Nesta Fryer born ? Newnham-on-Severn c.1913 (General)

by peteressex , Monday, September 29, 2014, 15:03 (3702 days ago) @ peteressex

More info a-plenty as I'm just back from Lydney. Went with my cousin to Etloe as he remembered visiting Nesta Fryer there in an old house on the right as you come down from Blakeney. We found the old house called Highfield and, further down and on the left, the much newer bungalow called Salmon Stone which was built by Nesta and her mother after Nesta's father died.

An old man gardening in the front of Highfield told us he had been taught by "Miss Fryer" at Viney Hill primary school, which itself leaves us with a bit of a mystery because we know Nesta Fryer spent time teaching in the Americas whereas there are posts on the sungreen website indicating that a Miss Fryer (no first name cited) taught for very many years at Viney Hill until retiring in the mid-1950s. Both "Miss Fryer" and Nesta Fryer were described by locals as short, well-built, with gingerish hair in a bun, but we could not established whether there were two Misses Fryer.

The present owner of Highfield (a Scot) together with a man who happening along the lane, described how Nesta's grandfather had caught a record-sized salmon in the Severn, and the family had drawn round its outline on a stone, and then chiselled it, hence the name of the new bungalow. The outline is replicated, apparently on a smaller scale, in the name plate on the front of the bungalow, the original larger stone apparently being "round the back" - we didn't get to see that.

To add to the info that Nesta is mentioned in a history of the Newnham ferry, we learned that the present owner of Highfield has a book by Nesta herself which is a history of Etloe and includes a photo of her standing outside Highfield. I'm after a copy, so watch this space (subject to copyright!)