Plym Valley Heritage Chair Report July 2026
Our Speaker on Thursday May 21st was Martin Lovell, General Manager of The Story of Emily Museum, St. Ive, near Liskeard. His talk was entitled:
“The Story of Emily Hobhouse who went to South Africa in the Boer War to work in the camps.”
Emily Hobhouse grew up in the village of St Ive, near Liskeard which has seen The Rectory, her childhood home, restored and turned into the museum entitled, “The Story of Emily.”
Emily’s work saw her expose the British Empire’s treatment of women and children in concentration camps in the Anglo -Boer War of 1899- 1902. She was labelled a traitor at home but is seen in South Africa as a heroine. She saved thousands of lives by providing aid to those in the concentration camps. She published damning reports of the horrors inflicted on those in the camps, but was largely written out of British history.
At the conclusion of the talk a raffle took place, when the winner received two free tickets to The Story of Emily Museum which also includes The War Rooms- an immersive depiction of Emily’s life.
Our Speaker on Thursday June 18th was Mark Alderson. His talk was entitled:
“Flying Boat Pilot in War and Peace. Disaster and Survival. The extraordinary life of Captain M.R.J. “Roly” Alderson.”
Roly was Mark’s father so Mark’s talk included a fine selection of family archive photographs. Roly was born in 1906 and in 1919 at the age of twelve on hearing about the England-Australia aero record he decided he wanted to fly. By the time he left Cambridge University he had acquired a pilot’s licence and was recruited to Imperial Airways in 1933. Before long he achieved his ultimate ambition which was to “fly boats” on the prestigious new route to South Africa. He survived a ditching in the Atlantic in 1939. During World War Two, his passengers included Sir Winston Churchill and General de Gaulle.
After the war Roly continued his flying career with B.O.A.C. on the Africa, India, Australia route. He ended his flying career by evaluating for B.O.A.C, aircraft such as the Boeing Stratocruiser, the De Havilland Comet, the VC10 and Concorde.
PVH COMMUNITY INTERPRETATION BOARDS
Our current community project is to design and supply two interpretation boards. One for Hooe Barn, the other for Hooe Green.
Their aim is to explain and inform about the history in their immediate area
These will be A1 size (59.4cms x 84.1cms) wall mounted in a stainless steel frame with full colour artwork encapsulated in Resin.
That for the Barn will be wall mounted, the one for the Green is lectern style.
To date the project has been supported by Cllr. Rebecca Smith MP and
Cllr. Kathy Watkin.
We have permission from the Barn owner to mount a board on the West wall and we are awaiting permission from PCC re the Hooe Green board.
Meanwhile design work is proceeding and we have arrived at this final draft which has been sent to a selection of board manufucturers.
Further information will be posted here as things develop.
The PLYMSTOCK TAPESTRIES
This website is now hosting a virtual view of the tapestries. Click here
Visit Plymstock Library to enjoy the real thing!