There was a time, mainly last century, when Westaways practically ran Bradworthy. They were carpenters, painters and decorators, headstone carvers, shopkeepers and even schoolmasters. Now sadly there are none of the name in Bradworthy, although they can still be found in neighbouring parishes. It is only in comparatively recent years that I heard of Westaways in the Commonwealth or for that matter, in Britain. Now they have really come to life and letters of enquiry and family trees arrive frequently, including a block of fifty pages which I received recently from a Westaway living in Toronto. There have been very few Westaways in Bradworthy during the whole of my long life. It may be fun and arouse a bit of nostalgia in some older Bradworthy folk if I recall my memories of them. I vaguely remember Benjamin Yeo Westaway (there's a lovely Bradworthy name), who was a carpenter and farmed a bit of land. I think he rode round sitting on the edge of a pony cart, his legs dangling and he limped a bit when he walked. You gotta be well over eight to remember him as he died in 1915. Robert Westaway lived in Carlisle Cottage (origin of name I've never found out) which stood where the toilets and Wade's showroom are sited now. Robert was a “headstone cutter“ and on fine days I used to see him working on a large slate set on trestles. On the other side of the road, where I also live, carving the name of a deceased villager on a gravestone would be Charles Barfett. Robert was also a skilled house decorator. The grained doors at Wisteria Cottage are his work. Yet another of the family was James Westaway, a distinguished looking man, who spent some years in London learning the drapery and men's outfitting trade. He returned to Bradworthy to manage Miss Charlotte Walter's shop, where now is the doctor's surgery. Jim, as he was known, lived a quiet, bachelor's life, was a bookworm, but never wrote a thing as far as I know, except on the bill-heads of Walter's Shop.
Recently I received a lovely hard backed book entitled “The Ancestry and Descendants of John Lawrence Mason and his brother Francis Henry Mason.” It amazes me to see what great expense some people abroad will go to in producing their family history and ancestry. This book comes from Mrs. Alice Richardson Sloane, of Davenport, Iowa, USA. Mrs. Sloane visited Bradworthy last year. I took her to places associated with the Ashton side of her family, including Cleverdon. Mrs. Sloane requests that his book goes eventually to the “Bradworthy Archives.” If such an archive materilises. I hope it gets there.
I was reminded the other day that the somewhat notorious Lord Archer visited Bradworthy some years ago. I had forgotten this, but looking up my newspaper cuttings book I found that he was here in April 1985 on a Radio 4 Any Questions programme, held in the Memorial Hall. He was a member of a team which also included Baroness Phillips, George Davies and the late David Penhaligan. Jeffrey Archer had not then been elevated to the Peerage. Those who met him personally found him an amiable and interesting chap. Perhaps the Parish Council could again approach the BBC with a view to getting another Any Questions session in Bradworthy.
For reasons I need not elaborate on here, I have always been interested in Bohemia, that ancient kingdom which is now a province of the Czech Republic. I have a small print of a picture entitled “Bohemia” painted by J. Buxton Knight, a native of Sevenoaks, Kent. I am at the moment trying to discover why this very English artist painted what is a very enigmatic scene in a place which in his day must have been regarded as a far off and little known land. Prague is a wonderful city, and it is quite amazing that after being so roughly manhandled by the Nazis and Russians, it is so well recovered. I was surprised and pleased to learn that we have a link here in Bradworthy with the Czech Republic and the 1st Bradworthy Guides hope to send a greeting to Guide Friends using (I quote) “the communication system of the new century with Bradworthy's Intracom Service.”