Walk Three: Honicknowle

Honicknowle, etymologically derived from Hana’s Knoll, meaning a hill populated by wild cockerels, was little more than a village towards the end of the nineteenth century with farms, a dairy, a stone quarry, brickworks, and a Royal Commission fort. By 1914, the three towns of Plymouth, Devonport and East Stonehouse had merged into one and city status was granted in 1928. By 1938, the local authority had redrawn the city boundaries which now included Honicknowle.

In the last week of August 1939, Honicknowle was brightly decorated for its carnival that had been celebrated annually for five years. The community and its colourful festivities were filmed by local amateur Gerald Watkins and the footage was eventually donated to The South West Film and Television Archive (SWFTA). The carnival opened with a Sunday service and the week included children’s talent contests, fancy-dress competitions, Maypole dancers, stalls and games, parades, floats, and a fun fair. All was presided over by the carnival queen Joyce Chapman. Windows and door frames were covered by streamers, the crêpe paper waving in the breeze. References to the impending war also decorated the carnival; news bulletin headlines were pasted onto boards, the recruitment office door was clearly marked, a child was dressed as a ‘ruffled dove’ and another as an air raid shelter.

War was declared on Germany on Sunday 3rd September 1939, the day after the carnival ended. The community carnival ceased for nine years then returned in 1948 before ending in the fifties due to the construction of housing estates on what was once farmland and pasture. The reading and recreational hall featured in the film still stands on Butt Park Road with its sign ‘established 1927’.