Stories from Southlands Hotel, by Iris Ansell: 1. The Countess
Friend of Fairlynch Iris Ansell, who helps in the Museum’s Costume
Department, recalls some memorable moments from her time as proprietor
of Southlands Hotel. This first article is one of a total of eight pieces about life at the hotel.
The former Southlands Hotel on Budleigh Salterton’s Marine Parade
In the late 70s, we came to Budleigh Salterton, which we loved at first
sight, and I still do to this day. We bought a different kind of
establishment, open all the year, and requiring a different kind of
staffing levels, with chefs and commis chefs. All required handling with
kid gloves, but that is another story.
The guests, however, were delightful. Some more than others. The
‘Countess’ was, I think, my favourite.
Copy of a Southlands Hotel publicity leaflet
Courtesy of the Nick Loman Collection
I had a phone call one spring morning from the Tourist Information
Office, asking if I had a sea-facing room for the ‘Countess’ for a few
days. She duly arrived, draped in an assortment of flowing garments and a
large hat adorned with cabbage roses. She was the perfect guest, ate very
little, out all day, and retired to her room directly after dinner.
One day, the Coastguards arrived, along with the police, asking who was
flashing morse code from a front bedroom window. It was the ‘Countess’,
reliving her days with the resistance forces during the war, when she was
based on the north coast of France.
Another morning, she appeared with a pillow case (off her bed) filled
with items she had picked up around the hotel i.e. ashtrays, vases,
ornaments etc, saying it was ‘Christmas time’, and going from table to
table dishing out ‘presents’. I followed behind, collecting them up again.
Her little holiday was cut short when her son arrived, the police having
contacted him about his mother. She had escaped from a nursing home in
Kent, hiring a taxi to bring her to Devon, where she had spent holidays as
a child.
She presented me with a huge bunch of daffodils, and with lots of hugs
and kisses we waved her off. Other guests in the hotel said she had made
their holiday. The daffodils, I discovered, she had picked from a
house along the sea front, very early in the morning. When they woke up
the owners pulled back their curtains to find every one of their daffodils
gone.
The flowers were adorning the residents’ lounge. I’m afraid I didn’t tell
them.
Southlands Hotel as it is today, transformed into apartments as Marine
Court
Image credits: Fairlynch Museum
The next article by Iris, 'On the Sherry', is at https://budleighpastandpresent.blogspot.com/2014/12/a-hoteliers-memories-by-iris-ansell-2.html
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