Not just buckets and brollies

Just because the South-West peninsula points out into the Atlantic Ocean and is far away from the historic North and South-East, doesn’t mean that our green and pleasant part of Britain isn’t without historic importance.

Way back in the days when early Man could walk across the low-lying grasslands between Britain and France do a bit of hunting, get some of the continental food and then come home to his chilly British cave, the South-West was a popular place to live and his lifestyle has left our part of Britain one of the best parts of the country to find prehistoric remains and monuments. You cannot open any guidebook on Britain without seeing a picture of Stonehenge, Avebury and Silbury Hill in Wiltshire, as we saw in last month’s issue of StopPress. The ancient families who lived, hunted and played on the beach near Kents Cavern in Torquay played a significant part in helping Charles Darwin with his theory on the origin of Man.

Despite the chilly weather and the fact that there was a solid wall of ice covering the country from Bristol upwards, the South-West had a large and lively community of hairy humans.

The next people to leave their historic footprints on our area were those toga-wearing, dormouse-eating, Latin-speaking Romans. It took a while for them to make their way down to these parts after they had successfully taken control of the South-East, but once they arrived here and discovered the wide rivers, beautiful beaches and friendly people, they stayed and the remains of their work can be seen if you pay a visit to Exeter or Bath.

Eventually the Romans became bored with all the sun and sand and left the South-West to divide into its tribes and then through the mist of time and legend, rises the mighty King Arthur. Other parts of the country have claimed to be the place where King Arthur, lived, fought and died, but the South-West has the strongest link, particularly with Glastonbury and Cadbury Castle; and you can’t mention the ‘Once and Future King’ without talking about Tintagel, in Cornwall.

During the English Civil War the South-West remained loyal to King Charles II, and on more than one occasion national unrest and demonstrations against the government have started in this area which is why the people of the South-West are known, historically, for being stubborn, not afraid to stand up for their rights and important to have on your side in a battle.

The 16th Century was a time when being British meant that most of the other European nations either hated you or loved you, and this changed every few months as the politicians had their meetings, made and then broke their agreements and declared war on each other. Queen Elizabeth I had a pretty big falling out with our Spanish cousins and it was to the South-West that she turned to find not only the men to sail her ships, but also the men to lead them, the undeniably suave and handsome Walter Raleigh and Francis Drake. It was from Plymouth that the huge Spanish Armada was first sighted as it sailed up the channel, and the first of the message beacons were lit to pass the message up the south coast to London that the enemy was on its way.

A couple of hundred years later in Torbay, the residents of the sleepy little fishing village of Brixham woke up to see a large number of ships heading for the harbour, the largest of them dropped anchor and delivered a strange looking, fat, Dutchman who announced to the curious crowds that he had come to take over the kingdom and be the new king. He was true to his word and after arriving in London he was crowned as King William III.

In more recent times the South-West has seen darker times when Europe and the rest of the World were plunged into a Second World War, the cities of the South-West became targets of the enemy bombers. Then, all along the coast, the ports and harbours played their part in the D-Day landings as a huge fleet of ships crossed the Channel carrying the troops to begin the re-conquest of the continent.

The South-West has also been home to some of Britain’s best loved historic characters – but that’s another story… AT