It's that time of year again when I get the urge to set out on a summer quest. It was last September when Neil D'Allen, the owner of the Orestone Manor Hotel and his son James teamed up with me to mount an expedition to locate the footprint of the legendary Labrador Bay Hotel.
With that success behind us, there is now an opportunity to expand our knowledge of this once thriving community and perhaps identify some other key landmarks.
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Snippet of medieval map |
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The snippet of medieval map (above) though crude by modern day standards, gives us several clues.
The legend 'mere' is the Old English of a sea or inlet. 'Medencomb' is one of the earliest spelling of Maidencombe. Interestingly, Smugglers Bay extends along several coves along this stretch of coast from Red Rob (present day Border Cove) to Smugglers Cove itself. No mention of Labrador Bay (or its supposed derivation
'l'abri d'or' or shelter of gold). Instead, intriguingly, the legend reads
'springs dor' ...
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Early twentieth century map (locations hidden) |
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Fresh information in the form of an early twentieth century map (above) has now passed into my hands courtesy of Bob Arthy, who will soon take up residence in the area.
A veritable 'treasure trove' of information has been gleaned on enlarging and enhancing the map.
Armed with this, I will be undertaking more expeditions to see if there is any evidence of these key landmarks.
Who knows, we may even stumble upon one of the cannons that are believed to have been sited for defence and ultimately abandoned some three centuries ago ...