Appledore

Christmas Eve at the Front

An interesting letter has just been received by Mrs Packer, of Broadclyst, from her husband, Corpl Packer of A Company, 1st Battalion Devonshire Regiment, who is serving with the Expeditionary Force in Northern France. In the course of a letter he describes a remarkable incident which occurred on Christmas Eve between the British and German trenches.

At the annual meetings of the Devonshire Association in 1948, an Appledore jersey was shown amongst examples of arts and crafts of this old seaport writes Mr Vernon C Boyle.

It was much admired and it transpired that in other ports the knitting of such jerseys has almost died out. Miss Margaret Ross, 5 Ibex Court, West Appledore, knitted this jersey, and again it was on show at the ‘made in Devon’ Exhibition in Dartington Hall, 1950, when a representative of the Arts Council of Great Britain would have liked to take it away to be sent about the world amongst other examples of British craftsmanship.
Gazette article dated 2 February 1951

Appledore’s New Vicar instituted

St Mary’s Church, Appledore, was filled to overflowing on Saturday afternoon when the Rev D L Peyton Jones was instituted as Vicar of Appledore by the Bishop of Crediton, Rt Rev Wilfred Westall, who also gave the address.

The Archdeacon of Barnstaple, the Ven R G Herniman, took part in the induction ceremony.
Among the congregation was a large contingent from the new Vicar’s former parish of Salcombe Regis, and representatives of a wide range of Appledore and district interests. These included members and officials of Northam Urban Council led by the chairman, Mr John Smith; the chairman of Appledore Shipbuilders Ltd, Vice-Admiral Sir Peveril William-Powlett; and the hon secretary, Mr Ivor Wickersham, and coxswain, Mr Des Cox, of Appledore lifeboat.
After the service the new incumbent met new and old friends informally at refreshments served in the church hall.
In the photograph (not included) are: Mr Reg Harris, the new Vicar, the Bishop of Crediton, the Archdeacon, the Rev R A Ford (Vicar of Abbotsham) and Mr Charles Day.

Gazette article dated 30 March 1973

Mike Says Goodbye to Show Business

Prized place in the picture and cuttings book of Appledore Michael Roberts is a photograph which shows him in party mood with England soccer stars Bobby Moore and Geoff Hurst.

It is one of the many tangible memories he has of what will be for him an unforgettable period of his life when he was lead singer for a group which played to big crowds in Brighton and London.
Now Michael, who is married with three young daughters, is back working in the shipyard at Appledore, his career as a professional singer over. ‘But it was good while it lasted’ he says.
He started singing with a Bideford group, the Heartbeats, who later changed their name to the Mysterymen, but it was after he moved from Appledore to HM Dockyard at Devonport to work that his reputation as a singer started to grow. The South Devon based group, the Pleasure Men, of which he was a member, was spotted by a London agent and signed on contract, and they spent the 1969 summer season at the popular Dixieland Palace at Brighton on the same bill as Harry Roy and his band.
The full Gazette article is dated 5 January 1