As my time in Barnstaple draws to its close, I reflect on the benefits of being able to visit the places relevant to my story. My last month has been a busy one … consolidating research notes and travelling further afield. A trip to the east afforded me the opportunity to stay with friends. Friendships formed over 40 years ago during my family’s two years on Tarawa, Kiribati. In Oxford I searched for my colonial surgeon grandfather Edward in the alumni of Oxford University, from Chesham I travelled into the Royal College of Surgeons at Lincoln’s Inn Fields once again handling ancient records. A curator-guided tour of the Hunterian Museum brought home the primitive aspects of research and doctoring in the late 1700s. I took advantage of being in London to visit The National Gallery and wander the streets of the city. I stumbled upon the changing of the guard at Horse Guards and was thrilled to discover landmarks made familiar through books and film.
Surgeon Apprentice register 1704 – 1800
Traffic stops on the Mall … this time a waddling of ducks
My most recent (and last) trip away from Barnstaple was to the Torbay area of South Devon. It was from here that my 5 x great grandmother was transported. Torbay includes the towns of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham. As I stood on the modern-day beachfront on a particularly gloomy day, the sea rushed at rugged, flame-coloured cliffs rising out of the water. Beyond the land mass and the bay, the Atlantic horizon seemed to be vast and distant. From a town in Wales, it must have been a formidable sight. It brought home to me the horror of what that young woman had to bear as she was man-handled onto a ship that would take her away from everyone and everything she knew.
Torbay coast on a calm day
Stories are everywhere in Devon from Charles Kingsley’s Westward Ho!, RD Blackmore’s Lorna Doone, RF Delderfield’s God is an Englishman series, Ann Cleeves and Liz Shakespeare living and setting stories in Devon to Agatha Christie’s works. While staying in Paignton, I took the steam train to Kingswear, crossed the River Dart to Dartmouth and the ferry to Greenway (seeing a seal sunning itself at the base of a pylon) to the home of Agatha Christie. The grand holiday house which became the retirement home she shared with her second husband, archaeologist, Max Mallowan, was surrounded by gardens and woodlands. Inside the home was crowded with an eclectic mix of artefacts collected during her life. It was interesting to see the tiny space she worked from but the view out of the window, across her garden to the water below, was stunning.
Portrait of Agatha aged 4 by American artist Douglas John Connah
Agatha Christie’s desk at Greenway
I’ve loved witnessing the dramatic change of seasons. Autumn brings new colour to the gardens, fields and woodlands. The gorse is vivid yellow, heath turns terracotta across the hills and bracken rusts along the coast. Boots tramping the public paths and hills release the earthy smell of damp vegetation. Some days, rain-sodden leaves underfoot no longer crunch, the sound is muffled. On others distance is hidden by early mist to be revealed a few hours later under a cloudless sky.
Woodland colour on approach to Saunton Court, Braunton, Devon – the ‘family seat’ from c17 to c19
Jan and Nicola
During my time in Barnstaple I’ve met so many friendly and supportive people, attended festivals of food, books and art and been given the opportunity to participate in the activities of U3A. The convenience of buses and trains has facilitated my research.
As this is my final postcard, I want to acknowledge the generosity of Di Yerbury in offering her comfortable and well-located flat to enable members of the Society of Women Writers NSW to further their writing. Previous residents provided lots of useful, guiding information which was appreciated. To the 2025 resident I trust your time will be as beneficial and amazing as mine.
Thank you Di and the Society of Women Writers NSW
Jan Conway