Mary was born in 1922 in Buckfastleigh, Devon, and spent her childhood there. By the age of 20, while Mary was working for an accountant in Totnes, she was called up and joined the WAAF (Women’s Auxiliary Air Force). Mary was posted to RAF Coastal Command St Eval,...
People
People living in, who have lived in or are connected to Bishopsteignton
Bryan Dunford MBE
Bryan Dunford received an MBE, Member of the British Empire, in 1989, as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours list, for his service in the RAF as a helicopter Engineering Authority. Bryan began his career as an RAF Apprentice at Halton in 1957. After initial training...
Christine Hill, MBE.
Christine Hill moved to Bishopsteignton in 2010 but had been coming to the village for holidays since her childhood. Her parents owned a house and a chicken farm above the village, which her aunt and uncle ran, and that’s where her childhood summers were spent on...
John B Wotton OBE
As the Chief Executive of Huntleigh Healthcare PLC, a technology based healthcare and scientific group in the UK, John was involved, along with a specialised team of engineers, in overseeing the development, manufacturing, education, promotion and the training of...
Fran Edwards, BEM
Fran and her husband Nigel have lived in Bishopsteignton for over 44 years and for most of that time she has been volunteering for various charities and good causes. In 2018 she was nominated for a British Empire Medal in the New Year Honours List. Fran had earned her...
James William Taylor
Military Experience James joined the 1/6th Battalion, Devonshire Regiment which was a Territorial Force as a private (Service Nr 267973). This division was ordered to India to replace the regular British and Indian armies who were being deployed to the western front,...
Molly Coombe
Molly Coombe was born on 18th October 1929 to parents Grace Coombe neé Loud and Philip Coombe. She may have been born at a local hospital but the family lived, and Molly grew up, in a house called 'Locarno' on Berry Hill, Bishopsteignton. As a girl, Molly's favourite...
Sir Andrew Ridgway KBE, CB, KStJ, DL
The first honour that was awarded to Sir Andrew Ridgway was when he passed out of Sandhurst at the age of twenty. He passed out first in the Order of Merit and was awarded the Queen’s Medal. It was presented to him on the Sovereign’s Parade by HRH Princess...
Sheila Maureen Robbins, 1932-2021: A Tribute
Sheila Robbins, née Skinner was born in County Cork in Ireland in January 1932, to Sydney Parnell Skinner, a Sergeant in the Royal Engineers and Margery Mary Davey. When Sheila was very young, the family moved back to Bishopsteignton where her father had been born....
The search for my Grandfather by Paddy O’Gorman
Introduction In the Spring of 2021 Bishopsteignton Heritage received a message from Paddy O'Gorman from Dublin, asking if anyone had any information on his grandfather, Robert Collier, who had tragically died in the village in 1972. After appeals on social media,...