Tuesday 24 March 2020

Everyday Scenes

There are many things that I pass by almost every day without giving them a second glance. What started me thinking was that Granny Sue asked me in a comment what "the stocks", which I mentioned last week, might be. So on a rather dull day I walked around and took some photos of what are familiar sights to me, though not to most others.



Here they are: the stocks and whipping post, beneath the magnificent chestnut tree, on a small triangle of grass known as Marvell's Green. Like most of what's in this post (and most of what I know about the village) I'm indebted to the website of the local history group. I'll put a link at the end. Just to tempt you to learn more, the stocks were last used in 1860 to punish those brawling in church. The legislation relating to the use of stocks as a punishment for "unruly artisans" has never been abolished, so theoretically I might get put in them if I become too unruly!



Near to the stocks is what is probably the base of an old preaching cross. It was unearthed in someone's garden and put here in the late nineteenth century.



Just across the road is an old-style wooden fingerpost. I remember watching a sign-writer re-paint one of these when I was a child. I must have been very impressed by his efforts as for a few years after that I wanted to be a sign-writer. I keep meaning to look closely and see if this one is still hand-painted or if technology has moved on. Most road signs elsewhere are now metal or plastic.



This is our village shop and post office which is part of the OneStop chain which is owned by Tesco, though operates as a separate company. We're lucky to have it still as many have closed down in recent decades.



And there's a village pub, The British Queen, too. Again we thought it might close down a few years ago, but it was bought by a local man who set about transforming its fortunes. It still serves an excellent pint and you can get a very nice meal too (in normal times*). I hope that the shop and the pub are able to survive the current Covid-19 crisis.

* and indeed now as I'm reminded they're offering a take-away service.



Just down the road is the village's primary school for children up to the age of 11. My little friend who lives next-door to me tells me it's a very good school and you learn all about "dinosaurs and aquatic beasts" there. I hope they'll soon be back in operation too.



The school has a very nice sign imploring drivers to slow down.



We're also lucky to have our own mainline station with trains to London in one direction and Cambridge in the other. The first trains stopped here in 1851 and there are now trains every half-hour during the week and every hour at weekends. The station is still manned during the busy morning period.



Just on the opposite side of the road to the station are these Nissen huts, occupied by car repairers and other small businesses. The history of these workaday premises is rather unexpected. I was thinking of asking for guesses as to its former use, but of course someone would find the answer on the History Group's website. They were constructed in 1944 to serve as reception centres for wounded soldiers brought by ambulance trains from the D-Day landings. Soldiers were then sent on to other hospital facilities in the area.



Nearby stands the village war memorial commemorating the dead of both world wars. Almost every village you go to has some sort of memorial and remarkably there was never any centrally organised movement to construct and pay for these; each village collected money independently to pay for their own memorial. So nobody really knows how many there are, though there are around 16,000 villages in England. There are just 53 communities which suffered no losses in WWI and are known as "Thankful Villages". 16 of these also saw no losses in WWII. Most are very small farming settlements.



And this is something I don't see every day: a thatcher at work, renewing some of the roofing on one the nineteen thatched cottages in the village. He seemed pleased that someone had stopped to admire his work and take a photo. I wrote a bit about thatch and thatching here:
https://bystargooseandhanglands.blogspot.com/2018/08/beneath-roof-of-straw.html


Meldreth Local History Group website: http://www.meldrethhistory.org.uk/index.aspx


Take care.


28 comments:

  1. I wonder if he could re-thatch my head!

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  2. Nice village no doubt much like many others areound the country. I always get photos of villag ewar memorials and the one in our village is on the Northwall of the church inside. The villag egewwn has a moder version which I call an insult because it looks like a concrete monalith stuck there even if it is only 3 foot high. We are also luck to have a station which like yous is manned during the morning, the only blot was the whole line was electrified a few years ago spoiling the views because of the overheads. Never seen a wipping post till you showed it in the photo. Stocks are seen around a few villages. We have one thatches cottage in the villageand two pubs and Indian takeaway and Chineese. We have of course the Tesco store whcih at the moment along with Butcher is the main shopping place for most people.

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  3. Very interesting post!I like so much history!The alst photo is very special too..never seen such a house!Beautiful:))Thanks for sharing!

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  4. Beautiful and interesting as well...Not sure how those stocks would work, I guess legs go in below, and then hands in holes by the post...pulling one sideways? Or perhaps the hand holds were only for the whipping version of punishment. My first experience seeing these was Williamsburg VA, then Old Sturbridge Village CT...which I think have become less and less like they were originally. Glad you've got the real deal. Kudos to the thatcher!

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  5. I thoroughly enjoyed this tour of the village! Take care, John.

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  6. I loved this walk around your village. It looks like a nice quiet place for a stroll in these times. Take care, John.

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  7. It is nice seeing your village...and that is an interesting bit about the Nissen huts. Also it is amazing that there were 16 villages that suffered no loss during both wars!

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  8. Lovely village! I love seeing and hearing all of that history. Nice post, John!

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  9. The memorial is particularly poignant.

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  10. John, it really looks and sounds like a good place to live. As to those stocks we have some surviving here in Wensleydale in the village of Bainbridge. Might me a good place to put some of the idiots at the moment.

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  11. It’s nice to have a look in your neighbourhood. There is a lot to see!

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  12. What a nice tour that you gave us! Thatched roofs are so intriguing as to how they work so well and last so long!

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  13. Hi John - wonderful tour thank you ... and so interesting to know about the Thankful Villages - I'd never heard of them. My Ma in Cornwall had a thatched roof re-rooved ... so glad your village seems to be thriving - long may it last once we're through this. Those stocks are great aren't they - cheers Hilary

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  14. Nice village scenes! A thatcher working on the roof, that is a priceless photo. You don't see that often. Thanks, John.

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  15. Have you lived in your village your entire life, John? I love that you remember seeing that road sign painted when you were a child. That thatched roof is exquisite. The part along the apex is quiet intricate. We had one house in my old home town that had a thatched roof. When they needed it re-done, a fellow from the UK came over to do it.

    A lovely tour, John. Thank you.

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    1. No, I moved here 27 years ago, though I've always lived within 10 miles of here, apart from 3 years away at university and a year doing teacher training - neither of which did me very much good, though I did work in a school for 23 years it was as a carer rather than teaching.

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  16. Brawling in church is a rather surprising offense in 1860. I thought church in those days would be a pretty safe and sane place to be! Nice to see the thatcher on the roof. I wonder if there are younger ones who will take over that art when he can no longer climb that ladder. I loved the ramble around your little town.

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    1. There are indeed younger thatchers being trained. I remember a friend of mine who used to teach Technology at the time being thrilled that two of his former students had started up in business having been trained in the art.

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  17. Thank you for this.
    Lots of familiar terms - beautifully illustrated.
    The 'Thankful Villages' is new to me. I love it, and appreciate the rarity.
    I wonder just how many villages/farming communities here had the same cause for gratitude. Memorials in country towns are very familiar to me, and so many of them include multiple names from the same family.

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  18. Nice to hear a bit about your home town.

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  19. Lovely photos - all very interesting - thank you.

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  20. So nice to see a bit of your delightful village John. So lucky that the smaller businesses are still running. Do you find most of the things you need in the village, or do you have to travel to the nearest town?

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  21. A lovely post on your village. The school sounds like my kind of school, dinosaurs and aquatic beasts made me smile!

    Sorry for the abundance of comments again... every time I catch up I say I'll keep on top of blog reading, a little each day, then quickly fall behind again. I'm hoping the new stay at home / work from home will keep me on track as I'm getting so much more time at home at the moment, haha!

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  22. While I enjoy your nature posts and photos, John, this was a great diversion to have a look around some of the common sights you see and now so did we. Thanks for showing us around, much appreciated. And, I will check out that thatching link as well.

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  23. Hi John, visiting here from Pat's (Weaver) blog and loved reading your interesting post on your village. Love to see thatchers at work - they are rarely, if ever, seen here in the US. I'm originally from Devon where as you know thatched roofs are everywhere.
    Whilst in lock down I'm currently reading Tom Fort's "The Village News" ~The truth behind England's rural idyll. Wow, what an eye opener - a wonderful historic, provocative read.

    Stay well in your village during these frightening times.

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  24. These are fantastic shots of your everyday life. Thanks for sharing.


    Feel free to share at My Corner of the World

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  25. I love these everyday scenes! Not like anything I see ever.
    Thatching must not be a very common profession these days? Neat to see for sure! The main house looks to have a neat pattern or is it unfinished?

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    1. There are still a few thatchers around as thatched roofs need renewing from time to time. Here just the badly worn parts of the roof are being rethatched - the ridge of the main roof and the small porch, next time I would imagine it will need a complete re-thatch.

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