This is an obituary of my grandmother, Violet Florence Smale (nee Gasper), who died way back in 1987, found in a box of memorabilia of my father's.
It's nice to see what was written, although there are a few inaccuracies, and it's also interesting to see those who attended her funeral, many of whom I knew.
A few corrections:
- Although some people called her 'Mum', she was know as Bunty by most people.
- My father, Jack and his wife Dorothy joined Bunty at The Sportsman's Arms in 1956, following the death of Bunty's husband John, paying off the debts and enabling the business to continue.
- From then onwards it was my parents who had then had the tenancy of The Copley Arms, Hessenford, although Bunty was a great help in making the business such a success.
- My parents bought the private house (formerly a boys' school) in Dobwalls, getting the licence and turning it into the pub called 'The Highway' as it was on a main road. The idea of the pub name came from Esme Couch, one-time Mayor of Looe. Subsequently someone must have decided that Highwayman was a better name, especially for the tourists.
- Most people thought that my grandmother was the licensee and that Jack and Dorothy just helped her. As my mother usually worked out in the kitchen (she was a trained chef), some people even thought that Jack and Bunty were husband and wife! My mother wasn't too struck on that idea. I wonder who they thought Dorothy was!
Without Bunty's help and business drive Jack and Dorothy wouldn't have had such successful businesses: Dorothy had the catering knowledge and Jack had the business experience and the knowledge of the technicalities.
Bunty had the experience of running pubs, and the time to talk to customers. Not only did she and her husband run the Edgecombe Arms, Cremyll, they also ran the Fountain Hotel in Liskeard (then very upmarket and now sadly closed).
And the experience which Bunty gained during World War 1 working in a large pub in London must have been a vital part of her ability to be so successful in the licensed trade. I assume the pub she worked in was the Marquess of Granby, New Cross Road, London (see pic, taken about 1910, not long before my granma worked there). The reason for this assumption is that her marriage certificate states the Marquess of Granby as her residence.
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