MAURICE LEWIS JOHN ADAMS

Read the full account of this fascinating story by Maurice Adams here.

Paul Watts in conversation with Dave Geary and Stuart Boyd 5^th February 2025

Paul:

So, we are here chatting with Dave and Stuart, who are just about to introduce themselves.

Dave:  I’m Dave Geary, living at Ingleby, New Inn Cross.

Paul: How long have you lived here Dave?

Dave: I’ve lived here in Shebbear for 79 years. I was born and bred at Halwill Cottages. Then we moved from Halwill Cottages to 3 Coronation Place and then from there we moved to Collacott House at New Inn. I bought 3 cottages at New Inn Cross, built the bungalow – knocked 3 cottages down and built the bungalow.

… I have been here ever since.

Stuart:  I’m Stuart Boyd, I live at St Michaels View, Shebbear.  I was an outsider who moved into the village. I lived in a village called Bridgerule, bought a plot of land and I built my own bungalow. Well, you know, I’ve lived in Shebbear for about 38 years something like that. I was a general labourer back then.

Dave: My mate.

Paul: I understand that you two worked together when you converted the poor houses into a shop.  [now South View Stores, currently owned by Keith and Ann Horwood]

Dave:  Yep

Paul:  So maybe we can start off and chat about that and how it started, what happened while you were you were doing it, and then what you found there?

Dave:  Yeah.

Stuart: Crack on Dave.

Dave:  Yeah. Well, us took down the front gable end to start with because it was falling down anyway, wasn’t it?

Stuart:  Us took it down or it falled down!

Dave:  It pretty well falled down, I think at the time. And then from there on us went started altering places where us came across a clome oven downstairs and one upstairs, wasn’t there with wooden slats over the top like they could air their clothes over the top of the oven by the looks of didn’t it at the time when we took it out

Stuart:  Well, we tried to get it out.

Dave:  Yeah. Well, we tried to get them out in one piece but we didn’t succeed.

Stuart:  Yeah, we tried and one falled to bits.

Dave:  Yeah, and we took all the joists out, took the middle wall down and started from the top and worked down then that’s when I had an accident. Then we started knocking the wall down, down the lower side, and there was a stone wall about two foot high [that] cob was resting on. Then the wall went over, and I turned my back on it. Of course, by that time.

Stuart:  He decided to twist on the wall, didn’t it?

Dave:  Yeah, the wall come down off the stones up right and come back and had me and I have me back on it and there was a bag of cement laying on the floor wanna  there, and I was squat by the side of the bag of cement, if it wasn’t for Stuart I wouldn’t be here today.

Stuart:  I did manage to get the wall off of you but when I come to lift the wall again.

Dave:  You couldn’t do it.

Stuart: I couldn’t even lift the damn thing.

Dave:  You couldn’t. Was a big piece of cob, bigger than a car bonnet wasn’t it.

Stuart:  Yeah.

Dave:  Yeah, pretty heavy. Then I went and lied on a board and said I’d be alright this is about 1 o’clock wasn’t it.

Stuart:  Us was late for dinner wasn’t us?

Dave:  Yeah, lied on a piece of board then I decided to get up and do a bit more and then I thought to myself, no I will go home and have a hot bath. So, I had a hot bath and went back to work. About 4:00, I said to Stuart I’ve had enough, then I had to go to Holsworthy then and pick up Sue ’cause she was working in the shop in Holsworthy, so I went in there, when I got into Holsworthy, I couldn’t get out the van. I was sat in the shape of the seat. Come home, Sue, rung the doctor. I went down to the doctor he said well there can’t be anything broken because he’s walking. Well, next morning I couldn’t get out of bed so then they sent me into Bideford to have x-rays. Next minute I finished up in Mount Gould in Plymouth [then an orthopaedic hospital] and that was the story of that.

Stuart:  Was it nearly a severed spinal cord?

Dave:  Yeah.

Stuart:  Spinal cord recovery.

Dave:  Crunched lumber spine. Broke that so.

Paul:  So how long were you off work for?

Dave:  Five months? Five or six months. Yeah, about six months. But there again I did go back plastering in a straight jacket, didn’t I? On the outside wall, I went back to work …

Stuart: Yeah, I can’t remember it was a long time ago.

Dave:  Yeah, I went down and did some plastering I did.

Stuart:  But then it shouldn’t have happened because back then there wanna no health and safety, was there?

Paul:  That sort of thing could happen anyway though, couldn’t it?

Stuart:  Yeah, well, no, it wouldn’t happen these days because you wouldn’t be allowed to do it.

Dave:  Well, no.

Stuart:  Well, if that sort of thing happened today, you’d be, you’d be in big trouble, wouldn’t you?

Dave:  Yeah, that’s what happened anyway.

Stuart: But just tried to save time didn’t us but in the end, it didn’t save time did it.

Dave:  No, no. Five months off which slowed the work down a bit. Didn’t it.

Paul:  Was it Morris Martin, that that owned it at the time?

Dave:  Yeah. Yeah. Did he buy it off the Nethacotts? Off the Leach’s? Because the Leach’s used to live there, didn’t them? They had the bungalow built up by Bob Wards garage, which used to be the slaughterhouses to Butcher Arnold. [The site of Bob’s Ward’s garage is now occupied by Sunset Heights]

Paul:  So that’s the Tuckers place that does the MOTs now?

Dave:  Yep. Yeah, that used to be the slaughterhouse to Butcher Arnold which that used to be the butchers shop over opposite the concrete works, Endford Cottages.

Paul:  So Endford Cottages were the butchers?

Dave:  Opposite side of the road. Can’t think of the address, what that was called?

Stuart:  I can’t help you there.

Dave:  No, you wouldn’t.

Stuart:  This was all before my time.

Dave:  Lionel Lock use to be a builder on the other side. West Country Concrete but was opposite side the road, ex schoolteacher lives there don’t they?

Paul:  Goaman’s Cottages?

Dave:  No, they are further up aren’t they?

Paul:  Endford House?

Dave:  Yeah that’ s right.

Paul:  The one that was it Kev Martin? Lived at Endford House I think? Harris, right. Anyway, so did you did you build the extensions to the shop?

Dave:  Yeah, built the shop, built all the extension. Mike Tuck did the other side, and we did this side of the shop.

Paul:  Oh, right. Oh, OK.

Dave:  So, Mick Tuck did one side only because he, Mick Tuck done it for, which would be Anne Martin’s father, [Harold] Nethacott and we worked for Morris [Anne’s husband].

Paul:  Did he, because Mick Tucker would have been quite young at the time, wouldn’t he?

Because he, well, he told, he told me that our annex [Tyrella House] that was built about the same time.

Dave:  Yeah, Mick Tuck done that, didn’t he.

Paul:  Yeah, he said that was the first build he ever did, it wasn’t his build he helped build it.

Dave: Yeah, yeah. Sammy Lee or was it  Nancekivell?

Nancekivell done yours, didn’t he?

Paul:  I don’t know. I don’t know who … was the main person doing it?

Dave:  Yeah. Mick used to work for Nancekivell. Then he went on worked for Sammy Lee, didn’t he?

Paul:  Well, so Mick Tucker did Challacott and you did the shop?

Dave:  Yeah.

Paul:  Where you both doing it at the same time?

Dave:  Yeah, pretty well. Mick started before us. Yeah, his was built up.

Stuart:  Yeah, he’d nearly finished time we started.

Dave:  Yeah.

Paul:  So, there was no competition, you weren’t racing each other?

Dave:  No, no, no, no. Course then us done the shop and done all the extensions inside. Built the stone fireplace inside there didn’t us.

Stuart:  Well, yeah, against.

Dave:  Against Challacott wall.

Stuart:  Yeah, yeah.

Dave:  Where the chimney was too, we built a new stone fireplace there. That’s where us was trying to save the clome oven up and to put in to work in the stone oven but we couldn’t save them it was too far gone.

Stuart:  Did us save the doors?

Dave:  No

Stuart:  No there wasn’t no doors was there.

Dave: I was trying to think where the stairs went up to. I can’t remember where the stairs went up.

Stuart:  No, I can’t help you there. You just told me to go in with a sledgehammer and that was it.

Paul:  Did you continue with the sledgehammer while Dave was in hospital?

Dave:  Yeah, Stuart still worked there while I was off.  Then us put the concrete down outside didn’t us, concrete drive up through. Took the barns down.

Paul:  I was gonna say who took the big barn down?

Dave:  Two big barns came down.

Stuart:  Was that down against you? Was it? [Tyrella House]

Paul:  Wasn’t that far?

Stuart:  Or against the doctors, isn’t it?

Dave:  Yeah, well, the hedge.

Stuart:  That’s where they had trouble with the boundary.

Dave:  Yes, that’s right. That big argument over the boundary didn’t us.

Stuart:  Yeah.

Dave:  Well, us didn’t Morris [Martin] and ones that owned your place – Elphick – had a little bit of an argument over that, because the hedge was 7 foot wide at the bottom if I remember rightly 7 or 8.

Stuart:  It was a wide hedge.

Dave:  We had to peg it all out and measure it all down when us came back after the weekend they had all been moved.

…

Paul:  Because that barn used to be where the entrance is now to the to shop.

Dave:  That’s right, the gable end of the cottage, the poor houses and that about an 8 foot 8 to 10 foot open and then the barns came in there and then you had the big garden, which would have belonged to the doctor at the time. Yeah. Belonged to the shop. The doctor’s wall was a red brick stables, where he had his stables. That were right out against the road building there, he used to grow mushrooms in there and cars were down the other side. That’s where the surgery’s to now, well isn’t the surgery now.

Paul:  Beech House?

Dave:  Beech House, yeah. Yes, that’s where the red brick buildings was too the barn to The Lawns [Doctor’s House]. That’s what it’s called.

…

You used to go down to the passage and then you go in a little gate and go over into The Lawns that way.  Doctor use to keep his horse and all that in there.

Paul:  ‘Cause you would remember the original doctor’s surgery as well.

Dave:  Yeah,

Paul: You go down the alley way.

Dave:  Down little alley from your place, then around into the green door and sit up against the wall. He would come out and measure up all the medicine for you and send you on your way.

Yeah. Yeah, that was when you had a doctor!

…

Call anytime of night.

Paul:  So how many shops do you remember around?

Dave:  I remember Bake House. Top Shop which is.

Paul:  East View, which is the Old Manse

Stuart:  The one that [Mike] Barker had.

Dave:  Yes. I can go back so far as Morgan’s there and then across the road you add Blights Bicycle Shed and a little gift shop they runned as well.

Paul:  I understood they did sweets and did them up at the college as well, is that right?

Dave:  Yeah. Yeah, that’s right you used to have a little machine out on the wall then you could go put little discs that we use to get from the electric boxes and put in and get chewing gum out.

Stuart:  You didn’t put a knife in and then pull the slide back?

Dave:  No little electric discs, you know. And then there was Post Office which is Devonshire House now.

Paul:  Devonport

Dave:  Devonport yep. Then you went down to Acklands they used to do the wool shop.  We had Fish and Chips down there as well.

Stuart:  Was that the corner shop? Where Ron Ackland lived?

Dave:  Yeah. And then you come out to New Inn, you got another shop at New Inn here.

Stuart:  There were a shop where you live.

Paul:  Yeah.

Dave:  Yeah. Bridgman’s shop, yeah.

Paul:  Yeah, that closed in about 1989.  Shoe shop?

Dave:  Oh, shoe shop, yeah.  Edgar Moore.

Paul:  Where abouts was that?

Stuart:  Just down the road from Coronation Place.

Dave:  Yeah.

Paul:  Oh Lavender Cottage.

Dave:  Yeah. Lavender cottage that’s right.

Paul:  Lavender Cottage rather than Aish. Used to be Aish Cottage. …  Same as the one a few 100 yards away.

Dave:  Yeah, I was gonna say.

Paul:  They’ve both, both called Aish.

Stuart:  Yeah, did you say about Barker’s shop opposite is that what they called it. Yeah, you’ve got that one.

Dave: Yeah. The garages where Mr Buse of the bakery shop there used to be a green shed, green garage further up opposite the council houses. Can you remember that one?

Stuart:  Yeah. Jack Bale use to put his car in there didn’t he?

Dave:  Yeah well, he bought it off of Frank Buse at the time, didn’t he, he bought that garage off him. There used to be a petrol pump in there in that garage.

Paul: Was that taken down when the newest Meadow Park was built?

Dave:  When Meadow Park was built, yeah…Yeah.

Paul:  It’s weird because I don’t recall that garage, but I was here at the time.

Stuart:  Wasn’t it a double garage? With sliding doors.

Dave:  Yeah, you use to be able to get nearly 3 vans in there in that garage. Cos bakers used to park their vans in there and he had a petrol tank there. That one was dug up and probably put up there in the quarry. Bob Wards tanks was put up in the quarry.

Paul:  Under the new house.

Dave:  Under the new house, oh christ there’s hundreds of stuff under that. I wouldn’t want to build up there.

Paul:  They built it very quickly.

Dave:  Yeah, well, they have got it on stilts haven’t they.

Paul:  Yeah.

Dave:  Well, I don’t really know how that worked because I mean, if I was drilling all those gases is coming out through the drills anyway.

Paul: You would have thought so, yeah

Paul:  So, you went to school at the Community School?

Dave:  Shebbear Primary School and then to Torrington.

Paul:  Right. Is that what most people did?

Dave:  Yeah, that was the designated school to Shebbear, Torrington was. Yeah.

Paul:  So, you’ll be in the book as an attendee.

Dave:  In the Shebbear book yeah and my brother, I had a brother Desmond. He died when he was 47.

Paul:  As Stuart and I were walking up we commented on how busy the road was as we were walking up. You must well, just up from the centre, from the square.

Dave:  Oh, you come that way, did you?

Paul:  Yeah so, you must have seen lots of changes.

Dave:  Yep.

Paul:  So, all the traffic and that.

Dave:  Yeah. Well, ridiculous, really.

Paul:  How did you get around then? There were buses?

Dave:  Hill’s buses used to have them, took you to Bideford on a Monday. You could go to Holsworthy on the Wednesday. Thursday be able to go to Bideford again; I think with Hill’s bus and Saturdays you used to have a cinema bus. We’d go on the Saturday morning and go into Bideford to go to the pictures if you wanted to and come back home again.

Paul:  Saturday morning pictures for the kids?

Dave:  Yeah, for the kids. Yeah. I think he used to run twice on Saturday.

Stuart:  Cor that was the good old days that was.

Dave:  Yeah, that was run by Hill’s that was.

Paul:  Yeah, I remember doing that not down here, but I did Saturday morning pictures.

Dave:  They used to have a cinema in the Church Room once a week.

Paul:  Do you remember the films?

Dave:  Yep, Charlie Chaplin.

Stuart:  Dad’s Army?

Dave:  No, Charlie Chaplin. Silent films they was?

Stuart:  Black and white I suppose.

Dave:  Cor what was it called? Norman Wisdom used to have his films down there. Black and white they was. Yeah, I can’t remember any of the others, but I know they had comedy ones.

Paul:  I don’t suppose you had anyone playing the piano?

Dave:  Yep

Paul:  You did?

Dave:  Yeah. Yeah, but who that was? I can’t remember. Yeah, used to play piano. I. As the drama went on the piano would rise, raise up, you know. Yeah, they use to have the screen on you know where the fireplace is down in the Church Room, that’s where the screen used to be up on top of there, yeah.

Paul:  Perhaps we should try and resurrect that. That’ll be fun.

Dave:  Yeah, it would, yeah.

When us was kids, we use to spend a lot of time in the village around the old pump and what have you. Summer holidays we would go swimming up in the swimming pool [at Shebbear College] we would go up and see Mr Morris and get our permission.

Stuart:  Where is the swimming pool?

Dave:  You would have a job to find it now, its growed in.

Paul:  It is part of the new house. There’s a new house just behind Lake called Allacott. So, it’s part of their land now. It’s still there, but there’s a forest growing out of it.

Dave:  That swimming pool used to be kept full with ordinary running stream. There used to be a pipe coming out in the shallow end of the pool. There used to be diving board, springboard and everything there, could have you know a good day up there really.

Paul:  Yes, a shame that it’s not available anymore.

Dave:  Well, going back several years now, I mean the College asked all the parishioners around the village to donate a certain amount of money or donate so much money to build a swimming pool covered in swimming pool, which never happened. A lot of us had given money to the college it never materialised.

Paul:  Really?

Dave:   Yeah.

…

Paul:  That didn’t go down well, I’m sure?

Dave:  All got forgotten Paul, didn’t it? It’s all forgotten, but I haven’t forgot it. I remember they sort of things.

Paul:  Things would be different these days.

Stuart:  In the 80s.

Paul:  So, it was in the 80s they wanted to build the covered swimming pool then?

Dave:  Yeah, but it never materialised got a music room instead.

Paul:  Yeah. Yeah. Great expense.

Dave:  Yeah.

Stuart:  Where’s that one too?

Paul:  That’s just off the main rugby pitch.

Dave:  Down the corner there in the far corner.

…

Paul:  So, Stuart, you moved in about 30 years ago, you said?

Stuart:  Yes, something like that.

Paul:  So, tell us why you moved into Shebbear?

Stuart:  Work, I suppose.  I used to work, used to work on the farm and that I got fed up with the farm work and that. I asked the builders working on the farm at the time and asked them if they got any work and they said yeah. So, I went on with they and that’s where I come to know about Shebbear.

Paul: I thought it’d be some romantic story about…

Stuart:  No nothing like that, don’t be silly.

Dave:  You know, I was the builder he was talking about.

Stuart:  I obviously come and worked in Shebbear and that, and there was an area for first time buyers down where I am to now St Michael’s View. I qualified as first-time buyer, bought a plot of ground and built it myself and had help from other people and that and I haven’t looked backwards.

Paul:  …  and you’ve lived there ever since? Was it like a community build or it was a self-build?

Dave:  It was a self-build.

Stuart:  Yeah. Yeah, self-build it was to do with the Halifax or something wasn’t it?  It was through Torridge District Council, which they dealt with Halifax Building Society and that.

Paul:  You obviously like Shebbear though to stay for this long.

Stuart:  Yeah, it’s not a bad village is it. Yeah, some good people in the village.

Dave:  He didn’t want to leave me!

Paul:  You obviously made a good impression on him.

Dave:  Oh yeah, yeah. Us have had some good laughs together haven’t us.

Stuart:  Yeah. Work dried up and I went elsewhere. Yeah. But yeah, I won’t move out the village. Only time I’ll leave the village will be going out on wheels, I suppose.

…

Paul:  OK. Right. Well, thank you very much and we’ll bring that to an end.

Last updated on 29 June 2025 by Paul Watts