St Breward History Group

LATEST NEWS…

As part of national heritage open days we will be launching our exciting new project ‘EXPLORE ST BREWARD’ on Sunday 20 September at 12 – 4pm at St Breward Memorial Hall (Limehead).

FREE ENTRY • FREE REFRESHMENTS

Introducing a new way to explore St Breward

Find out about the people, places and history that have shaped
St Breward through photographs, maps, films, aerial views,
old documents, audio recordings and much more.

From yesterday to the Stone Age – discover the story of St Breward.

CLICK TO START

Why not join us?

We meet monthly in St Breward Village Hall for friendly, informal talks on a wide range of historical topics — with tea and cakes! Membership costs just £5 per year and gives you a £1 discount on entry to each meeting you attend. New members and visitors are always welcome.

COMING UP …

Our next meeting will be on

Wednesday 30th September 2026
(No meeting in August)

FEATURING A TALK:

The Camera Never Lies (Part 2) – Argall Photographers
by Frank Argall

6.30 for 7.00pm
St Breward Village Hall
(next to The Old Inn)

Refreshments & Raffle

Members £3.
Non-members £4 – All welcome

Click for 2026 full programme

St Breward is a village and parish on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall. It has a rich industrial history of mining, granite quarrying and china clay extraction, and a strong farming tradition. St Breward History Group was founded in 2010 to research, preserve and share the history of the parish and it’s families for current and future generations. Our members record stories of local life — people, places, work, and community. We’re building an archive of photos, documents, and recorded memories that reflect life in St Breward and beyond.

Memories of Evacuee, Ron Vickers

Frank May was co-owner of the quarry (it seemed funny that everybody pronounced it 'Anter, unless that was a slang name for Hantergantick!) I was never aware that Charlie May was a co-owner. From what I remember Harry was the main man, Mabel did all of the paperwork, and Frank...

Leslie Albert Norman Watkins – fallen but not forgotten

Leslie Watkins – 1st Airborne Divisional Signals – Royal Corps of Signals – Rhine Crossing – Op Varsity.

Haymaking at De Lank, circa 1927

Part of a collection of pictures taken in 1927-28 by local milkman Alec (Charles Alexander) Masters whose family owned De Lank Farm at the time. L-R: Guy Lean, Harold Collins, J. (Cann) Champion, Herbert Bluett, Gerald Masters, and E. (Ted) Methven. Guy Lean was a farmworker...

Where was that cottage?

St Breward History Group was approached via its website by the husband of a lady in poor health – they had been reminiscing about a holiday they had had in a cottage named Venn back in 1985. They thought it was in St Breward and sent a photo of the cottage taken at that time....

Mrs & Miss Pengelly

This photograph recently came to light courtesy of Alison Masters, from her mother's estate. We know that the photograph was taken by Alison's father, Alec, in about 1927 but have no other information. If we can identify the house where the photo was taken, we might be able to...

The Glorious Game and others in St Breward

There are few sports now played within the village, but in the past it was the source of many players and the home of some winners. Archery – dates from the Middle Ages when all able-bodied men were required to practise to provide a military force for the monarch. The practise...

A Summer Outing, 1940s

Dora Pearce (nee Marshall) recently came across this photo of herself (centre) enjoying a day out by the sea with her friends Hazel and May. Dora recalls that they travelled there by bus, but can’t remember the location. A clue might be that in the background we can see a...

Smith Group?

A photo from many years ago which was loaned and displayed at an exhibition to celebrate the Millennium in 2000 Retirement? - Work's Dinner? - Family Party? The only clue we have to the identity of any of the group is the word 'Smith' written on the back If you can help, please...

Retirement Presentation, 1973

Oswald Martin, headmaster of St Breward Primary School, and his wife Mary are presented with a retirement bouquet by the school staff and governors. L-R: Hilda Wills (canteen), Unknown, Joyce McNally (caretaker), Jean Batten (teacher), Peggy Crosley (teacher), Miss Dustow?...

Peter Coats Hutton

Peter Hutton and his wife and two sons, John and Patrick, lived in St Breward and Patrick’s prep school friends were delighted by the address on Patrick’s weekly letter to his mother: Mrs Peter Hutton Fellover St Breward nr Bodmin! There is a memorial brass to Peter Coats...

The Statue of Baden-Powell

De Lank mason Hedley (Ted) Methven and sculptor Donald Potter working on the statue of Robert Baden-Powell in the late 1950s. Lieutenant General Robert Baden-Powell was a British Army officer, writer, and founder of the world-wide Boy Scout Movement. The statue was unveiled by...

Bronze Age Burial Urn at Stannon

In July 1977, Arthur Welch, the captain of Stannon Clayworks, was examining aerial photographs of the area when he spotted the outline of a cairn. A team led by Group Capt. Peter Trudgian of Cornwall Archaeological Society and Henrietta Miles from Exeter University agreed to...

Wedding

This month we have a scan of an original photo, courtesy of the estate of Dennis Champion. A family wedding at St Breward parish church. Unfortunately the history group are unable to recognise the faces. Judging by the clothing, the date is probably mid 1950s. It will be most...

School Panto, December 1988

This month we have a scan of an original photo by Clemens of Bodmin, obtained by Pamela Bousfield in the 1980s whilst researching the history of St Breward School. Looking at the glittering costumes, it didn’t take much detective work to discover that the title of the pantomime...

Ready For Mischief?

Sitting on a grassy bank outside De Lank Farm are Ron Allen, Fred Parr and Ivor May. Ivor was the son of Winnie and Frank May who owned Hantergantick Quarry. Local milkman Alec Masters managed to keep the boys still long enough to take this photograph in about 1928. Contact us...

A Boys’ Day Out

Pictured outside a pub or cafe, probably in the '40s or '50s, we know from the back of the photo that two of those pictured here are Harry May and R. May, but can anyone put names to faces for the rest of the gang? Contact us at enquires@stbrewardhistory.co.uk if you can add...

Row, St Breward, circa 1911

With all the interest that the new housing development at Row has created, we thought it would be interesting to look back a century to remind readers of how it used to be. From the left are Myrtle, Harley and Laburnum cottages with the Band Room and the houses known as The...

The May Family, circa 1910

Joseph May married Anne Lanndry Warne at St Kew parish church on 23 December 1879. Joseph and Anne had six children - Harry, Evelyn, Winifred, Robert Francis [Frank], Joseph Charles [Charles] and Mabel. The family lived at St Kew Highway and Penryn before settling at Higher...

Life from a Rectory on Bodmin Moor

by Revd Canon Sherry Bryan My family and I had always holidayed in Cornwall. By the late ‘70s my brother had lived in West Cornwall for many years, so we knew it in all seasons of the year. Usually we camped in the westernmost part at the same site every year and during our...

You Know Who You Are!

Three intrepid young men, sporting fearsome looking weapons, defending the honour of the parish about 15 years ago at Tor Down Quarry. Let us know if you recognise the faces, or will the subjects themselves own up? Please contact us: enquiries@stbrewardhistory.co.uk

Roy Kerslake, 1952

Captain of St Breward AFC, Roy is pictured at Priory Park with the Runners-Up trophy of the Cornwall Junior Cup Roy lived at Homelands Cottage, Higher Lank, with his parents Wilfred and Lilly, brother Ralph and the family dog, Spot! The History Group would be grateful to know...

Fred & George Nottle, 1927

Courtesy of Mrs Grace Masters, this photograph is part of a collection taken in 1927-28 by her husband Alec, while delivering milk in the village Brothers Fred & George (Dreamy) Nottle outside (we think) their home at Penpont. We have been told that Fred died after the D...

The Pepsi Grizzly Bear

This famous sculpture by David Wynne OBE (1926 – 2014) was placed in the Donald M. Kendall Sculpture Gardens at the Pepsi Cola world HQ in Purchase, New York. Born in the New Forest village of Lyndhurst, Wynne (on the left) served in the Royal Navy during WWII before taking up...

Churchill Monument, circa 1972

Scan of an original photograph, courtesy of Brian (Barney) Nottle. L-R: Brian (Barney)Nottle, Ernie Hillson and Robert Armstrong loading a lorry at De Lank Quarry. The granite base, ( part 1 of 4), for the statue of Winston Churchill. The statue, which stands in Parliament...

The Wedding of Arthur Hunt to Joan Pearce

A lovely family photograph taken on Blisland Green, May 1955, at the Wedding of Arthur (Micky) Hunt to Joan Pearce. L-R: Maurice Cole, Peter Cole, William Winn, Harriet Cole, Mary Hunt (Mother), Roger Winn, Albert Winn (Best Man), Micky the Groom, Joan the Bride, Joy...

The Armstrong Family

The Armstrong family is descended from the Border Reivers who lived mostly lawless lives on the border between England and Scotland between the 13th and 17th centuries. Our Armstrongs originated in Kirkcudbright, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland and then some time between 1869...

Morley Tremaine

Born in 1916, Morley was a life-long resident of St Breward. He is pictured here, aged 12 years, outside the Bible Christian chapel at Row (now called Providence House). During WWII Morley was a member of the St Breward Auxiliary Unit, a (then) secret unit of well-armed...

DJB Earthmovers at Stannon, 1978

The DJB Engineering Company was founded in 1973 by David John Brown, a British mechanical engineer. The company was renamed as Artix and the trucks as CAT in 1984 after Caterpillar bought the rights to the designs. After selling the design to Caterpillar, David Brown went on to...

Hantergantick Masons, 1936

Pictured, presumably, outside the quarry office are some of the Hantergantick Quarry workers. In the back row, set squares over shoulders, are Fred Winn, Harry Kendall, Bill Teague and Fernley Parsons. At the front, hammers in hand, are Cliff Piper, Robert (Bobby) Armstrong,...

‘Tin-Tack’ – Leslie Williams

The unknown man in our December article has been identified as Leslie Williams. It appears that Leslie was known as 'Tin-Tack' and lived in a cottage near Chapel Terrace, in St. Breward. If anyone has any information on Leslie or other photographs, please do contact Brian Hill...

What happened in St Breward 1983?

CLICK HERE to read the year’s Parish Magazines

Names to faces?

Can you help us name some of the people in the hundreds of photographs we hold? Click the button and scroll through the many blog entries where we ask for names and further information. Maybe your ancestors are there?

View photographs needing identification

Exploring and preserving
the history of St Breward

St Breward History Group

St Breward History Group

St Breward History Group

St Breward History Group

St Breward History Group

St Breward History Group

St Breward History Group

LATEST NEWS…

Why not join us?

COMING UP …

Wednesday 30th September 2026(No meeting in August)

The Camera Never Lies (Part 2) – Argall Photographers by Frank Argall

READ ALL ABOUT IT!

What happened in St Breward 1983?

Names to faces?

Wednesday 30th September 2026
(No meeting in August)

The Camera Never Lies (Part 2) – Argall Photographers
by Frank Argall