| Discovering Lost Devon | |
|  | | A rural scene at Stoke Canon - one of the images in Discovering Lost Devon |
| | Discovering Lost Devon by Peter Thomas features century old pictures which have been rediscovered. |
| | | And they say nostalgia isn't what it used to be...flicking through the pages of Disovering Lost Devon willget you all misty-eyed over what our county used to look like.
Author Peter Thomas has chosen the title of the book well - because it really does show what we have "lost."
The term bygone era doesn't do it justice - it's like another world.
 | | Cockington Forge in Torquay, pictured around 1895 |
Thomas has brought together a collection of over 200 slides.
They were taken by the Tremlett brothers from Exeter, using an old Magic Lantern.
The slides were produced by Alan Tremlett between the late 1800s and the early 1900s, and then developed by Ernest.
The pictures were used to entertain public audiences - a sort of forerunner to the cinema. Some of the pictures haven't been seen for a century.
 | | Moving sheep across Dartmoor |
The images were taken at places all over Devon, with Exeter featured heavily.
But there are also some amazing rural and moorland scenes, and pictures of people going about their business in villages and coastal towns.
There are people farming, fishing, and simply relaxing outside their homes - this was Devon before the destructive 20th century came along.
It looks so peaceful, and all the more attractive for the absence of traffic, crowds of people, and ugly buildings.
 | | Launching the lifeboat at Lynmouth |
The sense of community is also clear to see, and one of my favourite pictures shows the men of Lynmouth in North Devon hauling the lifeboat to the beach ready for a launch.
I do have one little gripe, however, and that is an image of Torquay harbour which is printed the wrong way round!
Luckily for us, this wonderful collection of images has been rediscovered for us all to enjoy more than 100 years after many of them were taken.
Peter Thomas owns an archive of historic images - the Isca Collection - and has written a number of books about his collection.
He also contibutes towards magazines and exhibitions throughout Devon.
Details of the book are on the left of this page.
Article published: 4th May 2005
Images reproduced with permission
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