Mother in law -
hotel
How
long have you lived in Ilfracombe?
15
year.
And
how did you come to find Ilfracombe?
Well,
I worked at a garage, and one of the drivers came in, and I said I
wanted to go somewhere different and he said “oh I'll give you a
place”, and he just give me the address, and I wrote to the lady,
and we came down to stay, and we loved it, so we came year after
year. We came for about 40 years.
And
then you ended up with the hotel, how did that come about?
Well,
when we brought Sharon, she said “when I
grow up I'm going to live in Ilfracombe”, so when she married Jeff
she said “I'll take you to a place you'll love”, so she brought
him down here and he fell in love with it you see. And
as years went on they decided they wanted to move because he wanted
to change his job, because it was getting a bit fierce, you know, and
they just got estate agents to send them different things, and they
sent him this hotel, and they came and had a look at it and we all
came.
What's your favourite part of Ilfracombe?
I
don't really know,
Ilfracombe's just a nice place, I just love Ilfracombe.
And are there any areas you think need work?
I
don't know because I stick to certain parts. I
go down to harbour because I do the lifeboat shop, and of course I go
up to bowling green because I play bowls. So you get involved, you
get involved in Ilfracombe, so I'm involved in bowls and skittles and
mother and toddlers, so it just snowballs.
What do you think of Damien Hirst and his affect on Ilfracombe?
Well I think it's bringing a lot of
business, because he's got 2 or 3 places on the harbour. It's a bit
pricey, to my way of thinking, but on the whole, I mean he lives in
Combe Martin, so he is bringing business here.
And
what do you think of Verity?
Well
I'm a bit mixed. One
side she looks lovely, but when you go to the other side... I think
it's in the wrong place, I don't think it should be on the harbour. I
think they should put something ore in keeping with the harbour, you
know, like fishing and things like that. But it's alright, people
come and have a look. I think a lot of them come out of curiosity,
they just want to see what it's all about, and it' surprising how
many people don't know, cos they'll pop into lifeboat shop, and I'll
say “have you come to look at Verity?”
and they go “Verity?”
and you just point them in the right direction, they come back and
they give you their opinion.
People are very good about it, a lot of people love it, but I suppose
it's everybody’s opinion. I
mean, you can't say “well, I hate it”, I don't hate it but as I
say I think it could be put in a different place.
Do you think it's had a good affect on Ilfracombe, do you think it's
improved things around the town?
I
don't know because some people just drive in, have a look and drive
out, but we
do have a new car park, so that's going to encourage people to stay,
because there was nowhere to park and now they've built a lovely car
park on the harbour, so that could encourage people to stay in
Ilfracombe, which would be lovely.
And I’ve heard as well that since she's come in there’s a lot
less empty shops on the high street and there's a lot more art
galleries as well...
There's some beautiful art
galleries, there's a lot of art galleries. A lot of them, I’m
not... but I do have a look. It's worth going and having a look
round because I’m surprised how nice some of the things are.
There's even one at the side of the lifeboat shop, and some of the
figures in it are beautiful, really beautiful.
Do you think it's bringing a different type of tourist to Ilfracombe?
Well I don't know because I don't... Apart from going to lifeboat
shop and people popping in to buy things and look round, I don't
really know what type of people come. I just don't.
Jeff – hotel
How long have you lived in Ilfracombe?
15 years
And how did you come to find Ilfracombe?
I first met my wife 35 years ago,
she brought me down here and I fell in love with the place.
What do you like about Ilfracombe?
It's easy going lifestyle, no
pressure, no big town atmosphere, very friendly, warm, inviting town.
How did you get the hotel?
Because of the job I was doing which was a highly stressful job I
needed a change of life totally, and the environment down here we
thought it was a good thing, and we looked at somewhere to work where
we could bring our skills here, and somewhere to live, we needed to
occupy. Brought me mother and father in law with us, so we needed
somewhere big enough to house everybody and the hotel was the best
option. It was only a small town, probably a temporary thing, we were
going to stay in here until we got ourselves established. But 15
years in we're still at it and going strong.
What's your favourite part of Ilfracombe?
Probably the Tunnels beach area, and the seafront, around the Quay.
And why do you like these places?
Mainly
the history that's in behind it, thinking that how the roads were
named after the ship building history that was here, things like
Ropery Row and things like that. It's
just, when you live somewhere you don't always want to know the
history of the place, but when you move to Ilfracombe, it's history
is shouting out to be looked at, and that’s what we did.
I've always had a keen interest in looking at the museum and seeing
what's happened here and where people, famous people have come from.
And would you say there's anything that needs improvement?
Probably
the traffic system.
I've always been one shouting for a one-way system because the
streets are quite narrow and there's no good knocking buildings down
to make it easier for cars to drive past. It just needs a better road
system and better parking, that’s the one thing that's really amiss
with it.
What
do you think of Damien's restaurants and Verity?
Marvellous,
it's very... I
don't think we're going to become a Padstow or anything, we're not
going into Rick Stein-ville or anything.
He's investing money in other ways, this is a big show-piece which is
great. Up
North you've got Angel of the North and down here we've got Verity,
and
she's so many inches bigger, people don't realise that until they
come and stand and look at her, and then realise what size that is.
It's
quite an impressive statue, and for that to be in somewhere that's
supposedly run down because there;s not the fishing fleets and ships
and ferries backwards and forwards that we were thinking were going
to happen, this has brought a new focus back onto the quay,
and people are looking to...
it's improved the restaurants and there's a bit of competition there.
Wetherspoons have moved in, they're going to be an uplift for the
town as well.
What
do you think of Verity
personally?
Think
it's lovely, marvellous. It's a bit like, coming from Yorkshire I
know about Henry Moore, and a lot of people look at his sculpture and
thought what's it all about and couldn't understand anything with it
but with Damien you go in his restaurants and with Verity
as well it's got a little cutting edge with it there's something
there.
It's good to look at but it's challenging as well, it's what's its
meaning, people wonder why she's stood on a load of books, etc. a lot
of people don’t realise that until they get close to it. I think
it's a good thing, he is investing a load of money in here on the
quiet, it's not big advertising,
there's money being invested in he Ilfracombe Academy, there's gonna
be a new football pitch up there, all weather that’s gonna hep the
Ilfracombe Ladies that I support anyway, so there's gonna be an all
weather football pitch up there which is [unintelligible] he doesn't
want that called, you know, “Damien's ground” or something, it's
all just for the community. And
he lives here as well, it's not... he has to manage to hold his head
up high and walk around. Nice man, hell of a nice man.
Have you met him?
Mm,
couple of times. Yeah,
nice bloke. He's got plenty of businesses elsewhere, he's got
restaurants and such like in Soho, he's doing hotels here but he's
doing them at his own pace, he's never in any rush to do anything.
But it's good for the town, it needs something.
Have you been in the restaurant? And did you like it?
Yeah.
It's
fairly, it is a little bit upmarket for this area, people think we're
just a fish and chips town, but there is a good variety now of
different restaurants, which oh well adds to the flavour of the
place.
Only thing we need to get back to now is the shops being open at
night like they used to when we took our kids round. All the shops
reopened at 6 after everyone had their evening meal, they'd promenade
the kids round to make sure they went to sleep, and all the shops
were open and you could visit, that's the next step Ilfracombe needs
to take. Start getting shops open later on at night, it gives it that
atmosphere.
Lynne Thorne
How did you come to live in Ilfracombe?
Oh I was born in Ilfracombe and
lived here all my life.
What's your favourite part of Ilfracombe?
I
guess on top of the hills where you can see he lovely views. You
know, when people sometimes or maybe quite often, run Ilfracombe
down, they can't have been up on the top of Hillsborough or the Torrs
and looked you know, out at sea, and seen what a beautiful place it
is.
But the beaches are lovely, the seafront is lovely; I love this part
of the town too, Bicclescombe Park, it's lovely, peaceful, lovely and
green at the moment, and beautiful really.
Are there any parts of the town that needs to be improved upon?
Well,
yes. I do, especially at the moment, the potholes need sorting out,
some of the potholes are dreadful. And of
course it would be nice to have the high street back the way it used
to be, but I think it's sort of fairly general these days that high
streets aren’t what they used to be because of all the out of town
shopping that people do;
and we used to have lots of, well you could buy anything in
Ilfracombe: clothes shops, furniture shops, shoes shops, you name it.
Didn't really have to go anywhere else, but of course nowadays we've
got Superdrug and a hardware store, and a couple of factory shops,
and bakers and a couple of butchers and that's about it really. So
the high street is a little bit sad, but I guess like I say, that's
fairly general.
And what do you think of Damien's influence on the town?
Well
so far it's been positive. I mean, since we've had Verity
it's brought a lot of visitors to the town, and also we've got
several nice smart shops since he's opened his nice restaurant and
his art shop, and we've got several art shops open now, and along the
harbour the shops are becoming a little bit more upmarket.
They've got very much like bucket and spade rubbishy type things but
we've
got a nice new clothes shop open up down there and there are two or
three nice art shops and nice ice cream parlours and a wine bar has
opened up this year.
And also, everything used to close down, they used to say Barnstaple
fair which is the middle of September, pretty much all the shops down
at the seafront would shut up shop for the whole of the winter and
not open again until after Easter, but
nowadays, a lot of them if not most of them are open all year round.
And
the little aquarium on the pier, it must have made such a difference
to them because they would have been closed all winter and you can go
down there any day during the winter and there are people there
having coffee outside if it's a fine enough day, the aquarium seems
to be always open so it's brilliant seeing all the people about,
even on the coldest, maybe not the wettest day, but the coldest
wildest day there's always people out and about, it's really good.
What
do you think of Verity?
Personally,
I think she's wonderful. She stands there on the pier with her sword
aloft, looking as though she's guarding Ilfracombe.
There
is a legend that during the Napoleonic war, the French fleet tried to
invade Ilfracombe and the men were all away fighting, and the women
got their red petticoats, put them around their shoulders and paraded
around the hills, Capstone and Lantern Hill and the seafront looking
as if they were soldiers, and frightened the French fleet away, and I
just think Verity
is carrying on the tradition of Betsy Gammon and her ladies, and
she's there looking after us, and I think she's wonderful.
In the winter, when all the boats are out on the pier, the yachts are
all taken out of the harbour and lined up in lines on the pier, their
masts and Verity's
sword all seem to fit in so well, and she just fits in between
Hillsborough and Lantern Hill, and well, she's just fantastic, I
love her to bits.
I
wasn’t always so keen, before she came I thought she was gonna be a
monstrosity, we'd heard descriptions of her, how you could see her
insides, and I’d seen the sculptures that Damien Hirst had done of
completely skinned people, there's one of I think St Sebastian in
Canterbury Cathedral and he's got his skin over his arm and I thought
oh that's really gruesome, I didn’t like that,
but
Verity,
especially from her left hand side where you look at her most of the
time, you have to go out of your way to look at her right hand side
which is her skinned side which really only shows the structure of
muscle and her unborn baby, and it's not as gruesome as I thought,
and she's not as big or as ugly as I thought shed be, in fact I think
she's quite beautiful.
And
you also play the Verity
photo bingo...
Oh
yes, there's a game... We're
retired now, and two or three times a week if not a bit more if we're
out for any reason we'll drive round to the pier – we probably
would have done that anyway to look at the sea, but we call it “going
to see Verity”
- and we pull up in the parking spaces near her and we play a game
where we aren't allowed to drive away again until we've seen someone
take a photo. Well quite often we've not even pulled into the parking
space and someone's taken a photo, but we've never had to wait more
than a couple of minutes;
in fact quite often I say “oh lets not go just yet” - someone’s
taken a photo - “lets stay a little bit and just watch the sea”
or whatever, but yeah we do play that game.
Ray Thorne
How did you come to live in Ilfracombe?
Well, because the family was here, the family came here from Exeter
in 1920, just before that I think, the end of WWI. They were master
hairdressers, they opened a shop down at Broad St in Ilfracombe, and
obviously my dad was born in Exeter and I think he was about 2 years
old when he came up or something like that.
What's your favourite part of Ilfracombe?
I
think at the moment, cos I live here and overlook, his is a
beautifully quiet part of Ilfracombe, the Bicclescombe Park area, but
seeing
as I worked for many years on the boats as a professional I do love
the harbour, I still love me fishing, don't do it so much these days,
but yep, I spent so much time down there back in the 70s and 80s,
yeah it's very dear to me that part, and obviously because my father,
fathers family had a business down there and they were all called
“quay-ites” because they lived and worked down on the quay.
Are there any areas you think could be improved upon?
Well some of the areas over the years have fallen into decay, mainly
what we call “Flat Land”, where you get big old houses turned
into multiple flats and they tend to be very run down areas to a
certain degree, but I think even now they're coming up and the houses
are being done up and there's a bit more money being spent on it.
There's very few places now that you can see that they're degrading,
really, so simple as that really.
What do you think of the Damien Hirst effect?
I
think it's brilliant. When,
if you're talking about Verity,
when we first heard that Verity
was coming which was in the North Devon Journal, the councillors were
saying Damien Hirst – that no one had really heard of – was going
to possibly put this large bronze statue down on the pier, there was
a sort of debate on that and the actual artist impressions we saw in
the local papers were quite gruesome and a lot of people didn't like
it at all. There were petitions to stop it, councillors had rows and
got upset about this, but to be honest, when more and more interest
became and when it was realised that businesses down on the seafront
would benefit from the arrival of that, which was proved to be
correct actually,
even the council, the car parking in winters there's something like
30000 cars up, parking tickets, in the winter months where normally
lots of shops would be shut sort of October time stayed open all the
winter, because people, even local people, I would say from
Biddeford, Torringotn, mid-Devon, would be coming up on a Sunday to
see her and obviously they'd have a fish and chips or a bar meal or
something, so it really did actually do what it said it would, and it
still does; and I think we said earlier on that when you see a coach
load of old age pensioners show up on the pier and they all spill out
and swarm around the bottom of Verity,
all taking photos on their mobiles and everything, when you see
someone of 80-odd years old doing that its quite remarkable, to take
home and show their families what they'd seen down on the end of
Ilfracombe pier, yeah its brilliant.
What
do you think about Verity?
Well
I think originally what we were shown in the first place was a bit
gruesome, they always seem to show the worst side of her,
but that is pointing out [unintelligible], and it's quite an
incredible thing and lovely, and as
you go through the pier gates and you see this big bronze statue
looking up to the north east it's quite incredible, and it's
certainly a crowd puller, there's no question about that. A lot of
people I’m sure down the front can only say “thank goodness for
Verity”.
Because times have been hard in Ilfracombe, we've had problems, we
always do in the winter months, but businesses have done well. And
I think it's great and hopefully it'll stay there its fill 20 odd
years and hopefully something else will be there to keep the ball
rolling, it's very good.
Tell us about the game you play.
Oh
yes, Lynne and I we always, if we're down shopping in the town or
wherever, we always go down the seafront to have a look around, and
we, this
sort of little game, right from day one, we go down and park on the
pier and we wouldn’t leave until somebody took a photo of it. And I
can honestly say we probably have never got to wait more than a
couple of minutes until a car pulls in alongside us, somebody gets
out, steps clear of their car, takes a photo of Verity.
It
doesn’t matter what age, it just seems that people just pull in,
take a photo and then go and pay for their car parking and wonder off
up into town. And
that's the game that we do and I don't think we've ever had to wait
more than 5-10 minutes before somebody somewhere takes a photo down
there. We
always have a chuckle about that.
