Phyllis Blogg’s husband, Harold Eric Blogg was the brother of John’s mother Kathleen Winifred Hope (nee Blogg). Percy Alfred Hamilton Hope was her husband, John’s father. John was evacuated to Bishopsteignton along with his mother, his brother Geoffrey and his grandmother; he was three years old at the time, Geoffrey a little older. They lived at first with Phyllis and her boys at Cross Gate. Later they moved to a house in Fore St. At some point their father joined them at Cross Gate, as these photographs portray.
Hope boys and their parents in the garden of Cross Gate
John later sent these photographs to be kept in the archive. They show various aspects of the village during the early 1940s.
John and Geoffrey Hope
Geoffrey was not a well child, he suffered from a cleft palate and unfortunately died in a Devon hospital in 1945. It was lovely to meet John and to help him remember what was obviously a happy time in the village.
Bishopsteignton Primary School from the gates of Shute Farm, and a view of Fore St. From Cross Gate
Wartime village; the farm and from the hill
Other stories relating to Bishopsteignton evacuees include:
The Blogg Family, The Ward Family, The Cross Family, Norman P. Barnett, The McGregor Family, Heathman Family.
All efforts have been made to ascertain that the information in this article is correct. Most of it is taken from material in the Bishopsteignton Heritage archive, and some from personal recollection. If you spot any errors or have any further information on any of these evacuees and their families and descendants, or know of any others that came to the village, please do comment below or let us know by email.