Building on nicely from last week's nostalgia piece, this week, we explore the origins of the Foxhole estate in Paignton.
Thanks to research by local history expert Graham Wheatley, shared in the historical
Facebook group Undiscovered Torbay, we learned that Foxhole was partly developed to provide housing for employees of Standard Telephones and Cables Ltd (STC), a major local employer in the 20th century.
Graham tells us that a scheme to solve Paignton’s housing problem was published in the Brixham Western Guardian on Thursday, February 14, 1946.
Paignton Urban District Council proposed building approximately 700 dwellings upon the Foxhole Estate, on a 99-acre plot with access from the island site at King's Ash Cross.
The plans included two blocks of shops facing the village green, a branch public library, a primary school with playing fields, a place of worship, and a parish hall.
Plans had already been approved, and a license granted, for a public house located on the corner of Fernicombe Road.
As Foxhole Road was extended in the 1950s, a parade of shops and the public house called Tom Cobley were built.
Constructed using prefabrication, where parts of buildings are ‘pre-built’ in a different location from the building site, Tom Cobley became Paignton's first post-war pub.
It was officially opened by Plymouth Breweries in October 1953.
In 2008, Tom Cobley was renamed The Entertainer.
Above: The Entertainer pub 2008. Image. Richard Dorrell
An application to convert the former pub into a convenience store was submitted in 2011, and it is now a Co-Op.
Locals came to refer to these shops as the "bottom shops”, and shops up on Marlon Road as the “top shops”.
Some of the earliest traders included Oliver (hairdresser), Paignton Co-op Butchers, R F Harley (grocer), J Watson (chemist), H & J Cann (newsagents and post office), Richard Woodland (physician & surgeon), T A B Connell (another grocer), L J Mileham (hardware dealer), a confectioner, and Mary Rose (draper).
Craig Short, rising contributor to Undiscovered Torbay, said: “I used to live in Rosemary Gardens. So I could go to either top or bottom shops. I used to get my 70p of pocket money at the weekend and go running down to the bottom shops to get a ¼ of sweets.”
Nikki Jay asked: “Did the library ever get built? I assume the church is the one at Hodson Close.”
While Mike Brelsford affirmed that he’d never seen a library, Tracey Lenthall replied: “St Boniface was the mission church built for the estate. We lived next door at number 12, and on the deeds there was a map with a cross on the plot for where numbers 14 and 16 would have been. There was also the Congregational church on the corner of Belfield Road and New Park Road, which is now houses.”
Above: Graham Wheatley
Highlighting the historical significance to STC, Michael Ford said: “I think I'm right in saying that the housing at Foxhole built in the 50s was for the employees of STC (Standard Telephones & Cables, later to become Nortel), some of whom transferred from Ilminster in Somerset. Indeed, my father was one of those people, initially working at the Rotunda at Oldway before moving up to the newly built factory on Brixham Road.”
Tracey Lenthall again agreed: “Yes, everyone around us on Belfield Road worked at STC. Mum and Dad moved down in 1957 from Ilminster; their house was newly built at that time. The church wasn't there then, and there were no other houses beyond ours on that side of the road.”
In fact, Graham's post sparked a wave of nostalgia, with some Facebook users reflecting on shared experiences and coincidences, connecting with people who had once been nearly neighbours or schoolmates.
Adam Wakeham said: "I used to live in 111 in the 70s above the Wool Shop, which my mum owned at the time, the nearest shop to the Cobley, next door to Brocklebanks sweet shop."
Andy Edwards replied: I lived at 22 Fernicombe Road from 1962 to 1969 and went to Foxhole Primary from 1967 to 1969 before we moved to Roselands in March 1969 and then went to Hayes Road. Small world!"
Pearl Wills said: “I lived at 107 Foxhole Road! I went there when I was 12 years old. Dad had the hardware shop, and we lived above it. He used to breed budgies, and I went to Curledge Street Girls School. I've just turned 80 now—that was so many years ago.”
Is there an area of Torbay that you would like to know more about? Let us know at torbayweekly@clearskypublishing.co.uk.
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