Ypres 2016 - Talbot House Poperinghe



Talbot House
Poperinghe

In Poperinghe Talbot House became a place of rest and relaxation for British Soldiers from 1915 until the end of the war. 

Poperinghe was a place of relative safety, being out of range for all but the longest ranging German guns. One of those guns landed a shell in the garden of local brewer Cevoet Camerlynk in Summer 1915 resulting in him removing his family and belongings to a safer location. He rented the empty house to the British Army for 150 francs per month.

Senior Army Chaplain Padre Neville Talbot, son of the Bishop of Winchester instructed fellow Padre ‘ Tubby Clayton’ to secure use of the house as a Soldiers Club as ‘an alternative for the ‘debauched’ recreational life of the town’.

Tubby Clayton

It was named after Padre Talbot’s brother Gilbert who was killed at Hooge in July 1915. The damage from the shelling was repaired by the Royal Engineers and it opened 15^th December 1915.

 

The facilities were available to all serving regardless of rank ‘Every-Mans Club’.

Talbot House
Every Mans Club

 It was place to try and forget the war, a sign on the entrance way displayed the Clubs ethos.

  

 

The location was nicknamed Toc H, the signallers phonetics for TH during WW1. The facilities included canteen, restroom, library and writing room. On the top floor, a chapel was constructed in the attic which had been previously used to dry hops. 

 

 

The house was left unfurnished, the soldiers ‘acquiring’ items to make the place homelier, gifts from England including books to fill the library further enhanced the quality of the surroundings.

Talbot House
Entrance Hall

Talbot House
Front Room with portrait of Tubby Clayton

Talbot House
Bruce Bairnsfather Plates

 Tubby Clayton was still in charge of the clubhouse and wanted to make sure that there was a cosy and homely atmosphere for all, regardless of rank and status. The sign on the door of Tubby's office, the chaplains room outlines his philosophy:

ALL RANK ABANDON YE WHO ENTER HERE

Talbot House
Chaplains Room Sign

Talbot House
Chaplains Room Writing Desk

Talbot House
Chaplains Room Tea Table



 





Talbot House
Tea Table and Bedspace

Tubby Clayton would hold services in the chapel in the loft, a great source of comfort to the front line troops as they prepared to face the dangers of the front line.
 

Talbot House
Chapel

The altar was constructed from an carpenters bench found in a shed in the garden.

Talbot House
Chapel Altar

The 'largest room in the house' as Tubby called in was the garden. A place to meet and relax, soldiers could do gardening, to forget about the war.

Talbot House
1916

Talbot House
2016

--