FROM THE ARCHIVES A Look back at some of the people we have featured in the Marshwood Vale Magazine
August 2010
Yvonne Burton, photograph by Julia Mear in 2010
Julia Mear met Yvonne Burton at her home in Morcombelake, Dorset. This is Yvonne’s story: “I was born in the farmhouse at Westhay Farm, Stonebarrow, Dorset, in 1943, named Sylvia Yvonne, but I am known as Yvonne. My grandparents and great grandparents, on my mother’s side, farmed Westhay and Stonebarrow Hill between Morcombelake and Charmouth. They grew a lot of wheat on the land and milking must have been very hard work in those days – I remember how cold the cowshed was in winter, all the milking was done by hand. We had some wonderful times at the farm, the farmhouse was a special place full of character, and I always enjoyed visiting my grandparents with my sister and cousins. The house had a very dark passageway that went right through it which was a bit scary, there was no lighting in there but we had great fun exploring. Cooking was done by paraffin stove and on the open fire. There was a wonderful fireplace which you stepped up to with bench seats either side, with large logs burning. You could look right up the chimney and there was always a kettle and cooking pot hanging over the fire on hooks. The outside loo at the bottom of the garden had three different sized seats with a stream running underneath – it was very chilly in the winter. You certainly would not want to sit there and read the paper. My mother, Marjorie Austin was one of nine children, one of which died at an early age – so she had five sisters and two brothers. Sadly they have all passed away now. When my grandparents retired to North Chideock, nobody took over Westhay Farm from them, so it was sold to the National Trust. What upset the family most though was that the National Trust demolished the farmhouse. Their excuse was that the builders were sent in to pull down an old barn and pulled down the farmhouse by mistake! At least the farm cottages are still there today. I grew up in the nearby village of Ryall with my parents and younger sister, Sonia. We went to school at Whitchurch Canonicorum. We had to walk in all weathers as there were no school buses for us then, it was a mile each way and I was only five. My mother and her brothers and sisters must have had a tougher walk to school from Westhay Farm to Charmouth. Every year we would look forward to the local flower show in Whitchurch Canonicorum, making our miniature gardens out of berries and flowers we found in the hedgerows – mum would be fretting about us not eating any of the berries. The flower show was held in the Reading Room but that’s no
12 The Marshwood Vale Magazine August 2 2020 Tel. 01308 423031
