REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY

A former chairman of Teignmouth Urban Council, Mr Arthur Bladon, is wondering if the time has come to end Remembrance Sunday. He told members of the Chamber of Commerce last week that out of a population of 12,000 in Teignmouth only 60 to 70 would stand to honour the war dead at the war memorial on the sea front. ‘Just how long can this go on? When will it end?’ he asked.

He reminded the meeting that Britain is now at war. One of the ‘bloodiest’ was being fought in Ireland, and this conflict meant that we could be at war in Plymouth, Exeter or Bristol, when a post office might be blown up. The present council chairman, Mr Ronald Doel, commented that Remembrance Sunday would end when the people who were relatives of the fallen themselves had died. Since the Second World War, there had been minor wars in various parts of the world, involving British servicemen.

CLIFF RESCUE

Four girls who played truant from a special boarding school for maladjusted and delicate children at Teignmouth tried to climb down the 100ft Ness Cliff at Shaldon on Thursday afternoon. Two of them managed to clamber down to the beach but their companions became r’ather frightened’ and refused to move when halfway down.

A passer-by on the beach who saw their plight called the local fire brigade and police. Station Officer Mr Tom Radford went down to the stranded pair on a rescue line from the top of the cliff, and the children were lowered one at a time to the beach unhurt. One came from Tavistock, another from Stourport- on-Severn, the third from Bristol and the fourth from Dagenham, Essex.

‘ABERFAN’ FEAR

A leading Teignmouth fisherman warned last week that if the Harbour Commissioners’ £300k scheme goes through, the town could face disaster on an ‘Aberfan scale’. Mr Len Matthews, representing the Teign Fishermen and Watermen’s Association, told the harbour improvement scheme, through its breakwater, would scour the east beach, undermining the sea defences. In a storm, water would pour through the town centre, much of which was under sea level, worse than ever before.

BEST VILLAGE

Members of Shaldon and Ringmore Women’s Institute crowded into Victoria Hall on Saturday to celebrate the outcome of their efforts, earlier in the year, to get the village tidy. Thoughts went back to the days when when they were busy with their brooms, helping to get the village spick and span. Dr Robinson Thomas, vice chairman of the Community Council of Devon, presented the Lord Roborough Plaque to Mrs B Marsh, president of the WI in Shaldon.

FAMILY INCOME SUPPLEMENTS

The Family Income Supplement is the first time a government has done anything for the self-employed, as well as those people on small incomes, said MP Mr Robin Maxwell-Hyslop at the Conservative Association held at the Royal Hotel last Saturday. It had made a real contribution, for it meant adding up to £4 a week, up to the maximum wage stop. This was of particular benefit to the South West, where the wage rates were the lowest in the country.

RIVIERA CINEMA

Christopher Lee in The Scars of Dracula; a comedy The Horror of Frankenstein; The Raging Moon; and Tick…Tick…Tick; Saturday matinee Mountain of Fear; and Mischief.