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On this day in Wembury – 15 August 1923

The Western Morning News carried a sensational report of an alleged “modern highwaymen” attack in the quiet countryside near Wembury.

A Newton Ferrers man, Charles Jackson, described as about 55 and employed for more than 20 years on a Devonport Dockyard tug, was walking to Plymstock railway station to catch the 6:05 am train to work when he was allegedly waylaid in the early dawn. At around 5:00 am, after passing Staddiscombe, three men were said to have leapt from the hedgerows in the mist, seized him by the throat, thrown him down, and searched his pockets.

Loose cash amounting to about 11 shillings was taken, and the attackers were also said to have stripped him of his collar and tie and even removed his boots. Bruised around the head and throat, Jackson nonetheless got back to his feet and continued on in socks. A fellow dockyard worker later caught up and helped him along, and they reached Plymstock station in time for the train, where Jackson collapsed and was given first aid before being taken by ambulance back to Newton Ferrers.

A notable detail was that a purse containing a larger sum of money, carried elsewhere on him, was left untouched, suggesting the attackers were in too great a hurry to search thoroughly. The report added that Jackson claimed he had been attacked in a similar way the previous year near Puslinch Bridge.

Source: Western Morning News, 15 August 1923.

 

On this day in Wembury, 15 August 1939

A bright, breezy advert appeared in the Daily Herald promoting Wembury Point Holiday Camp, with its own bathing pool, stables, band and full programme of sports. It urged readers to take advantage of late August and September vacancies, declaring that “September is best, the golden West,” and inviting holidaymakers to stay “on the edge of the sea” at Wembury Point.

What gives the advert an unexpected poignancy is the timing. It was printed on 15 August 1939, just seventeen days before the outbreak of the Second World War. Britain was still officially at peace, and holiday camps were doing everything possible to fill their late-season beds, but tension was already rising across Europe. Many families taking breaks that August had little idea how quickly normal life would be overturned.

Seen now, the advert is a snapshot of Wembury in the final days of pre-war innocence, when the coast was still a carefree holiday setting and not yet linked with the military training, coastal defence works and wartime upheaval that would follow within weeks.

Source, Daily Herald, 15 August 1939.