celebrating the village and its inhabitants in the year 2000, and a by-product of the book was the formation of the High Bickington Historical Society. Two books on the history of Barnstaple followed, one on the Mull of Kintyre and lastly a book on Braunton. Avril talked about the overall experiences and observations she made during her research for these books and the people she met and interviewed. She explained how she encouraged people to recall and share their memories, hence the title of the talk. Avril recalled how the renowned local photographer James Ravillious gave her valuable advice on how to achieve natural, non-posed photos. The talk was concluded by Avril explaining how she produces the historical articles in the Exmoor Magazine which take her several months to research and write.
October 2021. Letters to the editor. Peter Christie.
Peter is well known for his books on local history, particularly those of Bideford, and his popular Yesteryear page in the North Devon Journal featuring historic photos of North Devon. His talk to the society was a presentation of a selection of letters written to the editor of the North Devon Journal in the 19th Century covering a wide spectrum of subjects, many of which still interest and concern to us today. Peter gave a humorous slant to the subject which the audience found most entertaining.
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November 2021. Coffers, Clysters, Comfrey and Coifs: the Lives of Our Seventeenth Century Ancestors. Janet Few and Chris Braund.
Janet and Chris, in period costume as their alter egos Mistress Agnes and Master Christopher, treated us to a most informative and amusing re-enactment of how ordinary 17th Century rural folk lived, worked, dressed, ate, drank, slept and treated their illnesses. They explained how some expressions we still use today arose in the 17th Century and their original meanings. The audience were much amused by their descriptions of how many uses human urine could be put to in 17th Century everyday life! Janet and Chris are well known as family, social and rural community historians, specialising in bringing 17th Century rural history alive by interactively re-enacting how folk lived in those days. They offer re-enactments on a wide range of historical subjects and we look forward to inviting them back again for another of their thoroughly enjoyable presentations.
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January 2022. Life and Times of a Water Bailiff. Roger Bickley.
Roger entertained us with an interesting and amusing talk about his experiences as a water bailiff in North Devon dating back to the late 1970's. For most of his career he worked for South West Water and his main responsibility was to enforce the law according to the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act. This gave him the power of a constable to arrest anyone illegally fishing. He was able to enter any land where poaching is suspected to apprehend the suspects and seize their equipment, including boats and caught fish, and to hand the poachers over to the police. Roger sometimes worked alone, often in the face of gangs of poachers, and in the early days without the aid of radio communication to summon support. He had many amusing anecdotes about "cat and mouse" encounters with the poachers, which often ended in a rugby tackle and scuffle! Roger was proud to have been one of the most successful bailiffs in all of Devon, although sadly those caught were usually only given a fine insufficient to deter them from repeating the offence. In the case of large-scale poaching by gangs the fish were sold profitably to restaurants and hotels as far afield as Scotland. In the later years of Roger's career the responsibility for policing passed to the National Rivers Authority and eventually to the Environment Agency when his responsibilities expanded to include monitoring the quality of river water.
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February 2022. Natural Capital V GDP - Valuing nature: What price do we put on an oak tree or the view across Exmoor? Myc Riggulsford
Myc presented a subject that differed from our usual historical talks and was new to many of us - Natural Capital, which is the assets and benefits that our natural environment provides. This contrasts to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which measures our country’s economic strength based upon financial and production figures and says little about the well-being of the population.
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Myc explained that the principal features of Natural Capital include natural resources such as soil, water, air, living organisms (wildlife), hedgerows, woodland, peatland, biodiversity, public open spaces and the countryside in general. He highlighted a special resource, culm grassland, that we have here in North Devon. Myc went on to explain how natural resources if valued, managed properly and monitored can provide benefits that contribute to the well-being of a country and its people, alongside the more obvious and well-known benefits of a healthy GDP.
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Examples that Myc gave of valuable natural resources included woodland, forests and peatland that absorb carbon dioxide from the air and help to reduce undesirable climate change, and pollinators such as bees that increase the quality and yield of crops. He argued that our natural resources are essential to life and should not be allowed to deplete unsustainably. When talking about the controversial and harmful effects of pesticides, artificial fertilisers and GM crops Myc explained it is little known that the science of genetics was first discovered in the 1820’s by a local Devon man, John Goss of Hatherleigh. Remarkably this pre-dates Gregor Mendel’s better known discovery by some 40 years.
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Myc concluded by talking about the less immediately obvious side of natural capital that contributes to our well-being, but is not as tangible and easy to measure. Examples he gave included culture and the arts, local communities, social welfare, housing conditions, education, and the inspiration, happiness and effect on our mental health gained from the outdoor environment and wildlife. These affect us in a personal way but should be recognised as important ingredients of natural capital. Myc finished by hoping that local communities can work together to protect, and even improve, our natural capital for the benefit of future generations.
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Being a science and environment journalist and organic smallholder, Myc is well qualified to speak on this subject. His talk was thought provoking and informative, with the seriousness of the subject nicely balanced by humour.
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March 2022. George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle. Jonathan Edmunds.
In a change to the planned talk by Carole Poulton on “Thames Lightermen and Watermen” Jonathan Edmunds spoke to us about the life of the 17th Century North Devonian, George Monck.
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Monck was born in 1608 at Potheridge, near Merton, into a somewhat impoverished old Devon landowning family. His early career from 1625 was as a professional soldier in the English army, later joining the Dutch army where he developed his military skills, rising to Lieutenant-Colonel. Following this he joined the English “Royal Army” as a Colonel to suppress the 1641 Irish Rebellion.
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During the English Civil war he initially supported and served in the Royalist Army but later switched his allegiance to the Cromwell’s Parliamentarians. His military experience of using artillery led to a commanding role in several naval battles where he was instrumental in introducing the “line-of-battle” tactic, permitting the use of “broadside” cannons. This proved successful and remained so right up to WW2.
His next engagement lasted five years as a military commander suppressing the Royalist rising in Scotland.
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Following the death of Oliver Cromwell and the resignation of his son, Richard Cromwell, Monck again switched allegiance and was instrumental in the Stuart Restoration of King Charles II in 1660, the same year that he became MP for Devon. As a reward for his role in restoring the monarchy he was given various appointments and honours, including Duke of Albermarle, Lord Lieutenant of Devon and Earl of Torrington. He was also granted various properties, land and a pension.
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Towards the end of his life Monck is renowned for his leading role in maintaining order during the Great Plague of London in 1665-66 and the Great Fire of London in 1666. By 1667 he had attained the position of Chief Minister of Great Britain, Lord High Treasurer, which he held for almost three years until his death in 1670. He was granted what is considered by some as effectively a state funeral at the king’s expense, an honour usually reserved for monarchs and a few highly distinguished individuals. His burial was at Westminster Abbey, where a monument to him stands in memoriam.
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To summarise, Jonathan showed us how from a modest start to life Monck had an illustrious career in the military, parliament, civil administration and close support of the monarchy.
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April 2022. “What did you do in the War daddy?”. Stories behind Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstones in North Devon burial grounds. Trevor Wilson.
Trevor gave us a most interesting talk following his extensive research into the memorials and graves of local men who died as the result of war. The deaths were not all in battle or from wounds received; almost as many died died from illness such as cholera, dysentery etc. On screen we saw pictures of graves and names on memorials overseas; sadly some were just that, for their bodies were never found. We heard of two local families who lost three sons; the Shorts at Atherington and Blights at Filliegh, plus many other stories of the impact of war in a distant land on the lives and future of rural North Devon. Trevor said his research began with a chance enquiry about Herbert Way’s grave at Warkleigh. We were fortunate to share the information he had gathered - a thought provoking study of the effects of war on ordinary people.
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