wemburywaves

On this day in Wembury — 18 April 1996
The Western Evening Herald’s Village Voice column painted a lively picture of Wembury life in the spring of 1996, when news travelled by parish noticeboard and local paper rather than through screens. Every few lines revealed a community that kept itself running through shared effort and goodwill.

The Wembury Primary School PTA was asking for help with its Summer Fayre on Saturday June 1, and organiser Jane Cox invited volunteers to get in touch by phone, giving her home number just as everyone did in those days. The Scouts reminded readers that their monthly newspaper and magazine collection was due soon, and asked villagers to bundle every scrap of paper to raise funds. The recycling effort was as much about pride as it was about pennies.

The Wembury and District Branch of the RNLI announced a concert with the Noss Mayo Singers on April 27 in the Silver Jubilee Hall at Down Thomas, with tickets available locally from Mrs Hardy and Mrs Smith. Plans were already in hand for cream teas, stalls and raffles through the summer to keep the branch’s fundraising afloat.

Elsewhere, Dr Bennett and his wife offered their garden at Hill Park for the annual Open Garden weekend in aid of the Village Hall, while the Parish Council thanked residents who had helped plant new trees on Knighton Hill. With the Odd Wheel and the Silver Jubilee Hall hosting regular gatherings, the rhythm of the year was already set.

That small Village Voice column from April 1996 captures a world that now feels distant yet instantly recognisable, a time when Wembury thrived on telephone calls, posters and familiar faces rather than clicks and notifications.
(Western Evening Herald, 18 April 1996)