On this day in Wembury — 4 April 1945
The Western Morning News printed a letter from F. Squance of Wembury, raising a question that was on many local minds as the war neared its end. The Admiralty had just announced it was giving up plans to retain large parts of Bodmin Moor for military use, and Mr Squance wanted reassurance that the same would apply to Wembury Point. The headland, long admired for its natural beauty and sweeping views across the Yealm and the Mewstone, had been closed off during the war for naval gunnery training and coastal defence.
He wrote that the Point was “a beauty spot of interest to thousands of Plymothians” and an essential part of the city’s post-war plan for public recreation. His letter reflected the hope that when peace came, Wembury’s beaches and cliffs would be returned to open access rather than remain behind wire. In time that wish was partly fulfilled. The land stayed in defence hands for decades but was finally bought by the National Trust in 2006, restoring public paths and giving back to the community the very views Mr Squance had pleaded for in 1945.
(Western Morning News, 4 April 1945)
Entries are summaries and interpretations of historical newspaper reports.