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ARTISTS, ARCHITECTS, MUSICIANS & ACTORS

DEVON PAINTERS

Nicholas Hilliard (1547–1619), son of an Exeter goldsmith, was himself a goldsmith, carver and limner to Queen Elizabeth, and is regarded as England’s first major painter of miniatures.

Thomas Hudson (1701–79), was an Exeter-born portrait painter and one of the most famous of his day, his sitters including King George II, the Duke of Marlborough, and Handel.

Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723–92), born at Plympton St Maurice, was the son of the local schoolmaster. He set himself up as a portrait painter at Devonport, but later moved to London where he became the most fashionable portrait painter of his day, and was elected the first President of the Royal Academy of Arts when it was founded in 1768. A friend of the Earl of Morley and his family at Saltram, he was a frequent visitor there, and several of his portraits of the family can still be seen at the house.

Richard Cosway (1740–1821) was a Tiverton-born painter of portraits and miniatures, from whom King George IV commissioned several works.

James Northcote (1746–1831) was a Plymouth-born painter of historical pictures and portraits, who like Reynolds had to move to London to find success. His best-known painting, ‘A Scene from Shakespeare’s Richard II’, is in Exeter Art Gallery.

Samuel Prout (1783–1852) was a Plymouth-born watercolour landscape and townscape painter, who became Painter in Watercolours in Ordinary to King George IV, King William IV, and Queen Victoria.

Benjamin Robert Haydon (1786–1846), writer on art and painter of historical scenes, rarely achieved the success he strove for, and his debt-ridden life ended in suicide.

Sir Charles Eastlake (1793–1865) was a painter of historical pictures, including one of Napoleon Bonaparte on board Bellerophon in Plymouth Sound, and later successively the first Keeper and Director of the National Gallery, and President of the Royal Academy.

Frederick John Widgery (1861–1942), an Exeter city councillor and mayor from 1903 to 1904, was one of the most prolific Dartmoor painters, mostly dealing in watercolour but occasionally in oils. He is one of several names from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries who has always been revered (and collected) in his own county but almost completely unknown outside it. Others include his father William Widgery (1826–93); Charles E. Brittan Senior (1837–88); his son, Charles E. Brittan Junior (1870–1949); George Henry Jenkins (1843–1914), Daniel Sherrin (1868–1940) and – you guessed it – his son, Reginald Daniel Sherrin (1891–1971).

Beryl Cook (1926–2008), a self-taught artist who ran a guest house in Plymouth, initially painted colourful pictures of everyday life in Plymouth, often featuring jolly plump (in other words, plump and jolly) women, and whose bold style made her one of the best-loved artists of her day.

Robert Lenkiewicz (1941–2002), was a controversial artist based in studio at the Barbican, Plymouth, whose portraits of people focused on themes such as death, vagrancy and social handicap (see p. 176).

George Passmore (1942–), of the collaborative duo of artists Gilbert and George, was born in Plymouth.

PAINTERS WHO VISITED DEVON

Richard Wilson (1714–82) visited the county in 1771, and painted studies of Okehampton Castle and Lydford.

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) was London born and bred, though his father came from South Molton. He paid at least three visits to various parts of Devon, and painted several landscapes of the county, especially around the Plymouth area and on Dartmoor. His major watercolour, ‘Plymouth from Mount Edgcumbe’ was acquired by Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery in 2006.

Thomas Girtin (1775–1802), regarded as the founder of modern watercolour painting, visited South Devon in 1800 and painted several pictures, the best-known being ‘Rainbow over the Exe’.

Samuel Palmer (1805–81), one of the major Romantic painters, lived mainly in London and Surrey, but visited North Devon at least twice during his lifetime, where he painted pictures of Lee Abbey and Ilfracombe.

John William Inchbold (1830–88), a landscape painter strongly associated with the Pre-Raphaelites, was born and died in Leeds but travelled extensively. His earliest paintings, from the 1850s, include ‘The Moorland (Dewar-Stone)’ and ‘Devonshire Coast’, both in Tate Britain, and ‘Anstey’s Cove’, in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

DEVON ARCHITECTS

Nicholas Stone (1586–1647) built several tombs and sepulchral monuments, although no examples of his work have been identified in his native county.

John Foulston (1772–1841) was from London, but his major work was done in Devon. His best-known creations were the Greek Doric town hall and commemorative column in Ker Street, Devonport, and he was also responsible for the creation of Union Street, built across marshland to link (or unite) the three towns of Plymouth, Devonport and Stonehouse, hence the name. He also designed and built the original Theatre Royal and Assembly Rooms, the Royal Union Baths and St Catherine’s Church, Plymouth, and a terrace of houses in Roman Corinthian style in Devonport, all long since demolished to make way for newer buildings or destroyed in the Second World War. He also built a ballroom in Torquay, and restored the medieval abbey gatehouse at Tavistock in Gothic style.

Charles Fowler (1800–67) built the lower and higher markets in Exeter during the 1830s, as well as a few churches in Devon, notably St Paul’s, Honiton.

Sir George Gilbert Scott (1811–78), although not a Devon man, was among the most prolific of British architects involved with the design, building and refurbishment of many churches, cathedrals and workhouses in England, and it is estimated that he designed or renovated over 800 buildings altogether. Among those in Devon with which he was involved are the workhouses at Totnes, Bideford, Newton Abbot and Tavistock, all in the 1830s, and the restoration of Exeter Cathedral, of St Mary’s Church and the Priory Church, both at Totnes, about thirty years later.

Sir William White (1845–1913) was a Devonport-born naval architect, warship designer, Director of Naval Construction at the Admiralty and Assistant Controller of the Navy, who during his career bore ultimate responsibility for the design of 33 battleships, 26 armoured cruisers and 102 protected cruisers. He is not to be confused with contemporary architect William White (1825–1900), who was not a local man but well-known for his role in nineteenth-century Gothic Revival architecture and restored many Devon churches, including those of Holy Trinity Church, Barnstaple; Church of John the Baptist, Instow; and Bishop’s Court, the former Bishop’s Palace, Sowton.

George Prynne (1853–1927) helped to restore, rebuild and design several churches in England, including the new organ case and pulpit at St Andrew’s Church, Ashburton, and the wooden screen at St Peter’s Church, Buckland-in-the-Moor.

DEVON MUSICIANS & COMPOSERS

Robert Stone (c. 1516–1613), composer and member of the Chapel Royal, is best known for his setting of the Lord’s Prayer, completed in about 1550.

Matthew Locke (c. 1630–77), born at Exeter, composed the music for the processional march for the coronation of Charles II.

William Jackson (1730–1803) was for many years the organist at Exeter Cathedral, the city where he was born and died. He wrote and published several sonatas, secular and sacred vocal works, and an opera, though none of these are particularly well remembered today. He was one of the most versatile men of his time, being also a writer and publisher of essays, and a landscape painter who exhibited at the Royal Academy.

Henry Francis Lyte (1793–1847), Anglican divine and hymn writer, lived successively at Dittisham, Charleton and Brixham. It was at the latter that he wrote his most famous hymns, including three paraphrases of the Psalms, notably ‘Praise my soul, the King of Heaven’ (Psalm 103), and after taking his last service, ‘Abide with me’, said to have been inspired partly by watching the sun setting over Torbay.

Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810–76), a grandson of Charles Wesley, like Jackson, was born at Exeter and was cathedral organist. His works include ‘The European Psalmist’, and ‘Twelve Anthems and Responses’.

Elias Parish-Alvars (1810–49), Teignmouth-born composer and harpist, wrote more than eighty compositions for the instrument, including two concertos, and duos for harp and piano.

Franz Liszt (1811–86) gave a series of piano recitals in England in August 1840, including one at the Royal Clarence Hotel, Exeter, and another at the Manor Hotel, Exmouth.

Sir W.S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and Sir Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), librettist and composer respectively of the Savoy Operas, staged the first performance of their operetta The Pirates of Penzance at the Bijou Theatre, Paignton, on 31 December 1878. It was given by a D’Oyly Carte touring company who were in Devon at the time, playing HMS Pinafore in Torquay during the evening. The Paignton show was a one-off, solely to enable the writers to establish their copyright in the work, with the cast reading and singing from scripts carried on stage, making do with any costumes available.

A second county link with Gilbert and Sullivan is to be found at Coleton Fishacre, an Art Deco house near Kingswear built as a holiday home for the D’Oyly Carte family in the 1920s. They subsequently sold it and it is now a National Trust property, furnished partly as a museum with exhibits pertaining to the family and the famous duo.

Percy Whitlock (1903–46), Borough Organist at the Bournemouth Municipal Pavilion, and music director at St Stephen’s Church, Bournemouth, composed Plymouth Suite, which was begun before and completed after he and his wife Edna had attended an Incorporated Association of Organists Congress at Plymouth in August and September 1939. The closing movement, Toccata, was dedicated to Dr Harold George Moreton, Plymouth Borough Organist, ‘a sprightly fellow who has been shabbily treated by the corporation, who are mercenary.’

Ron Goodwin (1925–2003), Plymouth-born composer, arranger, orchestrator and conductor, was commissioned by Plymouth City Fathers to write the Drake 400 Suite, given its first performance in 1980 to mark the celebrations for the Tudor explorer’s epic journey around the world, and the Armada 400 Suite for similar festivities eight years later.

POP, ROCK & JAZZ TRIVIA

Glenn Miller and his Band played what would be one of their last concerts in Plymouth, at the Odeon, on 28 August 1944. He then left for Europe in order to plan a six-week tour, boarding a flight for Paris on 15 December to supervise arrangements in advance. The plane went missing over the English Channel.

The Beatles played concerts at Exeter three times, and Plymouth twice, on each occasion at the respective cities’ ABC venue. The Exeter dates were 28 March 1963, supporting American singers Tommy Roe and Chris Montez (the only one of the five dates they were not topping the bill), 14 November 1963 and 28 October 1964. The Plymouth dates were 13 November 1963 and 29 October 1964. They also made an unscheduled appearance in Devon in September 1967 while filming the movie Magical Mystery Tour. Plans to visit Widecombe Fair and shoot some of the footage there were cancelled when their bus became wedged on a narrow bridge on Dartmoor (one had no sat navs to blame in those days), and John Lennon lost his temper. So they turned round, leaving the road crew to sort the problem out, and went for a day in Plymouth, where they had lunch at the Grand Hoe Hotel, and sat on the Hoe overlooking the Sound. Unlike on the previous West Country visits, although they were among the four most recognisable people in Britain, they had no qualms about being seen in public, and no fear of being mobbed by hysterical fans.

The Rolling Stones played dates at Exeter three times; the ABC on 26 August 1964 (followed by the Plymouth ABC the following evening), and the Odeon on 2 October 1964 and 16 July 1965. On the latter they shared the bill with the Walker Brothers and the then little-known Rod Stewart. Drummer Charlie Watts has for some years owned an Arabian horse stud farm at Dolton, while Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings, the band their former bass guitarist formed in 1997, have played gigs at venues in Plymouth and Barnstaple.

The Silkie were a folk quartet who formed after meeting at Hull University, although guitarist Mike Ramsden was from Totnes. Their only success was with a Top 30 version of the Beatles’ ‘You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away’ in 1965. They disbanded the following year. Ramsden and vocalist Sylvia Tatler married and settled in Devon, keeping the name alive, sometimes as a duo, sometimes with their children, and often performed at their local, the Cott Inn, Dartington, until shortly before Ramsden’s death in 2004.

The Rustics, from Paignton, won a Westward TV beat contest in 1964 and were signed up by Beatles manager Brian Epstein, though they failed to emulate the success of the Liverpool acts he had already signed and turned into household names. Three of the group, and Ramsden from The Silkie, were together at King Edward VI Grammar School, Totnes.

Paul Simon was for years believed to have been inspired by the medieval bridge at Bickleigh over the Exe when writing ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’, released in 1970. Although he is known to have stayed in the village in the mid-1960s, his musical partner Art Garfunkel quashed the rumour in an interview on BBC Radio Devon with local presenter Judi Spiers in 2003, stating that Simon had taken the phrase from an old Baptist hymn. Shortly before he became a household name, Simon had spent some time playing low-key concerts, mainly in folk clubs, throughout Britain, including one at Newhayes House, Exeter, in 1965.

Emerson, Lake & Palmer played their first ever live show at Plymouth Guildhall, to a capacity crowd of 3,000, featuring the material they would be performing at the Isle of Wight Festival the following week. Featuring Keith Emerson (piano, organ, custom Moog and Hammond organ), Greg Lake (bass) and Carl Palmer (drums), they played a set including ‘Rondo’ and ‘America’, both of which had been part of Emerson’s repertoire during his leadership of previous band The Nice, and their arrangement of Mussorgsky’s suite ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’.

McGuinness Flint needed a picturesque backdrop to the photoshoot for the sleeve of their eponymous debut album in 1970, so their manager decided to dress them up as Victorian gravediggers and pose them against the Church of St Michael, Brentor. They travelled there overnight from London in a van, and arrived on a wet autumn morning to find the church surrounded with scaffolding. As nobody fancied returning home, waiting for repairs to be finished, and making the journey to Devon again another day when the church was once again in its more natural state, a certain amount of airbrushing on the final photos was therefore required.

Fairport Convention wrote, recorded and released ‘Babbacombe Lee’, often hailed as the world’s first folk rock opera, in 1971. Based on the story of John Lee, ‘the man they couldn’t hang’ (see p. 65), the group’s fiddle player Dave Swarbrick was inspired to write it after he discovered a file of old newspaper clippings in a junk shop, containing Lee’s own copies of the articles, bound by him, signed and dated 30 January 1908.

Sparks, at the time a five-piece group consisting of American brothers Ron and Russell Mael plus three British musicians, played at Home Park, Plymouth, on 2 July 1974. They stayed at the Holiday Inn, and settled a bill for £400, a sum claimed as inadequate by management for the damage they and their entourage had caused, citing a broken lift and colour TV, and costs for cleaning a bedroom carpet – quite apart from their disturbing other guests with a rowdy party at 3 a.m. and attacking staff with water pistols. Their manager John Hewlett denied the alleged incidents and unruly behaviour, and claimed the only damage they admitted was when they dropped minestrone soup on a carpet, not vomit as the management had claimed. As for ‘attacks’ on hotel staff, he said water pistols were ‘part of the fun of life’.

Ian Hunter, lead singer of Mott The Hoople until leaving them in 1974, made his debut as a solo artist with his new band at Exeter University on 18 March 1975, where he played a warm-up gig prior to a short British tour.

Cozy Powell, the drummer, named one track on Octopuss, his 1983 solo album, ‘Dartmoore’, although this was thought to owe more to its writer, guitarist Gary Moore, than to any inspiration from the area itself.

Show of Hands, a folk, acoustic and roots duo comprising Steve Knightley and Phil Beer, were formed in Devon in 1991. Both had met as teenagers while playing in different bands in Exeter. After working with others over the years, they played together casually during the 1980s, until deciding to unite full time early the following decade.

Seth Lakeman, folk singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, was born at Buckland Monachorum in 1977. His first three albums, The Punch Bowl (2002), Kitty Jay (2004), nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, and Freedom Fields (2006), all recorded in Devon, were partly inspired by local historical themes.

Muse were formed in 1994 by students at Teignmouth Community College. When they returned to the town to play two gigs at The Den on 4 and 5 September 2007 to celebrate the release of their fifth album The Resistance, according to a national paper, ‘streets were cordoned off, barricades erected and the entire population seemed to have turned out to celebrate the returning heroes.’

Michael Jackson paid an unscheduled visit to Exeter City Football Club in June 2002 with his friend Uri Geller, and was made an honorary director. He admitted he knew nothing about football but he ‘loved’ Exeter City, and was now entitled to play a full part in the club’s boardroom, including voting on key decisions about players, free admission to any games he might want to attend, and to travel to away matches with players on the club coach. As far as is known, during the remaining seven years of his life he never used any of these privileges, let alone played any benefit gigs at Exeter.

Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, a keen admirer and collector of the work of Victorian architect and furniture designer William Burges, loaned a wardrobe to and opened an exhibition of Burges at Knightshayes Court, near Tiverton, in May 2002.

Joss Stone, born Jocelyn Stoker, moved to Devon as a child and spent her teenage years living in Ashill, near Cullompton, and went to school at Uffculme.

POP & ROCK STARS BORN IN DEVON

Tony Burrows, singer with various groups, mainly on record only, including the Kestrels, Ivy League, Flowerpot Men, Edison Lighthouse, White Plains, Brotherhood of Man, Pipkins, and First Class – Exeter, 1942

Peter Quaife, bass guitarist, the Kinks – Tavistock, 1943 (died 2010)

Dave Hill, guitarist, Slade – Flete, near Modbury, 1946

Martin Turner, singer and bass guitarist, Wishbone Ash – Torquay, 1947

Snowy White, guitarist, Thin Lizzy – Barnstaple, 1948

Beth Gibbons, vocalist, Portishead – Exeter, 1965

Chris Martin, singer and guitarist, Coldplay – Exeter, 1977

Jim Causley, singer-songwriter – Exeter, 1980

Sergio Pizzorno, guitarist, Kasabian – Newton Abbot, 1980

Rebecca Worthley, singer-songwriter – Exeter, 1981

Jon Lee, vocalist, S Club 7 – Ipplepen, 1982

MUSIC VENUES

Most licensed premises stage live concerts and gigs at one time or another, as do universities and colleges, and this short list only comprises the major venues.

Barnfield Music Club, Exeter

Guildhall, Plymouth

Home Park, Plymouth

Matchroom Cabaret, Plymouth

Pavilions, Plymouth

Riviera International Centre, Torquay

Spinning Wheel, Paignton

Westpoint Arena, Clyst St Mary, Exeter

White Rabbit, Plymouth

Home Park is not immediately thought of as a music venue, but in recent years has been host to concerts from megastars including Rod Stewart, Elton John and George Michael. The Plymouth Guildhall now only stages classical concerts, but in the 1970s hosted gigs from the top rock and pop acts of the time, including Slade, Status Quo, Electric Light Orchestra, Wizzard, Lindisfarne, Mud and the Bay City Rollers.

Many other music venues have been and gone; and the following all staged major concerts and shows by major names.

ABC, Plymouth and Exeter

Queens Hall, Barnstaple (now Queens Hall Theatre)

Van Dike Club, Plymouth

Woods, Plymouth

The ABC was the only venue to host shows by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones (see p. 28).

ACTORS, PERFORMERS, BROADCASTERS & IMPRESARIOS

Cora Pearl (c. 1835–86), born Emma Crouch, claimed to have been born in Caroline Place, East Stonehouse, Plymouth, in 1842, though she was more probably born in London seven years earlier and moved to Plymouth in infancy. She was one of the most notorious courtesans in England and France of her time, but a brief theatrical career only served to emphasise her severely limited talents.

Fred Karno (1866–1941) real name Frederick Westcott, born at Exeter, was one of the leading music hall impresarios. He is credited as inventor of the custard pie in face gag, as well as the man who nurtured the careers of Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel. His career did not survive the advent of the cinema and he went bankrupt in 1925.

Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and Oliver Hardy (1892–1957) played what turned out to be the final show of their career at the Palace Theatre, Plymouth, on 17 May 1954. Their Birds of a Feather was the star turn of a variety bill which was due to play all week, but after one performance Hardy, already fighting a viral infection, was confined to bed at the Grand Hotel after a mild heart attack. Laurel withdrew from the bill as well, which went ahead with only the support acts.

Rachel Kempson (1910–2003), born in Dartmouth, and later wife of Sir Michael Redgrave, was a star of stage and screen, including several performances with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and roles in films including Tom Jones (1963), Out of Africa (1985), as well as BBC TV’s The Jewel in the Crown (1984).

Sir Donald Sinden (1923–), born in Plymouth and also subsequently an RSC member, similarly enjoyed a long career in the theatre, films and TV, including films The Cruel Sea (1953), Above Us the Waves (1955), and on TV the situation comedy Never the Twain (1981–91) and the drama Judge John Deed (2001–7).

Peter Cook (1937–95) born in Torquay, was one of the most renowned satirists and comedians of his day. He married his third wife Chiew Lin Chong in Torbay in 1989.

Ed Stewart (1941–), born Edward Mainwaring near Exmouth, is a former pirate radio disc jockey turned presenter on BBC radio and TV and independent radio, most associated with BBC Radio 1’s Junior Choice.

Angela Rippon (1944–), born in Plymouth, was TV’s first regular female newsreader and subsequently presenter of various series including Top Gear and Cash in the Attic, although her most famous role was arguably as a dancer on the Morecambe and Wise Christmas Special in 1976.

Actor Charles Dance (1946–) and comedy actress Dawn French (1957–), both born outside Devon, were partly raised and educated in the county. Meanwhile, broadcaster and media executive Noel Edmonds (1948–) has lived in Devon for several years, where he has campaigned and spoken out on environmental issues.

THEATRES

Several theatres have opened and closed in the county’s major towns and cities. The following are still active:

Barnstaple, Queen’s Theatre

Dartmouth, Flavel Arts Centre

Exeter, Barnfield Theatre

Exeter, Northcott Theatre

Ilfracombe, Landmark Theatre

Paignton, Palace Theatre

Plymouth, Theatre Royal

Teignmouth, Carlton Theatre

Tiverton, New Hall

Torquay, Babbacombe Theatre

Torquay, Princess Theatre

Totnes, Great Hall and Barn Theatre, Dartington Hall

EXETER’S UNFORTUNATE THEATRE HISTORY

During the nineteenth century, the words theatre, fire and Exeter sadly went together all too often. The New Theatre, built in 1787, was destroyed in 1820 when the rafters caught fire from a gas-lit chandelier. The Theatre Royal, built in 1821 to replace it, lasted until 1885, when it was gutted in a similar accident, the sole fatality being a pig that belonged to a clown.

Much more appalling was the tragedy of the new Theatre Royal on 5 September 1887, when some drapes caught fire from a naked gas flame during a performance attended by an audience of about 800. Within a few minutes panic had broken out among patrons who were desperate to escape. Many were killed not just by the fumes but also from being suffocated in the rush, particularly those who could not get out from the upper floor gallery. Casualty figures vary, but the number for those who died has been put as high as 186. To this date, it remains the highest figure for deaths in a single building incident in Britain. After the subsequent enquiry, stringent safety regulations were made mandatory in the construction of buildings licensed for public entertainment.

FILMS

The following feature films were shot partly on location in Devon.

A Matter of Life and Death (1946), directed by Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, starring David Niven, Kim Hunter – Saunton Sands.

Knights of the Round Table (1953), Richard Thorpe, starring Robert Taylor, Kim Gardner – Haytor Vale, Dartmoor.

The System (1964), Michael Winner, starring Oliver Reed, Jane Merrow – Brixham.

Catch Us If You Can (1965), John Boorman, starring The Dave Clark Five, Barbara Ferris – Burgh Island.

Isadora (1968), Karel Reisz, starring Vanessa Redgrave, John Fraser – Oldway Mansion.

Barry Lyndon (1975), Stanley Kubrick, starring Ryan O’Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee – Compton Castle.

That Summer (1979), Harley Cokeliss, starring Ray Winstone, Tony London – Torbay.

The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1982), Karel Reisz, starring Meryl Streep, Jeremy Irons – Kingswear.

Revolution (1985), Hugh Hudson, starring Al Pacino, Donald Sutherland – Challaborough Bay; Dartmoor.

Ordeal by Innocence (1985), Desmond Davis, starring Donald Sutherland, Faye Dunaway, Christopher Plummer – Dartmouth.

Howards End (1992), James Ivory, starring Emma Thompson, Vanessa Redgrave, Anthony Hopkins – Blackpool Sands.

The Remains of the Day (1993), James Ivory, starring Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, James Fox – Powderham Castle.

Sense and Sensibility (1995), Ang Lee, starring Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Alan Rickman – Saltram; Flete.

Churchill: The Hollywood Years (2004), Peter Richardson, starring Jon Culshaw, Tom Clarke Hill, Hamish McColl – Brixham.

TELEVISION

In 1970 the Monty Python’s Flying Circus team were filming on location in Torbay, and stayed at the Gleneagles Hotel, Torquay, run by Donald Sinclair, a retired naval commander, and his wife. The experience inspired John Cleese to create the BBC situation comedy Fawlty Towers, shown in two series in 1975 and 1979, in which Basil Fawlty, played by Cleese, was based largely on Sinclair, whom the actor said was ‘the most wonderfully rude man I have ever met.’ He alleged that while they were there, Sinclair threw a suitcase belonging to another guest over a cliff as it was ticking and he thought it was a bomb (it contained an alarm clock), and flung a timetable at a guest who asked when the next bus left. Sinclair’s widow Beatrice later said that Basil Fawlty was a merciless caricature of her husband who had been ‘turned into a laughing stock’, the Python team ‘behaved so badly it defied belief’ while they were on the premises, and Cleese was ‘an utter fool’ who had ‘made millions out of our unhappiness’. Although the programme was set in Torquay, all filming took place in the home counties.

Oldway Mansion, Paignton, has often been used for filming on location as its setting makes it ideal for scenes whenever the set for a stately home is required. TV drama series which have made use of this facility include Edward the Seventh, starring Timothy West (ATV, first shown 1975), and Nancy Astor, starring Lisa Harrow (BBC, 1982).

The comedy series Jam and Jerusalem, starring Sue Johnston, Dawn French, Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders (BBC, 2006–9), set in the fictional West Country town of Clatterford St Mary, was filmed partly in North Tawton and on Dartmoor.