September 2024. History of Torridge Vale Dairy. Antony Jeffries.
Antony gave a most interesting talk about the dairy's history to a large audience including ex-workers from the dairy.
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Robert Sandford founded the Butter Factory at The bottom of Mill Street in 1874, benefiting from new rail links to London and other cities. Robert wanted to form a farmer’s co- operative but ran the business on his own until 1922, when he was joined by William Stacey of Sutcombe. Robert died in 1927. By 1931 almost 8,500 litres of milk was being collected daily from about 50 farms.
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A partnership with Cow & Gate and the setting up of the Milk Marketing Board in 1933 gave farmers a guaranteed minimum price for milk leading to an increase to almost 48,000 litres by WW2. The dairy was the subject of a debate in Parliament in 1939 when thousands of gallons of milk were wasted daily because of a worker's strike for higher wages.
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By 1952 significant post-war expansion enabled the dairy to handle 273,000 litres a day, the milk being collected in 10-gallon churns, often from raised milk stands at the end of farm lanes. In 1959 Cow & Gate and United Dairies merged and the dairy become a Unigate dairy. The Beeching railway cuts and the introduction of road tankers in the early 1970s meant that churns were phased out. The Barnstaple to Halwill section was closed to passengers but part was retained for milk traffic until 1978.
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The 1980 rebuilding under the new ownership of Dairy Crest made the dairy one of the most modern in the country, producing butter, skimmed milk powder, milk based desserts and Clover butter. However, EEC milk quotas introduced in 1984 and the creation of butter and milk “mountains”due to encouragement of farmers to come out of milk production led to the sad closure of the dairy on 30th March 1993 with a loss of 134 jobs. Darlington Crystal purchased the main site in 1994, but it has been an eyesore for many years and a target for vandals and antisocial activities. A sad ending for the Torrington flagship dairy, producing Rose of Torridge butter and many other milk-based foods enjoyed nation and world-wide.
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October 2024. Photos in wartime. Marion Pollinger.
Marion took us back to WW2 with a presentation of her grandfather's experiences in a German prisoner of war camp, known as a Stalag. Her grandfather, a Staff Sergeant in REME (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers), was among the last of the 1940 Dunkirk evacuees. Later he served in North Africa and eventually was captured by the Germans in Crete in 1941.
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He was transferred to Stalag 383 in Bavaria which held 7-8,000 prisoners. Although not as brutal as some camps, life was still difficult. Fourteen men shared a hut 30 x 14ft and daily rations consisted of a slice of black bread, a pat of margarine, a few small potatoes, watery soup, a portion of cheese and twigs for brewing tea. Fortunately this was supplemented by much needed Red Cross food parcels. Despite these privations the prisoners were able to pursue leisure activities such as physical exercise, a thriving drama group staging many impressive plays and musicals, a library and gardening. A watch repair workshop run by the prisoners also served as a cover for the manufacture of compasses and forging of passports and identification papers provided for escapees!
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Marion’s grandfather concentrated his leisure time on successfully studying through Red Cross channels for a City & Guilds qualification in the mechanics of motor vehicles, later giving classes in the subject to his fellow prisoners. Following desperately cold conditions in the harsh 1944 winter the camp was liberated by the US Army in April 1945.
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Marion illustrated his life in the camp with many official and unofficial photos and a wonderfully preserved archive of his letters, official documents and other memorabilia. He didn't speak of his war experience until later in life when he was gently persuaded by his family. They encouraged him to orally record his time in the camp and we were treated to listening to excerpts in his own voice. His C&G qualification helped him to eventually run a well-known Jaguar dealership in Bexley Heath, so it can be said his four years of imprisonment were not entirely wasted! He lived to the ripe old age of 91 with 11 great, great grandchildren to his credit. Thanks also go to Marion's sister who supported and added to the presentation.
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November 2024. A walk through time. Denise Holton.
Denise, a local historian and author, gave a very interesting talk on the history of Barnstaple from the early Saxon period to the present day, illustrated with photographs of buildings and artifacts from each period.
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The ancient town of Barnstaple was established by the 10th century and was one of King Alfred’s burghs, which brought the town prestige and authority to mint coins for the king. A motte and bailey castle was built in the 11th century, evidence of which can still be seen on Castle Green by the library. By the medieval period the town had become wealthy, mainly due to the wool trade, and continued to expand throughout the 16th century. However, during the English Civil War Barnstaple changed hands four times, and suffered greatly as a result. It wasn’t until the late Georgian period that its fortunes recovered, leading to great expansion and population growth in the Victorian age. Today Barnstaple retains its place as the capital town of North Devon.