Scores of historic Plympton artefacts were on display at St Mary’s Parish Centre as the climax to the Historic Plympton Festival.
Visitors were able to browse old school photographs which included the entire school of Plympton Secondary Modern pupils taken in 1952 and 1955 and similar photographs of Plympton Grammar School taken in 1949, 1953 and 1955.
Among many other photographs on display was one showing the inaugural meeting of the Rotary Club of Plympton held at Elfordleigh in 1954. One of the more amusing artefacts was a programme for the Rotary’s Country Fayre at Newnham on 18 September 1994 which included a cow pat competition.
The oldest photograph on display was one believed to be the oldest surviving photograph of Plympton St Mary, taken in 1876 before the building of the Malthouses and the terraces in Market Road. Plympton St Mary’s Church is pictured in the middle with only a sparse number of surrounding properties.
Also on display were bill heads from old local businesses. These included an invoice dating back to 1933 from motor dealer and hire car company Frederick Littlejohns who were based at The Mews on Ridgeway.
Other things visitors were able to learn from reading the information displayed was that the Scout headquarters in Station Road known as Cottle’s Lodge gets its name from Jack Cottle who founded the 1st Plympton Scout Group along with his brother in 1908.
Similarly the Guides’ building know as Betts’ is named after Sister Betts who was heavily involved with the local Brownies and Guides for many years and who was awarded the Oak Leaf in 1965 for her services to the movement.
(Story courtesy of the Plympton Podcast)
