Budleigh Past and Present

Continued from  http://budleighbrewsterunited.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/the-founder-of-bicton-countryside-museum.html Visiting other museums as I sometimes do I realise how cramped we are for space at Fairlynch, considering that our museum is supposed to ‘ exhibit artefacts and information about the history and development of Budleigh Salterton and the Lower Otter Valley.’ That’s a largish area, extending as far as the village of Newton Poppleford, and with so many aspects. Off-hand, I can’t think of too many items at Fairlynch which are to do with farming or agriculture, which play an important role in our area. Bicton’s Countryside Museum is bursting with such items. Not all of them are local. This Fordson tractor, built by the Ford Motor Company at Dearborn, in Michigan, USA, dates from 1917 and is probably one of the oldest in the country.  It came from Mitchelstown, in Co Cork, Ireland. But there are many items given by l...

Budleigh artist and writer Joyce Dennys (1893-1991) was to have been featured in an exhibition planned for 2016. Sadly, due to unforeseen circumstances, that plan has had to be abandoned. However, Fairlynch’s Costume Room will feature a scene from Joyce Dennys’ play Worlds Apart when the Museum opens in March. The mural that she painted is sometimes used as a background for costume exhibitions. The idea of a special exhibition to showcase the achievements of the talented artist and author of such literary gems as Henrietta’s War is something that the Museum will continue to bear in mind. Some of her paintings are on display at Fairlynch of course, and Budleigh Salterton Town Council has kindly consented to lend us others in its ownership. The idea of an illustrated book about Joyce Dennys has also been discussed and this would certainly be a welcome project. There are still many of her paintings in private ownership about which the Museum would like to know...

  This image that I posted on Fairlynch’s Facebook page got a fair bit of interest recently. Yes, ‘there is a connection’ I wrote, but I left it at that. So here’s  a bit of what I’ve found during the research for my forthcoming booklet about Reg Varney which will accompany the 2016 exhibition ‘Our Little Clown’ at Fairlynch Museum.  Yes, Reg did indeed play Shakespeare. Here he is as the clown or ‘wise fool’ Touchstone, a performance for which he won praise in a 1953 production of  As You Like It at the celebrated Mermaid Theatre.  The above booklet, published in 1951 and found among Reg's papers, tells the story of the 20th-century Mermaid Theatre, the life's work of actor Bernard Miles with his wife, Josephine Wilson. His original Mermaid Theatre was a large barn at his house in the St. John's Wood area of London. This seated 200 people, and during 1951 and 1952 ...

For a small museum like Fairlynch, volunteers are vital and none more so than the stewards who give up their time to welcome visitors.   It doesn't happen by magic. Sometimes there's a mini-crisis when a steward phones up to say that he or she is ill and a replacement has to be found. But generally things run pretty smoothly and some visitors find that our stewards are the best feature of the museum for their friendly and informative approach.  So the trustees regularly organise a stewards' party and here are some pics from this year's Christmas social on Friday 11 December.  It was a happy occasion and I even won a prize in the raffle.