Women Writing on the Devon Land: A County's Women Who Wrote - circa 1965

Women Writing on the Devon Land A-Z of Devon Places & Women Writers V and W for Venton and Widecombe in the Moor At Venton, along the lanes from Widecombe-in-the-Moor, once home of Beatrice Chase.             Just in case you have been following this A-Z of Devon Places & Women Writers , from Writing Women on the Devon Land, I have not missed out 'V'; but instead combined ‘V’ with 'W'. V for Venton and W for Widecombe-in-the-Moor . Venton is a small hamlet rather than parish, but fitted nicely for my purposes here. The two place-names are a perfect duality for one once famously iconic woman writer linked with Devon, namely Olive Katherine Parr, alias Beatrice Chase.          Unlike many of the writers who I've researched in connection with Devon, Chase is an author who is amply covered on the internet, especially when it comes to women writers associated with Dartmoor.  Typifying the notion of the eccentric woman author, for me  Beatric

Writing Women on the Devon Land A – Z of Devon Women Writers & Places Over the A377 at Umberleigh Track near Umberleigh House 'A private track leading away from the A377 across the Taw floodplain, giving access to several fields'. © Copyright  Derek Harper and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence . .      What often intrigues me when I'm out and about exploring Devon's lost literary links connected with women of the past are the occasional teasing facts which pop up unexpectedly out of the historical blue, and yet either report conflicting facts or omit tantalising details, leaving you wondering what might have been. Although through the centuries Devon has frequently played a vital role in many major historical happenings, perhaps because of its outlying position toward the western margins of our country, it is more often than not ignored - and especially in my line of research focusing on its women's past

Across Devon Lands Looking towards Literature post Saxon Queens See Extract 7 from Writing Women on the Devon Land Exeter Castle from Rougemont Gardens 'As with so many other royal Saxon women linked with Devon’s history, Gytha’s life has descended into one of the dark ‘Her/storical’ holes, although there are glimpses of her movements transcribed within the manuscripts of contemporary texts, such as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles.' 

Writing Women on the Devon Land  A – Z of Devon Women Writers & Places Tavistock canal Talking about Tavistock: Mary Maria Colling a C19 Maid-Servant Poet ...Green as an ivy you may be, Though not to be compared with me If I'm admired as thus I'm seen, Tis not because my dress is green: Know then, I'm more admired than you, Because I'm green and fragrant too'. ('The Ivy and the Myrtle', Mary Maria Colling). Mary Maria Colling frontspiece from Fables      Performance Poetry is not just a C21 phenomenon. Back in the early/mid C19, a woman poet (who we'd now consider obscure and obsolete) regularly drew a crowd of admirers to the town of Tavistock , some of whom had travelled for miles to see and hear her pronounce her poems. Mary Maria Colling was a maid-servant who became protégé of the more well-known Anna Eliza Bray , wife of the then vicar of Tavistock.  The Old Vicarage in Tavistock       I