The Conant Courier

The front page of the first issue of The Conant Courier (Autumn 2025) When I heard there was a new newsletter having something to do with Beverly, I got a little nervous. Could this be competition for The Beverly Beat?  Then I found out the newsletter was from across the pond — and I’m not talking Kelleher’s. The new publication is called The Conant Courier, and it’s based in Devon, England, the birthplace of Roger Conant.  Roger Conant is the answer to the first question any self-respecting Beverly trivia contestant should be able to answer — Who was the founder of Beverly? READ MORE AT  https://thebeverlybeat.substack.com/p/roger-that

  Conant family members including descendants of Roger Conant surely have a great debt to Frederick Odell Conant, pictured left. A History and Genealogy of the Conant Family in England and America, Thirteen Generations, 1520-1887 , containing also some genealogical notes on the Connet, Connett and Connit Families was the mammoth 640-page book that he wrote, aged only 30 when the work was published in 1887 A resident of Portland, Maine, he had a successful career in the family grocery business.  What is not generally known is that his hobbies included mycology as well as genealogy.  He kept a handy and thorough record of some 46 species of mushrooms that he encountered in the summer of 1901, making sketches and taking notes as to the physical characteristics of the fungi.  The entire collection of sketches is being offered for sale by the Daniel Oliver Gallery.  The care and love, the curiosity is evident on every page, notes the Gallery, wit...

  Textile artist Brenda Thomas, who lives in Budleigh Salterton, designed this Christmas card specially for Fairlynch Museum.  She retired in 2010, bought a sewing machine in 2011 and began making textile pictures in 2012. ‘I like to depict my favourite places in Devon and Cornwall, often coastal villages, usually with our dog Murphy somewhere in the background,’ she says. ‘Sometimes I stray from this but always return to West Country scenes. My major influences are the naive artists of the South West.’   Her textile art was displayed at Fairlynch Museum from last April to the end of October. 

  This is a view of the landscape surrounding his birthplace of East Budleigh near the River Otter that young Roger Conant would have explored before he set out for the New World in 1623.  Golden Hour was the title chosen by John Wokersein for his entry in the Otter Valley Association’s photo com petition for 2025, winning 2nd place. The competition was judged by David R. White (Naturalist), Rick Lockwood (Lower Otter Nature Reserve Ranger) and Lucilla Phelps FRPS (Photographer).

  After the blue plaque, a room!  Roger Conant’s birthplace of East Budleigh will soon have yet another reminder of the local lad who crossed the ocean to found two cities and an impressive dynasty.  The Village Hall, pictured here, is due for a redesign in the not too distant future. In November 2025 its management committee agreed that the new look building will have a Roger Conant Room. Further details of the project will be published in due course.  An appeal has been launched for donors who would like to contribute to the creation of the Roger Conant Room. Names of donors would be dis played on the wall in the new room, either on a plaque or by other means. 

  Vanessa Brown, a resident of Montpelier, Vermont, is a direct descendant of Roger Conant.   She’s also a clearly talented knitter and aspiring designer of knitwear. Seen left is her first design in-progress, using a pattern of alternate colours every other stitch to make this knitted bonnet.   It caught the attention of Hazel Tindall in faraway Fair Isle, the southern most of the Scottish Islands, internationally celebrated as the World’s Fastest Knitter with 262 stitches in three minutes. ‘She called it Eetle Ottle from the old Scottish elimination rhyme. It was very encouraging,’ said Vanessa. ‘I was so honored.’   Vanessa is a 13th generation descendant through her grandmother Beatrice and through Roger Conant’s son Lot. ‘I’m especially interested in all things art and history associated with Roger,’ she told us. ‘I would like to design a Conant family sweater and am looking for inspiration.’ She would welcome feedback from Conant fa...

Roger Conant and his fellow settlers at Naumkeag in the 1620s have been recorded as enjoying a harmonious relation ship with the indigenous people of the area. Sadly, the state of harmony did not last.   In 1636, a decade after the founding of what we know as the cities of Salem and Beverly came the two-year Pequot War.  Image courtesy of www.salemstate.edu   Veterans Hall at the Ellison Campus Center at Salem State University was the setting last November for what was described as ‘an evening of reflection, history, and community’ inspired by the complex issues arising from such tragedies of America’s past. The two-hour program followed a dinner based on a menu inspired by ‘Indigenous foodways’, described as the holistic and interrelated cultural food systems of Indigenous peoples, encompassing traditions, beliefs, and practices connected to their local environments.   Salem was designated the birthplace of the National Guard in 2010 by Ma...

Known for its diverse programming, Salem’s literary festival brings together acclaimed authors, emerging talents, and a broad range of genres. Left: The Salem Athenaeum on Essex Street, founded in 1810, is one of the oldest membership libraries in the US. Photo: Wikipedia    The LitFest normally takes place in September. No surprise there. The city is a popular destination for visitors, attracting over one million tourists in a single fall season alone, with the majority coming in September or October. That’s largely due to events like the Haunted Happenings, which has undoubtedly helped to make Salem’s LitFest a success. A special event was held at the Salem Athenaeum on 21 November when the LitFest hosted author Michael Ansara in conver sation with Drew Darien from Salem State University. They discussed Ansara’s latest work, published in July 2025.     The book is about Ansara’s life campaigning on the front lines during the Civil Rights ...

Set against the backdrop of university politics and ambition, Dark Runs the River is a tender yet gripping story of love, loss, and the strength to endure.   For James and Piers, life seems to offer everything – successful careers, financial security, a home of their own, cherished friendships, and holidays spent in Wales and East Anglia. Most of all, they have their deep love for each other.   But can their relationship survive the prejudice of others, especially James’ controlling mother, Alice Kendrick, who is determined to tear them apart?   As pressure mounts at work, James is forced to confront not only a dark and unsettling past but also the manipulative Marcus Stone, whose influence threatens to unravel everything.   Author Lance Hattatt, pictured above, and his wife Jane divide their time between Budleigh Salterton and Budapest, Hungary.      Blending lived experience with fictionalised story telling, The Lizard ...

  East Budleigh's Sir Walter Raleigh pub gained Gold in the Taste of the West 2025 Awards in November.   The pub has previously been awarded a coveted Automobile Association (AA) Rosette, been mentioned by The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) and recently gained an award as a Community Pub of the Year.   ‘This is a community run establishment and run by volunteers, and they are doing an excellent job!’ commented the Taste of the West Judges. ‘The meals we ate were all very well cooked, nicely presented, hot food and plates too – everything was delicious. The staff were all very friendly and we were made to feel welcome; the whole place has a welcoming, warming vibe. We certainly enjoyed our visit and would go again.’   Named after the explorer and Queen Elizabeth I’s favourite courtier who was born just a mile away at Hayes Barton, the Sir Walter Raleigh has now been successfully trading as a community pub for three years. ‘I think we can all b...

Below is the sermon given on Remembrance Sunday 2025 by the Reverend Martin Jacques, who serves as the vicar for the Raleigh Mission Community in East Devon.  The Community includes St Peter’s Church in Budleigh Salterton, St Michael’s Church in Otterton, and All Saints Church in East Budleigh, where the Raleigh and Conant families worshipped.  The first thing to recognise is that Remembrance Sunday is not a Christian festival, it is a state occasion where the state church, the church of England, offers its willing support.   It is important to remember that, because we purport to speak, to commemorate, and to represent the war dead, a constituency that stretches far beyond the walls of this religion and nation.   We have been instrumental in framing the national commemorations, particularly as the monarch is also the supreme Governor of the Church of England, and I find I want to defend and extol that position. We are the national church commem...

Both East Budleigh and Budleigh Salterton marked Remembrance Sun day on 9 November with ceremonies at their War Memorials.  Wreaths of poppies were laid by representatives of local groups and organisations.   At the church services which followed, names of those who lost their lives in both World Wars were read out. Budleigh Salterton’s War Memorial was set up in its unique setting on Coastguard Hill overlooking Lyme Bay following the 1914-18 Great War. It’s an inspiring place for family and friends of the fallen to read the names of loved ones.    In 1940 the Memorial was taken down by the military authorities. It was considered to be a possible guide to enemy shipping lurking in the English Channel and to raiding aircraft. It did not go back until 1947, two years after the end of World War Two, following lengthy negotiations with the War Department which finally agreed to pay for the cost of re-erection. Right: Salute from a forme...

It was 11.00 am at the Vietnam Memorial Plaza in Beverly’s Ellis Square on Tuesday 11 November 2025.   The city’s 2025 Veterans’ Day Ceremony took place at ‘the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, commemorating’, as Beverly Councilor At-Large Julie Flowers put it, ‘the 1918 signing of the Armistice that ended World War I’.   As always, she wrote, ‘it was a powerful and moving way to honor and thank our Veterans, as well as to take time to remember those serving our Country now’.     Veterans Day, on 11 November, originally called Armistice Day but re named in 1954, honors all veterans, living and dead. Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, began after the 19th century American Civil War to honor fallen soldiers, and is observed on the last Monday of May. Both are patriotic holidays honoring America’s military.  Some people might find this confusing, but there is a major difference between the two. ‘Memorial Da...

Local residents have rallied to save a 250-year-old historic building near Salem from demolition.   Conservationists in Budleigh  Salterton have recently protested against the threatened demolition and replacement of a Victorian villa in their town.   However they have been astonished to learn of a similar threat to a historic building across the Atlantic given its age and its links to a celebrated figure from American history.  John Glover, born in Marblehead, just a few miles from Salem, led one of the first integrated regiments in the 18th century American Revolutionary War against Britain. He is also  recognised for his role in helping found what would become the United States Navy. John Glover lived from 1782 until his death in 1797 in the building known as the General Glover Farmhouse. It opened as a restaurant in 1957, themed as a colonial inn, but closed in the 1990s. In 2020 it was deemed ‘blighted’ and two years later bega...

  Budleigh artist John Washington has been hard at work on a new project to honour Roger Conant in his birthplace of East Budleigh in Devon, UK.  The idea of a Roger Conant flag flying from the tower of the village’s ancient All Saints Church where the Raleigh and Conant families worshipped is one of the latest projects undertaken by East Budleigh’s Roger Conant Club.   A flag for Sir Walter Raleigh, also born in East Budleigh, was designed and made recently. It was felt only right that the village’s other local hero should be honoured in time for the Peacemaker Festival on 16/17 May 2026.   Roger Conant was baptised at All Saints on 9 April 1592, and died on 19 November 1679. So there are certainly two important dates to bear in mind. Given Conant’s reputation as a peacemaker, World Peace Day on 21 September might also be considered.   What’s your view? Email conantcourier@gmail.com to help the Club decide.  

Historic Beverly, the historical society in the city founded by Roger Conant, has received many questions about the flag raised in September on the front of its headquarters, the John Cabot House.  The answer is that it is the Grand Union Flag, which is America’s First National Flag.  ‘Before the Stars and Stripes, there was the Grand Union Flag, also known as the Continental Colors,’ explains a spokesperson for Historic Beverly.  ‘Featuring 13 red and white stripes for the colonies and the Union Jack in the corner, this flag represented a nation in transition: loyal to the Crown, yet yearning for independence. It was first flown in late 1775 early 1777 by the Continental Army and Navy and symbolizes unity among the colonies and their evolving identity. It is also known as: the Congress Flag, First Navy Ensign, and Cambridge Flag. ‘From reform to revolution, the Grand Union Flag marked the birth of a new American identity.’     

  We need representatives to chase up on Traffic matters (potholes and speeding), to participate in decision-making about our environment and to assist with Planning decisions. No special skills needed, and no heavy workload, just an interest in making East Budleigh an even better place to live. You will be representing and reporting on matters that concern residents.  

A very successful Speedwatch group operates in Yettington.  A group is needed to monitor speed in East Budleigh.   If you want to volunteer and especially if you are willing to co-ordinate the group, please get in touch with East Budleigh Bicton Parish Clerk at clerk@eastbudleigh-pc.gov.uk.  Above: The Brick Cross between East Budleigh and Otterton: scene of a number of accidents. The process is very straight forward. Your group decides when to go out to a road that has been approved by the police, and you record speeds on a simple device. The information is uploaded to a police data base. Warnings are sent out by the police to persistent speeders, which can result in the police visiting the offender.

  Exeter Morris, the oldest established group of Morris dancers in Devon, put on a great display at Budleigh Salterton’s Late Night Shopping on 28 November.  The group was formed in 1951, but Morris dancing in England goes back to at least the 15th century.   It could have been a regular spectacle in Roger Conant’s early life, both in his birthplace of East Budleigh and in London where he moved before setting out for New England in about 1623.  Right is a detail from a painting dated around 1620 from the Collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. It shows Morris dancers in a scene of the River Thames at Richmond, south-west of London. But by the time of his arrival in America, dancing of any sort would have been actively discouraged. The Puritans who had sailed in the May flower three years earlier and settled in Massachusetts considered such practices disorderly, irreligious, and a threat to public morality.    Following ...

  Following the news of a donation to Budleigh Alms houses in the Autumn 2025 issue of The Conant Courier , members of the Roger Conant Club are following progress of this exciting project with keen interest.  Left: The roof was on by the end of October. Almshouses have been around for a long time. The oldest English alms house still in use dates from about 990 A.D. An abiding feature of an almshouse charity throughout the ages is that they are governed by locally recruited, volunteer trustees whose motives are purely altruistic.  Administered by the Shandford Trust, the Budleigh almshouses will allow older people of limited means to continue living in their local area, thereby maintaining balanced, stable communities. They will pay an affordable contribution towards the upkeep of their almshouse, set below local market rates. This support is essential to places like Britain’s West Country, where house prices and rent have become unaffordable for so many....

Are you a regular dog walker? Do you run to keep fit? Or do you just enjoy walking? If you answer yes to any of these questions and live in East Budleigh perhaps you would like to consider a special volunteering role. The Parish participates in the ‘Parish Paths Partnership Scheme’ (aka P3) with Devon County Council, which encourages community involvement in the upkeep and improvement of the paths.   This is done through a volunteer ‘P3 Coordinator’ who inspects the paths annually, and liaises with landowners, contractors and the county council to arrange maintenance and improvements.  Someone is needed to take on this role when the current coordinator retires at the end of the year.   No special skills are required, just an interest in helping to keep the paths of East Budleigh and Bicton Parish easy to use for residents and visitors. The main function is to funnel information about obstructions, such as fallen trees, impenetrable underg...

Our Christmas Crackers Heritage’ was the theme suggested by East Budleigh’s History Society for a display in the village’s Salem Chapel over the week end of 29 November.   The Roger Conant Club was one of the many groups exhibiting. Seen here is its fine Christmas tree with one of the Club members looking pleased after much hard work.  Topped by a dove of peace, the tree was decorated with hand-painted baubles showing American animals and birds.  But ‘crackers’ was the theme of the event.   So members of the Roger Conant Club got cracking and produced this mammoth in two halves — one for Salem and one for East Budleigh. It was complete with jokes, crowns and sweets spilling out for visitors ‘in the spirit of giving and sharing’. A suitably American spread on your cracker is Philadelphia cheese, invented in the USA in 1872 but in New York State, a long way from Philadelphia. It was branded in 1880 as ‘Philadelphia C...

  Following on from mention of the films Touch and Vermiglio in the Autumn 2025 issue of The Conant Courier , and in keeping with the message of the forthcoming 2026 East Budleigh Peacemaker Festival, critic and author Tim Robey recommended a selection of anti-war films for us.  ‘I've limited myself to ten here,’ he wrote. ‘There are some obvious ones I've left off, such as Platoon , Apocalypse Now , Full Metal Jacket , but I thought you might want to direct people towards fresh discoveries. These are all pretty amazing films in my opinion.’   Here they are in no particular order: The Burmese Harp (1956), with poster above; La grande illusion (1937); The Thin Red Line (1998); Paths of Glory (1957); Gallipoli (1981); City of Life and Death (2009); The Deer Hunter (1978); The Killing Fields (1984); Cross of Iron (1977); Grave of the Fireflies (1988).   Perhaps one or more of these will be or have been screened in Beverly, Salem or Budlei...

Massachusetts has many popular film locations, including various sites in both Beverly and Salem, which was used for the filming of the 1993 Halloween fantasy comedy Hocus Pocus .   The Filmfest at the Cabot, part of Beverly 400+, takes place at the city’s historic Cabot Cinema whose origins go back to the 1920s. Three films with Beverly locations are being shown.  The first, on 10 February is The Proposal. It's a 2009 romantic comedy starring Sandra Bullock and directed by Anne Fletcher. Beverly Municipal Airport was used for the airport scenes set in Alaska.  The Tender Bar , a 2021 coming-of-age drama film directed by George Clooney, is being screened on 24 March. Jacob’s Corner, the bar at 278 Rantoul Street in Beverly, is where the scenes for the Dickens bar were filmed. It was chosen out of 100 options, explained the film’s location scout. Once director Clooney had seen the bar, the deal was signed.     The Cabot, Beverly: A b...

  These three splendid 18th century open robes dated respectively 1740, 1750 and 1770 formed part of the impressive 2025 costume display curated by Jill Salen at Budleigh Salterton’s Fairlynch Museum.  It’s just a shame that we don’t know where they were worn and who wore them. Thanks to artist John Singleton Copley, who painted the two American ladies below, we know who wore such a similarly splendid costume, members of an equally affluent society across the Atlantic in Salem.       Mary Toppan Pickman (1744-1817), left, spent her life in Salem. Her cousin, Mary Turner Sargent (1743-1813), moved to Gloucester in Massachusetts, some 16 miles north-east.  Images courtesy, respectively of Yale University Art Gallery and De Young Museum, San Francisco.

  Following on from our ‘Birding from Budleigh to Beverly’ in the Autumn 2025 issue of The Conant Courier, here’s a wonderful shot of a pair of Eastern Bluebirds, kindly provided by Beverly resident Annie Polisky.   ‘I hope they stay around for the winter,’ she wrote. Birdwatcher Ray Smart commented: ‘They'll probably stay around until the snowstorms arrive. Feed them dried meal worms and they will come. Only problem is the darn House Sparrows, they are nasty!’   Bluebirds are often known as the “bluebirds of happiness”, meaning they are generally associated with the concepts of joy, happiness, and harmony. The bluebird is a symbol of hope, love, positivity, and renewal. It symbolizes the essence of life and beauty.

Financial assistance to protect Salem’s 17th century historic building known as The Counting House was among the news items in the Autumn 2025 issue of The Conant Courier .  The threat from flooding in Salem caused by climate change was highlighted last October in an article by Ryan Krugman in Inside Climate News.  It was vividly illustrated by this photo taken by Paul Wright during the 2024 Nor’easter storm.  On the other side of the Atlantic, Storm Ciarán severely affected parts of Europe from late October to early November of the previous year killing 21 people, eleven of whom were in Italy and four in France.      At Steamer Steps, on Budleigh Salterton’s pebble beach, the West End kiosk hardly ranks as a historic building. Yet it was much loved and is sorely missed by local people while discussions for a replacement are ongoing.    Photos courtesy of West End Kiosk  The sight of this much loved beach feature, smashed to...

  Budleigh Salterton residents, businesses and visitors were invited to attend the first public drop-in session for the Budleigh Salterton Beach & Cliff Management Plan (BCMP), led by South West Flood and Coastal and East Devon District Council (EDDC).  The drop-in session took place at Budleigh Salterton Public Hall on 5 December between 2.30pm and 7.00pm.    Another huge cliff fall today’ reported Budleigh fisherman Sam Pym as he took this photo in July 2024 by the beach huts to the west of Steamer Steps.  Explaining the reasoning behind the event, EDDC Councillor Melanie Martin said: ‘As you are all aware, we have witnessed several cliff falls over the past twelve months, and even more before that.’   Councillor Martin said that the drop-in session was about raising aware ness of the EDDC project to tackle cliff side erosion. She described it as ‘an opportunity to gather local views to help the BCMP team better understand commu...