Mr. Trevithick and Mrs. Grindley lived in a large rambling house at the end of Stoke Abbott. Mr. Trevithick was the grandson of the man who made the Beam engine or steam engine in Cornwall. Mrs. Grindley was, …well, Mrs. Grindley, one of the wealthy "gentry" class. The house and gardens were extensive with the usual lawns and hedges with beautiful perennial flowers in borders. Behind the well trimmed copper beech hedge was the vegetable garden, several greenhouses, manicured pathways and of course, the potting shed with everything being cared for by Mr. Laven, the gardener. Mum helped in the house a few times a week, serving dinner, washing up, turning down the beds and putting in the hot water bottles at night. Because I was young, I went too.

On Saturday morning, I was given the job of catching cabbage butterflies and killing them for a payment of 1 penny each. At first I wasn’t doing too well, but after a few times and thinking of all those potential pennies, I became quite proficient. Unfortunately, I was sacked because I was doing too well and earned over Half a crown <2 and 6 pence> in one session. When Frank Laven left their employ, he went to Devon. There he became the head gardener for Agatha Chiristie at her house, "Greenway", on the river Dart which is just above Dartmouth, near the Greenway Quay ferry boat which went across to Dittisham.

Greenway Quay opposite Dittisham

The Cabbage Butterfly (pieris. rapae) was introduced to the United States from Europe about 1860. It has spread across North America and become a pest to cabbage, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, other mustards, and the garden nasturtium. The Cabbage Butterfly is one of the first to emerge in the spring and can produce 2 to 8 broods per season. Another butterfly, the checkered white or common white, occurs all over temperate North America. It was more common before the cabbage butterfly arrived and spread. The larva of common white also feeds on cabbage and other mustards. Adults occur in early spring and produce at least 3 broods per season. 

                                                  Checkered Butterfly

                           Cabbage Butterfly