John Risdon - local historian

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John Risdon has been a teacher, book publisher, civil servant, shop manager and beach pedalo supervisor, but during his colourful career one thing has remained steadfast – his absolute love of history.

He first discovered his passion for the past during his teenage years when he worked at a Torquay timber yard which had originated during Victorian times, importing timber from Canada and exporting Devon emigrants on the return voyage. He’s now a well-respected local historian and is regularly called upon to give talks around Devon. Steph Woolvin met him for coffee…

You may have seen John Risdon’s face on a poster advertising one of his walks or talks about the history of Torbay, Dartmouth and Dartmoor. He’s an enthusiastic gentleman with a voice as rich as his passion for his subject and it’s easy to see why his events are often a sell out. “I just love the geology of our Devon coastline, why wouldn’t you? It’s beautiful and has so many stories to tell,” he says with a jolly smile.

John’s interest in recording the area’s past began 40 years ago whilst out walking with family and friends. He started researching various things he’d spotted on his expeditions and soon gathered enough facts to write his first talk – ‘Torbay’s Heritage – the story of a unique and beautiful bay.’ He told a crowded room in Torquay how 10,000 years ago the bay was a dry, frozen basin! His audience was fascinated as they learnt how remnants of the trees, which grew after that last ice age, can sometimes still be seen at low water on the beaches at Goodrington and Broadsands. John was hooked and spent hours with his head in books, walking, visiting libraries and talking to locals. Before long he had enough material for over 40 illustrated talks about everything from Torre Abbey to Brixham’s branch railway.

John soon got a name for himself as a local historian and the phone at his Galmpton cottage had become a hotline for enquiries from hotels, tourism companies, schools and charities. He says he doesn’t mind if he’s addressing five people in a church hall or 300 in a seminar room. He usually charges for his time, but enjoys chatting for free at fundraising events for charities such the RNLI. “When I first started, so many people kept asking me to speak about Agatha Christie! After a year or two I finally gave in and did a talk called the ‘Literary Daughter of South Devon’. I must have given that talk a thousand times since!” Another of John’s lectures, about Dartington Hall, explains how it was created in the 14th Century by John Holand, an immensely powerful and ruthless man related to King Richard II.

John is a Devon lad, born in Brixham Cottage Hospital in April 1942. “I was privileged to go to two private schools; Montpelier in Paignton and Blundell’s in Tiverton. It was a very strict educational upbringing, quite Victorian in its approach even though it was the 1950s!” He left school not knowing what he wanted to do and his first job was in a timber yard in Torquay. “I worked for a very fiery woman and you jolly well did what you were told I can tell you! - I had to measure out the wood and wasn’t allowed to use a calculator until I could prove I could do the basics in my head.” John’s mind was also kept active finding out where the timber had come from.

Some of the wood he was selling was from ships used to take migrants from Devon to Canada in the 19th century and it was the story behind that timber which kicked-off John’s passion for the past: “The industrial revolution had meant thousands of people were losing their jobs and many headed overseas to look for work in the colonies.” After a couple of years onsite, John headed to the water himself to work as a self-proclaimed ‘beach bum’ for a season! “I hired out pedalos and floats on the sand at Goodrington and really enjoyed being in the sun and getting a little attention from female visitors!”  After that John worked for the Admiralty at Devonport and managed to find a historical side to the administrative job he was doing: “I loved unearthing key finds like glass port lights from the original Britannia which was moored at Dartmouth in 1863.”

John’s next job was back in Brixham, working for a boat repair business. He says a highlight of that role was being allowed to travel to Europe, picking up Belgian trawlers and sailing them back to Britain. But after eight years, at the age of 27, John was off again. By now it was 1967 and John had found the woman he was going to marry, Jenny. The couple actually met in nursery school when they were just three. They went their separate ways until a mutual friend reintroduced them. “Jenny was a teacher in Bristol and I was in awe of her and the work she did so I enrolled on a teaching course at Exeter.”

His first teaching post was at Furzeham Primary School, Brixham. John then got a job teaching geography and history to teenagers at Dartmouth Secondary School. “My biggest problem was taming the third year girls! They saw a new teacher as a bit of a target and had the better of me a few times. I still see some of them around the town today and they always say hello!” John remembers taking classes down to Blackpool Sands for a dip in the sea and the time he took 12 students on a sponsored cycle to Normandy to raise money for the school’s first ever computer. “The students were welcomed into the town like heroes, as if they had just completed the Tour De France!”

In the 1980s John set up a book business with his brother-in-law. Later he ran a bookshop in the Torquay Pavilion and a gift shop at Buckfast Abbey. But 10 years ago he stopped working so he could concentrate solely on his walk and talks.  He says he’s noticed quite a few changes since he started addressing the crowds over 30 years ago. “I’ve had to adapt with advancing technology. I used to use projectors and hundreds of slides, changing each one by hand! Now a computer does most of the work. I like it when people take an interest and ask lots of questions. I never feel nervous and if there’s something I don’t know I’m honest. I could never know everything about our wonderful landscape; I’m learning everyday and things are changing all the time.” 

First published in By The Dart magazine March 2019