I have always wanted to write about the Salston Hotel, as I was fortunate enough to attend in 2007 the last-ever Christmas party held there when Ottery St Mary Town Council celebrated their annual Christmas dinner and dance.

I visited the Hotel several times after many attempts by developers to restore it. It was a deplorable sight as many of the beautiful marble fireplace surroundings had been removed, the magnificent steps to the second floor, with its handrail carved in wood, couldn't be used anymore, and the covered pool had been filled with rubbish. However, the memories of this incredible place remained within its walls, so I was relieved when PCR Homes Ltd finally received permission to convert it into flats and houses.

I thought the memories were lost until Buddy Setter posted a message on Ottery Matters this year. He mentioned that the Salston Hotel held a special place in his heart because he had spent ten wonderful years there, from the age of 13 to 23, adding that the Hotel had always been his number-one choice if he ever won the lottery. After his comment, many residents shared stories about what this great place meant to them, showing the heart of the establishment and providing background for my editorial.

One such story is about the Bishop of Tasmania, who visited the church in 1843 and then proceeded to have an elegant cold collation at Salston, the residence of the late Bishop of Barbados. Another story was told about the Argentinean players of Tottenham Hotspur who stayed overnight when they played Torquay United in the old League Cup and how the Ottery Dart League's presentation night took place at the Hotel. Although the drinks were more expensive than the pubs, an issue Elizabeth Dawn and John Sandford solved by having a drink before one of the guys drove them out, the dinner dances brought fun memories.

Jane Sroka's romantic memories of her wedding reception in 1988 prompted Buddy to ask if her reception was a carved cold buffet with salmon, turkey, roast beef, and salads, all served on huge mirrors. He jokingly added that he would have been upfront in full chef's whites cooking and serving. Jane's memories also included the connection between the Hotel and Kings, as the school children were allowed to use the Hotel's squash courts.

The Salston will always remain the leading provider of jobs in those days. In a conversation between Mavis Bird and Buddy, they reminisced about working together in the kitchen. Mavis helped Buddy when he first started as a kitchen porter, highlighting the camaraderie among the staff. Many people began their working lives at the Hotel, including Emma Bradshaw-Smith, the doctor's daughter, who worked there during her school holidays. She started as a dishwasher, worked as a waitress, managed the pool, and finally ran Salston Cellars restaurant from 1982 to 1985. Jennifer Rice also mentions working at the Hotel as a Silver Spoon waitress, Amanda Vicary as a chambermaid, and David Hastings and Roger Abbott in the kitchen on Saturdays with Chef Andy and second Chef Billy.

The swimming pool was an essential part of the residents' lives. David Stevens remembered Monica Palfrey organizing swimming and sauna trips to the Salston for the workers at Ottermill. Many, like Carol Hather and Viv Payne and their children, swam there every week. Others learnt to swim in that pool, taught either by Steve an Australian Olympic swimmer or a friend. Some remember paying £2 to go swimming and saving enough money to buy a Coke and a packet of crisps afterwards or swimming in the winter with the Sidmouth Surf Lifesaving Club.

As an outsider who saw the Salston empty and abandoned for so long, it was lovely to read all these stories and to know that as the Phoenix, it has risen again, generating new memories and still looking as magnificent as it did in the past.