A Christmas Greeting

A Christmas Greeting

December 1922 continues with more adverts from the Gazette in the couple of weeks leading up to Christmas. They show the variety of loose goods on sale in a Cullompton grocery and an Exeter toy shop hoping to attract customers from the Tiverton district. ‘ Peter Pan’s...

Tiverton’s Best, Come and Invest!

Tiverton’s Best, Come and Invest!

In late October 1922, 45 traders met in the Town Hall to plan for Tiverton ‘Shopping Week’ which was to take place in early December. There was already £150 worth of advertising pledged towards the production of a handbook to promote the week. Three sub-committees...

New cloth seal on display

New cloth seal on display

Cloth seal for George Lewis, Tiverton. George Lewis was exporting cloth between 1748 - 1776. The seal features a lion on one side and the number 56 1/2 on the other. This number means it is likely to have been used on a type of cloth called a drugget. This seal was...

Broadcasting Begun

Broadcasting Begun

BROADCASTING BEGUN was the headline in the Gazette when the news and the weather forecast were ‘sent out’ from the BBC station in Marconi House, London on the 14th November 1922, and from Birmingham and Manchester as well the following day. The Gazette reports ‘In...

The growth of the WI in Devon

The growth of the WI in Devon

In November 1922, an article appeared in the Gazette outlining the, then fairly recent, development of the Women’s Institute (WI). Founded in Canada in 1897, it was brought to this country by a Canadian immigrant. The first WI in the UK was founded in 1915, during the...

Bowled Over

Bowled Over

In late October 1922 the Gazette reported:  ‘ A storm of protest has disturbed the peaceful atmosphere in which recreations in People’s Park have hitherto been conducted. The Bowling Club have erected a fence around their greens, and it is of such a design that...

Brass Bands

Brass Bands

This press cutting leads to a train of events which began in 1898. Amy Oxley Wilkinson was an Australian nurse and missionary. She had been in China only a few years when she founded a school for boys with little or no sight in Foochow (now written Fuzhou). Amy also...

Take a Picture

Take a Picture

Kodak opened its first factory outside the USA in Harrow, Middlesex, in 1890. Initially it concentrated on developing film but later produced film rolls and photographic paper. It was also the European Research and Development Centre. At its peak, in the mid-20th...

‘Winter’ Sports

‘Winter’ Sports

In late September 1922 ‘winter’ sports were already underway but Thorne’s were touting for custom. Lacrosse ‘bats’ are now called ‘sticks’. Blundell’s didn’t play lacrosse at that time, where was it played? We’d love to know, please let us know if you've got any...

Mid Devon Shows

Mid Devon Shows

In late August each year, the Gazette has at least one page, if not more, devoted to the annual ‘shows’ held in almost every village. In 1922, Silverton celebrated their ‘13th annual show and sports’ and they had a record attendance. The attractions included...

Swimming in Tiverton

Swimming in Tiverton

Tiverton Swimming Club regularly reported their activities in the Gazette. In July 1922, as well as listing ‘handicaps’ in the senior and junior sections for men and ladies, the programme for the annual gala was announced. ‘Mr Scrivens of Exeter will demonstrate the...

Old Newspapers

Old Newspapers

The adverts in local papers of 100 years ago give a fascinating insight in to life at the time. The British Newspaper Archive (BNA) is a huge project which, so far, has digitised millions of pages from national and local newspapers held by the British Library. It is...