Ipplepen Village Pump
Village pump. Date 1868. Cast iron. Octagonal casing with plain … ❯ VIEW MORE
Roman settlement in Ipplepen
In 2010 the University of Exeter, the British Museum and … ❯ VIEW MORE
Ipplepen World War two – VE day Celebrations
VE Day Celebrations Numerous commemorative activities had been planned across … ❯ VIEW MORE
Italian Garden at Great Ambrook
Exploring the Italian Garden The garden that was designed and … ❯ VIEW MORE
Ipplepen History Group News
Wednesday 15th July 2020
August 2020 Newsletter
Lanterns Procession
It is still warm and sunny outside so why am I starting with this theme? Well the reality is that if you are planning events you must start early. This would be true in any year but of course this year is not a normal year by any stretch of the imagination. We are currently in discussion as to whether to go ahead with the Procession at all this year. Were we to go ahead it would have to be a pared down version with no meeting up in the Church afterwards and no lantern making sessions in the Hub. We have been encouraged by the determination of the Carnival committee to put on something to cheer people up and we will let you know by next month what we have decided to do.
Water water everywhere…
It is almost always the case that any human settlement, however small, will be close to a water supply. At first glanc
Wednesday 01st July 2020
July Newsletter
AGM
Like other organisations our AGM which was scheduled for July is having to be conducted online. Normally at these meetings I start setting out our plans for future events. Whilst accepting that nothing can be set in stone at present, we have decided to make our plans anyway and have provisionally booked Todd Gray for October this year, Alex Graeme for February next year and Colin Vosper for July 2021. We will see how this turns out, but it feels better to aim for normality.
Reg Honeywill
If you are familiar with my monthly musings in these pages you will be aware that I regularly cite Reg Honeywill as one of my sources. Reg was a very keen local historian and a wonderful chronicler of Ipplepen life. We have some of his beautifully handwritten notes and I have often been impressed by how accurate he was – for example he would
Thursday 14th May 2020
June Newsletter
The Village Pump: William Field
From time to time I get asked about the origins of our village pump in Fore Street and William Field to whom it is dedicated.
At the time of his death in 1868 William Field had not spent that much time in Ipplepen. His home was Barton House on Edgelands Lane which was still not quite complete. The six-acre estate there included a quarry and it is this which would have excited his interest in our area.
Field was a Londoner and was described as a builder and a master marble mason. By the 1850s he was at the top of his game and was known as a building contractor as well as a marble mason. He worked with Sir Charles Barry and Edward Barry on the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster. His company also worked on the Albert Memorial Chapel at Windsor.
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Thursday 14th May 2020
May Newsletter
IPPLEPEN IN WORLD WAR TWO
We were scheduled to have our VE day Celebrations this month. VE day stands for Victory in Europe and since this year marks the 75th anniversary of the event the government had moved the early May Day Bank Holiday to Friday May 8th. Numerous commemorative activities had been planned across the country and in Ipplepen a whole day of celebrations had been organised for the Friday Bank Holiday to bring the village together for some fun activities in the village hall and in the park. Unfortunately, due to the Coronavirus epidemic the Parish Council has decided to postpone the VE day celebrations.
The Local History Group had been planning to have an archive display in the Hall using some of our photos from wartime. Since we are unable to do this at the present time, we thought it might be appropriate to s
Thursday 14th May 2020
April Newsletter
Talk at Village Hall
We were delighted to welcome the Reverend Nicholas Pearkes to Ipplepen at the end of February. In front of a good audience the Reverend Pearkes entertained and informed us with his customary good humour. Unusually we were granted two talks for the price of one. His first theme was the largely forgotten cottage boot making industries that thrived in both Ipplepen and Broadhempston in the mid to late nineteenth century. These leather making skills had been passed down through generations in agricultural areas such as our own but as Nicholas pointed out the industry received a boost when it became apparent that there was a great demand in Newfoundland for boots suitable for fishermen working in the thriving cod fisheries off the coast of Canada. So many young men from South Devon had emigrated to make their living there that families were keen
Thursday 14th May 2020
March Newsletter
Local Talks and Events
We are a thriving Local History Group putting on talks and events for Ipplepen as well as promoting the village through our website and social media platforms such as Facebook.
We are, of course, far from alone in our endeavours. There are active local history groups in nearly all the neighbouring towns and villages. I thought it might be useful to give you a flavour of some of the up and coming events and conferences in the local area. If any of them catch your fancy, then why not go along and you might just find that the Ipplepen Local History Group is not the only one that is trying to make the study of the past lively and engaging.
TUESDAY MARCH 3rd
Torquay Museum 10.45 – 12noon – BBC wildlife producer Andrew Cooper explores making a tribute programme of the famous author Ge