I love to collect #oldpostcards and photos with any relationship to #Sticklepath, its people, places or events. Often the picture shows things in the background or fashion for example that add interest. In my view the best postcards have been posted. Of course the stamp and postmark can be of interest but messages can allow us a fascinating glimpse into past lives. For example:
“I just caught the train at Oke, it was moving when the guard opened the door for me, the other was so late from B. Love D. All Good Wishes”.
The postmark is Tavistock 24th December 1909. Had she been visiting relatives? Taking Christmas greetings and a pot of jam to family? Or attending a nephew’s nativity play perhaps? Can you imagine her running along the platform in her ankle length dress and buttoned boots, the steam billowing in the frosty air? Or could this message be from a man?
It seems our sender, D, had come from visiting the addressee, Miss Henning in Stratton. She would have caught the first train from Bude station to Okehampton and changed trains for the journey home to Tavistock. (The Bude line split from the main Plymouth line just after Meldon Viaduct, pictured above). Bude station opened in 1898 but very little evidence of the line or station remains today, being a victim of Dr Beechings cuts in 1966.
‘Oke’ or Okehampton Station, which opened in 1871, was similarly ‘cut’ and closed in 1971, but with the government ‘Restoring Your Railway’ initiative, services on the Dartmoor Line are expected to restart at some point in 2021 providing a regular, daily passenger rail service between Okehampton and Exeter.
As children we took a special train ride to Exeter before the line closed. I wonder how many people did that?
Don’t get me wrong, anaesthesia and lectures on the subject usually send me to sleep (haha), but a lecture this week (1) gave me a whole new perspective on my career. Was it a dynamic ‘change your life’ title? No. Essentially the history of anaesthesia – I certainly learned some history too: The first ‘Anaesthesia’ Journal was published in October 1946, 75 years ago. It was delayed due to the paper shortage during WW 2 – I didn’t know about that!
We heard how the filth and horrors of the barber surgeon’s operation was transformed to the oblivious patient in the clinical cleanliness of a modern ‘chamber of sleep’. Anaesthetists now are highly skilled in providing cocktails of drugs to make us sleep, forget the experience and keep us pain free during surgical procedures. But back then the introduction of ether and chloroform revolutionised the patient experience. Previously Mesmerism – the attempt to induce a trance-like state through processes similar to hypnosis, alcohol and something to bite down on, combined with ropes and strong bystanders were the only options. Actually there did need to be some patient collaboration, usually in the context of highly persuasive factors such as severe pain or disabilities (eg vision loss or bladder dysfunction), or the threat of imminent death.
There was not a straight forward transition to modern anaesthetics, I feel incredibly grateful to those early pioneering patients who enabled me to have practically painless key hole surgery for my gallbladder whilst blissfully unaware, far better even than my training days when cholecystectomy was a major operation routinely requiring morphine in hospital for some time.
My experience of surgery is only as a medical student, 6 months 1984-5 as a surgical house officer, and more recently as patient and relative. The first operation I witnessed was insertion of gold wires into someone’s brain, with the patient awake to state the effects of the insertion. Rather a surreal experience for me let alone the patient – perhaps akin to the heady effects of morphine!
As a junior doctor, the consultant turned to me one day and insisted that I must do an above knee amputation, so that in an emergency situation, if I saw someone trapped under a tram, I could do it. One of the nurses did point out to him there were no trams left in the area, but whilst that surprised him, it did not deflect him from his intent. Fortunately I have never needed to invoke that skill since!
One of the first operations under anaesthesia is said to be the amputation of Frederick Churchill’s leg by Robert Liston 21 Dec 1846 (2). Ahead of his time, Liston removed his frock coat, washed his hands and donned a clean apron before each operation. Study of 66 of his amputations 1835-1840 showed only 10 patients died, <1 in 6, whereas other eminent London hospitals boasted only losing 1 in 4 amputees to the mortuary.
That first anaesthetic experience, Frederick Churchill’s silence and stillness initially dumbfounded Liston. So dramatic. A sleeping patient not only allows quiet for the surgeon to concentrate, but the stillness makes the technical process easier, allowing much more precision and finer work. General anaesthesia allowed surgeons to start abdominal and even chest operations that could not have been contemplated before. Surgical mortality therefore increased initially, until techniques developed, hygiene and infection prevention methods were understood, and the era of antibiotics dawned.
Before anaesthesia, speed was Liston’s main weapon. He aimed to complete the amputation (from first cut to last stitch) in 30 seconds. Hardly surprising that occasionally things got in the way – one poor patient’s testicles and an assistant’s fingers!
I witnessed rapid female sterilisations in 1984 during my student elective in India. Picture simple operating tables set up as the sides of a square amidst power cuts in very basic village surroundings. The surgeon in the centre. Four women, one on each table. The tables were then positioned at 45 degrees, with heads down, so that the women’s bent knees dangling over the higher end held them in place. Gravity kept bowels out of the surgeon’s target area. It was a quick in and out job. 2 minutes per person. As he finished each one, the table was lowered, the patient went home, and another took her turn. How would you compare 2 minutes of terror and agony with the months of rising angst and concerns about infections patients face here today?
John Bonica’s visionary book on multidisciplinary pain control was published 1953. He apparently paid his way through medical school by wrestling professionally – perhaps inflicting and experiencing pain led to him recognise the multifaceted causes and treatments for pain?
Some developments catch on quickly – perhaps microwave ovens in the 1970 are an example. Mobile phones have had more of a gradual development from the ‘original ‘bricks’ of the wealthy to the near universal coverage, hands free watches and ear pieces of today. Good pain management has certainly had a slow trajectory. Clearly people have always suffered pain. Herbal approaches with willow bark and poppies have been around for centuries, yet we are far from the ideal solution still. Expert pain control requires delicately nuanced care. (From a medicines perspective we have not moved far, using aspirin and morphine – derivatives of the herbal remedies along with old fashioned nerve calming agents originally used for depression).
I realised pain control was an issue through an interest in cancer and palliative care. I approached Macmillan to set up some GP posts (one day per week) and took up one of the posts in 2000 for 9 years, telling anyone that would listen about the WHO pain ladder, the patient centred approach, good communication, considering social psychological and spiritual aspects in addition to physical, promoting ‘Gold Standards’ of palliative care and active care of the dying. I helped write a local booklet with a CD on pain management. There was a very real need for education but I didn’t have a sense of history and our place in the learning curve, until this lecture.
I was much more aware of surfing at the forefront of the wave of change during my two years in Malawi 2010-12, treating Kaposi’s sarcoma patients and those with various other untreatable cancers. Liquid morphine had only just been approved for use in the country. I was lucky to be involved in an education program promoting safe and effective use of liquid morphine, as part of pain control using the WHO ladder. Dispensing it largely in drinking bottles, we added green or red colouring to stop the clear liquid being mistaken for water.
As genealogists we are encouraged to write our own life story. Many of us know where we were when the twin towers were hit or when Princess Diana died. The Covid crisis and death of Prince Philip are perhaps noteworthy moments in our history. But my question is more about changes that have happened in your lifetime. Things that you are or have been part of or that affect your daily life. I am no pioneer, following on behind, but still seeing and making changes. What changes have you been part of that mark your place in history?
References
(1) Constructing the Chamber of Sleep: Emotions and Early Anaesthesia The Evolution of Pain Management Lecture given 16 April 2021 by Drs Michael Brown and Douglas Justins for the Association of Anaesthetists.
This month’s blogging prompt for #OnePlaceStudies Society and #SticklepathOne.
The advice for any genealogical project is to start with what you know. Those bits of ‘knowledge’ can then be explored, facts confirmed and expanded.
What do I know about the two longstanding Public Houses in #Sticklepath – The Taw River and The Devonshire? (There was also The Rising Sun up the hill towards Exeter, but that is probably outside my remit.)
My parents enjoyed curry nights at the Devonshire Inn. The leat runs close behind. Their car park is one the opposite side of the road, next to the old ‘candle factory’ with notices about Trafalgar Way on it. I believe the foundry men were mainly in the Devonshire Inn at the time that business literally collapsed and came to a grinding halt in 1960.
The Taw River Inn, known previously as the Taw River Hotel and prior to that The Cornish Inn, has two plaques built into the walls giving the Hole surname and dates. I know there was a devastating fire at the Taw River.
In the 1960s there were children from both attending Sticklepath school so I remember that the Devonshire was run by the Jamiesons and the Taw River by the Hawleys. Entering either building still evokes a strong emotional response in me that says ‘children are not allowed in here’ and prompts me to think more of the Methodist background and temperance tendencies of many Sticklepath folk! Yet for many villagers these institutions were the centre of their social life, a hub of village life, with many of life’s celebrations births, marriages and also deaths ending with drink at the pub. Many friends met there at the end of a hard day’s labour, to chill, for company, for fun, or to commiserate and cheer each other up.
Having worked in Wigan as a casualty officer in the later 1980s when fun theme pubs were in their heyday, I perhaps know better than most of the injuries, brawls and accidents that can result from over-indulgence!
We all recognise Pubs by their signs, usually swinging above the door.
Advertising was important and having postcards made was one option. The line drawing of The Devonshire on this postcard seems to me to suit very well the ‘under-stated’ nature of this cosy institution. Perhaps from the 1960s, it also reminds us how phone numbers increased dramatically over the years! If the artist turned his head to the right there was the Post Office and shop run by Miss Gladys Ogilvie in Eddington Cottage, or turning to the left he would have seen the Foundry. The Smiths lived in the house we see here on the right, the Strattons in the house on the left. The thatched roof and window boxes make it stand out and look attractive. The often open door invites us to step inside. (Note it displays one of Sticklepath’s unusual architecture features – gutters on a thatched roof).
Original drawing by Avon Galleries
From reading about Sticklepath history it is clear the Taw River Inn was where coroner’s inquests were held, the November 5th bonfire was at one time held in the street outside, and the Hunt often met there. Sticklepath Revels saw sweet fruity buns and biscuits on sale from both pubs. At least the Taw River, perhaps both, were coaching Inns. Prior to the Village Hall being built, the Pubs would have been the largest meeting places apart from Church or Chapel (which were not likely to accommodate the full range of activities). Later, catering for Village Hall events was often done from the pub kitchens.
The Inns were important for the tourist trade too, as attractive places both to visit and to stay. People let rooms or their entire house to tourists, often ‘for the season’, and the names of new guests were printed in. the newspaper!
Western Times – Friday 22 August 1884 Original held at THE BRITISH LIBRARY accessed via https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/ April 2021:
STICKLEPATH
Harvesting in this neighbourhood is proceeding rapidly, nearly two thirds being cut and carried already in capital condition; the yield is on the whole a good one. The root crops are suffering from want of rain, turnips more particularly are looking bad, mangolds promise an average crop. This little moorland village is growing in popularity with those who seek health and quietness. The latest arrivals are:Retreat, Mrs Merriman and family, Mr Munro, Misses Munro, Mrs Bennett, and Miss Bennett; Laurel Cottage Mrs Gossage and family and Miss Fox; Cleave Cottage, Mr and Mrs Croft and family; Foundry Cottage, Mrs Thompson, Mrs Quick, Miss Hatfield and Miss Porecky; Taw River Hotel, Mrs Brady and family, Miss Broome, Miss Walter, Mr JE Monk; and at Silver Lake Cottage, Captain Rhyves, and Mr Rhyves, Mr J Perritos and Brothers.
Near the bottom of the article we see that Mrs Brady and family, Miss Broome, Miss Walter and Mr J.E. Monk had all arrived to stay at the Taw River Hotel that week. Day trippers too took advantage of the scenery and enjoyed a rest and refreshment in the pub:
Exeter and Plymouth Gazette Daily Telegrams Wednesday 30 July 1884 tells us that Exeter’s St Sidwell’s and St Catherine’s Choirs along with the organist, clergy and Sunday school teachers – over 60 people, enjoyed their annual outing, this time a visit to Belstone and Sticklepath. Some of the visitors had:
“ascended Cawsand Beacon. After dinner some wandered along the picturesque vale of the Taw, while others walked over Belstone Tor. At Sticklepath Mr Knapman, of the Taw River Hotel, provided an excellent tea, after which there was a pleasant drive home.”
The court (quarter sessions or petty sessions) often have renewal or handover of Victualler’s licenses, permissions for extended opening, and information about brawls and unrest. These are not accessible to me at present, but much of this was reported in the newspapers. This transcript concerns the early days of the Flower Show:
At Oke Petty Sessions on Wednesday 12 Aug 1891 Mr C.B. Woollcombe and Mr. W. H. Holley granted extension of three hours to Mr. Richard Knapman, of tbe Taw River Hotel, and Mr. Partridge, of the Devonshire Inn, Sticklepath, on account of the Cottage Garden Show and Athletic Sports.
Here we see the license changing hands and the magistrates ‘rules’ on an extension given by Mr W.H.Holley the chairman:
Western Times Thursday 13 December 1888 Original a t The British Library, Accessed via https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/ April 2021
OKEHAMPTON PETTY SESSIONS
…The license of the Devonshire Inn, Sticklepath, was transferred from Mr S. Hawken to Mr Wm James Drew. Mr Drew also applied for a two hours’ extension on New Year’s Eve, as his friends thought they would like to have a Christmas dance – The Chairman:- Your usual hour for closing. is 10 o’clock, and you apply for an extension until midnight. Well, the Bench will grant it, but it must be understood that the front door is not kept open for anyone to come in after closing time. It is granted for the guests of the evening. – Mr. Drew thanked their Worships and said he would comply with these instructions – he meant his application in that manner.
We can also catch glimpses of the lives of those running the pubs as with this sad ‘In Memoriam’ notice found in the Western Times Friday. 21 August 1942:
WRIGHT.- In ever fond and loving memory of our darling son, Albert James, suddenly called to higher service, August 21,1941. – Still ever missed by his loving Dad, Mum, John and Edna, Taw River Hotel, Sticklepath.
Descriptions of events can tell us more about the premises, here mentioning a skittles alley:
The Western Times Tuesday 19 August 1879 tells us “This little village was more than usually astir on Monday, when the greater portion of the working classes were to be seen in holiday attire on the occasion of a dinner being given by W.W.Symington Esq., to all who had taken part in the erection of his new residence, laying out the grounds &c.” Contractors are listed including: “the decorations by Mr Emanuel Tucker junr., of Sticklepath”. Details of the event follow “On Monday all who had worked on the buildings or premises assembled at “Rockside” (the name given to Mr Symington’s residence), where a procession was formed, which, headed by the Sticklepath Band, marched to the “Taw River Hotel”, Sticklepath, where a substantial dinner of good old English fare was provided by Mr Knapman, and laid out in the skittle-alley, which was tastefully decorated with evergreens and mottoes; there were also several fine bouquets of flowers on the tables. Dinner was served in good style and the viands were of first quality and well cooked. Mr. Symington took the chair, with Mr John Cook as vice-chairman. The company numbered between 90 and 100 persons”. Toasts were proposed. “songs were sung by the company, many in the old rustic style, and the Sticklepath Band played selections of music during the evening. A very pleasant and agreeable time was spent.”
Such reports are ‘name rich’ both inhabitants generally in the village but also the licensees which should allow a list to be created… another ‘little’ project begins!
Sticklepath a Village and its People 