A gloom has been cast over the picturesque little gipsy encampment which nestles in an old disused quarry off the main Bridgwater road between Uphill and Bleadon, near Weston-super-Mare, by the death of Druscilla Joules, one of the few remaining members of the Joules family which has been associated with North Somerset for centuries.
Druscilla was said to have been over a hundred years of age, but actually she was ninety-eight. She came to the Bleadon settlement nearly sixty years ago, and so long back as the eighties of the last century she had the appearance of an old crone. In the days before the encampment was more or less 'modernised' she was frequently to be seen, sitting before the camp fire, smoking a short clay pipe.
The grandfather of Druscilla Joules was famous throughout the West country a hundred years ago, and it was believed, too, that he possessed the 'evil eye' and had the power of 'overlooking' people or casting a spell of bad luck or misfortune over them. But actually, old Isaac Joules was a genial, kindly hearted soul.
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The British Newspaper Archives
Original Article/Image Copyright:
Image © Local World Limited. Image created courtesy of The British Library Board.
Extracted From:
Western Daily Press - Saturday, 2nd November 1929
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