On this day in Wembury — 30 March 1930
Three young men from Oreston crossed the Yealm and found unexpected trouble in the gardens of Bovisand Lodge. The house, owned by the Reverend J. J. Case, stood empty above the cliffs that spring, its lawns bright with daffodils and wallflowers. Reginald White of Thornville Terrace, Joseph Thorne of Church Hill, and Harold Carter of Sweets Cottages thought no harm in climbing the wall and taking a few blooms home for their mothers. But the beds were left trampled, and when Constable Badge called two days later, the bunches were still on White’s sideboard. At Yealmpton Petty Sessions all three admitted what they had done, claiming they believed the garden abandoned. The Bench took a sterner view. Each man was fined six shillings and fourpence — about £25 in today’s money — to cover court costs and damages, and bound over for twelve months. A small spring prank became a costly lesson that even a few flowers, if taken without leave, could wilt a reputation faster than the petals themselves.
(Western Morning News, 26 April 1930)
