Landrake with St. Erney - a rural parish in south east Cornwall.
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Memories
School Days before the First World War: (from the Cornish Times, 12th March 1993)
A Blunts resident who celebrates his 90`" birthday on March 14 has been reminiscing his days as a schoolboy at Landrake before the First World War. John Tamblyn lives with his wife Clara, 84 and his sister Annie Tamblyn at Blunts.
We all wore knickerbockers and strong hobnailed boots with leather laces - best boots on Sunday, no self-respecting boy would be seen in shoes, and we used red handkerchiefs.
The girls wore pinafores and usually a pigtail, but our mothers traced their hair to make an attractive `bun' held together by hairpins. We all wore hats, the ladies' being held on by two hat pins. When the girls `put up' their hair and the boys wore long trousers they were considered to be grown up.
We played marbles, spun our tops, truckled our hoops, played rounders and jumpbacks.
The boys who brought theirs dinners ate their pasties in the village unless it rained, when we were allowed in Mr Buckingham's blacksmith shop. The girls, more civilized, stayed with friends in their homes.
We were very fortunate in that our school- The Sir Robert Geffrey's Endowed School, with about 110 pupils, provided scholarships for those able to benefit from a secondary education before this was generally available. This was (and is) administered by a committee of the London Ironmongers Company and it was a great day when General Toker, a venerable and distinguished man, came from London, with his colleagues, to do business and distribute the prizes- generous in both quality and numbers.
In the village there were five shops in addition to the Post Office (now only one, which is also the Post Office and newsagent).
Employment was mainly on the farms, quarries and roads, the Navy and dockyard. There were journeyman masons, carpenters, an undertaker. who made coffins. two shoe makers, a saddler and a blacksmith. The saddler, being of strict C of E persuasion, stopped smoking during Lent and to compensate whistled continuously on about four notes. At this time quite a few girls entered domestic service. We also had a brass band, a Scout troop, a dwarf and a policeman. Needless to say we were a well behaved community with PC Roberts in charge, but feelings were known to rise at Election time. Mr Foot remarked at one time that Landrake folks liked their politics `hot and piping'.
Britain was in its heyday and young men were encouraged by very attractive brochures, delivered to the schools, to take advantage of the opportunities in the `Colonies'. In fact one Landrake man, Jim Sleeman, lost his life on the ill-fated Titanic.
The churches arranged trips for the children and the highlight of our (Methodist) year was when we set out in spring wagons with one or two pony traps for Seaton or Downderry.
The outstanding trip of our lives was when we met the paddle steamer, Prince Edward, at Poldrissick, on the Lynher at about 8.OOam, going down the Hamoaze, meeting the Empress and Princess Elizabeth, with parties from Millbrook and St Germans, and tying up at the Promenade Pier (destroyed in World War Two). In the afternoon it was up to Calstock for tea. then retrace our journey to Poldrissick with the tide, arriving at about 8.30pm, tired but happy, and feeling like Mole in Wind in the Willows, `Oh what a lovely day I've had'.
Another interesting experience was seeing Frenchman, M. Salmet who had landed with his Bleriot Monoplane in one of the Barton fields. He was engaged in some publicity for the Daily Mail, I think, and made one of the first powered flights across the channel. When leaving for Liskeard he had four or live burly quarry men as anchormen whilst warming up his engine.
The roads were good but waterbound. There were only three cars in the parish belonging to two quarry owners, Mr Betty and Mr Steed, and Mr Hocking the surveyor. The village was supplied with water from five pumps and one tap all drawn from the well in Tideford Road, so flush lavatories and bathrooms were out. There was no electricity. telephones, radios etc, and quite a few cottages were badly maintained, with rents being in some cases two or three shillings a week.
We haven't forgotten the French onion men with long strings of onions, or the rag and bone man who cleverly encouraged trade by giving the children little paper windmills in part payment. Last but not least there was Mr Minards with his smart little pony and trap, coming from Polperro with fish.
What would our fathers think of our `best kept village' if they could see it today with its good village hall, a fine new school, bypass, houses refurbished with all modern equipment, flowers everywhere, and more cars than can find space to park?
That all is not well with our society today we are too aware, but after listening to the depressing TV news for a week it is quite cheering for an old man to turn to the Cornish Times on Friday to see what is happening in hamlet, village or town by way of education, recreation, sport and the churches, to realise that we have what is essentially a healthy, wholesome and a caring society.
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