Devonport Carnival
The annual Carnival was a much-loved feature of Devonport life in the period between
the wars, around 1920 to 1940. In those days it was sponsored every year by the
Royal Albert Hospital, and the events took place over a full week. While several carnival-type events took place in Devonport
prior to that time, all succcessful and documented, they are perhaps better described
as one-off 'processions' and I've written about them elsewhere.
Following the second World War several attempts were made by residents to revive
the pre-war Devonport Carnival; even now at time of writing, 2011, there was a
carnival-type of procession on September 4th, this time sponsored by the Devonport Park
committee. (Details near the end of this article)
1926
Derek Tait describes the 1926 carnival where Putty Philpotts, a rather large character,
ex Royal Navy, took pride of place in the proceedings as The Carnival King. Features
of the carnival included fancy dress competitions, parades and stalls, and, as normal,
all funds raised was for the Royal Albert Hospital. Read more from
Derek's Blog
1933
Gerald Barker (
Days in Devonport, Part
II, page 5) wrote a short paragraph on this year's carnival. It was just a few lines and mentioned that the carnival queen was 17
year old Miss Laura Oldham.
1934
Seventeen year old Jessie Taylor was Devonport's carnival queen in August 1934. Around 2,000 residents
watched the procession from the Royal Albert Hospital to Devonport Park, where the ceremony took place.
The carnival was officially opened by Lord and Lady St Levan. Further information is available from this article in the
Herald newspaper
1935
All that I know of the 1935 carnival stems from this programme cover page that I
obtained from Ebay. Going by the title across the top, the silver jubilee of King George
V was being celebrated at the same time. The carnival date is given as 18 August
1935 and there is mention of a special part of the hospital grounds being enclosed
for the event. Also, this particular carnival held a religious service that was
conducted by prebendary TC Walters, MA.
1939
Gerald Barker (
Days in Devonport, Part
II) uses the first three pages of his book in describing the 1939 carnival. It lasted a week, from August 19 to 26, with the opening ceremony taking place on the Monday,
in Devonport Park.
The procession (the carnival queen and her entourage) took place on the Tuesday. By today's standards it travelled a
long way; having left the Royal Albert Hospital the route went first down to Pembroke
Street, then over 'halfpenny' bridge into Stonehouse. The
procession continued up past Wyndham square,
down to Millbridge, then along to Alma Road at Pennycomequick; Pennycomequick
being one of the boundaries of Devonport prior to the 3-towns amalgamation 25 years
earlier. But that wasn't the end of the journey, the route continued up to Stoke Village
and then back down to Devonport. Even there it didn't stop at Fore Street, it wove
in and out of several Devonport streets before passing though King Street and ending
at Morice Square. Quite a journey. And that was just on the Tuesday.
Two days later the procession set off again, this time the route took in Marlborough
Street and Fore Street, travelled up to Stoke village and Milehouse, then turned
left down to St Levan Road, returning home via Morice Town and Albert
Road, with the final destination being Devonport Park. An amazing two-day journey,
covering large parts of the old Devonport. Residents clearly felt very attached
to the town, even though 25 years had passed since it merged with Plymouth. In
fact, they appeared to want the procession to cover the entire area of the old Devonport,
which is exactly what they attempted, because on the Friday the carnival queen and her
entourage set off yet again. This last leg covered Swilly, Weston Mill then Lower and
Higher St Budeaux. They covered almost everywhere in one week - reaching out to most of the
boundaries of the old town of Devonport (all excepting the Pennycross boundary).
The carnival in the pre-war years was certainly a huge part of the Devonport calendar
and culture, huge. Funding in those days wasn't provided, it was earned; in contrast to the millennium
carnivals in Devonport, see below, where the committee fortunately received government NDC funds
every year.
1950's
Little is known of this period (by me) except that two or three carnivals did take place during the 1950s,
and that Marlene Nix was the carnival queen on one of those years. Several of Devonport's
older residents mention and recall her. There is a photograph around of Marlene
but I haven't been able to obtain a copy. However, I am acquainted with her in-law Dianne,
and Dianne informs me that Marlene married her (Dianne's) cousin Maurice and is now living
in Perth, Western Australia.
1971 Carnival
The 1971 carnival formed part of a charity fete and included a football match
between the Showbiz XI and Westward Television All-Stars; this took place at Pennycross Stadium on 4th July 1971.
Apart from the programme cover shown in the image below, little more is known about
the event. If readers have any information, about this or any other Devonport Carnival, it would be good to hear from you.
1973
This was an extremely well-organised carnival. A carnival-revival committee had
been formed in 1970, and now, by 1973, they had become very efficient. With little
money, bar what they could raise by advertising and the usual community fund-raising
efforts, they managed to plan to the 'nth detail events and activites to cover an
entire week - such was the passion of the local community in those days.
Devonport resident (then and now)
Winnie Parsons
was on the committee of the 1973
carnival; Win kindly gave me the programme and several photographs for that year. She
said, "As soon as one carnival was over committe members would meet regularly at
the Griffin Club (the building that is now called Leander House, in Fore Street)
and plan ahead for the following year's event. Lots of fund raising would be carried
out throughout the year, as there was no funding available from any source, there
was no money given to you, not like today."
Winnie (8th person in the dance photo) stresses that it was strongly a period of self help. "You either went and
did it, or it never got done." She recalls how "Georgie Bray was sheer fun" (5th person in the dance photo). Her
memories of then are of it "just being the happiest of times". She said "The day of the Carnival
itself, all the floats would start off from the College at Kings Road, snake through
all the Devonport roads out and back again. It would take all day. In the evening
a dance would be held at the TownHall."
Photo: Dancing in Devonport Town Hall (Guildhall), during the 1973 carnival. Persons in
the photo are the carnival king and queen, their attendants and several committee
members.
Rex Mutton. Carnival King
Sandra Bradbury. Carnival Queen
Tom Woosey. Sports Chair
Karen Jones. Attendant
George Bray
Unknown. Attendant
Melvin Coombes
Winnie Parsons. Social Chair
Bill Thomas
Marion Wosey
Jack Steed
Unknown
David Yates. Councillor
Joan Steed. Treasurer
Unknown male
Please note: According to Winnie, the carnival king (1st in the photo) is Rex Mutton
and the queen (2nd) is Sandra Bradbury, with attendants Karen Jones (4th) and unknown
(6th). However, in the programme, the king and queen's names are written as George
Broadhurst and Joy Hambley, and the attendants as Freda Parsons and Deborah Cook
(therefore, those particular names are to be clarified). I can verify that George Bray
is the 5th and Winnie Parsons is 8th as I know them personally.
Photo: Dr David Owen with a young child and her pull-along floral exhibit - 1973 carnival week
Memories - Winnie Parsons
Winnie recalled, "In the'70s Devonport carnival was alive and kicking with as many
as 58 floats taking the five-mile route around Devonport from Kings Road after their
inspection by the Lord Mayor. It was a wonderful sight. There was a separate fancy
dress section for the children; visiting queens and attendants followed the Devonport
Royal Party in procession. The floats were mainly lorries and cars; it was well
organised, with support being supplied by the police and St John Ambulance, and
street marshals ensured all went smoothly. There were also at least three visiting
bands. Today, however the price of petrol, high insurance etc. makes it hard to
get a loan for the lorries for floats. The carnival at Devonport took one year to prepare
and events spread over one week."
Photo: Winnie climbing aboard one of the carnival floats, early 1970s.
1973 PROGRAMME
(please email
Liz@DevonportOnline.co.uk
if you'd like a free PDF copy of the programme booklet)
CARNIVAL OFFICERS
PATRON. The Lord Mayor of Plymouth
PRESIDENT. Dame Joan Vickers, DBE., MP
VICE PRESIDENT. T. C. Woosey, Esq
CHAIRMAN. Ms M. I. Lampitt
VICE CHAIRMAN. Mrs. E. Baines
SECRETARY. P. Baines, Esq.
TREASURER. J. Steed, Esq.
COMMITTEE
Asst. Secretary. Mrs S. Watts
Asst. Treasurer. Mrs I. Ghillyer
Procession Marshall. W. Taylor, Esq.
Social Chairman. Mrs. W. Parsons
Sports Chairman. T.C. Woosey, Esq
Carnival King. Mr. George Broadhurst
Carnival Queen. Joy Hambly
Attendants. Freda Parsons, Deborah Cook
Advertisers
Youngs. Marlborough Street
Tarr. Marlborough Street
Ward & Son. Church Street, Stoke
First Fashions. Marlborough Street
V. Symons. Devonport Road, Stoke
Searle’s Hardware. Albert Road, Devonport
Frances and Ivor Henry. The Lord Beresford, Cumberland Street, Devonport
Stanley Leahy. Devonport Road, Stoke
Lloyds Bank.
Reg & Gwen Babb.
Blockhouse Inn, Stoke Village
T.J. Chilcott. The Welcome 5 Fore Street, Devonport
F.W. Gerry. 23 Marlborough Street, Devonport
Maskell & Kernick. 12/14 Devonport Road, Stoke
Bill Thomas and his band. 12 Caroline Place, Plymouth
Swaffields. George Street, Devonport
Ben and Mary Jenkins. The Brown Bear, Chapel St, Devonport
Vivian Bros. 53 Devonport Road, Stoke
SATURDAY AUGUST 18th
CARNIVAL PROCESSION. Leaving at Kings Road. All floats must be assembled at Kings Road at 1.30 pm. Judging commences at 2.00 pm.
ROUTE. via Devonport Hill, Chapel Street, Park Avenue, Albert Road, Molesworth Road,
Osborne Villas Garfield Terrace, Devonport Road, Fore Street, Raglan Barracks.
The Children’s Fancy Dress to be judged at Granby Community Centre. Entries will
be accepted up till 1.30 pm. All entrants for the Fancy Dress must be assembled
by 2.00 pm.
Grand Opening Carnival Dance
Devonport Guildhall
7.30 pm until midnight
Dancing to Jim Sobey
Also a Talent Competition
Licensed Bar, Refreshments, Tickets 25p
SUNDAY AUGUST 19th
REGATTA. Rowing Flash Boats. Organised by the Cornish Rowing Association and Morice Town Rowing Club
Slide Shows and Amusements
Licensed Beer Tent
Refreshments
MONDAY 20th
Bowls at Devonport park 6.15 pm.
Stoke Social Club v Dockyard Gunners
Devonport Guildhall 7.30 pm - 10.00 pm
Transilvania Disco for the Teenagers
Soft Drinks & Refreshments
Tickets 15p
TUESDAY AUGUST 21st
GEORGE STREET CHILDREN’S PARTY
To be held at Devonport Guildhall in the afternoon.
Comic Footbal match at 6.30 pm.
‘The Railway’ Albert Road v Courage BP
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 22nd
CARNIVAL SERVICE. St. Michael’s Church 7.30 pm
DARTS FINAL. 7.30 pm until midnight
Dancing to Bill Thomas & Band
Licensed Bar, Refreshments, Tickets 25p
THURSDAY AUGUST 23rd
LADIES FOOTBALL MATCH. AT DEVONPORT PARk 6.30 pm
RANCO v to be announced
DEVONPORT GUILDHALL
Evening Entertainment presented by Joan Richards Formation Team
Fashion Show by First Fashions
Hairstyles by Rosalind of Marlborough St.
GLAMOUROUS GRANDMOTHER COMPETITIONS
Bar & Refreshments, Tickets 15p
KERR ST SOCIAL EVENING
Medium Fair Show
FRIDAY AUGUST 24th
TRAMPS & VAMPS BALL.
Dancing to Bert Daws Band 7.30 pm. Until midnight
Bar & Refreshments, Tickets 25p
SATURDAY AUGUST 25th
CHILDREN’S SING SONG & ENTERTAINMENT. 2.00 pm - 4.00 pm.
GRAND DOCKYARD REUNION DANCE
Dancing to the Jack Clark Trio 7.30 pm until midnight.
By Ticket Only, Licensed Bar, Refreshments
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 29th
CELEBRATION BALL 7.30 pm until 1.00 am
Dancing to Les Graham
At Flag Officers Ballroom
Admiralty House,
Mount Wise
Licensed Bar, Buffet, Tickets 50p
TICKETS TO BE ORDERED
1974 and 1990
Souvenir copies of two carnival programmes are available from Devon Council Council local studies.
For 1974 here is the
Devon County Council link
and for 1990 the link is
here.
NDC Carnivals 2001 - 2011
Between 2001 and 2011 a government project took place, whereby £48.7 million pounds
was provided in order to Regenerate a large part of Devonport - this was the New
Deals for Community (NDC) programme. Renaissance of the Devonport Carnival was a
key component of the NDC Culture Strategy - as mentioned in chapter five of the
regeneration document called Devonport People's Dreams.
In July of 2001 Will Blagdon, of Blagdon's Boatyard, Richmond Walk, together with
a community team, was responsible for organising a very successful carnival/Fun
Day. Following this, Fun Days were funded every year during the millennium decade,
from NDC Funds under its culture strategy.
Will and his team continued to organise the Devonport Fun Day throughout the ten
years of the NDC project, and, generally taking place at Brickfields, it was always
succesful and well-attended. However, an actual carnival/procession event, as part of the procedures, only took place
a couple of times - it didn't take place on all ten years of the NDC Fun Days.
The Friends of Devonport Park- Fun Day - 4th Sept, 2011
The
Friends of Devonport
Park celebrated completion of the £5.3 million restoration project, with
an official reopening of the Park on 4th September 2011. The celebrations included a
procession that started from the Guildhall, in recognition of the first procession
from the guildhall when the park was new, back in 1894.
Photo: Lord & Lady Mayoress, in the 2011 procession leaving the Guildhall in Ker Street.
At front leading the procession was the City of Plymouth Pipe Band, followed by
a horse drawn landau carrying the Lord & Lady Mayoress, followed by various support
groups including dance-troupe and cycling supporters.
(The full article and photos is available in the
Millennium section of this site)
The Friends of Devonport Park would like to be the key group taking the Devonport
Carnival forward into the future, but given the current economy it will depend on funds.
(page uploaded 20 September 2011)