From the
Western Morning News, an interesting article about Ferny Bank, a late 19th century holiday home on Babbacombe Downs run for working women by Emily and Edith Skinner.
Holiday retreat offered women a break from urban life – and men (Peter Carroll, WMN, Nov 13th 2010) tells of
... Emily and Edith Skinner – often referred to as the misses Skinner, who had the inspiration to open an enterprising and unusual holiday home for working women on the downs at Babbacombe.
...
By giving women the opportunity to breathe in the proclaimed healthy air of Torbay and a jolly good holiday break at reasonable cost, their reputation grew through mentions in newspapers, magazines articles and advertisements directed to women nationwide.
And they called their residence Ferny Bank, described as 'A house of rest for women in business' ranging from shop-girls, dressmakers, milliners, employees in business houses, post and telegraph clerks etc.
There are several contemporary reviews, including this one from The Argosy:
WHERE SHALL I SPEND MY HOLIDAYS ?
THE above question is most important to any woman who has to maintain herself by her own exertions ; so many things must be considered. Expense is a great object to a working woman, and as a holiday is necessary to health, it is needful to be careful in selecting a health-giving air; and as solitude is not good for either health or spirits, she has also to look for congenial companionship.
Now let me tell you of a sea-side home which combines all these necessaries: where I spent a most delightful holiday last year, and where I am enjoying myself equally this year.
A friend who had passed a fortnight there told me of " The House of Rest for Women in Business," at Babbicombe, South Devon. She gave so glowing an account of it, and I had longed, so vainly, all my life to see Devonshire, that I wrote, as directed, to Miss Skinner. I received a most kind reply promising me a welcome; and early one morning started from a dull Northern town upon my long journey to the sunny South.
According to instructions I alighted at Torre Station. There I found some small omnibuses, and one of them conveyed me and my luggage to Babbicombe An up-hill ride of half-anhour brought me to my destination. The omnibus stopped at a pretty, semi-detached villa of moderate size, standing back from the road, a short carriage drive leading to the entrance With rather a quaking heart I approached the door, wondering whom or what I should meet first. In the vestibule a lady, who was, I found, the matron, greeted me very cordially —a great relief to a tired traveller—and by her I was taken upstairs to a room, in which were two beds, white dimity curtains dividing the chamber in half, so that each occupant was quite in private . Each part was provided with an ottoman, one chair, a wash-hand-stand, with a looking-glass and towel rail above and a cupboard beneath.
Here I left my belongings, and went down the broad staircase to the dining-room, where I had some supper and chatted for a few minutes with the matron. Ever since I came into the house I had heard merry voices and laughter proceeding from the room opposite the dining room : the occupants were evidently enjoying some good game . The dining-room was long and large, furnished with a couch, two long tables placed T fashion, and comfortable chairs; the walls were delicately coloured in shades of green. From the two windows I often afterwards caught delightful glimpses of the sea. As I was fatigued, the matron excused me from joining the household that night; and so I took my lamp and was very glad to go to rest .
The next morning at 7.30 a bell rang for dressing, and at 7.55 a second summons brought the " visitors " (as the inmates are called) from every room. I followed the stream into the drawing-room, where prayers were read by the matron. These were very appropriate, some being specially composed for the house. A little book containing the short service was handed to each person present . After prayers I had leisure to examine the room, and was charmed with its home-like comfort and graceful elegance. The ladies who founded and furnished this delightful home did not stop at comfort and necessaries. The eye rests with pleasure upon the delicatelytinted ceiling and walls, the latter hung with choice pictures, a gift from Bishop Fraser, of Manchester; the floor was carpeted with warm crimson floor cloth, easy-chairs were scattered about, and three inviting couches. The two long windows, which open upon a terrace, and overlook a pretty garden and lawn, held a stand of ferns in one, a low seat in the other. Flowers in pretty vases stood about on the large writing-table and upon the mantelpieces at either end of the long double room ; a large book-case, well stocked with interesting books, filled a recess, and was free to all. This completes, imperfectly, my first impression, and a closer acquaintance with its numerous comforts only increased my admiration. A piano has now been added, which is a great acquisition.
So much for the room; now for the occupants. These were women, twenty perhaps, varying in age from seventeen to sixty, as far as I could judge. Some looked ill, and had evidently availed themselves of a pleasant home and beautiful air to recruit exhausted energies. Most of these, I am glad to say, seemed quite restored before they said "good-bye." The rest all appeared very happy and full of enjoyment; they greeted me kindly, and assured me I should soon feel at home, as in truth I did. At breakfast, merry talk abounded, and as I was a stranger I had time to survey my neighbours. The breakfast-service was very pretty, of delicate blue and white; I afterwards heard it was a present to the house. After a substantial meal, the rest adjourned, whilst I remained with the matron, who entered my name and address, occupation,, and religion, and I then made my first week's payment. When this was done, as I found the others engaged in making their beds, I followed their example, and also arranged my things in the spaces allotted to them. It was a wet morning, and as out-door exercise was impossible, I started on a tour of inspection, and found that, on the same floor with my own bed-room, were four others, named respectively, from the colours of the walls, the Pink, Blue, Green, and Peacock rooms, and a tiny one over the entrance called the Nest . With the exception of this last and my own (the Peacock), they were all very large, each being divided by white curtains into three or four separate compartments, furnished like my own.
After dinner the rain ceased, and I accompanied four of the other visitors in a walk, and saw a little of the beauty of Devonshire. I feel that I am not capable of describing its wonderful scenery: but the remembrance of it is a perpetual delight, and I often pass a pleasant hour in looking over the photographic views I brought home, and in recalling my visits to each lovely spot .
The House of Rest stands at the end of Babbicombe Downs. A long zigzag path, which takes quite a quarter of an hour to descend, leads to Oddicombe Beach, from which, and also from Babbicombe Beach, parties of " visitors " embark for rowing. Here also are bathing machines, which, on fine days, are in great request. Another recreation is found in driving to the neighbouring places of interest, which seem endless.
Amongst so many fellow-visitors it could hardly be expected that all would be companionable, but I was agreeably surprised to find that all were friendly : everyone seemed eager to make new-comers happy and at home.
The ladies who originated the idea of establishing this home (the Misses Skinner) reside quite near, take great interest in the welfare of each inmate, and visit the house daily. Miss Skinner has written a little pamphlet, which gives a far better description than I can attempt, and can be obtained on application to the matron.
The House has been open for four or five years only, and twice during that time larger premises have been needed and taken. Even now bed-rooms have to be hired in the village. Twenty-eight inmates can be accommodated in the House. The work and trouble to these ladies is very great; answering the letters alone must be irksome. They conduct all the correspondence themselves, which not only saves the expense of a secretary, but also makes them feel better acquainted with each visitor by personal correspondence.
Visitors are received at 1s. a-week without, or 5s. a-week with, a subscriber's ticket. Subscribers of £1 yearly are entitled to one ticket to give to any woman who cannot afford to pay the 1s. Any person wishing to subscribe to this excellent work can do so, or can send donations of money, books, furniture, or indeed anything likely to be useful where so much is needed.
Every communication should be sent to Miss Skinner, at her private address, Bayfield, Babbicombe, South Devon.
The food supplied to visitors is plain, but good in quality and unlimited in quantity; milk is given with supper, no ale or other alcoholic drinks being permitted. In the evening games of various kinds are in vogue ; charades, draughts, proverbs, &c, &c.; thus not one minute in the day is dull; my only complaint was that the days were too short and too few.
If only this rambling attempt at description makes known to some of my fellow-women—especially those from the north, where it is not so well-known as in London—this well-named " House of Rest," I shall feel that I have done something to show my appreciation of the pleasure and benefit I derived from my visits, and of the kindness of the ladies who labour so devotedly for their poorer sisters.
One great advantage is that this is equally suitable as a winter and summer resort .
I have omitted to say that the visitors are composed chiefly of teachers of elementary schools, post-office clerks, and girls employed in shops, warehouses, &c. The visit is not limited to a special period; but, upon application for admission, intending visitors are requested to state, if possible, the length of time they wish to remain, in order to prevent disappointment. The beds are often bespoken weeks in advance, and as one visitor leaves in the morning, another fills her place at night. Some visitors remain only a week, others a fortnight, many a month; and some have stayed the entire winter, and then left reluctantly.
The railway fare from London or Bristol to Torre is reduced to one half by application to the Rev. John Hewett, vicar of Babbicombe ; and the return ticket is available for one month : this considerably lessens the expenses of the journey.
- From The Argosy, Vol 36, 1883
The Argosy review is somewhat anodyne, and it's worth reading the novelist Dinah Craik's account of her visit, originally published in Murray's Magazine in 1887, and reprinted as the chapter A House of Rest in her collection Concerning Men and Other Papers.
Miss Craik explores the workings in some detail: the variable-fee part-charitable system (no guest was told how much others paid); the tight class bracket of guests (no governesses or domestic servants); and the subtle but firm eye the "Committee" (the Misses Skinner and "Miss Roberts of Torquay" - the novelist Margaret Roberts) kept on conduct. A very enlightened aspect of the House of Rest is that despite the Misses Skinner being Christian, religious observance was optional, and proselytizing was banned. Dinah Craik, a campaigner for social justice for women, gives some harrowing case studies of the working lives of residents she met - "We all of us have something more or less wrong with our lungs," one told her - and doesn't shy away from one of the major concerns of the House of Rest being to help steer women away from "falling".
The Skinners are mentioned in Todd Gray's 2009 Remarkable Women of Devon. The premises itself, which went through various incarnations as Ferny Hollow, Ferny Bank, and the Ferny Hollow House of Rest, is still standing, and easily findable by Google Street View.
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- RG
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