Postman Branch is somewhat of an interloper in Barefoot on the Cobbles as he did not actually live in Clovelly. As Leonard makes up his mind whether or not to join up, I used William Branch as a well-known local figure who was a prisoner of war.

William Henry Branch was born on 8 May 1888 and baptised at Northam on 21 June. He was the son of James and Mary Ann Branch née Heard. At the age of seventeen, William joined the army reserve as part of the 4^th Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment. At the time, he was living at 6 Hazel Terrace Northam and working as a labourer for Mr Ashplant, a shoemaker. William was just under 5 foot 6 inches tall and weighed 129lb, with brown eyes and brown hair. He described himself as a Wesleyan Methodist. It appears that, six months later, on 19 June 1905 he was part of the regular army. 1911 finds William serving in India as a Lance Corporal in the 13^th Hussars.

He married Ethel Mary Bowden in 1912 and they had one son. At some point, he was attached to the 2nd Life Guards. In the early days of the First World war he was taken prisoner. Whilst he was a POW at Wittenburg Camp, he was shot through the hand so that he would be unable to use a gun. He was discharged in July 1916 and awarded the Silver War Badge.

He became the local postman, walking the route from Bideford to Buckland Brewer daily. He used to stay in a hut at the back of the Methodist Chapel whilst he waited for the outgoing letters to return to Bideford. By coincidence, it may be that this shed is now in my garden, although other sheds are available! He also worked as the local lamplighter. By 1939 he was living at 3 Rickards Row in Buckland Brewer. He died in 1963.

 ‘Now the old men pontificated about the war, what so-and-so should or shouldn’t have done, how our brave boys would win through and wasn’t it a pity about Postman Branch, who’d been taken prisoner.’

Barefoot on the Cobbles will be published on 17 November 2018. More information about the novel can be found here. Copies will be available at various events in the weeks following the launch or can be pre-ordered from Blue Poppy Publishing or the author.

Police Sergeant Ashby is the bearer of bad news when he arrives on Polly and Albert’s doorstep in chapter fifteen of Barefoot on the Cobbles.

James Charles Ashby was born on 1 January 1874 in Holsworthy, the son of James and Grace Ashby née Jones. James followed in his father’s footsteps and began his working life on a local farm. In the mid-1890s he joined Devon Constabulary.

James married Hannah Mary Luscombe in Wolborough on 27 December 1899. They are believed to have had three children. In 1901, he was working as a police constable in Highweek, Newton Abbot, he is also known to have worked in Bishop’s Nympton and Dawlish. He was serving in the Bideford area at the time of the novel but moved to Budleigh Salterton before his retirement in 1922. In 1939 he was living at 7 Imperial Road, Exmouth and was working as a caretaker. He died in Honiton in 1959.

‘Polly was unable to raise her gaze above the middle of the policeman’s chest. Her mind was captivated by insignificant details, the shiny buttons that marched down Ashby’s tunic, the red weal on his neck, left by the chin strap of his helmet. Everything about the man’s attire seemed too small for his formidable frame. His collar was tight, the leather belt with its metal clasp, was stretched across his ample stomach, even his boots were taut and misshapen by the bunions that were a legacy of past years on the beat.’

Barefoot on the Cobbles will be published on 17 November 2018. More information about the novel can be found here. Copies will be available at various events in the weeks following the launch or can be pre-ordered from Blue Poppy Publishing or the author.

Nelson was the youngest of Polly and Albert’s four sons. He was born in Chapel Street Clovelly on 16 August 1908. Nelson’s story features in chapter four of Barefoot on the Cobbles and it would spoil the novel if I were to recount it any further here. So I will leave you with an extract from that chapter.

‘Bertie, with his younger brothers Mark and Nelson, had spent the long, light evenings after school scrabbling for rusty buttons or broken bits of plate and bickering with friends over who had spotted a particular treasure first. As they ranged across the beach, using old branches to make dens above the water’s reach, their unbroken voices mingled with the raucous cries of the gulls and echoed back.’

Barefoot on the Cobbles will be published on 17 November 2018. More information about the novel can be found here. Copies will be available at various events in the weeks following the launch or can be pre-ordered from Blue Poppy Publishing or the author.

There are only brief references to Arthur Wakely in Barefoot on the Cobbles. His escape from his Devonshire home, to become a coachman in Midlothian, Scotland, was an example to Albert that there was a world beyond the fishing villages on the north Devon coast.

Arthur William Wakely was the eldest of the Wakely family and the only surviving son in a family of girls. He was born on 21 April 1861 in Peppercombe Valley. Initially he moved to Bideford and worked as a painter but shortly afterwards changed his occupation. In 1882, he married a Scottish girl Mary Eliza MacAulay in London, where they had no doubt met whilst in service. They moved with the family to their Scottish home in Edinburgh, by which time Arthur is working as a coachman. Arthur and Mary had at least eight children. We lose track of Arthur and his family after 1901.

‘It was from Polly that he learned that there were two more sisters at home, Ada and Ethel and a brother, Arthur, who was making his own way in the world.’

Barefoot on the Cobbles will be published on 17 November 2018. More information about the novel can be found here. Copies will be available at various events in the weeks following the launch or can be pre-ordered from Blue Poppy Publishing or the author.

We meet the Honourable Mrs Asquith, the wife of the Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith, in Clovelly Church on an early summer morning in 1909. The Asquiths were regular guests at Clovelly Court, where their hosts were great supporters of the Liberal political cause.

Photographer Adolph de Meyer used under Creative Commons

The Mrs Asquith who appears in the novel was H H Asquith’s second wife. Alice Emma Margaret (known as Margot) Tennant was born on 2 February 1864 to Sir Charles and Emma Tennant née Winsloe. The family were from Glen House, Traquair in the Scottish Borders. Margot married Asquith on 10 May 1894 in St. George’s Hanover Square. She had a reputation as a wit and a socialite. She was also a writer, although her works were not greeted with universal acclaim. Margot bore Asquith five children but only two survived to adulthood. In the 1920s, Margot amassed significant debts and she tried various money making schemes, including advertising Wix cigarettes. She died on 28 July 1945 and is buried in Sutton Courtenay.

‘The service dragged on, the sermon began and Daisy struggled to focus on what Reverend Simkin was saying. She became aware of some scuffling in the Asquiths’ pew. Mrs Asquith was scrabbling in the beaded reticule that dangled from her wrist. She appeared to be writing something down. Perhaps she was making notes on Reverend Simkin’s rather turgid address, which advocated duty and forbearance.’

Barefoot on the Cobbles will be published on 17 November 2018. More information about the novel can be found here. Copies will be available at various events in the weeks following the launch or can be pre-ordered from Blue Poppy Publishing or the author.