Diary Entry: I joined John at Barnstaple & went with him to Northam, Westwood Ho & Bideford. Diary notes: Given the time John seems to have had to spend with KPD, did he work in a school and so have long summer holidays?
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Diary Date: 24th August [1940]
Diary Entry: We went to Barnstaple in a.m. I went with John, tea Shebbear. Diary notes: ‘Shebbear’ is an independent secondary school in North Devon, not far from Barnstaple. Possibly KPD (or her cousin’s husband and friend John) had friends working there.
Diary Date: 21st August [1940]
Diary Entry: Went to Braunton to stay Dorothy & John Thomson & Janet. Langley, Coulhead Bused to Ilfracombe via Exford, Kentisbury Ford, & Coombe Martin. Diary notes: Dorothy Thomson was KPD’s first cousin; John was her husband and Janet their daughter (born 1938). KPD was staying with them at Braunton.
Diary Date: 20th August [1940]
Diary Entry: Went to “Pinoccio” (sic) [‘Pinocchio’] Diary notes: ‘Pinocchio’, first released in 1940, is regarded as one of Disney’s finest films. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinocchio_(1940_film) By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3857414
Diary Date: 17th August [1940]
Diary Entry: Trip to Tarr Steps by Winsford Hill Tea at Dulverton & back by Exe Valley. Diary notes: KPD was enjoying her holiday in Exmoor despite the Battle of Britain taking place at this time – an event which is widely regarded as one of the most momentous periods in British history: yet KPD …
Diary Date: 15th August [1940]
Diary Entry: Trip to Lynmouth, Doone Valley & Oare Church. Diary notes: Another literary link, perhaps more obvious, on this day – and KPD who was pretty well read would have certainly known about ‘Lorna Doone’. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorna_Doone
Diary Date: 14th August [1940]
Diary Entry: Coach trip to Selworthy, Bossington, Porlock. Diary notes: A coach trip across the north Somerset countryside. Porlock, of course, is perhaps most famous for its role as the reason (or excuse) for Samuel Taylor Coleridge failing to complete his famous poem ‘Kubla Khan’! (See here for more details: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kubla_Khan)
Diary Date: 13th August [1940]
Diary Entry: Bused to Dunster. Diary notes: Dunster, on the north Somerset coast, is still a major tourist attraction for its medieval village buildings and nearby Dunster Castle (National Trust) Dunster Castle today.
Diary Date:12th August [1940]
Diary Entry: Went by coach to Wheddon Cross, Dunkery Beacon & Horner Woods. Diary notes: Although the period of the ‘Phoney War’ had ended some months before (and the Battle of Britain was about to begin), coach tours were obviously still continuing.
Diary Date: 10th August [1940]
Diary Entry: Went to Minehead to stay – Miss Tudball, Broomleigh, Parkhouse Road. Bused from Bridgewater. Diary notes: This 20 day holiday (in Somerset & Devon) in 1940 was the last long holiday KPD took before the end of the war. KPD liked travelling, and her list of holidays, taken both on her own or …
Aunt Pamela's War 