Plainmoor 1946

Doesn't really do it justice.....

Homelands Central School, Torquay, Devon, 1928-1945; Homelands Modern Secondary School Torquay, Devon 1945-1946; Homelands Secondary Technical School Torquay, Devon 1946-1956


I found this great wartime story I thought would add interest to this thread




Born and bred in Torquay, I was a schoolgirl at Homelands Central School for the duration of the war. Many of the pupils were evacuees from the blitz-torn east end of London, but nowhere in the country was entirely safe from raids, and for our protection there were air raid shelters in the playground. The sheer number of evacuees proved a challenge to the school and we lost both our library and our laboratories when those rooms were hastily pressed into service as classrooms. And the evacuees weren’t the only strangers around; latterly, there were American soldiers based near the football ground at Plainmoor.

Even as a schoolgirl, I witnessed great loss during the war. I recall the dreadful St. Marychurch bombing vividly because many of my classmates died in that attack and I attended their funeral. And we also lost our French teacher Miss Oldacre; she was staying in a hotel at Torquay harbour when the building suffered a direct hit. I have happier memories, however, of being part of the Red Ant dance troupe. A group of local children led by Mrs Heard, we used to travel around Torbay giving fundraising performances for Prison of War Relief.

What also remains strong in my memory is a coincidence that stems from one day in 1942. I was walking along the sea front past the Palm Court with my aunt and my twin brother Leslie. Although the beaches were cordoned off with barbed wire, there were still gaps that you could gain access through. I always remember being told, “Look out to sea and, if you see a German plane, go and tell a policeman.” On that day, we certainly saw Germans, but we didn’t have time to tell a policeman! Without warning, bomber craft sped in towards us over the sea and strafed the beach with machine gun fire. We ran into the Palm Court and took cover under tables whilst outside on Torre Abbey Sands, the schools inspector Mr Kestaven was caught on the beach with his 3 year old son. The bombers came so close that they were able to see the pilot’s face in the cockpit. In desperation Mr Kestevan threw his son to the sand and flattened himself on top of the toddler. There was a spray of bullets and Mr Kestevan was hit. He died saving his son.

Many years later, I was attending a party at a hotel in Bishopsteinton for my son’s 21st birthday. There was a young man working as a portrait artist at the hotel who we got into conversation with and it soon transpired he was none other than Mr. Kestevan’s son! As proof, he even removed his shoe and sock and showed me the scar of a bullet hole in his foot — a permanent reminder of his narrow escape and his father’s selfless courage.

My husband Dennis also remembers a raid on Torquay when he was 13:

“I was in the park at Chelston when, suddenly, a German plane appeared out of nowhere tearing towards me across the sky with a British Hurricane fighter pilot on its tail. I was so close to the German plane at one point that I could see the pilot’s face. The British pursuer eventually shot the German plane down over the bay.”

“The Americans had a strong presence in Torquay and many of them were stationed in huge army lorries that filled whole roads up and down Torquay. They were only allowed to leave the lorries twice a day and since the American canteen was up at St. Luke’s Park, my brother cleverly offered to run errands for the troops; he made a fortune in tips from bringing them fish and chips! They were all very welcome, however, and it was a bit of a shock when we woke up one day to find them all gone, lorries and all. They had joined literally thousands of young American lads who had marched all the way from Stover to the Torquay slipways in order to embark on D-Day operations.”


www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/52/a6616352.shtml

Looking at the map it does clearly show that the building in the two photos is the junior school. I can't actually remember what it looked like even though I went to the senior school for 5 years!! At the time I was there the junior school was wedged between two sections of the senior Homelands school. There was the old senior school at the Ellacombe end of the football ground and the other side was a quite modern (at that time) engineering and carpentry block which certainly wasn't there in 1946!

Jon is forgiven for forgetting some of my posts.

I can't remember most of them myself.

If James were 66 years older, he would have been telling us that Colonel Ward would have to sack himself if he failed to deliver on his "promise" to "go all out for the top of the league and promotion to the Second Division".

Interesting stuff phipsy.

The council bought the house and grounds and the football field in 1910.

I assume that the new Homelands school was built in the grounds and the house left untouched then?