Dear Mr & Mrs Alford, I went into our local information office and saw a brochure for Ilfracombe, so picked it up, and was surprised to see a picture of Langleigh Park House.
Have you been watching the 1940's house on television on Thursday evenings? - it brought back lots of memories of the war years and Langleigh Park House, as that is where I was evacuated aged nine, I think it was 1940. Mrs. Lewis rented L.P. House with the option of purchase within 5 years - she worked hard with taking in paying guests in summer, as well as having 12 children evacuees dumped on her. Some of the children soon went home to Bristol or London but me and my sisters Lily 7 and Joan 5 and a couple of boys stayed till the end of war.
There was no electricity at LPH in those days, and no gas upstairs. We had gas lamps in a few downstairs rooms and Mrs. Lewis cooked in a big black range. There was only one bathroom and 2 or 3 toilets. Everyone had candles in bedrooms and she used to tuck us in - say prayers, and take candle away for fear of fire. I used to be very frightened of the big dark cold house. There was a fanlight at top of stairs covered in the blackout material. We had no air raids, but could see fires burning across other side of Bristol Channel - Cardiff docks perhaps - often saw convoys of warships. The paying visitors would ask if there would be any air raids, and were so relieved to think they would be safe and have a good night's sleep. They didn't mind the roof leaking and catching drips in buckets and sometimes a patch of lathe and plaster ceiling would drop down, and Mrs. L. would patch it up with plaster. Sometimes a builder would go on flat roof and pour hot black tar.
On Saturday mornings we children would have to help clean bedrooms with dustpan and brush and change sheets (Slade laundry van came) and lay tables for visitors meals and wash up and peel potatoes and Mrs. L. dealt with the ration book coupons.
Not many tradespeople would deliver up that bumpy pot-hole unmade road, so Mrs. L. went to town - got her shopping and had a taxi up the hill. Coal was delivered, and the milk came from Mr. & Mrs. Baker's farm at Langleigh Farm. He came up with milk churns on a pony and trap, and Mr. Baker wore leather gaiters. We always gave the pony a carrot for his effort of coming up the hill - the milk was ladled out into large bowls and kept in pantry. It often had cows' hairs in it. Mr. Baker kept his cows in the field leading up to Lee Downs and us kids used to help him bring the cows in for hand milking. He also kept chickens and guinea fowl which wandered all over the road.
Mrs. L. kept 2 pigs and lots of chickens and ducks in the large garage just down the drive, the little lane was tall and scented with mauve lilac bushes. Sometimes she would have a pig killed and the other one taken away. We had to rub all the cut up joints of pork with block salt and hang in pantry. Sometimes it would go black, but we never had any tummy upsets. It was all natural food. Occasionally one of the hens would go missing and sit on her eggs and come up the drive with a brood of baby chicks.
Another job us children had to do was go up on the hill at the back, and gather brown dead bracken for the pigs' bedding and shovel out the old bedding for manure on the large veg. garden. Once the septic tank was emptied on to garden - sure was organic! There was a lovely big mulberry tree and I have never tasted such luscious fruit as mulberry pie. We spread old cloth under and climbed up and shook the fruit off, also there were raspberries, blackcurrants and gooseberries and plums and apples. Old Charlie Phillips came to dig the garden.
There were several Scotts pine trees down the drive and a bay leaf tree. The front sloping garden was wild with nettles. Owls used to hoot in the trees and it was beautiful in the moonlight.
Newspaper was delivered to farm and Mrs. Baker would read it first, and I would call and get it on my walk home from school. We had no radio as the accumulators were too heavy to carry up the hill. The only music was a wind-up gramophone. Christmas was nice with a Xmas tree but no lights. The parents of the children used to come and visit and bring presents. They always went back with eggs and veg. There was a big central pole in the dining room and we were forbidden to swing around on it for fear of bringing the ceiling down, but we used to love to slide down the bannisters. During "dishing up" time 6.00 p.m. food for the paying guests, we kids were banished to No.9 bedroom where we slept. This was a dark cold room at back of house and had the hill, so not much sun. There was a glass canopy which covered the coal beneath and we had an idea to open window and walk along wood slats to get on to the hill, but Lily fell right through, and me one leg stuck, and Joan still on window ledge. Mrs. L. had to rush and tear up sheets to bandage us and was very cross. No taking to doctor's in those days. All healed up well with Vaseline.
Often Mrs. L. was cross with paying guests when they ran the bath water and we had no hot water for washing up. Bath had to be booked in advance and cost 1/- one shilling. There was a private reservoir up on the hill and man testing it said it was the purest water.
Mr. and Mrs. Pawsey lived at Langleigh Manor and used to mow the sloping lawn with grass cutter tied with rope and let it roll down. Mr. and Mrs. Pawsey had a pet chicken called "Amy" and when they went away once, asked if we would look after it, but our chickens and cockerel pestered it, so we kept it for a week in No.11 bedroom. If I remember rightly there were 12 bedrooms upstairs and a couple of rooms downstairs used as bedrooms and two front rooms and a big dining room and little back staff staircase. The chicken and pig food was boiled in a large galvanised bucket on the range and it stank.
Mr. and Mrs. Young, an ex naval man, lived at "The Halliards" - no car so they walked everywhere.
On Victory Day, May
8th 1945 everyone was so excited. We tried to climb the flagpole
at front of house to hoist a home-made flag but couldn't climb
up. We all rushed down sea-front and there was singing and dancing
in the old iron bandstand, by Wildersmouth Beach.I hear Ilfracombe built a new modern Pavilion, I hope it is successful.
Upon reading the advert for Langleigh Park House in the holiday brochure it sounds very modern and nice. I would not want to visit Ilfracombe again - too many memories I prefer to remember it as it was in 1940's.
I hope you have enjoyed reading this account of the war days. We were lucky to have spent such a happy healthy, carefree childhood away from the bombs.
It is very cold here at Oswestry so I am by the fire writing this for something to do, I have been married for 40 years and have two grown up children. Lily and Joan went back to Islington after war and they both married and are now grandma's.
Kind regards,
from Mrs. Cullimore