Some time ago I was asked by a lady from Plymouth if I knew at which quarry near Minions her father was employed as a Stonemason; his name was Percy Hobba.

I remembered seeing a photograph of the workforce at J Sweet & Son Stonemasons at their Russell Street yard, as well as one taken at their quarry above Minions called Gold Diggings. The latter had the men’s names on the back and, amazingly, the young lad in the flat cap by the side of the boiler was identified as Percy Hobba!

After Margaret Turner, the lady from Plymouth, opened the envelope with a copy of the photograph I had sent her she wrote: “What a lovely surprise! I immediately recognised my father even though he was only about 15 at the time and the youngest one in the group”.

Percy was born and raised in Minions village when it was called Cheesewring Railway. His father was a ‘Tin Miner’ and as a lad Percy was a ‘Stone Cutter’. He married Vera Elizabeth May in 1934 in Plymouth and that’s where he stayed, working as a ‘Stonemason’.

Margaret continued the story: “My father was serving as an ARP (Air Raid Precautions) Warden in 1941. He had just finished his night shift when he was forced to take cover in a shelter at Barn Park. The shelter took a direct hit. It was a double blow for my mother because we had already been bombed out of our home in Portland Square and were living in temporary accommodation in Tamerton Foliot. I was only four at the time and my mum was left with a young family to bring up on her own.”

By Brian Oldham, museum volunteer and Bard of the Gorsedh Kernow