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West Country Modernism

@westcountrymodern.bsky.social

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A journey around mid century modernist buildings in the West Country. By @magslhalliday.bsky.social Subscribe to the newsletter: https://buttondown.com/WestCountryModernism

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West Country Modernism @westcountrymodern.bsky.social · 28d

New deep dive is live for paying subscribers!

All about how Truro got a Brutalist Roman Catholic Church - Our Lady of the Portal and St Piran. And about Peggy Pollard, the women who made it happen.

buttondown.com/WestCountryM...

A sign in funky gold lettering on a blue background, reading Our lady of the Portal pray for us.

There was an old lady devoted to goats. She lived in one room of the small, terraced cottages that lined Richmond Hill, the steep route from Truro city centre to the railway station.
She dressed in headscarves and embroidered diurnal skirts "like a Russian peasant", and wore work boots, or went barefoot.

Every town had such a woman. Where I grew up, ours, Bertha, had a large collection of rescued and stray dogs who she took around town in an old-fashioned pram. She was bloody-minded, of course. Truro's own bloody-minded woman, Peggy Pollard (1904 to 1996), left more than just memories.

She made sure swatches of the Cornish coast were not built on and holds the Guinness World Record for the longest single piece of embroidery. She was also responsible for building a modernist, Brutalist, Roman Catholic church.

In the 1960s Peggy reestablished the Guild as a remote congregation.
Members of the Guild were given numbers and would say the rosaries together in pairs over the phone.

"At a given hour practically all the lines to West Cornwall would be jammed by Hail Marys."
(Times obituary, part of X1104/4/582).

And so, at last, we reach the design and construction of the new Our Lady of the Portal and St Piran church. The congregation needed a bigger place to meet, and Peggy set about making it happen.

"I was married in 1971 to my first husband in that little Catholic Church and couldn't even walk down the aisle properly with my new husband because it was too narrow." (Facebook user, 2014)

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West Country Modernism @westcountrymodern.bsky.social · 18h

I'm a coward about Fore Street and go down Northernhay and the lower North Street instead.

West Country Modernism @westcountrymodern.bsky.social · 19h

Last summer I started getting pretty fast coming down Barrack Road and it was very satisfying.

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West Country Modernism @westcountrymodern.bsky.social · 21h

The FREE round-up newsletter is out now!

I've some notes about Plymouth's 'new town' that will overlay the interwar and postwar modernism. Also a seaside theatre at risk in Dorset and a very nice place for sale in Torbay.

Plymouth 'new town' and news round-up (7 Oct 2025)

Plymouth's 'new town' will interact with both the interwar and postwar city. Plus news about a theatre in Dorset, and some very expensive houses for sale.

buttondown.com

Reposted by West Country Modernism

davyh @davyh.bsky.social · 1d

Posted this pic of the 'TV and radio dept' a while back - you've maybe already seen this article...? www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/history...

A black & white image of the 'TV & radio department' at Dingles department store, Plymouth, sometime in the 1970s. There are 'radiograms' and large cabintet TVs on the floor and various 'hi-fi' speakers, decks etc on shelves against a white 'wall' behind.

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West Country Modernism @westcountrymodern.bsky.social · 1d

The clip has a marvelous bit where he suggests that customers from Cornwall initially struggled with the idea of escalators when they opened in 1951.

West Country Modernism @westcountrymodern.bsky.social · 1d

I was looking for something else and just found this lovely 1976 interview about the construction of Dingles in #Plymouth!

player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/wa...

Watch Plymouth's Dingles Department Store - BFI Player

Beau Dingles

player.bfi.org.uk

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West Country Modernism @westcountrymodern.bsky.social · 1d

I'm on the 10am tour - looking forward to it!

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Reposted by West Country Modernism

Seaside Heritage Network @seasidenetwork.bsky.social · 1d

This is a tricky one - Britannia Hotels arguably saved some of the grandest hotels at the British seaside but they have failed to invest in these buildings as key heritage assets.

Our #BigDayOut next year will be hosted by the #Scarborough Grand - we dare you to revisit @davidjarratt.bsky.social!

Dr David Jarratt. @davidjarratt.bsky.social · 13d

Britannia’s older seaside hotels provide a striking backdrop to current debates: ‘The crumbling seaside palaces at the centre of Britain’s asylum crisis.’ I stayed in The Grand, Scarborough once, not recommended. I do love Scarborough though. @seasidenetwork.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/7068...

The crumbling seaside palaces at the centre of Britain’s asylum crisis

How one hotelier built an empire from beloved community assets — and a government struggling to cope with a surge in migration

www.ft.com

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West Country Modernism @westcountrymodern.bsky.social · 2d

It's genuinely fascinating reading 1930s Plymouth news. The need for workers at Devonport means the city rides out the Great Depression better than other places. But also I'm reading all these marvelous things they're planning and...well. I've got the bomb map from 1941.

West Country Modernism @westcountrymodern.bsky.social · 2d

Quoted without comment.

An old newspaper clipping that reads "My ambition is that people will visit Plymouth and say when they leave: "We have had one of the cheapest and best holidays that we could have had."

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West Country Modernism @westcountrymodern.bsky.social · 2d

Mowlem Theatre, Swanage in Dorset has a roof problem.

1967

unknown architect though Pevsner does imply CFJ Thurley who also did the panoramic restaurant in Paignton.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Swanage's Mowlem Theatre fundraising £10k to repair leaking roof

The theatre and cinema in Swanage says temporary fixes are no longer enough to keep the rain out.

www.bbc.co.uk

West Country Modernism @westcountrymodern.bsky.social · 2d

Shoalstone Pool in Brixham started as a series of Victorian rockpools so now the century old lido on top is wobbling about a bit.

@seasidenetwork.bsky.social

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Work to save Shoalstone Pool in Brixham from crumbling into sea

It is hoped the project will keep the 100-year-old lido open for another century.

www.bbc.co.uk

West Country Modernism @westcountrymodern.bsky.social · 2d

More on the Plymouth "new town", which seems to be a source of daily articles for reach plc.
www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/plymout...

West Country Modernism @westcountrymodern.bsky.social · 2d

Coo! Mango House in Torquay up for sale at £950K.

Robert Lutyens (son of Sir Edwin)
1930s

@wowhaus.bsky.social

thecoastalhouse.co.uk/property/man...

Mango House, Mead Road, Torquay - The Coastal House Estate Agents, South Devon property for sale, coastal and waterside

Stunning 1930s Robert Lutyens Designed Modern Art Deco Home Located On The Edge Of Torquay On A Quiet Residential Road With Panoramic Coastal Views And Easy Walk To The Beach.

thecoastalhouse.co.uk

West Country Modernism @westcountrymodern.bsky.social · 2d

In my description of Spence's Physics Tower at the Uni of Exeter I described how it floats over the trees. I took the sunny morning today as a chance to show what I mean.

A wooded hillside above a valley with modern housing in the foreground. From within the trees on the hillside, a glowing white block looks across the entire valley.

West Country Modernism @westcountrymodern.bsky.social · 2d

This week I'm gadding about Weston-Super-Mare to get photos. I've planned a loop down to the Tropicana, up to the college and back past the ODEON and High Street. I might potter over to the Clough Williams-Ellis house but are there other treats I should look out for?

West Country Modernism @westcountrymodern.bsky.social · 4d

If you're upcountry and looking for a modernist weekend getaway for 2026, Anderton House in Devon is on the Landmark Trust's list of places where you can book a two night stay.

www.landmarktrust.org.uk/properties/a...

Holiday at Anderton House, Goodleigh | The Landmark Trust

Book your stay at this Grade II* listed 1970s house in the rolling Devon landscape.

www.landmarktrust.org.uk

West Country Modernism @westcountrymodern.bsky.social · 6d

This is a great overview on the Pevsner series and why some of them are so out of date. I have my views on his opinions but delight in the short, waspish descriptions.

martin'o'mendips @martinevans2000.bsky.social · 6d

I'll just leave this here:
thecritic.co.uk/the-end-of-p...

The end of Pevsner | Charles Saumarez Smith | The Critic Magazine

I was given my first copy of Nikolaus Pevsner’s Buildings of England in the summer of 1967 when I was going off to boarding school

thecritic.co.uk

West Country Modernism @westcountrymodern.bsky.social · 6d

As is apparent, I adore the Physics tower, Laver and Harrison. Harrison made more sense the moment I discovered it was the engineering department.

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Reposted by West Country Modernism

Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · 7d

"No one would be mad enough to write 2,500 words about Cornish separatism!" they said. WELL THEY CALLED THAT WRONG

From the Outside

This week: everything I thought about Labour conference while not being there. Also: a deep dive into Cornish separatism and the nature of national identity.

jonn.substack.com

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West Country Modernism @westcountrymodern.bsky.social · 7d

Wow! That…must win the Most Outdated Pevsner award.

West Country Modernism @westcountrymodern.bsky.social · 7d

Just spent a few minutes contemplating that Yale Press never did a third edition of the Devon Pevsner so we’re stuck with a 1991 edition as the latest.

I was an undergrad in 1991.

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West Country Modernism @westcountrymodern.bsky.social · 8d

I have the new term head cold so am quite glad my hoped for trip to Tinside has been delayed. Doing some very gentle research and stopping to do non-screen tasks.

West Country Modernism @westcountrymodern.bsky.social · 9d

Thank you! Lovely shots.

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West Country Modernism @westcountrymodern.bsky.social · 9d

3. You can save emails to read and reread. Even if I stop publishing, and close the website archive, you'll still have it in your searchable email archive.

Subscribe here: buttondown.com/WestCountryM...

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West Country Modernism

A journey around modernist buildings in the West Country. Who built them, and why? Who used them, and what for? What lies in their future? Read more about the project in its introduction. Paid subscri...

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