A Pinder Hall Dance 1946.

Pinder Hall Dance 1946.

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This photo was taken with a pocket sized Bakelite Baby Brownie 127 camera, no flash in those days. It was taken at the left side of the stage next to the stairs going up to back stage.

In those days you could ride a bicycle and leave it in a piece of waste ground that is now where the Medical Centre is located. Dances ran from 8:00 p.m. till midnight. Doors closed at 10:00 p.m. so that one could not get in after the pubs closed at 10:30 p.m. The cost was 2/6 for four hours of dancing. One could hire a live six piece band with vocalist for 7 pounds. Dances use to be at least once a month. Mind you had a lot to choose from each week in The Advertiser, both for Friday and Saturday nights.

In the photo from the left is one James Hatch, sitting next to Anne Garwood, who was sitting next to Roy East. Roy was the eldest son of Jim and Kath East who lived in The Pound. Ann and her brother Philip lived with Tom and Mrs. Smythe, who kept a small green grocery shop close to the International Stores, which is now Cookham Arcade.

The Cookham Rag Regatta 1928 - 1978

The Cookham Rag Regatta.

1928 - 1978.

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The John Lewis Partnership has been a great part of village life for a good many years. Where at week-ends and during holiday periods, partners would come and enjoy the village and its life and sports of Cricket, Hockey, Swimming and Boating on the Thames.

For the villagers it was the Partnership annual Rag Regatta. Where the various departments would make up teams to make up fun competitive races. I remember one particular race which was a favourite with the spectators, where a maiden was tied to the railing on top of the bridge and the men would paddle their canoes from the start line to the bridge, climb up the structure and untie the maiden and help her down and into the canoe and paddle back to the start/finish line. Mind you there was a lot of tipped canoes and falling in the water. Never the less it was all great fun.

After 50 years, the company and partners had grown so large that the event was moved to Knebworth. Where I am told that the event attracts some 10,000 partners.

Many thanks to Judy Faraday for supplying me with the photograph from the Partnership archives.

Cookham Bridge Repair March, 2000

Cookham Bridge Repair

4th March, 2000.

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It is always nice to be on the spot and record history as it is happening and it just happened that I was in the village that Saturday morning with my old JVC digital movie camera to record the work being carried out on the old Toll Bridge. The last time if my memory serves me correctly was in 1948. Fifty two years of use was not bad going. One has to remember that bridges as with any construction requires from time to time was is known as "Preventative Maintenance."

This bridge is what as know as classic wrought iron construction and is a listed structure. So weight limits have to be imposed as to the amount of traffic on the bridge at any one time. Cllr. Fry has the right idea to preserve the bridge. There are many ways to apply tolls, a lot of them are electronic. So his idea of local users can be controlled electronically with a free pass fixed in the windshield, providing you pay an initial cost for its production. Others will pay a fee that will tabulated each time you cross and you will be able to add to it by e-mail to the council office. I have seen this system in use and it works well.

A visit to Mrs. Evans old classroom.

Mrs. Evans classroom revisited.

(video)

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This is the classroom where my formal education first saw the light of day as Roll # 1189 on the 30th of April 1935, together with Muriel Stone, Joan Marshall and Jean Margaret Hursey.

In those far off days we sat in regimented rows of desks, two to a desk. By the time we left that classroom at the end of July, 1937. we had learnt to print and to write in script lettering, we could read from the whole range of Beacon Readers and had completed a whole range of handicraft skills.

Mrs. Evans, also had a young assistant teacher, a Miss Collins, who drove over from Windsor every day in her little Austin Seven. Between the five and six year old's there was a cream coloured curtain for certain subjects. Then it was drawn back for other joint subjects.

Gone of course is the old pot bellied stove that use to heat the whole class and also heat our daily bottle of milk from White Place Farm in the winter time.

Today as you see in the video learning has taken on a casual approach from our days of learning by rote. I still thank and praise my teachers in my formal education for the drilling and care they gave. Even my youngest son remembers my drilling him with his times table and mental math, and he agrees that it paid off. No calculators in school in those days, the closest thing I ever came to use was a slide rule.

HTS Friday morning assembly 3rd March 2000.

Holy Trinity School

Friday Assembly

3rd March, 2000.

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It is now over ten years since I took a series of videos while I was visiting in Cookham in March 2000. Just thinking some of those students who appear in this and other clips are all in their late teens now and even in their early 20's.

The main reason for my visit was to capture the changes to the three original classrooms and the school buildings and yards. It was the head teacher who invited me in to video the Friday morning Assembly. It was quite strange to be sitting in what use to be Mrs. Cheeseman's orchard once more but not eating the fruit!