A member of a family once prominent in this parish, but no longer resident here, has died at the age of 86 years. He is Mr. Cecil Larke Barfett of Langore, Egloskerry. A native of Bradworthy, being a son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Rice Barfett. The Barfetts lived at Atworthy Farm and were lineal descendants of the Chings who previously farmed there. It was these families who welcomed the Bible Christian movement in that area and gave the land on which was sited the old Atworthy Chapel. Cecil was at Hardworthy Farm before moving to Egloskerry, in Cornwall. His wife Margaret survives him. The funeral service took place at the North Devon Crematorium.
Mrs. Nicola Aldridge of Edenbridge, Kent, having completed her transcriptions of the headstone information in our Parish Churchyard, has presented a lovely bound volume to the Church. I have a copy for the archives and one has gone to the Devon Family History Society. In her introduction she states how her interest in her Jennings forbears first brought her to Bradworthy a few years ago and how her research has led her to other ancestral families. Mrs. Aldridge has used up much of her summer holidays during the past two or three years on copying every detail from each memorial stone, including the epitaphs, some lines being below ground level and requiring the moving away of earth to read them. She has also included the inscriptions on mural monuments and windows inside the Church and the names on the Roll of Honour. There is a comprehensive index.
Taking walks over breezy Bradworthy Moors I wonder if I have a right there now. It is faintly amusing to hear all about the rules and regulations applying to the Moors, the old Common lands of the ancient Manor. People who knew not Bradworthy in the past pontificate about rights, what you can or cannot do. When I was a youngster the Moor was a place for fun and entertainment. We played games there and youthful horse riders tried out their animals jumping skills there. Many people will remember when Eastern Moor was the "official" football pitch where all the League games were played. At times of national celebrations, such as Coronations and Jubilees, great bonfires which had been built up over previous weeks, would be lit, usually by the oldest inhabitant. Longer ago still it was on the Moor that the Bradworthy unit of the North Devon Yeomanry drilled and marched, watched by admiring young and old spectators.