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

Women Writing on the Devon Land Illustration from The Nature Notes of An Edwardian Lady A – Z of Devon Women Writers & Places Y ... for Yelverton (or, more specifically, Dousland) Although she is still well-known as author of the popular books The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady and The Nature Notes of An Edwardian Lady , early C20 Diarist/Illustrator/Naturalist Edith Holden is not usually associated with Devon, or the South-West of England. Neither is she generally remembered as author. But perhaps Holden's life-journey, which included many holidays down in Devon, and her artistic achievements need to be viewed from a new perspective. Since coming across her paintings and nature journals back in the seventies, when the country's Holden fandom went crazy for her books and off-spin of Holden inspired knick-knacks and merchandise - and more especially, after I found that she had loved Dartmoor and stayed there several times during the early

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