The former Ravensdale Castle Hotel

Hi Peter,
I came across your website because I have two original newspaper pages taken from the Isle of Man Examiner, Friday, 4th October, 1974, page 26 & 27, which was given to my parents by Mr. and Mrs. Albert Smith when my parents went on holiday to the Isle of Man to visit them in 1984, and Ravensdale Castle Hotel was mentioned in the article.
I did not know Albert personally, but my parents did, especially my father.
Albert was a prisoner of war at the Knightthorpe camp, sited midway between Loughborough and Shepshed, Leicestershire, (the camp site no longer exists as the area is now covered with dwelling houses). Prior to the prisoner’s repatriation in 1948, the prisoners were found working on the local farms. Albert was assigned to Mr. F. S. Mee’s farm, who was known locally as Freddy Mee, in Shepshed. His farm at the time, was one of the largest farms in Leicestershire.
My father also worked on the farm and during harvest time he would be the one cutting the corn, whilst the prisoners would follow, picking up the sheaths of corn and erecting them into stooks. (In those days it was a tractor pulling a binder, not a combine harvester). I would often go to watch my father and in doing so I be-friended the guard watching over the prisoners. Interestingly, he was hardly guarding them as it was obvious that no one was going to abscond, if fact he, (Jock), did not have any ammunition in his rifle
During repatriation, most of the prisoners went home, but a few stayed behind and married local girls, as did Albert. I suspect the prisoner restrictions were very relaxed at the time, otherwise the prisoners would not have met the local girls. Albert met and married Elizabeth L. Dichfield, known as Lynne, in Shepshed in 1948. If it was not for the Covid pandemic and the Library being closed, I would be able to obtain the wedding announcement in the local newspaper. By all accounts, it appears that Lynne was a wealthy lady, and she lived in a large bungalow in Leicester Road, Shepshed.
I have two original photographs of the wedding, one of the married couple, and the other a group photograph, which, incidentally, includes my father in the wedding group.
I assume you will be able to access the archives for the newspaper, but if not, this is a brief summary:
The couple started a catering business when they first arrived in the Isle of Man, As Lynne was a trained needlewoman and milliner, they ran the gown shop, Cavendish House, in Strand Street, Douglas for 19 years, overlapping with their ownership of Ravensdale Castle Hotel for 14 years where they lived for most of the time. They sold Ravensdale Castle Hotel in May, 1974 and moved into a purpose-built new house in the Bailaugh Glen area. The house was named ‘Valdfrieden’, which to be correct, should be spelt ‘Walfrieden”, which is German for forest peace. The article gives a detailed description of the design of the new house with many photographs.
In 1973 they celebrated their silver wedding anniversary and in 1974 concluded 25 years of Manx residency.
Albert Henry Smith died on the 15th February, 1994. A letter from Lynne to my mother informing her of Albert’s death also stated that his three brothers and many German friends attended the funeral.
As far as I can ascertain, Lynne died in 1998 in the Isle of Man.
I hope this is of interest to you.
Gerald Berrington

22.7.2023 i have just visited this property as part of the secret gardens, what a lovely place and i am sure lots of potential, sadly i could not go inside, definitely a work in progress as the new owners have only been in residence for a few weeks. rachel vickers