Here’s the full On This Day entry for the 21 May 1948 tragedy:
On This Day in Wembury — 21 May 1948
Plympton Boy Killed in Cliff Fall Near Wembury
A tragic accident claimed the life of 12-year-old Stanley Geoffrey Leppan, son of Lieut.-Com. and Mrs. E. C. R. Leppan of Little Cot, Torbridge, Plympton. A pupil of Plympton Grammar School, he was walking with a friend, John Haynes of Lucas Terrace, Plympton, when he fell from a cliff about 100 feet high near the mouth of the Yealm, between Wembury and Newton Ferrers.
It was not clear whether he slipped while climbing from the foreshore or fell directly from the cliff top. His injuries, including a fracture at the base of the skull, proved fatal. Young Haynes ran for help to the Old Mill Café, where Mr. Wills and Mr. Carter of Newton Ferrers assisted in recovering the body by boat to Wembury Beach.
This incident was one of several reminders of the dangers along the cliffs and estuary edges near Wembury. Though beloved for their beauty, the rugged approaches to the Yealm have always carried hidden risks. From 19th-century smuggling pursuits to holiday accidents, the same steep slopes have claimed lives. The tragedy of young Stanley’s death is part of this sobering thread in the wider story of the Wembury coast.
Source: Western Morning News, 21 May 1948
