Archie and Phyllis Dyer
Title
Archie and Phyllis Dyer
Subject
Description
The romantic couple, pictured in the top photograph, had been married the previous March in Blyth, a rural district in Suffolk, where the young woman, Phyllis Warne, was born on the 1st of May 1941 (1). The young man is Archie William John Dyer, born at Bishop's Hull, a western suburb of Taunton, on the 25th of October 1937 but who was quickly moved to Burrow Cottage in the hamlet of Burrow, near Wootton Courtenay, Somerset, at the grand age of fourteen days (2). The surroundings of Archie and Phyllis Dyer in this photograph are not that of a honeymoon getaway but rather The Glebe, the public housing unit built in Timberscombe in 1956 (3). Creating further atmosphere is the bell tower of St. Petrock's Church, looming nicely in the background.
Certainly the courtship of Phyllis Warne and Archie Dyer was unique. In June 1960, Archie was serving in the Army, stationed in Cyprus, when Phyllis became his penpal (or "pen friend", as called by Phyllis). After Archie returned to Somerset, he and Phyllis met for the first time the following April, when Archie rode on his motorbike the 300 miles to Suffolk. He arrived on a Saturday evening, remaining a bit more than a week, when on the next Monday, he asked Phyllis to marry him. Between then and their wedding in March 1962, they only met seven times. But as Phyllis said on the 28th of January 2023, "it paid off", pointing out the upcoming March would be their 61st anniversary (4).
Archie William John Dyer was the son of Archie William Dyer, who was born in the Williton District of Somerset on the 23rd of June 1914 (5) . His mother was born Brida Mary Rexworthy on the 29th of September 1915 at Pitney, Langport, Somerset (6). By 1935, Miss Rexworthy was a resident of Wootton Courtenay and Mr. Dyer was in military service, stationed in Essex at Colchester, where they married after repeating their banns on the 10th, 17th and 24th of November at the Garrison Church of Colchester (7). After his service, the senior Archie Dyer returned to Somerset working as a General Farm Labourer and was employed by Hurley Norman at Burrow Farm, where he and his wife brought their 14-day-old son. Their first daughter, Freda Dyer was born 27 December 1938 (8) and on the 1939 Census, the young family lived at No. 1 Croft Cottage in Wootton Courtenay. Betty May Dyer, Archie's second sister, was born 12 May 1944 (9), by which time their childhood address was Burrow Farm.
Archie began his education at Wootton Courtenay School, recalling a teacher, Miss Warner, who picked dry gorse out of old iron pits situated at Brockwell, a nearby farm at the foot of Dunkery Hill, to put on the school stove with boiling milk and hip berries to create a sort of medicine (10). Archie's time at the Wootton Courtenay School coincided with World War II and his memories included gas mask practices and the children hearing German planes flying overhead that dropped bombs in Wales. Archie, like most everyone then in Timberscombe or Wootton Courtenay, also recalled the German bomber, a Junkers 88, that crashed into the willow tree plantation at Bougham, about 500 yards from Timberscombe village. During the war, Archie's father served with the local Home Guard, regularly patrolling from around 6 PM to midnight. Mr. Dyer can be seen in his uniform at SP-335.
Other World War II memories of the younger Archie Dyer included rationing, especially that there were no sweets, although some candy could be got from the American soldiers who camped in the fields by the Old Dairy in Timberscombe. Archie would see "Yank" tanks passing through the villages, yet also remembered that it seemed one day the Americans were suddenly all gone. An evacuee family, that had a monkey, lived next door to Burrow Farm. Also in Burrow were two German prisoners-of- war who aided in the farming (with no guards in attendance),and who made "lovely wooden toys" for the children. Archie remembered them as "decent blokes"(11).
In the Timberscombe School Log Book, Head Teacher, Kathleen A. Willis , wrote on the 15th of January 1946 that a school official had visited to discuss with her that the school in the nearby village of Luccombe would be closing after Easter and it's children would be transferred directly to Timberscombe School. Indeed those eight students arrived by bus on the 1st of April ( 12). On the following 2nd of September, this time via a "Correspondent", further news came that the Wootton Courtenay School was also shutting down, and their children too would come to Timberscombe. This time, no date of arrival was specified (13).
The date was 11 November 1946 and nine Wootton Courtenay students were bussed for the first time to Timberscombe (14). They are depicted on the second photograph, taken at their school just before its closing, alongside the teacher they would soon be leaving, Miss Griffin. The group included Archie Dyer, the boy standing on the right end of the second row. Standing next to Miss Griffin on the left end is Bill Lang, with David Rawle, Andrew Slade and Pam Carter between him and Archie. Kneeling on the ground, from left to right are Phyllis Quick, Chrissie Brooks, Belinda Jury and Albert Slade. (In 1960, Phyllis Quick became the Infants and Assistant Teacher at Timberscombe School, as can be seen at SP-252) (15).
Freda Dyer was admitted to Timberscombe School on the same day her brother began there, with Betty joining them on the 13th of June 1949 (16). All three of the Dyer children can be seen in a school photograph taken in 1949 or 1950 at SP-081. They continued living at Burrow Farm, traveling to Timberscombe on Burrell's School Bus, although not for six weeks in 1947 when record amounts of snow fell and classes were cancelled (17). Archie Dyer had to leave Timberscombe School 12 months earlier than he anticipated, as his father became ill with appendicitis and throat trouble and his son was enlisted to work in his place on the farm--a disappointment to Archie, although he made sure he returned for the Christmas leaving party. The senior Archie Dyer eventually recovered and the junior Archie Dyer was able to continue his education, being transferred to Minehead Secondary Modern where he studied metalwork, woodwork, gardening and eight weeks of cookery (18).
However it was plastering that kept Archie busy when finishing his schooling. For two or three months he cycled from Burrow to Washford arriving by 7:30 AM and plastering until 5:30 PM (19). That ended when he took up an apprenticeship in Dunster to qualify as a thatcher. Working from 8 AM to 5 PM, he earned £4 a week and learned the trade (20). Five years later the apprenticeship ended on a Friday and on the following Monday, Archie joined the army for a three year stint, so as to avoid conscription. He trained for eight weeks at Wrexham, after which he was stationed at Corsham, Wiltshire, the site of one of the largest and most secretive underground military depots in Britain . A former stone quarry had been rebuilt to store vast amounts of ammunition, to keep it safe from bombing. Certainly it was an incredibly dangerous assignment for a young and newly trained serviceman, where sections were separated by huge steel doors and Dyer was searched before each entry (21).
After three months, Archie was transferred to Cyprus. The third photograph is of Dyer (if not still a teenager he is just barely so), in uniform on his leave embarkation, making a quick return to Timberscombe, where he poses with his sister, Freda. Their photographer was likely Betty Dyer. In the following days, Archie sailed via the troopship, Dilwara , onto Cyprus where he served two years and 100 days. This was not a particularly relaxed assignment. Dyer's arrival was not long after the Suez Canal crisis and the majority Greek-Cypriot population of Cyprus was against any further British control. Initially Archie Dyer was given guard work and island patrols and later was assigned to the docks---where once he had to control a riot armed only with a dustbin lid and a baseball bat (22). It was during this time that Archie became penpals with the young woman in Suffolk that he had never met.
Twenty-two-year-old Archie Dyer returned to Somerset in 1960, learning from the chap who was giving him a lift back to Timberscombe that his parents had moved into No. 5 at the Glebe (23). After marrying Phyllis, they stayed with Archie and Brida Dyer for "a couple of months" before moving into No. 8, the most western residence at The Glebe . In 2023, Archie described its location as "against the (Timberscombe) school" (24) and it is the site of the top photograph, likely taken by Archie's father or mother. By this time, Archie and Phyllis were not exactly newlyweds and look quite happy to have their own home.
Archie returned to the thatching job he had left so quickly to serve in the army. Some of his thatching work was done from afar, such as stints at Sneyd Park, Bristol and in Cornwall, as well as local, including Myrtle Cottage in Porlock and the Old Malt House on Brook Street in Timberscombe. The fourth photograph depicts Archie Dyer at work at Bicknoller, in the western Quantock Hills, during a changing time for thatching. He had trained to thatch with wheat reed, which lasted 25 years and was sourced locally. By the time of his return from Cyprus, wheat reed was becoming scarce and was being replaced by Norfolk reed which lasted 60 to 70 years .
Such changes were no doubt factors in Archie moving to the docks at Watchet Harbour where he worked for Street's Transport and then at the Wansborough Paper Mill, "loading, sheeting and shunting the lorries". Archie's work was not so much in the mill but on the road, delivering the newly made papers and collecting the starch and clay from Cornwall to make more. Journeys to London took two days and Scotland took eight. At £50 a week, it was good pay. It was a productive time at Watchet, where timber, steel and cork were being imported and waste paper, British Leyland Car parts and Massey Ferguson tractors, cars and lorries were being exported. Archie Dyer kept driving, hauling loads of timber to Wales and also worked for the Forestry Commission (25).
Archie and Phyllis Dyer lived at No. 8, the Glebe for thirteen years. It was the first address of their daughters, Tina Louise, born in 1963 and Mandy, born in 1966 and was their address when they were admitted to Timberscombe School , respectively in 1968 and1970 (which certainly was nearby, as their father had described it ). Their son, Paul, was born in 1968 and when he began school in August 1973, his address was listed in the school register as "8 The Glebe"--- which was then crossed out and "2 Meadow View" was written in its place (26). In that year, the Dyer family were able to move to 2 Meadow View, built in 1947 by Frank Huxtable (27) and located on the northeastern edge of the village. In 2023 Phyllis Dyer said "I wouldn't go anywhere else now" and "and since we lived down here, we loved it" (28).
The memories of Archie and Phyllis Dyer of this time in Timberscombe are rich in detail, recalling a village with four shops--where you could buy anything you needed (including boots) and four buses a day running to Minehead, the first leaving Timberscombe at 8:30 AM and the last returning to the village at 10 PM (29). Archie and Phyllis also enjoyed "the pictures". Every Wednesday and Saturday, at about half past six, the "picture bus" would come up from Exford and they would go to the movies in Minehead, often followed by a dance afterwards next door at the Regal Ballroom. After that "the bus would pick you up at twelve o'clock and bring you back home" (30).
Or there was no reason to leave the village. There were always activities at Timberscombe School, The Lion Pub and both subsequent Village Halls, with the first being constructed in 1954, which Archie described to Lesley Webb in 2019 as "two buildings with a big pole in the middle" but which hosted dances and whist drives. The new Village Hall --where alcohol could be served--opened in August 1976, which was heavily refurbished and reopened in 2006, (at which time, Mandy Rich, the now married daughter of Archie and Phyllis, served on the Village Hall Committee) (31). Generally, from all sides of the village, there usually was a fete, a cricket or football game and even a well-remembered tug of war across the river near Bickham Manor (32).
In 2023 Phyllis Dyer recalled to Alan Hines that unlike the present, it seemed in those days, everyone knew and mixed with everyone else. A constant village sight were the "old boys" who met daily at the bench at the bottom of the church steps and "would put the world right". Regulars included Billy Baker (1912-1980), who lived at the cottage called Brooklyn just across the square from their bench and drove a taxi from the Old Malt House, next door to Brooklyn (33), Bill Clatworthy (1913-1971), known as "Lightening" (satirically as he was rather slow and known as a "gentle giant"), who worked at the Quarry and lived on Great House Street at the cottage later called Overdale (34) , Tommy Morris, who lived at Church Steps Cottage, adjacent to their bench (35) and Sidney (Sid) John Hobbs (1890-1974), a labourer but best remembered as a longtime cricketer (36).
Sid Hobbs was a neighbour of Archie and Phyllis Dyer, at No. 5 Meadow View, as was Dudley Huxtable (1911-1994) at No. 3 Meadow View, the son of Frank Huxtable, the builder of the Dyer's house. Sid and Dudley's cottages were originally addressed as No. 5 and No. 3 Council Cottages and were renamed during the 1940's (37). Dudley was less likely to be gathered around the Church Steps bench as with any free time, his first destination would be the Cricket field (38). Actually Dudley was mostly at work, basically employed by his mother, Eva (nee Battle) Huxtable at Pump Cottage (the home of Frank and Eva Huxtable and where Dudley grew up), across the road from the Dyer's house (and a little to the west).
Pump Cottage (later Tiki Cottage) was so-named because of the petrol pumps in front of it, part of the Motor Spirit Service Station, a shop operated by his mother, known throughout the village as Granny Huxtable. She was remembered as "a nice old lady", yet Phyllis also recalled that when she would cross the road to buy paraffin, she would go to the door and Granny Huxtable would call out "come in" from behind big heavy curtains and sitting over a little oil stove. Phyllis described it as "dark, dark and dismal". Meanwhile Dudley would operate the pumps but between customers, Archie described in 2023 how Dudley would sit in "that wooden hut, with newspapers piled up and an oil heater", adding "Health and Safety wouldn't have that today". Archie also recalled that when petrol was rationed, he would pull up on his motorbike on Saturdays-- however if there was a test match on the radio, Dudley would just shout out "help yourself!" He would not miss cricket for anything (39).
Also remembered with appreciation was William George (better known as Bill or Billy) Herniman. After being demobbed from the army at the end of World War II, Billy Herniman worked for the village council, wearing a little box hearing aid, "so he could hear what he wanted". His job was to keep the village clean and tidy with his brush sweeping the pavement, which -- according to Archie and Phyllis Dyer--he did spotlessly. Born in 1911, Mr. Herniman passed away in 1990 and in the same year a bench, with a metal plaque in his name, was erected on Brewers Green, the village's new green which opened that same year just across the road from No. 2 Meadow View (40).
Archie Dyer had continued working at the Watchet Harbour but as boats became bigger, much of it had to close. For about 10 years, he returned to working for the Wansborough Paper Mill but chose early retirement at the age of 60, coinciding with the mill introducing 12 hour night shifts where one worked on ones' own (41). In December 2015, the mill closed , at which time 176 persons lost their employment (42).
However Archie's retirement lasted about two weeks when he was asked to become a driver of a school 8-seater minibus. He also passed the tests to drive the 16-seaters and continued to drive Exford children for 10 years and actually retiring when 70-years-old (43).
in 2023, Paul, the son of Archie and Phyllis Dyer, lived in Bridgwater and Tina was at Williton. Mandy lived just across Brook Street in Timberscombe at Vicarage Court. For those living around Brewers Green and its nearby roads, unless it was too cold or too wet, they could almost daily see Mr. and Mrs. Dyer having a midday walk. Arm-in-arm (and it must be said--always very well-dressed), they remained a romantic looking couple.
Certainly the courtship of Phyllis Warne and Archie Dyer was unique. In June 1960, Archie was serving in the Army, stationed in Cyprus, when Phyllis became his penpal (or "pen friend", as called by Phyllis). After Archie returned to Somerset, he and Phyllis met for the first time the following April, when Archie rode on his motorbike the 300 miles to Suffolk. He arrived on a Saturday evening, remaining a bit more than a week, when on the next Monday, he asked Phyllis to marry him. Between then and their wedding in March 1962, they only met seven times. But as Phyllis said on the 28th of January 2023, "it paid off", pointing out the upcoming March would be their 61st anniversary (4).
Archie William John Dyer was the son of Archie William Dyer, who was born in the Williton District of Somerset on the 23rd of June 1914 (5) . His mother was born Brida Mary Rexworthy on the 29th of September 1915 at Pitney, Langport, Somerset (6). By 1935, Miss Rexworthy was a resident of Wootton Courtenay and Mr. Dyer was in military service, stationed in Essex at Colchester, where they married after repeating their banns on the 10th, 17th and 24th of November at the Garrison Church of Colchester (7). After his service, the senior Archie Dyer returned to Somerset working as a General Farm Labourer and was employed by Hurley Norman at Burrow Farm, where he and his wife brought their 14-day-old son. Their first daughter, Freda Dyer was born 27 December 1938 (8) and on the 1939 Census, the young family lived at No. 1 Croft Cottage in Wootton Courtenay. Betty May Dyer, Archie's second sister, was born 12 May 1944 (9), by which time their childhood address was Burrow Farm.
Archie began his education at Wootton Courtenay School, recalling a teacher, Miss Warner, who picked dry gorse out of old iron pits situated at Brockwell, a nearby farm at the foot of Dunkery Hill, to put on the school stove with boiling milk and hip berries to create a sort of medicine (10). Archie's time at the Wootton Courtenay School coincided with World War II and his memories included gas mask practices and the children hearing German planes flying overhead that dropped bombs in Wales. Archie, like most everyone then in Timberscombe or Wootton Courtenay, also recalled the German bomber, a Junkers 88, that crashed into the willow tree plantation at Bougham, about 500 yards from Timberscombe village. During the war, Archie's father served with the local Home Guard, regularly patrolling from around 6 PM to midnight. Mr. Dyer can be seen in his uniform at SP-335.
Other World War II memories of the younger Archie Dyer included rationing, especially that there were no sweets, although some candy could be got from the American soldiers who camped in the fields by the Old Dairy in Timberscombe. Archie would see "Yank" tanks passing through the villages, yet also remembered that it seemed one day the Americans were suddenly all gone. An evacuee family, that had a monkey, lived next door to Burrow Farm. Also in Burrow were two German prisoners-of- war who aided in the farming (with no guards in attendance),and who made "lovely wooden toys" for the children. Archie remembered them as "decent blokes"(11).
In the Timberscombe School Log Book, Head Teacher, Kathleen A. Willis , wrote on the 15th of January 1946 that a school official had visited to discuss with her that the school in the nearby village of Luccombe would be closing after Easter and it's children would be transferred directly to Timberscombe School. Indeed those eight students arrived by bus on the 1st of April ( 12). On the following 2nd of September, this time via a "Correspondent", further news came that the Wootton Courtenay School was also shutting down, and their children too would come to Timberscombe. This time, no date of arrival was specified (13).
The date was 11 November 1946 and nine Wootton Courtenay students were bussed for the first time to Timberscombe (14). They are depicted on the second photograph, taken at their school just before its closing, alongside the teacher they would soon be leaving, Miss Griffin. The group included Archie Dyer, the boy standing on the right end of the second row. Standing next to Miss Griffin on the left end is Bill Lang, with David Rawle, Andrew Slade and Pam Carter between him and Archie. Kneeling on the ground, from left to right are Phyllis Quick, Chrissie Brooks, Belinda Jury and Albert Slade. (In 1960, Phyllis Quick became the Infants and Assistant Teacher at Timberscombe School, as can be seen at SP-252) (15).
Freda Dyer was admitted to Timberscombe School on the same day her brother began there, with Betty joining them on the 13th of June 1949 (16). All three of the Dyer children can be seen in a school photograph taken in 1949 or 1950 at SP-081. They continued living at Burrow Farm, traveling to Timberscombe on Burrell's School Bus, although not for six weeks in 1947 when record amounts of snow fell and classes were cancelled (17). Archie Dyer had to leave Timberscombe School 12 months earlier than he anticipated, as his father became ill with appendicitis and throat trouble and his son was enlisted to work in his place on the farm--a disappointment to Archie, although he made sure he returned for the Christmas leaving party. The senior Archie Dyer eventually recovered and the junior Archie Dyer was able to continue his education, being transferred to Minehead Secondary Modern where he studied metalwork, woodwork, gardening and eight weeks of cookery (18).
However it was plastering that kept Archie busy when finishing his schooling. For two or three months he cycled from Burrow to Washford arriving by 7:30 AM and plastering until 5:30 PM (19). That ended when he took up an apprenticeship in Dunster to qualify as a thatcher. Working from 8 AM to 5 PM, he earned £4 a week and learned the trade (20). Five years later the apprenticeship ended on a Friday and on the following Monday, Archie joined the army for a three year stint, so as to avoid conscription. He trained for eight weeks at Wrexham, after which he was stationed at Corsham, Wiltshire, the site of one of the largest and most secretive underground military depots in Britain . A former stone quarry had been rebuilt to store vast amounts of ammunition, to keep it safe from bombing. Certainly it was an incredibly dangerous assignment for a young and newly trained serviceman, where sections were separated by huge steel doors and Dyer was searched before each entry (21).
After three months, Archie was transferred to Cyprus. The third photograph is of Dyer (if not still a teenager he is just barely so), in uniform on his leave embarkation, making a quick return to Timberscombe, where he poses with his sister, Freda. Their photographer was likely Betty Dyer. In the following days, Archie sailed via the troopship, Dilwara , onto Cyprus where he served two years and 100 days. This was not a particularly relaxed assignment. Dyer's arrival was not long after the Suez Canal crisis and the majority Greek-Cypriot population of Cyprus was against any further British control. Initially Archie Dyer was given guard work and island patrols and later was assigned to the docks---where once he had to control a riot armed only with a dustbin lid and a baseball bat (22). It was during this time that Archie became penpals with the young woman in Suffolk that he had never met.
Twenty-two-year-old Archie Dyer returned to Somerset in 1960, learning from the chap who was giving him a lift back to Timberscombe that his parents had moved into No. 5 at the Glebe (23). After marrying Phyllis, they stayed with Archie and Brida Dyer for "a couple of months" before moving into No. 8, the most western residence at The Glebe . In 2023, Archie described its location as "against the (Timberscombe) school" (24) and it is the site of the top photograph, likely taken by Archie's father or mother. By this time, Archie and Phyllis were not exactly newlyweds and look quite happy to have their own home.
Archie returned to the thatching job he had left so quickly to serve in the army. Some of his thatching work was done from afar, such as stints at Sneyd Park, Bristol and in Cornwall, as well as local, including Myrtle Cottage in Porlock and the Old Malt House on Brook Street in Timberscombe. The fourth photograph depicts Archie Dyer at work at Bicknoller, in the western Quantock Hills, during a changing time for thatching. He had trained to thatch with wheat reed, which lasted 25 years and was sourced locally. By the time of his return from Cyprus, wheat reed was becoming scarce and was being replaced by Norfolk reed which lasted 60 to 70 years .
Such changes were no doubt factors in Archie moving to the docks at Watchet Harbour where he worked for Street's Transport and then at the Wansborough Paper Mill, "loading, sheeting and shunting the lorries". Archie's work was not so much in the mill but on the road, delivering the newly made papers and collecting the starch and clay from Cornwall to make more. Journeys to London took two days and Scotland took eight. At £50 a week, it was good pay. It was a productive time at Watchet, where timber, steel and cork were being imported and waste paper, British Leyland Car parts and Massey Ferguson tractors, cars and lorries were being exported. Archie Dyer kept driving, hauling loads of timber to Wales and also worked for the Forestry Commission (25).
Archie and Phyllis Dyer lived at No. 8, the Glebe for thirteen years. It was the first address of their daughters, Tina Louise, born in 1963 and Mandy, born in 1966 and was their address when they were admitted to Timberscombe School , respectively in 1968 and1970 (which certainly was nearby, as their father had described it ). Their son, Paul, was born in 1968 and when he began school in August 1973, his address was listed in the school register as "8 The Glebe"--- which was then crossed out and "2 Meadow View" was written in its place (26). In that year, the Dyer family were able to move to 2 Meadow View, built in 1947 by Frank Huxtable (27) and located on the northeastern edge of the village. In 2023 Phyllis Dyer said "I wouldn't go anywhere else now" and "and since we lived down here, we loved it" (28).
The memories of Archie and Phyllis Dyer of this time in Timberscombe are rich in detail, recalling a village with four shops--where you could buy anything you needed (including boots) and four buses a day running to Minehead, the first leaving Timberscombe at 8:30 AM and the last returning to the village at 10 PM (29). Archie and Phyllis also enjoyed "the pictures". Every Wednesday and Saturday, at about half past six, the "picture bus" would come up from Exford and they would go to the movies in Minehead, often followed by a dance afterwards next door at the Regal Ballroom. After that "the bus would pick you up at twelve o'clock and bring you back home" (30).
Or there was no reason to leave the village. There were always activities at Timberscombe School, The Lion Pub and both subsequent Village Halls, with the first being constructed in 1954, which Archie described to Lesley Webb in 2019 as "two buildings with a big pole in the middle" but which hosted dances and whist drives. The new Village Hall --where alcohol could be served--opened in August 1976, which was heavily refurbished and reopened in 2006, (at which time, Mandy Rich, the now married daughter of Archie and Phyllis, served on the Village Hall Committee) (31). Generally, from all sides of the village, there usually was a fete, a cricket or football game and even a well-remembered tug of war across the river near Bickham Manor (32).
In 2023 Phyllis Dyer recalled to Alan Hines that unlike the present, it seemed in those days, everyone knew and mixed with everyone else. A constant village sight were the "old boys" who met daily at the bench at the bottom of the church steps and "would put the world right". Regulars included Billy Baker (1912-1980), who lived at the cottage called Brooklyn just across the square from their bench and drove a taxi from the Old Malt House, next door to Brooklyn (33), Bill Clatworthy (1913-1971), known as "Lightening" (satirically as he was rather slow and known as a "gentle giant"), who worked at the Quarry and lived on Great House Street at the cottage later called Overdale (34) , Tommy Morris, who lived at Church Steps Cottage, adjacent to their bench (35) and Sidney (Sid) John Hobbs (1890-1974), a labourer but best remembered as a longtime cricketer (36).
Sid Hobbs was a neighbour of Archie and Phyllis Dyer, at No. 5 Meadow View, as was Dudley Huxtable (1911-1994) at No. 3 Meadow View, the son of Frank Huxtable, the builder of the Dyer's house. Sid and Dudley's cottages were originally addressed as No. 5 and No. 3 Council Cottages and were renamed during the 1940's (37). Dudley was less likely to be gathered around the Church Steps bench as with any free time, his first destination would be the Cricket field (38). Actually Dudley was mostly at work, basically employed by his mother, Eva (nee Battle) Huxtable at Pump Cottage (the home of Frank and Eva Huxtable and where Dudley grew up), across the road from the Dyer's house (and a little to the west).
Pump Cottage (later Tiki Cottage) was so-named because of the petrol pumps in front of it, part of the Motor Spirit Service Station, a shop operated by his mother, known throughout the village as Granny Huxtable. She was remembered as "a nice old lady", yet Phyllis also recalled that when she would cross the road to buy paraffin, she would go to the door and Granny Huxtable would call out "come in" from behind big heavy curtains and sitting over a little oil stove. Phyllis described it as "dark, dark and dismal". Meanwhile Dudley would operate the pumps but between customers, Archie described in 2023 how Dudley would sit in "that wooden hut, with newspapers piled up and an oil heater", adding "Health and Safety wouldn't have that today". Archie also recalled that when petrol was rationed, he would pull up on his motorbike on Saturdays-- however if there was a test match on the radio, Dudley would just shout out "help yourself!" He would not miss cricket for anything (39).
Also remembered with appreciation was William George (better known as Bill or Billy) Herniman. After being demobbed from the army at the end of World War II, Billy Herniman worked for the village council, wearing a little box hearing aid, "so he could hear what he wanted". His job was to keep the village clean and tidy with his brush sweeping the pavement, which -- according to Archie and Phyllis Dyer--he did spotlessly. Born in 1911, Mr. Herniman passed away in 1990 and in the same year a bench, with a metal plaque in his name, was erected on Brewers Green, the village's new green which opened that same year just across the road from No. 2 Meadow View (40).
Archie Dyer had continued working at the Watchet Harbour but as boats became bigger, much of it had to close. For about 10 years, he returned to working for the Wansborough Paper Mill but chose early retirement at the age of 60, coinciding with the mill introducing 12 hour night shifts where one worked on ones' own (41). In December 2015, the mill closed , at which time 176 persons lost their employment (42).
However Archie's retirement lasted about two weeks when he was asked to become a driver of a school 8-seater minibus. He also passed the tests to drive the 16-seaters and continued to drive Exford children for 10 years and actually retiring when 70-years-old (43).
in 2023, Paul, the son of Archie and Phyllis Dyer, lived in Bridgwater and Tina was at Williton. Mandy lived just across Brook Street in Timberscombe at Vicarage Court. For those living around Brewers Green and its nearby roads, unless it was too cold or too wet, they could almost daily see Mr. and Mrs. Dyer having a midday walk. Arm-in-arm (and it must be said--always very well-dressed), they remained a romantic looking couple.
Creator
likely Archie William Dyer or Brida (nee Rexworthy) Dyer
Anonymous
Betty May Dyer
Anonymous
Anonymous
Betty May Dyer
Anonymous
Date
1962
1946
1957
c. mid 1960s
1946
1957
c. mid 1960s
Language
English
Identifier
Archie and Phyllis Dyer, c. 1962, at 8 The Glebe, Timberscombe, the village centre / Archie Dyer, his teacher, Miss Griffin and the eight other children , c. 1946, at the closing of the Wootton Courtenay School, Wooton Courtenay, just north of the village centre / Archie Dyer while serving at Cyprus in 1957, with his sister, Freda Dyer / Archie Dyer, at work, thatching , c. mid 1960s
Acquisition Date
2021
2023
2021
2021
2023
2021
2021
Acquisition Method
Gift
Category
PEOPLE: Known / Timberscombe
PLACES: Schools / Wootton Courtenay
PEOPLE: Occupations / Timberscombe
PLACES: Schools / Wootton Courtenay
PEOPLE: Occupations / Timberscombe
Condition
Good
Condition Notes
entered by Tom Sperling
Condition Date
2024
Dimension Type
W X L
Dimension Units
cm
Dimension Value
19.5 X 14
11.5 X 16.5
20 X 12
19 x 13.5
11.5 X 16.5
20 X 12
19 x 13.5
Institution Name
St. Petrock's History Group
Notes
(1) England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005 (2) as recalled to Lesley Webb by Archie Dyer on the 22nd of April 2019 at The Old Dairy, Timberscombe for the Timberscombe Oral History Project (3) Victoria County History, ac. uk (4) as recalled to Alan Hines by Archie and Phyllis Dyer on the 28th of January 2023 at their home at No. 2 Meadow View, Timberscombe (5) 1939 England and Wales Register (6) 1939 England and Wales Register and England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915 (7) UK Military Records of Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages and Burials, 1813-1957, War Office: Banns of Marriage at the Garrison Church, Colchester, Essex (8) England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007 (9) England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007 (10) as recalled to Lesley Webb in April 2019 (11) as recalled to Alan Hines in 2023, as recalled to Lesley Webb in 2019 and as recalled by Archie and Phyllis Dyer to Tom Sperling at No. 2 Meadow View, Timberscombe in 2021 (12) Timberscombe School LOG BOOK, 4 April 1910--25 March 1947, pages 485-488 (13) Timberscombe School LOG BOOK, 4 April 1910--25 March 1947, pages 491-492 (14) Timberscombe School LOG BOOK, 4 April 1910-25 March 1947, page 494 (15) Timberscombe School LOG BOOK, 21 April 1947-2 April 1965, page 252 (16) Timberscombe School ADMISSION REGISTER, 1944-2012, Nos. 753, 757 and 786 (17) as recalled to Alan Hines in 2023 (18) as recalled to Tom Sperling in 2021, as recalled to Alan Hines in 2023 Timberscombe School ADMISSION REGISTER, 1944-2012, No. 753 and as recalled to Lesley Webb in 2019 (19) as recalled to Lesley Webb in 2019 (20) as recalled to Lesley Webb in 2019 (21) as recalled to Tom Sperling in 2021, as recalled to Alan Hines in 2023 and as recalled to Lesley Webb in 2023 (22) Imperial War Museum / iwm.org.uk>history and as recalled to Lesley Webb in 2019 (23) as recalled to Lesley Webb in 2019 (24) as recalled to Alan Hines in 2023 (25) as recalled to Tom Sperling in 2021, as recalled to Alan Hines in 2023 and as recalled to Lesley Webb in 2019 (26) Timberscombe School ADMISSION REGISTER, 1944-2012, Nos. 1047, 1079 and 1118 (27) as recalled to Tom Sperling in 2021 (28) as recalled to Alan Hines in 2023 (29) as recalled to Lesley Webb in 2019 (30) as recalled to Alan Hines in 2023 (31) timberscombevillage.com / History of Timberscombe / Other Historic Structures / Village Hall History, as prepared by Lesley Webb (32) as recalled to Lesley Webb in 2019 (33) as recalled to Alan Hines in 2023 (34) the description of Billy (or Bill) Clatworthy was given by Ernie Munson, a World War II evacuee who lived with the Clatworthy family during the war, as related in "MILES FROM HOME, EVACUEES IN TIMBERSCOMBE DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR", by Alan HInes, copyright 2022 by Alan Hines, page 36 (35) as recalled by Maurice Huxtable of Ye Olde Malthouse in 2021 (36) as evident in Cricket Club photographs such as SP-167, SP-169, SP-170 or SP-173 (37) 1939 England and Wales Register and as recalled to Tom Sperling in 2021 (38) as recalled to Tom Sperling by Maurice Huxtable , the son of Dudley Huxtable, in 2019 (39) as recalled to Alan Hines in 2023 (40) as recalled to Alan Hines in 2023 (40) as recalled to Lesley Webb in 2019. (41) somersetcountygazette.co.uk (42) as recalled to Lesley Webb in 2019
Storage Location
St. Petrck's History Group Archive
Storage Date
2024
Storage Notes
St. Petrock's History Group PHOTOGRAPHS
Item Reference
SP-297
Technique
Copies
Citation
likely Archie William Dyer or Brida (nee Rexworthy) Dyer
Anonymous
Betty May Dyer
Anonymous, “Archie and Phyllis Dyer,” St. Petrock's History Group, accessed April 28, 2024, https://stpetrockshistorygroup.omeka.net/items/show/3569.
Comments