I was born in Bradninch just outside Exeter in 1943. My father was the local bobby at nearby Pinhoe. A short time later my parents moved back to Bideford to take over the family business of House Furnishers in the Market Place where we lived over the shop. Mother was a local lass her maternal line from Appledore and her father came from South Wales.He was the engineer on the SS Devonia.
I attended a nursery adjacent to the Bridge Street Methodist Church, then to the Stella Maris Convent and then Belmont College before going to the Bideford Grammar School in September 1955 ( following in the footsteps of father and grandfather).
I did not excel academically or sportingly but did enjoy playing rugby, cricket and swimming. I detested cross country and dreamt up every excuse I could muster to get out of it. In order to avoid Wednesday afternoon Music classes I joined the school Army Cadet Force. Although my schooldays were not that memorable I did make some good friends in particular Tim Bartlett, Martin Fishleigh, Paul Gill, Charles Povey, Bob Squire, Chris Wensley and John Westlake. I have maintained regular contact with John to this very day.
An abiding school memory is Gladys Hearn’s butterscotch tart! Being a meal monitor on the day she served it was really special as you could make sure you got a decent helping.
I managed to scrape through 9 ordinary levels but struggled at advanced level subjects so left school before sitting the exams.
I entered into Articles with a local firm of Accountants ( who happened to be my parent’s accountants ). I qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1968 and shortly after moved to Bristol where I joined an international firm ( Cooper Bros ) in order to broaden my experience.
I moved back to Devon a couple of years later and joined the Exeter office of Turquand Youngs. Over a period of several years a number of mergers took place and the firm eventually became Ernst & Young. I was made a partner in the firm and moved to their Torquay office and then to my surprise the managing partner of the Bideford office was moved to Exeter and I was asked to take over his role. Not an easy decision for me to make at the time but one that in hindsight I would not have changed.
The 1970’s and 1980’s was a good time for privately owned businesses and the Bideford practice flourished and an office was opened in Barnstaple as part of the expansion. It was not easy to get the permission of the firm’s executive for this as they thought one office could service the whole of the area. North Devon peculiarities were not a consideration!
Large firms having grown through merger had reached a maximum size ( Monopoly rules precluded even more mergers ) so the rationale changed to one purely of profit. Large firms realised that smaller offices because of their client base could not match the profit per partner generated by the large city offices.
The result was that gradually smaller offices were closed or taken over by resident partners which is what happened here in North Devon. All the Devon offices were lost – even Exeter was closed – and the remaining clients serviced from Bristol.
I bought out the local practice and the firm continued much as before and today is known as Glover Stanbury. I retired as a partner in 1998 and remained a consultant until 2003.
I was a founder director of the North Devon Enterprise Agency, a member of the Training and Enterprise Council area board, a founder member of the Tarka Country Trust and a ND Technical College governor. I was pleased when my firm became the first business in North Devon to gain the Investors in People award. I was also Hon Treasurer of the Bideford CAB and helped nurse them through various take overs to become Torridge, North, Mid & West Devon Citizens Advice. .
When I returned to Bideford I was fortunate to meet up with Gill Pope (nee Trigger) who also had local roots. Her father was the organist at St Mary’s for many years. Gill happened to be a client of my firm and a near neighbour. I’m a great believer in fate!
We bought Jennetts Cottage between Bideford and Littleham. This was a chocolate box cottage; thatched roof, two up two down and a stream running through our 8 acres feeding the reservoir – a typical Devon cottage. An idyllic spot which we ran as a private nature reserve for about 20 years and where Gill’s garden prowess really came to the fore.
We were reluctant to move from here but it was becoming too much to manage. Much of the enjoyment came from doing the work ourselves and paying others was not an option that appealed to us.
We bought the old post office at Instow which was run by the Shepherd brothers, converted the building into two and moved into one half where we continue to live.
I have had little contact with the masters from school apart from Joe Chappell. I met up with him again through work and discovered we shared an interest in wildlife especially birds. He was a keen falconer and helped me nurse back to health a sparrowhawk which had broken its wing. He moved to Instow after his wife died and lived quite near us. I often had good chats with him and he loved to reminisce about the school, masters and pupils. However he couldn’t give me the recipe for Gladys’ butterscotch tart!
