The Ivybridge Heritage & Archives Group aims to celebrate the rich history of Ivybridge and is dedicated to promoting a lively interest in the Town’s background and development by researching, collecting and preserving archives and photographic records of this unique Mill Town.
Ivybridge takes its name from
‘the bridge which lieth over the Erme, being much inclined to the ivy’.
Ivybridge takes its name from
‘the bridge which lieth over the Erme, being much inclined to the ivy’.
The duties of a Railway Station Master during the nineteenth century included a range of tasks from staff management and station safety, to ensuring everything ran efficiently at their assigned station.
The Railway Station Master was in charge of all the employees, responsible for their conduct and ensuring they carried out their duties correctly.
Ensuring that all the station machinery, such as the signals and points were in good working order and reporting any defects were also their responsibility.
At smaller country stations such as Ivybridge, the Station Master would have had a more direct customer interaction and would frequently cover the roles of other staff members in their absence.
A Station Master was an authoritative figure and someone who would be highly respected within the community, often living in a designated station house located nearby.
A career on the railways often ran in families; a Station Master’s sons and even daughters sometimes followed them into railway service. The railway offered a good career path with some Station Masters starting as porters or clerks, steadily progressing through promotion.
A newspaper article from 1883 records the funeral of a Station Master at Ivybridge. The vast numbers attending the gentleman’s funeral to pay their respects serves to reinforce the status of a Station Master within the community at this time.
500 people attend Ivybridge Station-Master’s funeral.
The funeral of the late Mr. John Rowe, station-master at Ivybridge took place at St. John’s churchyard on Sunday, when about 500 people attended, including many of the railway officials belonging to various stations on the Great Western line. The deceased gentleman had been employed at the railway-station for many years and was highly respected by all with whom he had been brought into contact with, both in private and business life… Mr Rowe leaves a widow in delicate health, and four young children and towards them practical sympathy is shown by way of a subscription on their behalf… The officials at the station have also started a subscription and by Monday afternoon £35 had been collected at Ivybridge station.
Devon and Somerset News 30 August 1883.
John Rowe was born near Liskeard in Cornwall. By the time he had reached the age of 21 he was working on the South Devon railway line, employed as a railway porter. He was lodging at the railway cottage at Wrangaton with the stationmaster, Thomas Prout.
Railway porters at that time performed various duties, including helping passengers with their luggage, assisting passengers in boarding and alighting and directing them around the station. They also performed general cleaning, operating ticket barriers and even cleaning livestock carriages. The role was often a starting point for a career, as was the case with John.
John later worked as the chief clerk in the parcel office at Newton Abott before taking up the role as Station Master at Ivybridge Railway Station in 1877. He replaced William Tucker who moved to a similar role at Bovey Tracey, working on the Moretonhampstead line.
As Station Master, John was provided with accommodation at one of the three railway cottages near to Ivybridge Railway Station. He lived there with his wife Elizabeth ‘Bessie’ neé Willey, and his young family. On the 1881 census two lodgers were also living with the family, John Sercombe, a railway signalman and Tom French, a railway porter.
John’s death on 20 August 1883 was untimely to say the least as he was only in his mid-thirties. Early deaths at the time were primarily caused by infectious diseases like tuberculosis (consumption), cholera, typhoid fever, measles, and whooping cough. More often than not these diseases were the result of poor sanitation.
John Rowe is buried in St. Johns cemetery.
In the late nineteenth century, British railway Station Masters typically wore a formal dark suit, a company-branded peaked cap and a frock coat in winter and a serge jacket in summer.
Station Masters, train guards and ticket collectors who dealt with the paying public wore the finest livery uniforms. Collars, cuffs and caps were often edged with gold or silver lace and caps had a patent peak, and the uniforms were completed with a buckled shoulder belt and pouch.
Porters generally wore practical garments like sleeved waistcoats or jackets and trousers in the company’s colours. Great Western Railway porters had short green jackets with corduroy trousers. Sleeves and caps bore the letters ‘GWR’. Uniforms were worn with pride and signified an employees’ loyalty to their railway, while companies acknowledged the benefits of smart workwear, raising staff morale and efficiency.
The photograph above depicts railway staff in the early twentieth century at Ivybridge Railway Station.
Reflecting growing sobriety in dress, most station platform workers wore a dark frockcoat or jacket, waistcoat, shirt, collar and tie, trousers, boots and peaked cap.
Following the Boer War, when the British army adopted serge as the fabric of choice, many new railway uniforms were made from indigo blue serge.
The porter wore dark blue caps made from wool with red piping and a red embroidered badge. Their tunics were blue serge, with a fall collar, the falls being embroidered in red worsted “GWR” and “Porter”.
Another embroidered badge appeared on the right upper arm showing the porter’s ID number in a circlet. Trousers were blue serge with red piping. The same tunics were also issued to signalmen.
Whistles and flags
The primary purpose of a whistle was to alert others of an approaching train. With their immense weight and inertia, trains were difficult to stop quickly, making warning signals essential for preventing accidents.
Whistles also conveyed specific information through different patterns of sound, allowing locomotive operators to communicate with each other.
Flags were a direct visual communication between railway workers. A red flag waved vigorously signalled an immediate stop for an approaching train. Other colours and movements of flags, such as a yellow flag, indicated caution or speed restrictions on the line.
Workers on the ground, such as those in signal boxes or assisting with failed signals, used flags to guide trains safely.
The main station building was a chalet-style structure with round-headed windows and an overhanging roof. There was a road approach to the platforms along aptly named Station Road or via steeply inclined steps located close to the viaduct. There was also a bridge over the tracks. A level crossing existed but was intended for officials of the railway only and the conveyance of luggage. From the platform, travellers enjoyed an almost panoramic view of Ivybridge.
A visitor’s description of Ivybridge Station at the turn of the century:
At Ivybridge, the traveller sees nothing but a tidy little station, with a steep background of laurel bushes and ivy-clad pines, and away in the fertile valley, far below, a little grey town, with an undulating expanse of green, wooded country beyond it… From the station, descending at once, a long flight of steps cut out of a laurel-clad bank, and passing under one of the high arches of the graceful aerial viaduct which spans the Erme Valley, one follows a shady road, with stately mansions, fronted by soft, green lawns gay with rhododendron blooms on one hand and on the other the Erme babbling among its mossy boulders. In a few minutes one reaches the bridge from which the little town takes its name.
Between 1876 and 1890 a large proportion of the Great Western Railway had already been converted to the standard gauge.
A new railway station was also contemplated for Ivybridge which was to be located a little further down the line to avoid the steep hill which passengers had to negotiate.
A double track to the west of the Ivybridge viaduct was completed on 11 June 1893 and from the far side of the viaduct to the east, a 3½ mile section from Wrangaton to Ivybridge, on 13 August 1893.
The replacement viaduct which was brought into use to allow the joining up of the double-track sections forced the construction of a new westbound, down platform, due to the new alignment. The up platform was widened, and this left the building set back at an odd angle to the track.
John Higman
Well respected Station Master at Ivybridge
1904 – 1920
John Higman worked on the railways from an early age. Starting as a porter he later became station master at Princetown in the early 1880s serving a total of 21 years.
In 1904, he moved to Ivybridge as station master and lived at 2 Crescent Gardens just below the railway station. Here, he clocked up a further 16 years service before retiring in 1920 at the age of 69.
To mark his retirement, the Urban Council presented him with an illuminated framed address together with a cheque made up of donations from the staff and friends from Ivybridge. The chairman of the council, Mr Henry J. F. Lee, gave a speech recognising the community’s high regard for Mr Higman and his courtesy and fairness towards his staff.
John Higman was replaced by Robert John May, following in his father’s footsteps as a station master (the latter working at Cornish railway stations). Robert also started out as a railway ‘lad porter’, working at St Germans in Cornwall. He later worked for GWR as a signalman at Menheniot, Devonport, Keyham, Liskeard and Truro.
Robert May remained as station master in Ivybridge until August 1926 when he left to take a similar position at St Erth Railway Station.
Railway Lineside Huts
Also called platelayer huts, they initially served as simple shelters for track maintenance crews and could be found at regular intervals across all railways, generally every mile or two.
Early lineside huts were often made from timber sleepers but were eventually replaced by prefabricated concrete structures.
The huts offered a place of sanctuary, somewhere to rest, have lunch, and brew the kettle. Each hut had a table and chairs along with a stove. Chimneys are still evident on many huts which remain. Locally, huts were located on the side of the tracks at Langham Levels just before Langham Bridge and another beyond the old railway station.
These huts were also occasional tool stores for the men working on the line – the platelayers, gangers and inspectors.
The term ’platelayer’ referred to men who laid and maintained the ‘plateways’ that were primarily used for coal haulage. ‘Plateways’ were built using L shaped rails and the vehicles that ran on them did not have flanged wheels.
Around 1830, with the coming of heavier engines and wagons, flanged wheels were used on plateways. However, the word ‘platelayer’ continued to be used to describe those workers who laid and maintained the rails.
We now have a selection of booklets on various themes. These are available for purchase at The Watermark in Ivybridge. Each booklet is priced at £3.
Ivybridge Explored – this 28 page booklet provides an historical review of the churches, public houses and infrastructure of Ivybridge including the Ivy Bridge from whence the town derived its name.
Ivybridge Researched – this 28 page booklet provides a review of some of the notable events, people and businesses which have shaped the history of this town.
Stowford Paper Mill 1869 – this 20 page booklet is composed of a series of three newspaper articles published in 1869 which provide an insight into the workings of the paper mill at this time, describing the equipment and the methods used in manufacturing paper.
Stowford Paper Mill Ivybridge 1787-2013 – this 28 page booklet provides a chronological history of paper making at this historic site in Ivybridge from the once privately owned mill to the later one which was part of a multi-national company.
Ivybridge and the American during World War II – this 28 page booklet provides a wealth of interesting facts regarding the American servicemen who were billeted in Ivybridge from 1943 in the build up to D-Day.
The River Erme and its Industries – this 22 page booklet describes the path of the river through the South Hams to the sea together with lots of interesting facts regarding the area along the way.
The History of Ivybridge
The remains of stone-age hut circles can be found on Harford Moor, above Ivybridge, but the ivy-covered bridge, after which the town was later named, was first recorded in 1250; it is possible that it existed as a river crossing prior to the Domesday Book of 1086. An early ‘King’s Highway’ from Exeter to Trematon Castle near Saltash, the 12th Century crossing may have been constructed by the monks of Plympton Priory (founded in 1121) to give them access to their lands at Wrangaton, Dean Prior and Buckfastleigh.
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HERITAGE DONOR CARD
To help preserve historical documents, objects and photographs, we have created a Heritage Donor Card for individuals to make donations of such items to Ivybridge Heritage & Archives Group. Please go to our ‘Links’ page for further information.
COPYRIGHT
All rights, including copyright, in the content of these pages are owned or controlled for these purposes by Ivybridge Heritage & Archives Group.
HERITAGE DONOR CARD
To help preserve historical documents, objects and photographs, we have created a Heritage Donor Card for individuals to make donations of such items to Ivybridge Heritage & Archives Group. Please go to our ‘Links’ page for further information.
COPYRIGHT
All rights, including copyright, in the content of these pages are owned or controlled for these purposes by Ivybridge Heritage & Archives Group.