Recorded 6^th February 2025

MARION WESTAWAY (nee BOND)

Marion talks to Paul Watts about growing up in Shebbear

Marion: I used to stay in Shebbear as a little tiny tot about two and a half or three. It was, you know, my grandparents and Shebbear, you know means quite a bit really. There’s something about Shebbear that I’ll never forget, and we used to my sister and I, Christine we used to play in the garden in the summer, we used to have lovely times, really lovely garden. Then I was incensed to see a house put there. Yes, it didn’t look right. We played so many times, so many days, hours in that garden, it was absolutely something I won’t forget.

Paul: So, was this in the pub that you stayed?

Marion: Yes, the pub garden. I mean in those days it seemed to be we had more sun, it was warm. We used to at the end where there was to a seat all along, we used to sit and read our books and play with whatever we played with. Yes, it was really, really a lovely, lovely time. I’ll never forget it and our grandma, yes, I mean, she was very kind.

Paul: So, Grandma. Can you remind me of her name.

Marion: Sorry. Carrie. Carrie Ayre.

Paul: Yeah, Carrie she married Alf, and they ran the pub.

Marion: Yes, and mum was born there.

Paul: And your mum was actually born in the pub?

Marion: Yeah so, I was told. Yes, and which is sad in a way. I mean, they were really good parents. Very strict grandma was, but her own mother grandma Bond. She was a little bit more relaxed because she had more children, you know, she had what 8 altogether and Mum used to go and I feel quite sad to think she was brought up away from her brothers and sisters, even though she used to go back on holiday. Yes, but she was very happy in Shebbear. She had friends but a completely different life you know, they were more strict.

Now this is a silly thing to say I can remember the pub didn’t open on a Sunday in those days when I was tot, I used to be going there to stay quite often because my mum for some reason or other was going, always going to Halwill Hospital for some reason. I can remember Sunday mornings, this is what sticks in my mind as a child,

I used to have a single bed in their bedroom and it used to run along the back of the house the whole length of the house seemed to be back bedroom and grandad used to get up early, maybe 8.00am. I’m not quite sure and he used to go down and get breakfast and we used to have the loveliest thin bread and butter. Best breakfast that you have ever tasted, and I have never forgotten and used to get the butter I remember walking up there with someone who used to work there. There’s somebody at the top of the hill and you turn up right and go the lane. Somebody called Cecil. Somebody used to live there, and we used to go and get butter. Cream cups, that was the days of long, long time ago.

Paul: So that that was up the up the top of Hay Cross Hill, right?

Marion: Yes, and you turned right. There’s a little lane going up and somebody I think, I don’t know what they was called Cecil Hocking or not? I’m not sure about cream, but we always had lovely butter overnight butter was really, really good. Even nowadays I can remember that.

Paul: Did you say that you used to get the milk from the Church Farm next door?

Marion: No, I didn’t say that, but we probably did. People called Ackland, I think used to live there.

Paul: Yes, Walter Ackland?

Marion: Yes, that’s right yeah and I would imagine milk, I would imagine that’s where they it got from.

Paul: Right so did the pub used to let out rooms?

Marion: Wait a minute. I don’t know if they did in my day. Umm, probably they did, but I can’t. I don’t think so. I think when Lottie Marshall was there, she might have started that.

But I can’t remember ever anybody staying there when I was around.

I may be wrong. But I would think if they would be their weekends, and I would think Grandma would be up and about getting their breakfast instead of grandad. Did they do that years ago?

Paul: It used to be a Coaching Inn and people used to stay there and take their horses in there. So perhaps it just wasn’t something that Alf and Carrie did.

Marion: I don’t think so. No, even though I was small, I think I would remember that. In the very fact that grandad used to bring up our breakfast, I think Grandma would have been down getting their breakfast.

I don’t know if anybody there may know different. I don’t know how many people are left in Shebbear, the elderly. I was thinking last night I couldn’t sleep, and I was thinking about Shebbear and the people because my sister, we used to deliver meat there. You see my father was the butcher from the village up there.

Paul: You lived in Bradford?

Marion: Yes, my grandfather started the business, and my dad took it over. Not happy, he didn’t want to take it over, but he had to and then the chappy that used to work for us used to court a lady in the New Inn pub (Now the Devil’s Stone Inn) and they wanted to get married. No house around so he left, and Christine and I took over. Well, we didn’t take over the business, but we took his place. I didn’t like it, but Christine did. I used to help and all that jazz. Then Christine and Norman. Christine and Norman did a little business. That’s why she’s so fond of Shebbear and knows so many people, but I can remember all the old people, you know, people come just going along to Shebbear College around the corner. But there’s so many more it’s a completely different place, like a little town.

I expect people that I used to know when I was a child. Like me, they’re all grown up and gone I expect. It was a nice place to be, and you always think of it as a sunny, sunny place. No rain all sunshine. People are happy, children going around the square, I can remember a girl Amelia, we were friendly, but then she moved to Thornbury and married a Bond. Amelia, her father, was butcher Arnold, Amelia Arnold, and they used to live opposite Endsley do they still call that Endsley.

Paul: Endford.

Marion: Endford. Yeah, Endford. That’s right. Yes. People, Lord Griffin. Griffin was a big name in Shebbear.

Paul: Butcher Arnold lived in Endford House, and the Griffin family lived at Highfield House at the top of the hill.

Marion: They did. Yeah, you’re right.

Paul: You called Hay Cross Hill, Griffin Hill.

Marion: Yes, the Griffins lived there then, so we called it Griffin Hill.

Joan and Julia, Julia Goaman she lived Sheepwash then. Lovely girl she was. And the father Alfred used to live a bit further on towards New Inn and there used to be George Pett who lived up the top of the hill going towards Newton St Petrock would be, you go down the hill, Pitt hill, go down Pit hill and up. Up over and used to be George Pett, he lived there with his family? I could see it from the village.

Paul: I only drive through that area.

So, you were saying that you befriended an evacuee?

Marion: I did, Joy Pittington. She’s a lovely girl she was, my sister’s 15 months younger than me and she was in the middle of us and yeah, I can remember that. Bless her, and you know what carefree days that was for us. That war never bothered us at all. I mean, those children came down and we had a lovely time because they knew so much more than we did and they could talk about their lives in London and what they used to do and all that jazz, and we could talk too about our lives, and she’d never seen hens. We took her up and showed her hens and the chickens and she picked up a egg. “Could I eat this?”  “Yes, you can”, so she had an egg for tea or breakfast. She was a lovely girl.

I got on a little bit better with her than Christine, unfortunately her mother came down with two little children and stayed in the cottage as they used to be just a little bit below the village and there’s a fence now where they used to be. Her mum decided to take them home because the bombing stopped, and she thought it was safe to take them home. Bad decision on the first night they were there, the Germans bombed Wandsworth. That’s where she lived, and that was it. So so sad.

When, you know, if she could have stayed that bit longer. But no, she was lovely. They were lovely children. I mean all of them we never used to fall out, we had lovely times.

When the war was over some (evacuees) stayed and yet this was horrifying.

Megan Davis was evacuated (with two other sisters), and she was only four good Lord. Four and Gwendoline was my age 9 and her sister was a bit older.

The children (were collected from) Dunsland Cross, I suppose, and then ferries the bus up to the primary school and people came around to see how many spare bedrooms you got and all that jazz, so Mum went up to collect our evacuee Joy and this lady were there hadn’t got any car or anything like that and she went around and looked around them and said oh, I’ll have these 3 maids but poor little girl had never heard of maids before. So, the lady in charge took them back (to their temporary) home and the gentleman was sitting in front the coal fireplace but it’s all black and horrible, no fire and she took the children into the sitting room and showed them around and told them there was no lights, no electric, nothing course they hadn’t been used to that.

They had been in a flat. Where you know electric, fresh fruit, good food and took a long time, anyway, I couldn’t believe it  really even now I think this horrifying. So they went to school when they came home from school, they had to take off clothes and put play clothes on and Megan had to sit with the chickens and look after them to keep away the rats. Gwendolyn, the next one, she had to go round, picking up logs for the fire and Linda of all things, had to empty the toilet.

The food was not nice, very poor, lot of pasties, her father used to come and see them every so often and they’d be taken into the living room, and he would bring sugar and butter things for the girls, they never saw it. She never left them alone with their father. They were probably afraid of what they were going to say, but it was not nice at all, and they used to have to write to mum and that was all censored to make sure they didn’t put anything on the letter that they shouldn’t do or would upset Mum.

The mother never came down, eventually, people must have heard, whatever they were taken away and put on the farm right opposite us up the hill there, Lashbrook where there was Mr and Mrs Sluggett and only Gwendolyn, and Megan went there.  Linda went off somewhere for little children Oh, Megan, said to Mrs Sluggett I’m sorry, but I wet the bed. So, Mrs Sluggett said that’s alright, dear we can sort that out, can we do any chores for you, Mrs Sluggett? No, no, no. You go and find your way around I’m going to milk the cows or whatever and we’ll have tea, and we will see you will have chops then, so that happened and from that day on, Megan never wet the bed, happy as Larry.

I was absolutely shocked. Even though I got my children grown up to think you know, children from London away from home and this little girl at 4 was treated so badly and she used to go to bed before the other girls frightened to death because of the rats running around. That’s why she wet the bed I expect. But she was kind of stuck up there.

They never came back, never saw them afterwards. But some did come back but some you know finished their education and came back.  There was chappy called Eric Taylor and he was up at Lashbrook the neighbours, he had a good home, and he came back and worked on a farm at Newton St Petrock, he married their daughter.

Paul: Worked out well for him.

Marion: Yeah, but it was really, you know, because we had more children to play with. I mean, the war didn’t really bother us. I mean, you could hear Germans planes used to go past, and they’d make a funny noise urghh urghh. But whereas ours were smoother and they dropped the bomb at Buckland Filleigh I remember. Lighten the loads I guess. Everybody seemed to get on and for us children it was a happy time with all the other children to play with and nobody was upset. They were happy. The children seemed happy. You know, we met some really nice children.

Paul: I would imagine that there was quite a few of them as well.

Marion: Lashbrook the Sluggetts had the two girls, and the people called Ray the other side had three boys and at Dipper Mill just as you come off the bridge the cottage on the left and they had, I think they had three boys and the sister of one of them was up near us. And you know, we enjoyed it, we missed her when she went back. And it’s so, so sad. Terrible to think the poor girl was gone the first night they got home. So, it was very, very, very sad. Sad times for people. Troubled times in London etcetera, but down here everything was just carefree it didn’t bother us we didn’t understand, and I can remember. Mum used to have asbestos shutters for the windows she put them up, fix them up outside the carpenter made them and she fixed them and inside the windows will be black horrible black curtains.

The older children, 11 upwards were schooled at the Methodist Sunday School. They brought their own teachers with them, there was a Miss Williams the Headmistress and Mrs Ball they were very nice teachers and pleasant.

Paul: So, which was the Methodist Sunday School?

Marion: Just down the bottom of the hill from the village, that’s where they used to go to Sunday school or for school. And they’re very nice teachers. I can see them now. Mrs Ball was lovely. Really, really good with children. And she stayed on. Now Miss English had a cottage she let that out, to the teachers Mrs Ball I think she took it.

Miss English had a companion, Miss Phillips and she’s her companion used to drive around, and she was like a little mouse, wouldn’t breathe a word. Then she came to retirement. I remember years ago, they used to have a butter basket once a year and Miss English used to bring grapes. Every child had a bunch of grapes. Anyway, Miss Phillips came to retire, and she wanted to stay because she hadn’t got anywhere to go. Her brother drowned in the war and that was it and Miss English said no, you’re not going to stay, this is sad too and she shot herself up there in the top bedroom.

Marion: There’s a ghost here, do you want to hear that story?

Paul: Yes, if you have got a ghost story.

Marion: I don’t know how long we had been here, and my husband is funny man. Funny hours. He used to start milking early in the morning, so he’d be gone about two o’clock – 3 o’clock and have a cup of tea before went out. Anyway, I heard these footsteps coming up the front stairs and I thought, oh, Ben’s forgotten something for sure and there was this man with a long beard, and he went away again, and I got used to him in the end. You know, he used to go a few times a week then, wherever we moved, you know, sometimes you decorate the bedroom and you move somewhere else, and we move to the back bedroom. But wherever I was, he seemed to find me, but fine, he was quiet he wasn’t scary or anything. But he’d always come up the front stairs, never went down the stairs and never come up these backstairs, but always up the front stairs and eventually then we took in guests and one lovely couple young couple came with two girls, and she said she went to bed after the children, and they left her husband reading the paper. Heard footsteps up the stairs and thought it was her husband that it wasn’t. It was the ghost, I’m sure. And we looked at each other and didn’t know to say anything or not.  She said don’t worry, she said, he’s quite friendly. He was friendly.

Paul: Have you have you not seen your ghost for a while?

Marion: No, my husband has visited me. But not the ghost.

Paul: I have never seen a ghost.

Marion: This one would stand by the fire side in the bedroom by the grate would be there and he’d stand by the side. I know this was after my husband died but I just thought it must be Miss English’s brother. Who could it be? Don’t know because she built this house, she was the first person to live here, and I presume when he was on leave or whatever he used to come and stay. Then he came here to live because he left the Navy and that’s what people say that he use to work here. Perhaps he came back to see if we were looking after the place I don’t know, He was fine. He was friendly. I’ve got used to him after a bit

Paul: You know that the Bible Christians have influenced Shebbear enormously over the years with lots of the buildings they’ve built. Where the Griffin family lived, that was built by them.

Marion: Was it?

Paul: Yes the Old Manse and Way House are you familiar with those? And there were several other buildings I think that they’ve built, particularly where the college is.

Marion: I can remember, yes.

Paul: What about transport? What buses were around years ago?

Marion: I can remember we used I’m thinking about the village, but then that affected Shebbear as well because it use to come from Shebbear then used to be to Stibb Cross. I think there are people called Hill they had buses and on Mondays we had a bus come through from Shebbear up through to the village to Exeter and on Wednesday to Exeter and Fridays, all would go up through. As Friday, so three days a week to Exeter so Wednesday, Wednesday, of course would be Holsworthy then Tuesdays I think it was Bideford. Bus would just come up and turn around and go back to Bideford.

Paul: Well, did many people get on the buses?

Marion: Yes, because there wasn’t the cars then and you know buses used to be quite full, yeah, as the cars came it dropped off. But yes, we had three days a week to Exeter, one to Bideford and one to Holsworthy. Then we could go into Bideford from Shebbear and I think we could get a bus then go on to Barnstaple if I remember rightly. Hills buses from, Stibb Cross used to come Shebbear and some people yeah and I think for a while after whether it was to do with the war.

We had to go from go to Shebbear to get a bus as they stopped coming to Bradford and we had to go to Shebbear everyone but that was Tuesday. I think Thursday was a quiet day. People have to stay home wash their floors. Yes, we had a bus every day but Thursday Saturdays. Don’t think there was anything on Saturday. But yes, weekday, everyday but Thursday.

Paul: I think. I think it still does. There is, there is still a bus that goes to Bideford and Monday rings a bell. I’ve never been on it, but I think Ron Ackland gets on it a lot. But do you know Ron? Ron Ackland, he lives in the house next to the pub. It would have been your old relatives that lived in the house Blights, Richard and Fanny Blight.  I’m trying to think of your how they related to you.

Marion: Blight?

Paul: Yeah. They were.  That was Carrie’s parents, I think.

Marion: Yeah cos she was a Blight.

Paul: Yeah.

Marion: I can remember seeing her father. He was Blight and there’s Blight’s used to live around the corner where the doctor surgery used to be, that’s the sad thing is no doctors in Shebbear it’s ridiculous. Yeah, there’s always a doctor’s house, and there’s people called Blight and Martin. There was an Ernest Martin. Was he a historian?

Paul: Yes.

Marion: Ernest Blight or Martin.

Paul: Ernest Martin wrote, wrote books.

Marion: But I think he was relative of mothers somehow.

Paul: Oh right, because when the village hall opened in 1954, there was a pageant on the green in the square, and he wrote that pageant.

Marion: Yeah. Oh really?

Paul: And there’s still a film of it.

Marion: He passed away, didn’t he?  Not very long ago.

Paul: That’s right.

Marion: I mean, we as children. Use to be fascinated as he wore plus fours everywhere, and we had never seen a gentleman plus fours.

Paul: Did he? Oh, I didn’t know that.

Marion: Yes, he use to wear plus fours silly things you remember that aren’t a of bit good, but yes, as children we used to be fascinated. Yes, Shebbear I mean was a very lively village years ago used to have lots of things doing and people were so friendly and happy and Edgar Moore the shoeman, the cobbler used to do our shoes up the road from you.

Paul: That’s what’s now called Lavender Cottage.

Marion: Really

Paul: Yeah.

Marion: I can remember. Years ago, other side of road to that.

Paul: That was the Blights they had the cycle shop.

Marion: And after that a lady, what was she called? Broad? And she had very small farm holding whatever used to have three or four cow and they were building this shippen was on from the house that I remember, and we had a thunderstorm, and they were killed the cows because they had chains around their necks.

Paul: Wow

Marion: Was frightening I think maybe one survived, but somebody will tell you if he was injured, yeah.

Paul: So, the cows were killed?

Marion: Yeah, because they were chained up.

Paul: So, where whereabouts was that?

Marion: Well, opposite there used to be, was Blights shoes, who did sweets and whatnot.

I remember buying sweets there, we would go in there in the morning going to Mr Moore and having our shoes fixed.

Paul: How long ago was that? Can you remember?

Marion: All that time ago it would be what’s, my son now 60. Oh gosh, so I was 34 when he was born.  Oh gosh it must be oh 40 something years ago would it be as long as that? Yeah, could be cos the children’s 40, 30 something years ago perhaps.

Paul: So it wasn’t that long ago.

Marion: No, Ian used to go to Shebbear so he is 60 now and when he was there, when he was 18 so that’s 42 years ago when he was 16, then so yeah. Must of been, yeah. Before the children were born. Great grandchildren. But yeah, she was nice little lady was there. Yeah, I can see her now but she didn’t seem to fit in there somehow in the school, of course Primary School. Do they still have fetes and garden shows there?

Paul: Well, there’s the Flower Show. That’s every 3rd week in July.

Marion: My husband won prizes with his cauliflowers. Yes, Shebbear was always a friendly little place, you know always nice little village and yeah, I think the square, I can remember people called Bridgman.

Paul: Yeah, they lived in my house.

Marion: Denys.

Paul: Yeah, Denys was the son.

Marion: And Stella and Marjorie.

Paul: Margaret. That’s it.

Marion: I remember Margaret I think she left home, went away. I think Stella may have stayed around, but there older. But yes, I can remember going in there. Was it a grocery store when you bought it?

Paul: No, it probably closed as a shop about seven years before we bought it, so it’s been a post office, it’s been an electrical shop, a Drapers so it’s been a few things.

Marion: I remember buying groceries there, I went Top Shop which was a lovely shop. Paul would go up and get milk sometimes or whatever. That was a nice little shop. Nice post office, which was a shame they had to give it up.

Paul: I know there was a lady called Lillian Morgan that ran the Top Shop at one point.

Marion: Oh right.

Paul: Until into the 60s that was. I don’t know when it closed up. Can you remember when it stopped operating as a shop?

Marion: Well, I’ll try, yes, I must do. Yes, of course I can, but I can’t, I can’t remember that name.

Paul: ‘Cause she went bankrupt so I don’t know if it continued after that as a shop?

Marion: I think the Top Shop of the two was my favourite. Used to go yours sometime where you are. Big shop big. Yeah, always very nice but I think the top shop was my favourite of the two.

Paul: Right, that’s interesting.

Marion: So, there been there a long time, years. People at the top, I can’t think what they were called. How stupid is that?

Paul: What in the Top Shop?  The people that live there now are Bowden. But it’s not a shop anymore, obviously.

Marion: Have they sold it? Alright, there shows me. I heard it was up for sale.

Paul: Oh, the Old Martins shop that’s up for sale, the only shop that’s in the village now, that’s run by Keith and Anne at the moment. They took over in about 2000, something like that.

Marion: Oh, my goodness.

Paul: And so, they’re looking to sell now.

Marion: Alterations everywhere.

Paul: We’ve been chatting for a long time.

Marion: Yeah, but it’s, I mean, it’s chatting, but not really you wanted much about Shebbear. Shebbear remember the blacksmith Davey.

Paul: So, he had his blacksmith shop just round the corner top of Pit Hill, didn’t he?

Marion: Yeah, and I when we went there for a meal a while back. I mean this isn’t really interesting, but I you know, I saw the back of the pub then where the kitchen is, you know, that’s all it looks to be a nice garden where people can sit and enjoy, whereas that was just a rough place where you couldn’t go and sit and enjoy.

Paul: Well thanks very much for your time.

Marion: It’s OK, but I don’t know if you like very much.

Paul: No this is wonderful. Thank you very much. It’s appreciated.

Last updated on 26 January 2026 by Paul Watts