CD2

(51 mins)
 

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HOUSEWORK / MATERNAL GRANDPARENTS / GRANNY / EVENING PASTIMES / GRANDMOTHER'S FLOWERS

EC liked the satisfaction of housework and decorating, papering and painting. They always seemed to be busy. They had big lawns and hedges to clip. She'd do them. It wasn't unusual for her to be doing it. Her grandmother was still there then. The bottom bit was sloping, but if it got long her grandmother would do it with the scythe, and sharpen it.

Her 2 sets of grandparents got on very well. Everyone seemed to get on. Relatives lived near, with their children, so it was happy families.

The grandparents who lived next door weren't musical. Grandmother didn't enjoy it as much as grandfather. She liked her radio. In the evenings, when the farm workmen had finished and everyone was indoors, Granny would be the first one to fix up the darts board. Then failing sight spoilt it for her. She was 96 when she died and very nearly blind by then. She had been a remarkable woman.

In the evenings they played cards and read. EC and her granny and mother would knit. They read books from the library, which used to be in the school. They listened to the radio, played cards, knitted, played darts, or any other games. She knitted jumpers, pullovers, socks, for themselves. She used to take a pride in knitting things.

The flowers that her grandmother grew were just for enjoyment in the garden. She raised most of them from seed. People admired them. If any fresh [new] flower came out she would always be wanting it. The same with gadgets, even though she didn't do much housework. She was an old lady, but never old-fashioned. [Back to top]
 

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PARENTS' MOVE TO SOUTH MOLTON / POST-WAR CHANGES / RECREATION / GYMKHANAS / MEETING HUSBAND FRED / YOUNG FARMERS CLUB

Her grandfather died at the end of 1953. They left Fyldon 4 years after that. Her mother was in failing health so Dad sold Fyldon and bought a smaller place in South Molton. Her grandmother didn't mind. By then the garden was too much for her and she couldn't see so well. The garden wasn't quite as big as where EC lives now (the Old Rectory), but there were more flower beds. [short break in recording]

Things were beginning to change at the end of the war, tractors were beginning to do the work. She was getting older, going out more. She would go to dances and belonged to the Young Farmers Club. She had days out with the young farmers, competitions and things, in South Molton. Then they had gymkhanas, after the war. They did have them when the war was on, to raise money for the Red Cross. They were held at Sandyway, Blackmoor Gate, Anstey, Molland. She likes watching horses, but that's her limit. She never enjoyed riding.

She met her husband at a gymkhana [tells story]. Gymkhanas were a summer event, and there were dances and whist drives in the winter. They do the same sort of thing in gymkhanas now, but there was more galloping then, and more ordinary horses.

The YFC competitions would be cookery and needlework for the girls; the boys were rope making, stock judging, sheep shearing. Some girls did shearing. She never did that job, her excuse was she was too short to manage the sheep. You had to be fairly strong, with long arms. [Back to top]
 

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YOUNG FARMERS CLUB SOCIAL LIFE / DRIVING / GETTING MARRIED / HUSBAND'S ACCIDENT / MOVING TO WITHYPOOL / LYNMOUTH FLOOD

The social life of the YFC was dances, quizzes, the same as now. Though it was proper bands then, not discos. When the war was on they hired a car and picked up a group. Sometimes she rode a bike.

Her husband [to be] did the same social things. She was 18 or 19 then. She passed her driving test soon after. She drove her parents car. They married in 1954, at North Molton. He came from Withypool. They moved to Withypool, to Westwater. They had only been married a fortnight when he nearly cut his thumb off with a circular saw. He had 5 weeks in Frenchay hospital in Bristol.

She's not very good at moving, she likes things as they are. She didn't like Withypool to begin with, but soon settled in.

She was at Heasley Mill at the time of the Lynmouth flood. They weren't aware of it at all. There was supposed to be a gymkhana in Withypool that day. Her father took her to Sandyway to meet her boyfriend [as he was then], who told them what had happened. They just did not know. They'd heard a little bit about it on the radio, but they didn't know the extent of it. She stayed out at Withypool with him [his family] and the next day they walked to Tarr Steps and up the valley. Then went and saw the devastation in Dulverton. All her family knew was that it was very dark that evening. It didn't affect Heasley Mill at all. Her husband was Fred Clatworthy. [Back to top]
 

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WEDDING / WESTWATER / FRED'S PARENTS / DAUGHTERS' EDUCATION / WITHYPOOL CHANGES / FOOT AND MOUTH / HOLIDAY HOUSES

When she got married they had had a bad summer, so they had a marquee on the lawn. But it was a glorious day. They picked the one sunny day. She had 2 bridesmaids. There honeymoon was 10 days, part in Torquay and then, for the last 3 days, with her uncle and aunt in Saltash, near Plymouth.

When she moved to Withypool they went in with Fred's parents, at Westwater, until the following March, so she didn't really have any of her own possessions until then. That was when he cut his thumb, which was why she was able to stay in Bristol with him. They stayed at Westwater until his father died, in March, and then they took over the farm and his mother stayed with them. There was someone working with them then. They were married in September 1954, Rosemary was born September 1955 and Susan May 1957.

Withypool has altered somewhat. The girls went to school there, but that's closed. Rosemary went to Withypool infant school, then to Dulverton. Susan to Withypool, then Dulverton and then on to Minehead. They started going to Minehead then. The chapel closed too. She thinks there used to be 3 shops and 2 lots of petrol pumps. Now there is one shop and one lot of petrol pumps. There used to be a shop down the other end of the village, selling wool and all sorts, and there were 2 other shops. Now it's just the post office and village shop. The shop is catching a packet at the moment because of foot and mouth now. She hopes it won't continue much longer. The village is very quiet. It's serious, you usually see people going off walking. It's very sad.

There are a lot of holiday houses now, in the village, which won't help the shop. Few locals own property in the village now. It is bad for the church, the village hall and everything. It's a job to keep things going, or to get people to run it. If you take on a job in the village you know you've got it for a very long time. [Back to top]
 

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CHURCH WARDEN / VILLAGE HALL COMMITTEE / WITHYPOOL FAMILIES / CLATWORTHY FAMILY / BAWDENS / HAWKRIDGE AND WITHYPOOL

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She is a church warden. She took it on as an emergency, 22 years ago. She has been on the village hall committee for several years, and is in her 24^th year as treasurer. They have a flower show and fete every year, and a whist drive at Christmas. They're painting the kitchen next week.

They have had a new village hall built since she's been there. The kitchen was renovated 4 or 5 years ago. Now the cutlery and china is going missing. The hall is funded by the flower show etc, and hiring it out. They fund raised for the new kitchen. The hall is not being hired out so much now because of foot and mouth.

In the time she's been on the committee there are some younger members coming on, but there are some there nearly as ancient as her. But it's not changed a lot. It still seems to be the same families, with a few helpful newcomers. There are about 4 families that have been there for a very long time: Williams, Scoins, Blackmore, Clatworthy. 

John Blackmore's sister [he is a fellow contributor to the archive] was the last one in his family to run the shop.

The Clatworthy family is a local family. Fred was born at Westwater, 78 years ago. His mother was a Bawden. Her family lived at Cloggs. There have been Bawdens up there for 2 or 3 generations, and they used to live at Parsonage as well. Fred's family were quite involved with village things. He had 2 sisters. Being at Westwater, they were between Hawkridge and Withypool, so their loyalties were a bit divided. the advantage was that they could go to both things. Although she now lives in Withypool, Hawkridge always include her in things. Her daughter and son-in-law are at Westwater now and she is still involved in things at Hawkridge. It's better to do both. [Back to top]
 

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WESTWATER FARMING / DAUGHTERS / BUYING OLD VICARAGE / FRED'S HEALTH / HORSES AND HUNTING / NATIONAL PARK / BLUEBELL WOODS / APPRECIATING THE COUNTRY

Farming Westwater then was different to how it is now. They don't over-stock it now, compared to a lot, but they keep a lot more stock. But it is the same style of farming. They keep single suckler calves, Exmoor Horn sheep. They [when she was farming] were nearly all Exmoor Horn sheep, with just a few Border Leicesters. They used to sow corn, but that got out of date, and grow mangels. But the deer would eat them. They'd sow a field of swedes, then the frost would get them, or the deer eat them. So they stopped that and have never gone back to it. But it's more or less the same sort of farming as they're doing now.

They had a man living in, until Rosemary left school, and then managed with casual labour and their own help. Then when Susan left school Rosemary, who wasn't really too keen on farm work, went elsewhere working. They [EC and Fred] left Westwater in 1981, when Susan got married. The Old Vicarage [where she is now] was for sale . She didn't want to leave. They bought the Old Vicarage. Susan and Keith got married and stayed at Westwater [describes process of Susan and Keith taking over]. She and Fred settled down at the Old Vicarage and he loved every minute of it.

The Old Vicarage was built when Fred was 5, he'd be 78 now [she says 58]. It was built for a rectory, because the rectory used to be at Tarr Steps Hotel. It was unusual for it to be a bungalow, it puts people off, to start with. [describes ownership of fields around]. It's worked out very well. Fred's health was poor when they moved, which was why they got out.

They kept horses at Westwater, but she still kept away from them. Fred liked his hunting, and she enjoyed going out in the landrover.

She doesn't think being in a national park has made any difference to her. There are more people around, well normally there are. The end of May is her favourite time for walking around the fields. The woods are so beautiful with the bluebells. [This year] she thought it was a shame other people couldn't see it. It's nice to see people walking around, appreciating the country. [short break in recording] [Back to top]
 

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REFLECTIONS / INTERESTS NOW / EXFORD MOORHENS / CHURCH SOCIABILITY / GRANDCHILDREN / VICAR / CHURCH ATTENDANCE / ROYAL OAK PUB / BARNSTAPLE PANNIER MARKET

The visitors she is cooking supper for are friends, down from Wiltshire, she doesn't take in visitors, and didn't at Westwater. The house didn't lend itself to that.

Looking back, no particular image comes to mind as being memorable. She thinks she can smugly say she hasn't had a lot to complain about. She knows she had a lot of worry when her husband was ill, but there is nothing that stands out really. She hasn't too many complaints.

[BJ asks what her other interests are now, apart from the village hall committee and being church warden] She goes to the Moorhens at Exford. They are a group of ladies. It is quite fun. They have a speaker, a cup of tea or coffee and a biscuit. It leads on to other things. She enjoys going to that. And one thing leads to another. You go to church on Sunday, but then there are other things to do as well. Such as various meetings, and things to go to. And she has 4 grandchildren to keep her occupied, or entertained.

Their vicar is Robin Ray, from Exford. He does 4 parishes. Exford, Withypool, Simonsbath and Hawkridge. They get a service every Sunday, so she thinks they've got a lot to be thankful for. Church attendance averages around 15. They do very well. When she first went to Withypool it wasn't any more than that, on a regular basis, but they used to get more summer visitors.

She thinks the pub [the Royal Oak] has only served food for about 10 years, that is real meals rather than bar snacks. It did have a marvellous name, for food. But again, this year, with foot and mouth there aren't so many people around anyway.

When she goes shopping, for anything big she goes to Barnstaple. She prefers Barnstaple. She gets a bit in the village shop, and in Dulverton. Barnstaple is better than Taunton. If she goes on Tuesday or Friday she goes to the pannier market. The pannier market now has more rubbishy stuff. Back in the early days, her grandmother (the gardening grandmother) used to go there, from Longstone Wells. She had a stall selling EC's mother's things, and for her other aunty, like butter and cream. When they bought butter, it was later on. Barnstaple market is fascinating to see.

[END OF RECORDING] [Back to top]