Historical Cookham

The early Refrigerator.

2012-01-29T10:40:00.000-08:00

A 1930's Refrigerator.

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Today, everyone has to have a refrigerator and maybe a deep freeze chest as well, they can’t imagine living without one. The photo above is an example of the first refrigerator that I ever saw in about 1935-36 in the dairy farm shop at Sheephouse Farm, Maidenhead Court. My uncle and aunt purchased it so they could keep the milk, cream, butter and eggs for customers that wanted extra to their regular daily deliveries to their homes. Yes, even in those days, 365-7 was the norm, and the cows had to be milked twice a day.

As you can see in the photograph, the Freon gas compressor was mounted on the top of the unit, so that the surrounding air could readily cool the heat from the compressed gas. Prior to this milk was kept cool by standing the bottles in a tray of water and a cloth placed over the top with the ends in the water so as to keep the milk fairly cool.

Jack Gardener and The Mount Farm.

2012-01-26T09:55:00.000-08:00

The Mount Farmhouse.

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We now turn to a family that had quite a lot of influence on the village and district. I now refer to the Gardner family of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. The best know of its family of course was Sir Ernest Gardner M.P. Member of Parliament for Windsor and Maidenhead constituency, who made his home at Spencer's Farm Maidenhead along with his brother Joseph.

It was Joseph's son John Sylvester (Jack) Gardner that many of my age will remember when he owned The Mount Farm and Lower Mount Farm in Cookham and Cookham Dean. He'll also owned Sheephouse Farm in Maidenhead Court, which he rented out as a tenancy to first my great uncle Alfred James Hatch, then to his son Jack Hatch.

Jack Gardner of which I have no photograph could well be described as a gentleman farmer. Whose dress during the daytime was always in plus fours and Harris tweed jacket and flat cap. I can remember during the war when picking potatoes with other classmates from the Top School, his favourite expression was, “ Up behind the Harrow boys, up behind Harrow! This was so that no potato was left behind covered up in the ground.

Cookham Flood History.

2012-01-17T10:24:00.000-08:00

Cookham Flood History.

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The photo above shows the flood of 1894 in Cookham High Street. It has happened several times since including 1947. My father, grandfather and great grandfather knew that this could happen at anytime when certain weather patterns occurred, also that the whole village is sitting on one vast bed of gravel and that water will find its own level no matter how many flood barriers you install. If you live in a flood plain, then you have to prepare to put up with the consequences of flooding and the damage it can do to your property. History has a nasty way of repeating itself.

In 1947 the only way to Moor Hall was by boat. The Royal Exchange, now Malik’s was flooded, so was every building going towards The Moor, that included Tom Emmett’s old forge now a Tandoori. Access to Berries Road was only by boat.

The Cookham Village "Dad's Army."

2012-01-14T16:21:00.000-08:00

Dad's Army Headquarters.

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I now take you back 52 years when this building behind the “The Crown” was the home of Cookham Village platoon of “Dad’s Army” better known as the Home Guard, but in the first instance was named “The Land Defense Volunteers” or LDV on their arm bands. It also was the home of the Cookham Army Cadets.

The reason for my sudden switch to this building is that it may be by now not even recognizable with the present modernization of The Crown. I seem to remember that most segments of the Home Guard were associated with public houses as their base of operation. Cookham Village Platoon for the most part did guard duty on the two bridges. They were the Toll Bridge and The Railway Bridge. Plus they also had some input with The Upper Thames Patrol, between Cookham & Marlow Locks.

I did cover the Cookham Army Cadets earlier in this blog with their photograph taken on The Moor just outside the pub.

Walnut Tree Cottage.

2012-01-12T09:47:00.000-08:00

Walnut Tree Cottage.

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Walnut Tree Cottage, the one time home of the Briggs family, who I remember were very much into growing your own produce at home and in their Sutton Allotment. They also kept chickens in a run in the far corner of the garden and fed them among other things all their kitchen scraps. This was quite a common practice in many households in the village sixty to seventy years ago.

The Briggs Memorial Bench.

2012-01-09T16:37:00.000-08:00

The Briggs Memorial Bench.

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This is for those followers of Cookham.com and also read my history blog, so I have inserted a photo of the Memorial Bench, which the Briggs family gave to the village in memory of their son Michael, who lost his life during the Battle of Britain in 1941.

His father was a wounded veteran of the First World War. Although he suffered a stiff leg, he never seemed to complain and maneuvered himself around the village on an old ladies bicycle and a walking stick and also tended an allotment at Sutton Allotments.

His mother was a very active woman in Holy Trinity and at the end of the war arranged a drive called “The Mile of Pennies” in aid of the church roof repairs.

The Annual Cattle Drive.

2012-01-07T17:43:00.000-08:00

Annual Cattle Drive.

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The annual cattle drive to Cockmarsh from Sheephouse Farm; Maidenhead Court would take place during the first week in May. This is when George Allan the Hayward at that time would come to the farm and count and stamp the cattle on their hind quarter with the now historic “C” brand with hot coal tar.

So after tea we, my cousin John and I with the rest of the farm staff with our bicycles would head off down the road ahead of the herd to make sure that all gates leading to private homes were closed. Then across Widbrook Common and Sutton Road to School Lane. There we would turn them up School Lane and on to Moor. Here we kept them on the south side of the causeway and over the Fleet Bridge. The next turning point was up Terry’s Lane, again making sure that all entrances were either closed or blocked, and this being uphill was a little bit slower.

Finally we arrived at the top of Cockmarsh and there would be George Allan with his pony and trap to count the heifers and steers through the gate. Then we would walk all the cattle down the hill and continue to the easterly end of Cockmarsh and go under the railway bridge. It was then a ride along the towpath to Marsh Meadows, where we would walk across to The Crown for our reward. The men for their pint of beer and we boys for large lemonade and a packet of Smith’s Crisps.

Hedsor Wharf 200 years ago.

2012-01-01T17:36:00.000-08:00

Hedsor Wharf 1812.

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This painting of Hedsor Wharf by William Havel will be 200 years old this year. It clearly portrays the Thames as being very slow moving and with no great depth; due to the fact at that time there was no real regulation of its flow by either weir or locks. There were a few eel basket weirs, but they did not stem the river flow by any means.

Cookham around this time was becoming a very popular small market town and a point at which it was easy to ford across. Hedsor to the bargee’s, was one point in the river that was difficult to navigate around, especially during low water, and quite often got grounded on the ever-present sand or gravel bars.

Then came the building of the A4 Bridge over the Thames, which was the death knell to the sailing barge traffic and the bargee’s had to rely on local horse towing power to pull them up stream. With the building of locks and weirs to control the river level and the building of the Great Western Railway by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, trade and transportation changed dramatically.

The Thames Sailing Barge

2011-12-24T12:59:00.000-08:00

The Thames Sailing Barge.

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There has been quite a discussion of late on the barge traffic on the Thames. There was up until 1939 quite a few Thames sailing barges in use from the Port of London and other ports on the east coast, some even went across the channel to Holland, where they were able to navigate the Dutch canal system.

The last Thames sailing barge that I saw on the Thames was moored to the island just across river from the Thames Hotel in Maidenhead and just down stream from “The Iron Duke,” which was the Maidenhead Navy Cadets training vessel. It was minus its mast, though it still had its leeboards. Most of these barges have been converted to private pleasure use.

The Grove and the fire of 1919.

2011-12-19T11:02:00.000-08:00

The Grove before the fire.

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On the night of the 24th of March 1919 The Grove was completely destroyed by fire.

The chimney has caught alight during the evening but it was thought the blaze had been extinguished. At about 11.00 p.m. the owner, Mr. E.R. Goolden and his son, Lieutenant Commander Massey Goolden, were reading in the library when they smelled smoke and discovered that the roof was on fire. The other occupants of the house, Mrs. Goolden and Miss Goolden and two elderly servants had already gone to bed. The Lieutenant Commander rescued the two ladies before summoning the fire brigade and the police.

Neighbours, including Colonel Ricardo from Lullebrook, helped rescue some of the family possessions but a great deal including was lost including books, pictures and silver, along with much antique furniture.

The fire got such a hold, and burned out of control, because (ironically) the river was in flood. The Cookham firemen – and there were only five of them – could not get their manual pumping engine from the fire station in Terry’s Lane and over the flooded Moor. They abandoned it and carried their hoses through the floodwater; only to find that the pressure in the hydrants near Cookham Bridge was too low.

Both Maidenhead Brigade and the High Wycombe Brigade were summoned to give assistance, but in both cases the water was too deep for their appliances to get through. The Goolden’s Bailiff – William Price (who had a nursery garden at Grove Farm) made valiant efforts to release the High Wycombe engine from the mud on Ferry Lane, but to no avail. Again the men waded to the scene but had not sufficient equipment to make any impression on the blaze.

By morning the house was completely destroyed and visitors flocked to see the ruins. A local journalist who had the war years fresh in his mind likened the scene to a piece ’outraged Ypres’, and pointed out how pathetic the Cookham Fire Brigade’s little hand-cart and a single length of hose looked as it stood on what had been the lawn of The Grove.

‘It was not a business, by far, for the hand-cart brigade.’ The writer went on to suggest making contingency plans for the co-operation with some larger brigades in the area in hope that ‘a few powerful motor engines would defy a flooded lane, and be down in time to be of use’. He also pointed out that if there were a proper bridge over Cookham Moor this problem would never have arisen.

In due course the house was rebuilt. The new Grove was not on exactly the same site as the previous one, being aligned differently towards the river.

David Ricardo, great nephew of the late Colonel Ricardo of Lullebrook Manor, gave these verbatim facts to me.

Of course a causeway and bridge was built across Cookham Moor thanks to the generosity of Mrs. Balfour-Allen in 1928. Now it is feared that bridge will not take the weight of present day traffic. One solution is to turn the present roadway into a second causeway and bridge able to withstand today’s weight of traffic.

The DUKW a Flood Saviour.

2011-12-16T07:11:00.000-08:00

The 1947 Flood Saviour.

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There are very few residents of Cookham living today that would remember the 1947 flood, as the floodwater had entered half the premises in the high street. For instance picking out businesses such as the Arcade and Malik’s and the Cookham Tandoori would suffer.

It was very fortunate that, at that time there were war surplus Army DUKW’s (Ducks) available to rescue people and also was used as supply vehicles to those who were dry but isolated by the flood water.

These vehicles are still available and are being manufactured. One of these would certainly be a very good insurance policy. It also could be fitted with a fire pump so that another Grove fire of 1919 would not be repeated.

Eel Traps at Hedsor.

2011-12-10T14:56:00.000-08:00

Eel Traps at Hedsor.

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Eel trapping on the Thames was quite an industry in years gone by when mature eels felt the urge to breed and would make their way from the ponds and streams where they lived for a few years to mature, ready for the long trip back to the place of their birth in the Sargasso Sea. The small silver eels on their trip have a much easier trip as they followed the Gulf Stream to the rivers of England and Europe. One is always reminded of that old cockney delicacy of Jellied Eels.

The one time home of Sir Algernon Guinness.

2011-12-04T18:49:00.000-08:00

The one time home of

Sir Algernon Guinness.

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Sir Algernon Guinness a very well known resident of Cookham a member of the famous Guinness family, but also well known as a British racing car driver on the Brooklands race track.

Another thing of note was that he was first Cookham resident to have a television set. When the new church organ was installed in 1937, it was found that during the television hours from 6.00 to 9.00 pm that the new organ blower motor caused television interference during the evening service. So to cure the matter Sir Algernon had a suppressor fitted to the organ motor at his own expense.

A quiet Sunday Morning.

2011-12-01T09:57:00.000-08:00

A quiet Sunday morning.

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There was a time in Cookham when a Sunday morning scene like this was a weekly occurrence, seen her from Dudley Sims the butcher on the left to my grandmothers home at Wisteria Cottage after she sold up Ovey's Farm.

Drifting barges on Cliveden Reach.

2011-11-29T13:17:00.000-08:00

Drifting Barges.

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There was a time back in the early 1800’s and before bridges were built across The River Thames that the Thames Sailing Barge was the main form of river commercial transport. With a good wind they could make their way up the river and on the return would drift downstream at the river flow rate, while the bargee’s would steer the barge with an oar somewhat like that of a Gondolier in Venice.

To cross the river at that time was either by fording at a shallow point, or by using a chain ferry that were just coming into use at that time. When bridge building took place sailing was no longer possible and the use of horses became to the preferred method of power to tow the barges.

In this 1818 watercolour print of Cliveden Reach you can see two barges on their way down stream. It seems that the artist was seated by Formosa or close to it.

The Ferry Hotel & The Grove.

2011-11-23T16:27:00.000-08:00

This is yet another view of the chain ferry slip beside The Ferry Hotel. But what I want t draw your attention to is the house at the left of the picture which is the original Georgian house called “The Grove.” It was at that time owned by a Miss Fleming. On the 26th of March 1919 and during a severe flood the house caught fire. The Cookham Fire Brigade could not reach the house because of the depth of the water. So they concentrated on playing water on The Ferry Hotel, as the heat was so intense. The High Wycombe Fire Brigade tried to come to the aid of the Cookham Brigade, but from the glare of the fire shining of the surface of the floodwater in Ferry Lane that the fire engine driver drove into the ditch and got stuck.

History has always had a habit of repeating itself, and now it makes me wonder what will happen to all those houses that have been built to the right going down Mill Lane and even Sutton Close. Now with the closest fire appliance being in Maidenhead and the Moor Causeway to be closed during a flood, it puts the whole village at risk.

Battlemead House.

2011-11-08T14:38:00.000-08:00

Battlemead House.

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This is Battlemead House as it is today, basically as it was, except for a few landscape changes. Now the parkland is no more and the Horse Chestnuts are all gone. Mind you, we boys made quite a lot of pocket money out of those Conker’s, as we were told they were used to make toothpaste. Not till long after the war did we find that the Conker’s were used to make the explosive “Cordite.”

Battlemead House and what was the adjoining parkland now covered with houses has quite a story to tell during the Second World War. After what was left of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk, the military had to hide them from view. So Battlemead House and its adjacent park was just the ideal place as the park contained a large amount of Horse Chestnut Trees under which the army erected their bell tents. I have no idea how many troops there were at Battlemead, but if I tell you my uncle at Sheephouse Farm delivered two 10-gallon churns of milk every day to the mess tent.

One day while collecting money from the pay office in the house the Adjutant asked him how the harvest was going and could he use some help. He said that a few extra hands would be useful. The next morning 60 soldiers turned up with a sergeant and set about bringing in the wheat, oats and barley. In three days the whole harvest was in. I remember the remark that it was the fastest harvest at Sheephouse on record.

St. Georges Lodge.

2011-11-04T14:02:00.000-07:00

Wartime life of

St. Georges Lodge.

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Once again there are very few left in Cookham that will remember the wartime use of this building. It was taken over by the military together with the Odney Club. First survivors of the British Expeditionary Force in France used it. Then after Japan attacked Hawaii and the Americans came into the war. The American GI’s to assemble in readiness for D-Day used it.

As you can see in the photo there is an American GI on guard duty, and they soon got use to boys in the village going up to them and saying, “Got any gum chum?”

The Old Slaughterhouse.

2011-10-29T12:45:00.000-07:00

The Old Slaughterhouse.

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Looking at the village today, it is hard to imagine that it was a very much self-contained unit providing for it self all locally grown produce and meat, even to having its own slaughterhouse. Not only Cookham, even Bourne End had a slaughterhouse at the back of the Parade behind Ernie Colliass butchers shop until the beginning of the war. Maidenhead had one that was in use during the war and right until its end after the war in West Street.

In the photo above you can see where the slaughterhouse was located, just where the garages now stand. A lot will remember Jack Smith the butcher, but before him there was Dudley Sims who was a gentleman farmer and also had a butchers shop in Maidenhead. Before him there was a Mr. Wooster.

Bridge Deflector Piers.

2011-10-24T12:51:00.000-07:00

Bridge Deflector Piers.

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There was a time during the early years of the iron bridge being built that there was quite a lot of barge traffic on the river. Most of this traffic was Thames Conservancy barges, which were loaded with gravel from the riverside pits at Marlow and for use further down stream in maintaining the riverbank from erosion.

It was quickly found out that during periods of a fast flowing stream that the barge helmsman would lose way as the tug slowed to make the turn into the lock cut. So three deflecting wooden piers were erected to prevent these barges from colliding with the bridge supports. Although the barge traffic has but all ended, the wooden piers on the upstream side of the bridge still remain.

The Second Cookham Toll Bridge.

2011-10-20T10:19:00.000-07:00

The Second Toll Bridge.

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In July 1866 the Cookham Bridge Company announced that a new iron bridge would be built and requested designs and quotations. Thirtyseven plans were submitted and the contract was awarded to Messrs Pease, Hutchinson & Co Ltd of the Skerne Ironworks of Darlington for a bridge of two wrought iron girders supported by eight pairs of concrete-filled iron pillars. The estimated cost was £2,520 it proved to be some £1000 cheaper even than the estimate for the 1840 wooden construction. The remarkably low cost, due to the fact Pease & Hutchinson were major iron manufacturers and experienced bridge builders. This led to the new bridge being known as: "The cheapest bridge on the River Thames for its size".

Work on the replacement bridge began at the end November 1866. The approaches rerouted ready for the new bridge to be commissioned on the 1st July 1867 The bridge continued to be owned by the Cookham Bridge Company and operated as a toll-bridge until 1947. It was then purchased by Berkshire County Council for £30,000 and the tolls lifted.

The last major overhaul of the bridge was carried out in March, 2000.

The first Cookham Toll Bridge.

2011-10-14T10:14:00.000-07:00

First Cookham Toll Bridge.

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As the chain ferry in the late 1830’s was slow and frequently had chain breaking due to wear and a fast flowing river at times, the result was the formation of The Cookham Bridge Company.

On 25 May 1839 a Mr Freebody was contracted to construct the bridge for £3,140 with George Treacher as the designer. Freebody was also contracted for a further £225 to build a Toll House and gates on the Buckinghamshire side of the river. Work started on the construction of the bridge in the Summer of 1839, and was finished by the end of the year, over-budget at a total cost of £4,224 The bridge was wooden and had 13 spans, nine of 24 ft and four of 18 ft. Cookham Bridge opened on 1 Jan 1840 and was let to a Mr Bolton at an annual rent of £350 although by 1844 it was only producing £330 per annum in tolls.

Due to its wooden construction and the preservation of timber using creosote under hydraulic pressure was not yet in use. The bridge required a lot of maintenance, in 1859 George Treacher reported to the Cookham Bridge Company that several of the piles were "very much decayed and likely to give way". In Treacher's opinion the bridge was unlikely to survive the winter, so a Mr Cook of High Wycombe was engaged to make emergency repairs at a cost of £96 12s 2d. The repairs did little to stop the decay and five years later in 1864 the new surveyor, a Mr. Carter, described the bridge as "not dangerous, but not safe." “It may colapse if a heavy vehicle passes over it.” By 1866 the situation had deteriorated to such a degree that the lessee asked for a reduction in rent as the toll income had fallen off due to people being too afraid to use the bridge.

A chain ferry hand crank.

2011-10-09T13:44:00.000-07:00

Ferry Hand Crank.

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It is very hard today to find a photo or even a sketch of an old chain ferry hand crank, so I have had to use this small version of a pedestrian chain ferry as an example. Ferry's like the original Cookham Ferry, if it had not been replaced by first the wooden bridge and later the iron bridge that is still in use, would I am sure like a lot of similar ferry's would have converted to a steam driven system, like the one in the photo below.

Steam powered ferry.

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With grateful thanks to the ferries at Southwold and Trowlock Island ferry on the Thames.

Holy Trinity Church circa 1798.

2011-10-05T10:28:00.000-07:00

Holy Trinity Church 1798.

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I have just had the pleasure of communicating with Neville Lee who now lives in Melbourne, Australia. He recently became the proud possessor of a very large painting of Cookham Church from which research now dates it as being around 1798. From the larger painting it looks as if the artist was seated on Sashes Island. The light is right as if it was late afternoon early evening with the sun in the west.

There are a few things missing and that is the Ferry Inn, but in a lot of instances these sort of thing happens, which I will call artistic license. What is clearly shown is the ferry slip. That is why I am including this painting in on my history of the Cookham Ferry.

Once again, my very grateful thanks to Neville for this painting of the church and river.

Ferry Chain and Guide.

2011-10-01T16:42:00.000-07:00

Ferry Chain & Guide.

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When researching for photos or sketches of chain ferries that were in use 160 years ago, one has to use example photos or make drawings to explain the subject. This is something that I had to do in the case.

Here you see the chain being lifted up from the river bed as the ferry makes its way from one bank to the other. Power in the early days was by a manual crank handle turned by the ferryman.

Cookham Chain Ferry Slip.

2011-09-28T11:39:00.000-07:00

Old Chain Ferry Slip.

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In the photo above, which I have run once before in this series of Historical Blogs. This time I want you to look behind the young people, and you will see what remains of the village end of the Cookham Chain Ferry. Nowadays, it has been utilized as a ramp for launching boats off of mobile boat trailers. The slip on the Bourne End side of the river has long since disappeared with the building of the boathouses.

John Brooks, Ferryman.

2011-09-24T16:05:00.000-07:00

John Brooks, Ferryman.

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There has always been a member of the Brooks family up until 1956 acting as ferryman to Sashes Island from below Cookham Bridge for nearly a century. Even when John Brooks the Elder went off to fight in World War 1, his daughter Biddy took her fathers place to work the ferry. Then after he retired his son John took on the position until it was closed. As were the other two ferries at Cookham Lock and My Lady’s Ferry at Cliveden Reach.

The Fleet Bridge 1930.

2011-09-21T14:57:00.000-07:00

Fleet Bridge 1930.

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There has been quite a lot of talk about The Fleet Bridge and The Causeway over the moor lately. I thought that this photo taken just a year after it was built in 1929 would fit in very nicely. According to my sources the couple pushing a pram over the bridge are my mother and father on their way to Cookham Cemetery to tend my brother’s grave, as he died just two months before I was born in January 1930. According to my aunt this was always a Sunday afternoon ritual for them to walk from Widbrook to the cemetery and back to tend his grave, taking flowers from the garden.

Of course seven years later it was the setting for the Sir Stanley Spencer painting of the moor and the village from that bridge. Yes that bridge is now 82 years old.

The Cookham Horse Ferry.

2011-09-17T10:28:00.000-07:00

Cookham Horse Ferry.

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It has long been known that the Romans used to use mules to pull their barge traffic up the many waterways of Britain, and the Thames was no exception. In the photo taken above, taken around 1875, the photo of the Horse Ferry that use to transport barge horses from Sashes Island to a point at the back of the old Ferry Hotel.

In the next photo of the same period, there are a group of men from the village about to go across to Sashes Island for a Sunday afternoon walk, known then as the Three Ferries. This Horse Ferry you will note that the Ferryman propels and guides it by using a barge or punting pole.

Another photo also of the same era of a pair of horses pulling a Thames barge upstream.

Eddy Smythe. A true village gentleman.

2011-09-14T11:52:00.000-07:00

Eddy Smythe.

A true village gentleman.

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Eddy Smythe was a very well known local resident of Cookham for just over 80 years. According to his mother he was born on the 2nd of August 1909 at 9.00 a.m. in the village of Braunton in northwest Devon. A very special day by all accounts, as it was the day of August Bank Holiday Fair.

At the age of 14 he left school and started an apprenticeship as a wheelwright then changed to become a joiner. After finishing his four-year apprenticeship at 18 he first came to Cookham, and found work on a new building site in Bromley in Kent. He also worked for a time for Lovell’s, builder in Beaconsfield.

It was in 1940 in Grace’s Builders Yard by the Moor in Maidenhead and he looking for work when he came upon Courtaulds lorry loading material for their new wartime site at Islet Park in Maidenhead Court. He asked if they had any work for a Joiner at midday, and by 2.00 p.m. he was at work. This is where he worked until he retired in 1974.

Eddy took a very active part in village life, married to the eldest daughter Roberta (Bob) of P.C. Joe Tubb, who it was often heard him refer to his wife in that soft Devonshire burr as “My Tubby.” After the war the bell ringers of Holy Trinity use to have a ringers outing to the seaside, of which Bob was a very active member, and it was always on the August Bank Holiday Monday, which at that time use to be the first Monday in August. So it was always close enough to his birthday as well.

Among other things he was for a long time Church Warden and also helped in constructing the sets for the annual pantomime in the Pinder Hall. The last time I saw Eddy was to sit with him Lodge in Cookham Dean together with Jim Ricketts in 1998. May they both have found their reward in The Grand Lodge Above?

I would like to thank at this time the help given me by the Maidenhead Waterways Preservation Society and the Bourne End Video Camera Club.

The history of the Cookham Ferry.

2011-09-11T15:59:00.000-07:00

Ferry Lane Cookham.

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Many centuries ago, as far back to when the Romans first came to Britain there was a settlement here in Cookham and here was a good place to ford the Thames, this being one of the shallower parts at that time. Though back in the 1800’s there was a discovery of a Roman bridge near Hedsor wharf. Which no doubt fell into disrepair when the Romans left in or around 410 AD.

Of course The Danes and The Vikings did sail up the Thames with some difficulty, having to navigate around sand bars and the like. What really changed the Thames for barge and commercial trade was the introduction of a system of weirs and locks. Even then there was still places where tricky navigating had to be applied around the area of Hedsor Wharf, where many a barge got stuck on a gravel-sand bar. This problem existed until the present Cookham Lock cut was built and put into service. Then that ended the sailing barge trade and the towpath system with horses came into use. Only to fade out in the 1850-60’s when Isambard Kingdom Brunel built the Great Western Railway causing the commercial barge traffic to die completely.

Of course all this construction of the locks and weirs had caused the water level at the once Cookham ford was no longer available. So a ferry system was built to allow commercial and private traffic to cross from the Berkshire side to the Buckingham side of the river and the chain ferry came into being.

The photo above is that of Ferry Lane, the once well-travelled highway for anyone wanting to cross the river. This part of Cookham has not changed in the past 70 years.

The Aitkenhead Chain Harrow.

2011-09-09T11:46:00.000-07:00

The Aitkenhead

Chain Harrow.

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Among dairy farmers for years now The Aitkenhead Chain Harrow is one of less significant pieces of agricultural equipment, yet it is one of the most frequent used on the farm pastures.

For at the end of the grazing season and the pastures go into a winter rest it is normal for the chain harrow to go over and accomplish three things. One to break up the cowpats and spread them over the surface. The second thing is to loosen all the dead grass and let the moisture gets to the roots. The third item is to level any molehills that may be present.

Again in early spring before applying a top dressing of nitro-chalk the pasture is harrowed to open up the soil once again and to level any molehills that have occurred during the winter. Then after the cattle have grazed, on what is known as the spring flush of young grass the harrow is used once again to spread the cowpats and encourage further growth.

Harrow Close Up.

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The close up is to give the reader an idea of this harrow and its construction, which has been in use on British farms for at least 150 years or longer. The construction of this impliment was most likely was made locally by the village blacksmith in early times.

The same harrow is still in use today, but is mounted on a tractor three point hitch and divided into three square frames that can be folded for easy transportation.

The lowly historical Cowpat or Cow Chip.

2011-09-07T10:44:00.000-07:00

A Odney Cowpat.

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When complaints of cowpats on Odney Common were started, it opened up a whole bag of Cookham history, of which I am about to relate to one and all. First off, the photo above is of a cowpat sent to me by one of my enthusiastic readers of the blog of a cowpat on Odney Common, for which I say thank you.

I don’t suppose many of you realize that dried cowpats or sometime known as cow chips have been used as fuel for heating and cooking for thousands of years around the world, which also included droppings from Elephants, Camels and Buffalos.

Here is an extract from Cookham’s history by Stephen Darby in 1831:

Clatting was a somewhat important occupation with the poor, and was carried out by the elderly women. When the cow droppings in Widbrook, Odney and Cockmarsh were sufficiently solidified, they were turned over or balanced in pairs edgeways to dry.

When dry, they were collected and carried home for fuel, being then known as Cow-chips. The material, being light, admitted of very large loads, which were carried, on the heads and a moderate wind, even, sadly interfered with the chattering with which ordinarily the homeward journey was accompanied.

Homeward Bound.

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In the photo above taken in the mid 1800’s of a lady taking home a wheel barrow load of dried cow chips. So you can now see even then, the villagers of Cookham knew how to re-cycle waste materials.

Today in various parts of the world they still hold Cow Chip Throwing Competitions, to see who can throw their chip the furthest.

Old Moor Gates.

2011-09-06T12:32:00.000-07:00

Old Moor Gates.

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As I mentioned in the previous blog there were at one time and for certain in the mid 1700’s four five bars gates were placed at the four entrances to the Moor that were travelled by the public. The sketch above shows the gate to the Back Lane as it was known in those days, now of course it is known as School Lane. Another was place at the west entrance to the village. Another was placed at the entrance of what is known today as Berries Road. The last one was located at the west end of The Moor and very close to the then active village Pound.

The Kissing Gate.

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Along with these four gates were four smaller gates, known in those days and even today as “Kissing Gates.” These gates as shown in the photo above were installed to provide easy access for the pedestrian public, and at the same time preventing the cattle from straying off The Moor.

The Seven Foot Bridges across the Moor.

2011-09-03T10:28:00.000-07:00

Moor Foot Bridges.

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According to Stephen Darby’s account of early Cookham of 1831, there were seven earthen mounds across The Moor where the causeway is now located. Each mound was joined together with a wooden footbridge. This would enable the village folk to cross when the water was high during periods of flooding, or when the ground was marshy after a heavy rain without getting their feet wet.

This arrangement stayed in place until Mrs. Belfour-Allen gave the present Fleet bridge and causeway in memory of her husband in 1929. It was always well used by the gentlemen of the village, who could be seen every morning stepping out in a brisk walk to the station to catch the 7.35 a.m. train to Paddington. Only stopping briefly at Norman’s the newsagent to pick up their copy of The Times.

There were also four gates of entrance to The Moor. Three at the village end and one located at the west end close to The Pound. At the village end one gate was located at the entrance of Back Lane, now of course known as School Lane. The next gate was at the west end of the village high street. The third gate was at the entrance of what is now Berries Road.

The Fleet Bridge.

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A view of the Fleet Bridge looking west together with part of the causeway. This 82 year old brick and concrete structure has stood well the test of time.

Heather Atkinson-Ahmad

2011-08-30T13:19:00.000-07:00

Heather Atkinson-Ahmad.

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This lady though she was not resident in Cookham, she had very strong and historical connections with the village. Most of the older members of the village will remember her brother Desmond Atkinson. So with that in mind I asked her niece Carol to write a tribute to her Aunt Heather. You can see from the photo a strong resemblance between her and her brother.

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It is with much sadness that I was told that my Aunt Heather, who was the sister of the late Desmond Atkinson, who passed away in Toronto, Canada on August 26th 2011 at the age of 92, where she had lived for the past 40 years.

She was born in Sidcup, Kent, as was Desmond, where her father was the bank manager of Martins Bank. She worked in London for Air India where she met Kay Ahmad, her husband. She travelled extensively and on at least four occasions’ they drove by car from London to Karachi, which was very adventurous and would probably be too dangerous to attempt now.

She regularly visited and stayed in Cookham, with Desmond & his wife Ursula and where her husband is buried.

She was very interested in the theatre & the arts, particularly Desmond’s activities for many years as writer-producer and director of Christmas Pantomimes in the Pinder Hall.

She will be remembered with much happiness but, also sorrow by her niece Carol, Desmond and Ursula's daughter and so many friends in Cookham, Toronto and around the world.

The Cookham Fire Station.

2011-08-25T12:13:00.000-07:00

Cookham Fire Station.

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I have noticed recently of what is to happen to the village fire station. I have discussed in earlier blogs the wartime history of the station that was made up with both full time and volunteer firemen.

One full time fireman had a very strong Irish brogue and in his off duty hours, use to busy himself making leather handbags and purses, which he sold locally to the local villagers for birthday and Christmas gifts. I remember watching him punching holes and then lacing the parts together. So at one time in its history was the source of making handbags and purses. Of course working with leather was already part of the village history.

I wonder if some lady has a handbag or purse today, handed down from her mother that was made right here in the fire station?

The Crown Hotel of the early 1900's.

2011-08-24T16:12:00.000-07:00

The Crown Hotel 1910.

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With the destruction of the first Crown Inn by fire, a second and grander edifice was built to replace it. It was also designed to accommodate the fast growing motoring public; giving competition to the already changed Kings Arms Hotel that had built a garage where the chauffer/mechanics could service their vehicles ready for the next days driving.

They too also had a garage for their guests as well, the only thing that they did not have was a petrol pump service that the Kings Arms had installed.

Cookham was well known to the touring public coming out of London during those early years of the 1900’s. It was a very popular place to be seen on the river, or visiting one of those thirty night clubs that existed between Maidenhead Bridge and Cookham at that time, only to be destroyed once again by fire 1929.

The Crown Inn 2011.

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It was replaced by the present modest public house, which was one of the thirteen public houses in the Cookham’s during the 1930’s and 40’s.

The rope laced bed of the 1800's

2011-08-22T11:57:00.000-07:00

Rope laced bed.

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Inns of the first Crown’s vintage, the bed shown above would have been one of the most common in use. The lace network of rope between the frame of the bed, which had auger holes, spaced about six inches apart.

The end of the rope was double knotted at one end; the rope was fed through the first hole at the foot of the bed frame and threaded through the corresponding hole at the other end. The rope was then pulled taut using a simple levering device and a small tapered wooden plug was tapped into the hole to stop the rope losing its tension. The rope was then fed into the next hole and the whole process was repeated at the other end of the bed. Again when the tension had been made another tapered wooden plug would have been tapped into place. This process would have continued until the threading of the rope was completed. As the work proceeded from end to end the wooden plug was removed and reused in the next hole. At the completion of the last hole the tapered plug was left in place and the balance of the rope was coiled for future use.

The cross roping was then done in the same format except, that this time the rope is fed under and over the rope strands going in the opposite direction. This also gives the rope support extra firmness. On top of which would be placed the straw filled palliasse.

From time to time the rope had to be tightened due to it stretching in a damp atmosphere. Hence the term of sleeping tight, as in the old saying passed down through the years, “Goodnight, sleep tight, and don’t let the bed bugs bite.”

The original Crown Inn.

2011-08-19T11:34:00.000-07:00

The Crown Inn 1883.

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We now take a look at the location of the Crown public house in Cookham. As you can see in the photo above is what was known then as “The Crown Inn.” From its architecture it is estimated that it was built in the 1700’s. Providing food and shelter to the weary traveler. Accommodation in those days was to say the least, very sparse. This I will go into greater detail later.

Wattle & Daub Construction.

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The construction of the first Crown was of wattle and daub, fixed to an oak beam wall frame as seen in the drawing above. The wattle was made of in most cases of hazel saplings, of which there was plenty growing localy. The lime and sand mortar mixture would have come from a local source also. Horsehair was also used, as a binder in the mixture of which there was no shortage either.

This building was destroyed by fire in the late 1890's. Exact date not known at this time and was replaced by a new and much larger building and named "The Crown Hotel." The story of will continue in the next blog.

The Family Washboard.

2011-08-17T15:41:00.000-07:00

The Family Washboard.

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In the late 1800’s right through to the middle 1900’s a washboard such as the one in the photo above was in regular use during the Monday washday. By rubbing the clothes over the ripple section of the board using a good block of Sunlight soap the lady of the house would ensure to get her whites sparkling white and her coloured items bright.

Then as the washing machine with its built on power wringer came along, the washboard became a thing of the past, till Lonnie Donegan came along came and resurrected the washboard, with an old tea chest, a broom handle and piece of string, plus a cheap Spanish guitar and the age of Skiffle was born. Also many mothers lost their metal needle finger stools, as this was needed to make the washboard sound audible.

One song that he made famous was “My old man’s a dustman.” Plus of course “The Cumberland Gap.”

The Wartime "Stone Pig."

2011-08-15T15:55:00.000-07:00

The Wartime "Stone Pig."

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The earthenware “Stone Pig” as numerous people named it was from my researches a Scottish invention. They were the replacement during wartime due to the scarcity of rubber used in the making of hot water bottles. Mothers and aunts would knit tubular socks to keep them warm and for children to snuggle up to without getting burnt from a bottle that was too hot.

Today if you find one it has become a collectible antique. Along with other items of this vintage.

Cookham Army Cadets 1942.

2011-08-12T11:05:00.000-07:00

Cookham Army Cadets 1942.

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With very many thanks to an old wartime Cookham resident Dan Coles I am able to bring you the photograph of the village Army Cadets. Between Dan and myself we have been able to name nearly all the members in the photo.

So if you have a father or grandfather or even a great grandfather who lived in Cookham during the war years who were either evacuated from London or whose family was already living here, you may get a surprise.

I have numbered all those in the photo for easy recognition, or for a grand child to say, ”Is that what granddad looked like as a little boy.

1. Lt. Green. 2. Peter "Nobby" Clark. 3. Dick Lewingdon.

4. Unknown. 5. Charlie "Waggle" Coles. 6. Charlie "Slogger" Smith.

7. Derek "Hole in the Road" Buckingham. 8. Sgt. Dan Coles.

9. Unknown. 10. Unknown. 11. Fred Holland. 12. Bernard Hills.

13. Face is familiar Unknown. 14. Unknown.15. Willie Harris.

16. Peter Kent.

Lt. Green use to run a shoe repair business very close to the Pinder Hall.

Peter “Nobby” Clark was the son of George “Dawdy” Clark who was a carter on White Place Farm.

Dick Lewingdon was the second of three sons of Jim Lewingdon who ran the Off License in Hamfield Cottages.

Charlie “Waggle” Coles, Dan Coles, brother, got his nickname from his quick footwork on the football field.

Charlie ”Slogger” Smith, got his nickname from his famed goalkeeping skill of kicking a football the whole length of the field. In later years he was known as “CAB” Smith.

Derek Buckingham, got his name when he played in a school play with the late Bill Fisher called “The Hole in the Road.” In which he played a Night Clubbing Gent, while Bill played the road works Night Watchman. The play was put on in aid of “Wings for Victory Week.”

The Wash Stand.

2011-08-10T13:25:00.000-07:00

The Wash Stand.

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It is very hard to believe that even 80 years ago in Cookham, the wash stand set as seen in the photo above was still in use by many families. To have a bathroom in the house was an unheard of luxury. These would be found in the various bedrooms of the house. The stand itself would have a marble top and would be around two feet in depth by about three foot six inches wide. Besides the basin being used to wash in was about eighteen to twenty inches wide, it was often used for the mixing of Christmas Puddings. The jug or ewer, to give it the correct name would carry the warm water from the kitchen to the bedroom. The chamber pot seen on the was often called by little boys as "The Goesunder." As it goes under the bed.

The toilet was usually outside the house and hooked up to a septic tank system, usually next to the family wash house and copper. Bath night was usually on a Friday night in a tin bath next to the fire in the kitchen. Children first and off to bed, followed by father before he went to the local for a pint, then last but not least it was mothers turn. That is where the old saying of "Friday night is bath night" came about.

A Saturday Butcher's Boy.

2011-08-08T12:53:00.000-07:00

The Saturday Boy.

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Out of the blue I received an e-mail, which got me thinking of my wartime activity as my father’s “Saturday Boy.” He was at that time manager of JH Dewhurst Ltd, butchers, located at 95 High Street in Maidenhead.

In those days of the war I use to deliver not only rations of meat to local households, but I use to deliver to several wartime factory canteens, one of which was the Fairy Aviation assembly factory at White Waltham. Once I had delivered meat to the canteen, I then had to go to the office to pick up a cheque. This was the part that I liked, as I had to walk through the hangar where the aircraft were being assembled, this was quite a treat for a young boy. The pear drop smell of the aircraft dope that had been sprayed on the body fabric still lingers in my nose to this day.

My usual Saturday rounds started at 8.30 a.m., having caught the 8.00 o’clock bus from Cookham at Widbrook, then a quick walk up the High Street to the shop. My usual delivery was two routes around town before lunch, then a trip down to riverside customers after lunch.

Then I would be finished about 3.00 p.m. I would pick up my 5/- from the shop bookkeeper and depending what I had collected in tips from the various customers, I would take myself off to the pictures. Either, it was the Rialto, now demolished, or to the Plaza on Queen Street. Mind you I had to be out in time to catch the last bus to Cookham, which left the Rialto at 8.30 p.m. Yes, there were no late buses in wartime.

The Keeley Cottages of Cookham.

2011-08-03T19:00:00.000-07:00

The Keeley Cottages.

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I often wonder if new residents to Cookham know the history behind the house that they now call home. This is the story about a family that were very much involved in the cottage industry of boot and shoe making, which were not only sold locally but found their way to the fashion houses of London.

Such is the story of John Keeley who seemed to have moved from Clewer near Windsor, after marrying his wife Ellen in 1831. From what I can gather they had about ten children, and as in those days some of them died at a very tender age. There was one son Edward who followed into his fathers business having been born in 1838. When John Keeley died in 1896. Ted took over the business according to the census of 1901.

Ted was a very devoted Christian and a regular attendee at Holy Trinity Church and also a very enthusiastic and dedicated bell ringer. He was the driving force in forming what is now known as the East Berks and South Bucks Branch of the Oxford Diocesan Guild of Church Bell Ringers.

When he died at the age of 93 he was at that time the oldest resident of the village he was buried in his beloved churchyard to the sound of an half muffled peal from the then six ring of bells. He would I am sure, be pleased to know that there are now ten bells in the tower.

He was by all events a very early riser and the expression he was well known for when greeting village folk after seven a.m. “Yes! It’s been a nice day.”

With many thanks to Velma Dinkley, who supplied me with some of this information.

Happy 3rd Birthday Historical Cookham.

2011-08-01T13:28:00.000-07:00

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On the 1st of August 2008 the idea of having a blog to illustrate the past history of the village and some of its past residents who certainly made the village life most interesting.

During those three years on the average visits to the Historical Cookham site via the discussion page has averaged close to 62 hits a day. That of course does not include those visitors who come to the blog direct.

It is also gratifying to note that the history of Cookham is now known around the world via the world wide web. It is also most gratifying to receive letters of interest from a great many people. Also I wish to thank those who have helped in supplying me with photographs and factual information.

As more history is uncovered the Blog will continue to be added to, and plans are underway to record the facts onto a DVD for archive purposes.

The Gym Slip Era:

2011-07-26T16:25:00.000-07:00

The Gymslip Era.

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I have just found this photograph of a group of school girls wearing a then standard school uniform of a blouse and gymslip.

The one thing was then it did not matter whether what the family status was in the village or local area, all the students wore a standard uniform dress.

Sad to say in the last few years the dress code in some schools have slipped, so the girls try do out do each other with what is modern and trendy! After all, children go to school to learn the basic building blocks to form their education, not a fashion parade.

The last of the Herries collection:

2011-07-13T11:50:00.000-07:00

A Little Something.

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Here in this photo of a little something being handed to Louise Adams, and being accepted by her mother. What is more interesting about this photo is the look on the little boys face.

What! None for me.

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Dennis caught this shot just right, with the expression that would never be repeated. Just to think that this little boy in my estimation would be about 56 years old now.

This makes the last of the last of this collection of the 1960 Sports and Prize Giving Day at Herries School. With very grateful thanks to Dennis Adams for supplying the excellent photos to work with.

Parents watch from a grassy knoll

2011-07-10T11:52:00.000-07:00

Parents watch at Herries.

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Yes it was 51 years ago when these photos were taken by Dennis Adams of parents watching the Sports Day events from a grassy bank in seated comfort.

Here you can see in this photo they are willing their offspring in the event taking place.

The third and final group shot taken of the parents on that grassy knoll.

The "Mothers Dash."

2011-07-08T07:22:00.000-07:00

The "Mothers Dash."

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Not quite Sprint, a 220 or a 440 yard event! These Mum's are out to prove how well they are kept in shape chasing after their lively offspring. Of course the egg and spoon race would have been a little more sedate perhaps!

If of course a race with the same entrants were to take place today as a race classic. It would be known as: "The Galloping Grannies."

Who is streets ahead?

2011-07-06T10:13:00.000-07:00

Tin Can Race 1960.

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Here is a photo of a young boy streets ahead of the pack in what can be described as a "Stilt Can" race. His number was 69. In my estimate he would be about 61 years old by now.

Who is the young lady?

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Yes, this young lady wearing number 24 and in second place. I wonder if she remembers this event? We do know that the young man in third place is Nick Adams. Sadly Nick has no recollection of the young girls name who beat him.

I wonder if they have can races like this on Herries Sports Days now?

Kenneth Grahame & Mr. Toad.

2011-07-03T16:19:00.000-07:00

Colonel Francis Ricardo.

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Still keeping the Herries theme in mind I now switch back to when it was known as Mayfield and Kenneth Grahame was still living there and his connection with another notable village resident in the person of Colonel Francis Ricardo who lived at The Elms, sometime it was referred to as Lullebrook Manor, and better known today as the main building of The Odney Club.

Rolls "Silver Ghost."

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According to historical accounts that I have been reading Colonel Ricardo was the first resident in the village to own a motorcar. A yellow Rolls Royce Silver Ghost, which is the model in the photo above. He use to love driving his car around the village and toot tooting on the horn, also stopping to give various villagers a lift as well.

It was due to the fact that this was happening that it was thought by many that Grahame used Col. Ricardo as a base for his character of Toad who lived in Toad Hall. As well as the car the Colonel was quite an oarsman during his lifetime. Once again Grahame had Toad mentioned as sculling on the river.

As a little boy I can remember older people in the village talking about Colonel Ricardo with great affection. Today there is still a Ricardo living in the village in his great nephew Councilor David Ricardo.

Prize Giving at Herries - 3.

2011-07-01T12:03:00.000-07:00

Prize Giving at Herries - 3.

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This is the last of this group of Herries students of fifty odd years ago at their annual prize giving and sports day.

The Herries Founder

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According to Dennis Adams who kindly supplied me with these photographs. The lady walking in the background behind the students is Mrs. Armstrong, the schools founder.

Prize Giving at Herries - 2.

2011-06-29T15:46:00.000-07:00

Herries Prize Giving-2.

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I wonder if you are either number two or number eight in this photo?

Are you here?

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At least number eighteen and number fourteen are paying attention!

Prize Giving at Herries-1

2011-06-28T10:21:00.000-07:00

Group One at Herries.

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Now take a good look at the following children in this group. One of them could be you, or if you are younger, then one of these could be your mother or father!

Group Two at Herries.

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Moving to the left in this group you will see that even your mother or father could not sit still when this photograph was taken by Dennis Adams. Two senior girls in the back row seem to be interested in the photographer.

Prize Giving at Herries (Part-1).

2011-06-27T18:57:00.000-07:00

Herries Prize Giving.

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This photograph was taken at the school prize giving day some fifty years ago. If you were a student there at that time, you may find yourself in a series of close up photos that were taken from this photograph.

So keep your eye open for a series of five enlargements that will follow.

Mrs. Armstrong, Founder of Herries School.

2011-06-25T17:25:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Armstrong, Founder.

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Entwined with the start of Herries Preparatory School by Mrs. Armstrong at Mayfield in Cookham Dean are also the ghosts of childrens favourite characters of Mole, Rat, and Badger and of course that flamboyant character of Toad, who lived in Toad Hall. All of which were wrapped up in Kenneth Grahame's book, "The Wind in the Willows."

At first she rented Mayfield and with the help of Eva Schiff and Bay Robinson soon had a very thriving Preparatory School under way.

If you were a student at the school fifty years you may be able to find yourself in the crowd taking part at the Prize Giving and Sports Day. Thanks to photographs provided by Dennis Adams of Carmonta Grocers Stores.

The Church Lychgate at Cookham Dean.

2011-06-22T10:45:00.000-07:00

The Church Lychgate.

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With thanks once again to Dennis Adams for this fine photograph of the Lychgate at Cookham Dean Church.

The meaning of the medieval word Lych means "Body." It was at this point the mourners would take shelter and wait for the minister to arrive before burying the deceased.

In a great many cases like today, two or three churches were looked after by one priest, who would arrive on horseback, and usually late as well.

Take Courage at The Jolly Farmer.

2011-06-19T17:36:00.000-07:00

Courage at The Jolly.

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Once again we return to the famous local pub of all that live in Cookham Dean. It has always pulled regular customers from far away as well for those that enjoy a well pulled pint.

This photo as with many others that I am using now are the handywork of Dennis Adams who use to run the General Store at Carmonta. In the photo seen here below:

The lady on horseback happens to be the daughter of the landlord according to Dennis, but he could not remember her name. It looks as if she is waiting to be handed a stirrup cup by her riding companion who looks as if he has nipped in for a quick pint! Anyway maybe someone will remember the ladies name.

No one at present has come up with the name of the young lad waiting outside the door.

Thomas Pudsey the Higgler.

2011-06-18T09:48:00.000-07:00

Pudsey the Higgler.

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I found this “Punch” like cartoon and thought it depicted the Victorian Higgler described by Stephen Darby in his History of Cookham.

A slightly modernized version of the business was still being carried out in the 1930’s and 40’s, by a man whose base of operation was from a small warehouse located in Cordwallis Road in Maidenhead. His main customers were cottages in the outlying parts of Cookham and Maidenhead.

He carried a wide variety of house cleaning and washday products for the busy housewife. Such as washing soda, with Reckits Blue, for that whiter than white look! Block Sunlight soap. VERITAS mantles for Gas and Aladdin oil lamps. Built into this van were two large bulk storage tanks for Paraffin Oil (Kerosene to my American readers). From which he would sell by the gallon. Even White Place Farm cottages were all oil lamps and heat until the electric mains were installed in the middle 1940’s.

Pudseys in the Snow.

2011-06-17T07:44:00.000-07:00

Pudseys in the Snow.

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Once again with thanks to Dennis Adams, we have been able to come up with a beautiful black and white photograph of a Cookham Dean cottage called "Pudseys." How it came by that name is yet to be discovered.

The original of the photograph above won first place for Dennis in a national amateur photographic competition, and now hangs pride of place on his living room wall.

If the present owner has a picture of the cottage I would love to see it so that I may pass it on to Dennis. Also if anyone knows how the cottage got its name? I would love to be able to record that as well.

I have found this that may help:

Anglo-Saxon Pudsey.

Perhaps the first substantial settlement occurred in Pudsey during the Anglo-Saxon period. Certainly they gave it the name it has now. The name Pudsey is derived from two Old English words (the language spoken by the Anglo-Saxons). The first element Pudoc is a personal name and the second is derived from either heeg or haagh which means ‘high ground’. The whole name might therefore be translated as ‘Pudoc’s hill’.

Pudsey is only one of many place names in the Aire valley which date back to the Anglo-Saxon period. Many of these place as Armley or Wortley end in the element ley meaning a clearing in a wood. Taken together they suggest that the Anglo-Saxons settled on land in the area which was not used by others and had to clear it from the heath or woodland. This probably happened in the 7th century AD.

The effects of the Norman Conquest:

Pudsey is first mentioned by name in the Domesday survey compiled for William the Conqueror in 1086 where the name is spelled Podeschesaie. Domeday is essentially a revenue document in which William’s agents compare the value of each manor with its value in the time of Edward the Confessor (1043-1066). In Edwards’s time a Pudsey was said to be worth 40 shillings.

From The Darby History of Cookham:

Re. Pudseys. These derivations are very interesting. However, in this case, the property bears the name of a former owner.

Cookham historian Stephen Darby recorded that, in 1758, Pudseys was owned by Thomas Pudsey of Cookham Dean, who was by trade a higler.

(Usually this occupation refers to a door-to-door seller of provisions, etc. - a pedlar, who would probably have had his own horse and cart. However, independent farm workers who moved from place to place offering their services were also known as higlers. Both were also often known as hagglers, as their occupations suggest).

The way to get to your favourite pub.

2011-06-14T12:30:00.000-07:00

Transport to "The Jolly."

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Once again with the help of Dennis Adams and his photographic skill I have been able to go in and pick out certain items of interest and enlarge them.

In this case it was a bicycle leaning against a tree outside The Jolly Farmer. Now that takes me back to when most locals walked to their local or use to arrive on a bicycle.

One such local gentleman was "Teddy Wakelin." Teddy was a small time builder and craftsman. From bricklaying to carpentry, a lot of the houses in the village have additions that bare his mark today and will still stand the test of time. Today,Wakelin Close carries his memory in Cookham Rise.

He was a man who loved his beer. He could down eight pints of Bitter and still ride his bike as they use to say, "As straight as a gun barrel." Quite often on a Sunday while waiting for The Royal Exchange to open, he would ride to the Toll Bridge to have a chat with the toll keeper Mr. Wheeler.

Do you Remember?

2011-06-13T11:25:00.000-07:00

Outside The Jolly Farmer.

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With many grateful thanks to Dennis Adams who use to run the Carmonta Stores after Ken Deadman gave up the Bakery. Ken is a very keen amateur photographer and now retired and living in Devon.

The photo above is of a young boy standing outside The Jolly Farmer, dressed in a school cap and gaberdine raincoat. Judging by the dress I would say that he could now have a pint in The Jolly and have a growing family of his own.

The Tractor Driver.

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The tractor driver according to Dennis use to drop by for Ken Deadman's doughnuts, which he continued make along with bread for Dennis to sell in the store. So does anyone remember him. Most likely he was working for Copas. The tractor by the way was a Fordson Dexta. This is the one that Harry Ferguson and Ford had dispute over patent right. Harry Ferguson won his case.

The House That Leans.

2011-06-09T17:11:00.000-07:00

The House That Leans.

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The history of the village of Cookham has always been of interest to me, not only from the longevity of the Hatch family in the village, but also from the preservation of its character and buildings.

Above is a sketch of which the title I am told is just called “A Cottage in Cookham.” From the style of architecture I think I can safely say it was built in the middle 1700’s. The building is of the same style that was used in the building of tithe barns, with exterior beam work showing.

So with the aid of a very good friend in the village a search for this building took place, finally we agreed that the sketch above is this building below. It is dated by the way 1833.

Now this building on the corner of School Lane and the drive to Moor Hall fits the bill. The gate and side gate in the drawing lead me to thinking that the Moor, which is common land, was like Widbrook Common gated at both ends. This was of course to stop animals from straying from the pasture. Remember also the Fleet Bridge and the Causeway did not exist either, most likely there was a water splash crossing close to where the car park is today.

You can see now why my interest in the village exists, not only for the history, but also for its preservation of it being once a Royal Manor.

The Old Cookham Dean WI.

2011-06-06T18:37:00.000-07:00

Cookham Dean WI Hall 1941.

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Once again my story goes back 70 years or there about’s when weekly Whist Drives were held in the old wood frame building with a green corrugated tin roof. The interior of which was lined with tongue and groove pine paneling. Yes I am describing the old Cookham Dean Women’s Institute near the top of Kennel Lane.

The Whist Drives were always well attended, no matter where they were being held in the Village. Yes I accompanied my mother to all these Whist Drives. Yes we would walk all the way from Widbrook to the top of Kennel Lane and back every time a game was scheduled there.

One staunch player from the Dean and never missed a game whereever it was being play was Mrs. Harris, yes I do mean Councilor Gordon Harris mother.

I do remember very well as we were walking back down Kennel Lane to High Road and seeing the glow of the London Blitz and the anti-aircraft shells bursting like a fireworks display over the top of Cliveden woods.

The yellow X on the photo above gives the approximate position of where the WI building was located at that point in time.

The First Village Fire Station.

2011-06-04T12:20:00.000-07:00

1910 Fire Station.

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The first purpose built village fire station was built at the bottom of Terrys Lane in 1910 as you can see on the gable of the building over what was the main door.

Prior to that time any fire equipment was kept at Holy Trinity Church, in a building close to the vicarage. In this instance the prime mover in the fire station being built was a local philanthropist Mr. H. Pinder-Brown. The same person who built the Cookham Toll Bridge, and built the Pinder Hall in memory of his wife in 1936. Passing it on in trust to the then vicar of Holy Trinity Church, The Reverend Benjamin Huddleston Hayward-Browne. Who was better known to the village children as “Big Ben”.

The Monkey Puzzle Tree.

2011-06-01T13:04:00.000-07:00

The Monkey Puzzle Tree.

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I don’t suppose the owners of the house where this Monkey Puzzle Tree stands knows the history behind it.

It was planted by William Turner Gray Hatch who at that time owned “The Widbrook Nurseries”, where Sutton Close is now located in March 1930.

He planted it there to mark the arrival into the Hatch family of one James Hatch. Yes that was planted there to mark my birth 81 years ago.

There was another Monkey Puzzle tree, which use to stand in the garden next door to the Forge, I believe that it was removed in the mid 1950’s. That tree was very close I am sure to being 200 years old.

They are called a Monkey Puzzle due to the sharp thorny foliage that would even prevent a monkey from climbing it.

Just 70 years ago.

2011-05-31T09:40:00.000-07:00

Seventy years ago.

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Just seventy years ago this month Britain held the first of its wartime savings drives called “War Weapons Week.” Each area pledged to raise so much money in the sale of Saving Stamps, and fifteen shilling saving certificates.

Each, City, Town, and Village set themselves a target to reach to purchase something like a Tank in Cookham’s case. All week we had a Tank sitting under the trees by the war memorial. Where it came from I do not know, but the crew were well looked after by the village ladies with jugs of tea and sandwiches.

On the Saturday a mock battle was staged by the Home Guard who came from “The Pound” area in a homemade tank made of 2X2 and hessian sacking, painted to look like a German tank. The army tank moved to the village end of the Moor and let off a Thunder Flash. The Home Guard clambered out from under their tank, just before it burst into flames, much to the applause and cheers of the watching villagers.

Most of the savings drive money was raised by whist drives and dances, either at the Pinder Hall or the Moor Hall. These were not for just the one-week; it went on week by week.

Three of Chips & Six of Fish.

2011-05-28T09:51:00.000-07:00

Three of Chips & Six of Fish.

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The subject of having a Fish & Chip outlet in Cookham has been raised recently. Now it could be in the form of a fixed location or a mobile one, serving different housing estates on different days of the week.

I can remember after coming out of the Rialto cinema and before catching the number 20 Thames Valley back to Cookham, walking back to the Colonnade and just opposite where Nate Smiths shop use to be. One could buy six of fish and three of chips wrapped in newspaper from a small portable stall. Also there was a large saltshaker and a vinegar bottle for you to use.

The term six and three off, referred to six pennyworth of fish and three pennyworth of chips. That amount may seem very small to some people today but in those days it was a good-sized meal for any man.

Someone will most likely say where are the Mushy Peas? That dish along with Chips and Gravy were found more often in the Midlands and North of England.

The International Store.

2011-05-26T10:20:00.000-07:00

World's Largest Grocer.

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There are not many people living in Cookham now that know that Cookham had its own Supermarket: “THE INTERNATIONAL STORES.” Which occupied the whole space taken up now by The Cookham Arcade.

The first retail branch of ‘Kearley & Tonge’ was opened in Brentford, Middlesex in 1878. The business taking its name from two of its founders H E Kearley and G A Tonge.

Soon more branches followed and in 1895 the company changed its name to the International Tea Company’s Stores Limited.

In the early 1900’s the company dropped the wording Tea Company from its title to just International Stores, proudly proclaiming to be the World’s Largest Grocers with over 200 stores. Of course unlike supermarkets today, the customer was waited on by a member of the staff and making sure that all the customer’s needs were met.

Staff recruiting was usually taken on with boys and girls leaving school at 14, boys were given shop training and also delivered goods to customers on trades bicycles. The girls started out keeping the shop clean and tidy and trained in serving by a senior female member of the staff. There was a bookkeepers office at which the customers paid for their purchases. The large houses with staff usually were set up with a monthly billing account.

In 1972 the company was taken over by the British American Tobacco Company, which seemed to sell off a lot of the smaller stores including Cookham. In turn the company then became Gateway Stores, which then became Somerfield’s with its headquarters in Bristol.

So you see around a hundred years ago Cookhan did have its very own grocery chain store. With bulk supplies direct from the producer to the consumer with no fancy packaging.

The Wire Cheese Cutter.

2011-05-23T16:17:00.000-07:00

The Wire Cheese Cutter.

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Going back over my memory bank and thinking back to when the village was very self supporting in many ways and served very well by the two very good grocery stores of The International and Budgens. I remember very well how Budgens assistant manager Mont Lacey use to cut and serve cheese from the wheel of cheese as it use to arrive in the store. Using a prepared beech cutting board and a fine wire cutter.

By eye he could cut cheese by size and weight to the customers request. Most people asked that the rind be left on, as they use to like it to use as bait in mouse and rattraps. Yes in those days there was no such person as a Rodent & Pest Control Officer. If you had pests, then you use to deal with them yourself.

Around that time cream processed cheese was being introduced for those who wanted something fancy, but still most people were set in their taste and ways for good English hard cheese.

Loose Biscuits in a Tin.

2011-05-19T16:58:00.000-07:00

The Store Biscuit Tin.

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This photo of an old Huntley & Palmer biscuit tin triggered some very happy memories of going into Budgens grocery store in the high street right after school and asking if they had any broken biscuits for sale. For tuppence one could get a good bagful, which could be a mixture of digestive, custard creams or even chocolate bon-bons.

When empty, the tins were returned to the factory to be refilled once more. Around Christmas time the factory would turn out biscuits in fancy tins. Though most homes bought the loose varieties from the shop and kept them a biscuit barrel, which was either made of wood or tin.

The day of fancy packages had not arrived in the 1930’s. Even today some supermarkets have a section where you can still serve yourself from bulk containers.

Have a cuppa Rosy Lea.

2011-05-16T16:10:00.000-07:00

A Cup of Rosy Lea.

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My guess today there are very few of these old Tea Caddy’s around, most likely to be found in an antique shop. I remember my mother had one that would hold a full pound of tea when full. It was mahogany with rosewood inlay, and was given to her when she and my father were married.

Today, one would have to go a long way to find those like myself that still insists on good loose tea like my favourite Queen Mary pekoe blend of tea. Tea Bags an American invention seems to lose the pure tea taste in the package and being ground up into a fine dust.

I can remember we had several different sizes of teapots, depending on how many cups were required. Also the count was a teaspoon full for each cup and one teaspoon full for the pot. Also to heat the pot first with boiling water before putting the tea in the pot. Then it had to Mask or Brew before pouring out. Of course one placed a Tea Cozy over the pot to keep the contents hot.

Besides tea coming in ¼, ½, and 1 pound packets. It used to arrive at the local grocers in large plywood tea chests with a silver foil lining. Here the grocer would package up and weigh the loose tea. Of course a great deal of this tea came from Ceylon, now named Sri Lanka. Of course of the blending of tea is quite an art, and very few blenders ever attained being in the top ranks, which of course was a very well paid profession.

There are a few places where you can still buy loose tea, most can be found on the internet. Now, as my Cockney friends would say, now is the time for a nice cup of “Rosy Lea.”

The Good Old Bacon Slicer.

2011-05-15T11:06:00.000-07:00

The Bacon Slicer.

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There was a time in Cookham when you could go to your local grocer, either Budgen’s, or the International Stores in the high street and buy your bacon sliced to the thickness that you required. Ah yes! The fragrant smell that arose from the bacon as it was being sliced, something that nowadays one does not get with prepackaged bacon.

Most of the bacon found in the south of England came from Harris bacon factory in Calne, Wiltshire. Though there was a smaller bacon factory that started up in Reading. Most grocery stores in those days had a small delicatessen section. Where you could buy your cheese, bacon, ham, eggs and pork pies. Of course the pork pies came from that Harris bacon factory as well.

Even my father in his butcher's shop in Maidenhead high street, had his own bacon slicer for slicing up his home-made ox tongue, which was a great favourite among his customers. All his equipment used in the shop was made by a company called “Hobart.” This included his mincing machine and sausage maker. The cleaning of which was done on a daily basis after use Using a very strong caustic solution in the process of washing up.

Dean Luxury Coaches.

2011-05-12T09:21:00.000-07:00

Dean Luxury Coaches.

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It was in the early 1920’s after the First World War, that country folk got the urge to have a day by the sea. That was when Dean Luxury Coaches was born. I can remember them in their dark royal blue livery in the mid 1930’s. When in 1937 the pupils of Holy Trinity School had the chance to have a day by the seaside at Brighton.

The cost to each student was 3/6. Yes three shillings and six pence. I remember I was given a shilling by my father to bring back a stick of Brighton Rock, also a request from my aunt Amy Field to bring her back some seaweed that she could hang by the kitchen door at Widbrook to serve as a barometer.

We all took a sandwich lunch with us, but were treated to a fish and chip high tea before we left for home. I also remember that our head mistress at that time was Mrs. Adams, who suffered, when a gust of wind came up, blowing a ladder on her head. I remember her face was black and blue for quite a while after.

Shortly after the Second War had ended the Dean Coaches were taken over by Windsorian Coaches. Even they I believe have now gone.

Cookham Police Station.

2011-05-07T11:22:00.000-07:00

Cookham Police Station.

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There was a time when the law of the land was administered right here in the village. Not only did it house the Sergeant and his growing family, two Police Constables as well. A third constable had a home up on Whyteladyes Lane. All of them including the Sergeant covered the whole of Cookham on bicycles. Not only did they know every family on their patch, especially the boys. There they would admonish in their own way, but if it was a little more serious than scrumping apples or plums, the culprit knew that his father would get to hear of it in due course, usually over a pint of beer or in the local allotments. You see they were also very keen gardeners. Whether they were on patrol or going to a fire, they always travelled at the same sedate speed. During the 1939-45 war they did have local assistance from Special Constables who walked various areas of the village, mostly at night. Every time I watch the TV serial “Heartbeat.” It reminds me so much of the police life in Cookham. Oh yes! We did have our Claude Greengrass’s, who I will not name, though most of them will have passed on by now. Gone are the Easton’s, Tocock’s, Hollumby’s and Tubb’s. Though some of their descendants still live in the village.

The School Star Goalkeeper.

2011-04-22T19:26:00.000-07:00

A star school goalkeeper.

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This young man in the 1940’s was our school star goalkeeper. He earned a special nick- name, because he could kick a football the whole length of the field. Our school star center forward at that time and don’t have a photo of him, was Charlie ‘Waggle’ Coles. I wonder if anyone remembers him as well.

Do you Remember this young man?

2011-04-13T15:20:00.000-07:00

Do you remember

this young man?

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Who is this young man in this picture? I believe that it was taken on Lower Road in and around 1953-54. I know he is still in the area, which includes Bourne End, and wife is a local girl. He is now a grand father by all accounts. When he first got married he and his bride emigrated for quite awhile. Then they returned to set up business in the village together. So come on now! Who is he?

Fred Turk.

2011-04-08T12:05:00.000-07:00

Fred Turk.

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The photograph above was taken at start of the 1948 Swan Upping season. The traditional swans flight feather being inserted in the Royal Swan Masters hat by his daughter.

I first met Fred Turk, when on a sunny summer Sunday afternoon my parents use to love to walk “The Three Ferries.” Stopping off at the Cookham Lock, for afternoon tea in the Lock Tea Garden. Then when Mr. Brooks, who ran the third ferry dropped us off by the Toll Bridge, my father always loved to stop and have a chat with Fred, while I would go off to have a chat with their white Cockatoo, who was always to be found sitting on his perch in their garden during the summer months.

The next time I remember I had direct contact with Fred was when during the flood of 1947. When we rented a punt from Fred to enable us to get in and out of Widbrook Cottage.

On the last occasion that I had any contact with the Turk family, was when the city of Ottawa wanted to have swans on the Rideau Canal, which runs though the city. This time I wrote to John Turk, who in consultation with Her Majesty who agreed that twelve swans should be presented to the city.

As the Rideau Canal, freezes in the wintertime, to become the world’s longest skating rink. The swans are taken up and housed in a purpose built heated swanery. Here they also breed in comfort before being released back on the canal in the spring.

The Medieval Tithe Barn.

2011-04-02T10:52:00.000-07:00

The Medieval Tithe Barn.

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The one thing the peasant had to do in Medieval England was to pay out money in taxes or rent. He had to pay rent for his land to his lord; he had to pay a tax to the church called a tithe. This was a tax on all of the farm produce he had produced in that year. A tithe was 10% of the value of what he had farmed. This may not seem a lot but it could make or break a peasant’s family. A peasant could pay in cash or in kind – seeds, equipment etc. Either ways, tithes were a deeply unpopular tax. The church collected so much produce from this tax, that it had to be stored in huge tithe barns. Some of these barns can still be seen today. Some have been converted into luxury houses. It is just a little over 200 years ago in 1798 that Wiliam Pitt the Younger in his budget introduced the first income tax to pays for the arms required for the Napoleonic War.

The priest was usually a commoner by birth, though serfs were tied to the land and were not allowed to become priests. The priest officiated at church services, weddings, baptisms, funerals, and visited the ill. He earned his living from the income from parish lands, fees for services, and tithe money. The tithe income was divided up evenly between the parish priest, the church maintenance fund, the poor, and the bishop.

Pews in the church were not introduced into the church until the middle 15th centuary. The parishioners would stand in front of the pulpit to listen to the sermon. The Chancel or Sanctum Sanctorum (where the altar is) belonged to God. The nave and the tower belonged to the people of the parish. Manor courts were often held in the nave, and tenants came there to pay their rent, or scot. A free meal was given to those who paid their scot, hence our term, "scot free".

There was another chruch tradition which has faded into the past. Gifts of barley to the church were common. The church Verger or Sexton would hare the barley brewed into ale and sold to raise money for the upkeep of the church. The term "church ale" is still used today to describe fund-raising for the church.

Church Services and Plays. Originally, people stood in the nave to hear the church service. Because few could read, Biblical stories were often acted out for the congregation in the form of miracle plays. These plays evolved into cycles or collections, today in some parts of England by "The Mummers."

I may have drifted away from the subject of Tithes and Tithe Barns but, I think you will see how the church and the Royal Manor were very much the center of village life in Medieval Cookham.

Sutton Allotments.

2011-03-30T16:08:00.000-07:00

Sutton Allotments.

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Having been going back into village history recently, I came across what to some people will be difficult for them to comprehend, especially if they were not born in this country, or are very young in school, where these measurements are no longer taught.

The land measurement called the "Rod, Pole or Perch." is 5½ yards square. So a typical allotment plot of 10 Poles is 5½ yards wide by 55 yards in length. Also you will hear or read of a chain measure as well. Of which, I will discuss in a later blog.

The history of allotments can be said to go back over a thousand years to when the Saxons would clear a field from woodland, which would be held in common. Following the Norman Conquest, land ownership became more concentrated in the hands of the manorial lords, monasteries and church. The reformation in the 1540s confiscated much of the church lands but they were transferred via the crown to the lords.

In the late 1500s under Elizabeth I common lands used by the poor for growing food and keeping animals began to be enclosed dispossessing the poor. In compensation allotments of land were attached to tenant cottages. This is the first mention of allotments.

In the UK, allotments are small parcels of land rented to individuals usually for the purpose of growing food crops. There is no set standard size but the most common plot size is 10 poles, an ancient measurement equivalent to 302 square yards.

Allotments and Cottage Gardens Compensation for Crops Act 1887 obliged local authorities to provide allotments if there was a demand for them. The local authorities resisted complying with the act and revision was required to strengthen the act.

Once again Britain was blockaded and food shortages the norm. The pressure was greater than that of the First World War and even public parks were pressed into use for food production. The famous 'Dig for Victory' campaign exhorted and educated the public to produce their own food and save shipping needed for war materials. Food rationing kept the demand for allotments and homegrown foods high until the end of the war although rationing continued until 1954.

Allotment and home food production is highly productive in terms of land use and during the war allotments were estimated to contribute some 1.3 million tons from 1.4 million plots. Agricultural production generally is more efficient in terms of labour but not in terms of land usage.

The result of demands for more and more building land saw the re-establishment of the Allotments Advisory Body, which in 1949 recommended a scale of provision of 4 acres per 1,000 head of population. This resulted in the Allotment Act of 1950.

Carbide & Acetylene Gas.

2011-03-23T16:16:00.000-07:00

Carbide & Acetylene Gas.

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Acetylene was discovered in 1836, when Edmund Davy, the inventor of the miners “Davey Lamp”, was experimenting with potassium carbide. One of his chemical reactions produced a flammable gas, which is now known as acetylene. In 1859, Marcel Morren successfully generated acetylene when he used carbon electrodes to strike an electric arc in an atmosphere of hydrogen. The electric arc tore carbon atoms away from the electrodes and bonded them with hydrogen atoms to form acetylene molecules. He called this gas, carbonized hydrogen.

By the late 1800s, a method had been developed for making acetylene by reacting calcium carbide with water. This generated a controlled flow of acetylene that could be combusted in air to produce a brilliant white light. Miners used carbide lanterns and carbide lamps were used for street illumination before the general availability of electric lights. In 1897, Georges Claude and A. Hess noted that acetylene gas could be safely stored by dissolving it in acetone. Nils Dalen used this new method in 1905 to develop long-burning, automated marine and railroad signal lights. In 1906, Dalen went on to develop an acetylene torch for welding and metal cutting.

The picture above is similar to the carton that we use to be able to buy from Mr. Greenslades, bicycle shop. I remember when a schoolmate at the Cookham Rise Secondary Modern School dropped a small grain of carbide in a schoolgirls inkwell. You should have heard the squeaks that came from that young lady when it started to foam like Mount Vesuvius. Mind you the teacher Miss Drew, was not amused.

The School Pen Nib.

2011-03-19T12:53:00.000-07:00

The school pen nib brings back a lot of memories of writing in ink at Holy Trinity School under the very watchful eye of Mrs. Snapes. Who was bound and determined that every student came up to her standard of Penmanship! Penmanship; now there is a word that has fast slipped out of the English language. It meant that our script writing had to flow in a constant well-formed and readable shape. No broad tip, or “J” nibs were allowed in school at all.

Now the ink was something else. It came in powder form from the Stephens Blue-Black Ink factory in London. It was also available in bottles from stationers like W.H. Smith with a cork stopper. The powder ink was something else as Mrs. Snapes use to mix it with water in an old blue enamel teapot, from which she would pour it into our inkwells that were fitted in our school desks. Having used cold water instead of hot, not all the ink would dissolve and would settle in the bottom of the ink well. In turn it would stick to the tip of our nibs and would make an inky mess of our workbooks, which in turn it was always our fault.

At least by the time I reached the Cookham Rise Secondary Modern School the fountain pen was on the market and so was everyone’s favourite ink called “Quink.”

Then right after the war the Miles-Martin aircraft company switched from building aircraft to producing the ballpoint pen. Which the Hungarian, László Bíró back in 1938, had invented. From what I can remember there was a patent dispute around that time.

Carbide Lamps.

2011-03-16T10:07:00.000-07:00

Carbide Lamps.

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Calcium carbide is used in carbide lamps, in which water drips on the carbide and the acetylene formed is ignited. These lamps were usable but dangerous in coal mines, where the presence of the flammable gas methane made them a serious hazard. The presence of flammable gases in coal mines led to the miner safety lamp. However, carbide lamps were used extensively in slate, copper and tin mines, but most have now been replaced by electric lamps. Carbide lamps are still used for mining in some less wealthy countries, such as in the silver mines near Potosi, Bolivia. Carbide lamps are also still used by some cavers exploring caves and other underground areas, though they are increasingly being replaced in this use by LED lights. They were also used extensively as headlights in early automobiles, motorcycles and bicycles, although in this application they are also obsolete, having been replaced entirely by electric lamps.

It is still used in the Netherlands for a traditional custom called Carbidschieten (Shooting Carbide). To create an explosion, carbide and water are put in a milk churn with a lid. Ignition is usually done with a torch. Some villages in the Netherlands fire multiple milk churns in a row as a New Year's Eve tradition. The tradition comes from an old pagan religious practice intended to chase off spirits.

In Cookham they were brought back into use during the war as batteries were hard to get a hold of for bicycle lamps. Mr Greenslade's Bicycle Shop next to the "New Inn." (Now called the Swan Uppers."), use to keep a good stock in for the village to use in small cardboard cylinders, which he sold for six pence. Not only for bicycle lamps! We boys found other uses, which I will relate to the reader in another blog.

The Wooden Wagon.

2011-03-08T16:53:00.000-08:00

The Wooden Wagon.

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During the Second World War, the Odney Club was taken over by troops returning from Dunkirk. Then after Pearl Harbour in December 1941, in 1942 it was taken over by American troops. This also included the Mill and old stables and garages in Mill Lane. The Americans used the old stables and garages for stores and a place to keep their ammunition. They must have used some for practice on the range as the empty wooden boxes were stacked against the coppice fence. Of course as boys we had our eyes on this little pile. One day we found that there was a guard on duty having a smoke near the fence, so in chatting him up we asked what the chance was of three empty ammo boxes coming over the fence. As quick as a wink we had our boxes.

We sanded out the US markings and with the help of Sid Burfoot and Larry Smith farm carpenters at White Place Farm and Ernie Holland farm engineer to do the oxy-acetylene welding and drilling of holes on his bench drill so the pram wheels that we had already, we had ourselves three good sturdy wagons.

One good use I put mine too, was to haul home to Widbrook sacks of potatoes that my father had grown on his 20-pole plot on Sutton Allotments.

The sketch above is to give the reader some idea of how the wagon was constructed.

1947-48 Mo-Ped.

2011-03-05T09:55:00.000-08:00

1947-48 Mo-Ped.

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This unit was, as my father would call it “A five minute wonder.” It could be fitted to your existing bicycle with the minimum amount of effort. It was found to have several drawbacks. Two major faults were as follows:

1.The tyre life was drastically reduced, and to get replacement tyres was quite difficult as manufacturers were still on a material quota problem.

2. In wet weather the curved metal drive wheel would slip on the tyre surface and provide little or no traction at all.

One good thing was that you did not require a driving license or a tax disc and plates. As I said earlier it soon disappeared off the market. Owen Hildreth in Market Street, Maidenhead carried them for a while. Also Halford’s, in Queen Street, Maidenhead, use to carry them for a short while.

Petrol was hard to find as well, so I know that some people would run them on a mixture of Ronsonol lighter fluid and thin lubricating oil. An 8oz bottle could be bought for the grand price of 1/6 (one shilling and six pence). Bill Church use to stock this item in his Ironmongers shop on Station Approach for the wealthier members of the village to run their Atco motor lawnmowers on.

The Corgi Scooter.

2011-02-25T12:09:00.000-08:00

The Corgi Scooter.

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Recently the question was posed by a person looking for a used scooter for use around Cookham. That got me thinking back to the late 40’s when auctions were taking place of surplus war equipment. Especially in motor equipment, which included the Paratroopers “CORGI” scooter, which were designed to be dropped with the troops in cylindrical containers at the end of a parachute.

There were one or two in the village. The garage proprietor at Cookham Motors just behind the Stanley Spencer Gallery used one I remember. He used it to run errands into Maidenhead and over to Slough.

Another form of transport that a few of the village residents used before the Second World War was the “Autocycle”. Two of these were used by residents who use to work at the Mars factory on the Trading Estate.

Ted & Anna Barrett

2011-02-19T12:00:00.000-08:00

Ted & Anna Barrett.

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Ted Barrett was a very long time employee of the Astor family at White Place Farm. Both he and his wife Anna and daughter Daisy lived in No1.”The Lodges”, on Sutton Road.

Lord Astor not only took a very great interest in Ted and his skill as a champion horse ploughman, but his great knowledge of the working farm horse. Many a time Ted accompanied his Lordship to Horse sales, to pick fresh horses for the farm stables. Ted also chose his own working pair of Belgian horses who were named Rodney and Colonel.

Ted also developed for a better word “Horse Language.” Oh yes! He did have reins, but seldom used them, as he use to talk constantly in his broad dialect, as he would drawl out their names: Co-ore-nell and Rod-kne-ee.

Ted like all carters and ploughmen on the farm were early risers, as they would up either to bring their horses in from the field in the summer time, or direct to the stables in the winter. Here they would groom and feed their charges and prepare the nosebags for the mid day feed. Then they would have their breakfast before setting out for a days work in the field around 8:00 a.m. They always had their lunch in the field with their horses. At 4:00 p.m. they would head into the stables to feed, water and groom. Then after taking them back out to the over night paddock in the summer they would head home for tea.

About every six weeks or so all the horses would be walked up to Tom Emmett’s forge in the High Street to be re-shod. This was spaced out, so that one team would go up at a time, unless one of the horses would cast a shoe. That happened now and again.

As a young boy I learnt quite a lot about the art of ploughing from Ted, which stood me in good stead in later years when ploughing with a tractor and trailer plough.

In the picture above you see Ted and his wife Anna with their wartime family of evacuees: Jean, Alan and sister Margaret, with David, Jean’s brother in the background.

My grateful thanks to, Carole Wiffen, Jean’s daughter for this photo.

The National Identity Card.

2011-02-10T10:44:00.000-08:00

The

National

Identity Card.

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It is hard to think this Identity Card was issued by the Government to keep tabs on the legitimate citizens of Great Britain some 72 years ago. As children we were to carry them when we went to school, together with smelly gas masks and every so often we had to produce our cards to the teacher, usually when we were having gas mask drill.

I remember once being stopped at an army roadblock and asked to produce my Identity Card. Along with them was one of our local constables, who were able to verify that the holder of the card was that person.

That was when every local constable was expected to know every family in the village patch that he looked after, but they were able to maintain law and order, even if they rode on slow and very upright bicycles. On top of which they were much part of the village, on or off duty.

Of course you had to carry them especially when traveling any distance to see relatives. Then the big posters at all railway stations, which read, “Is your journey really necessary?” confronted you.

WWII Ration Book.

2011-02-06T09:32:00.000-08:00

WWII Ration Book.

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I recently received a long newsy letter from Dennis Newland now living in Perth, Western Australia. As a young boy he and his family were living in Ellington Park during the war. He also remembers the Maidenhead Isolation Hospital where he and his sister ended up when she came down with Scarlet Fever, also know as Scarletina. Also walking to school past an area known as “Three Fields.” Picking and munching on Blackberries when they were in season.

Above is an example of a wartime Ration Book. Actually there were three different types of Ration Books in use:

A Green covered one, which was issued for children under five years of age.

A Blue covered one, for children of school age up to the age of eighteen.

A Buff covered one, which was for adults and supplement, for use when having to travel and stay away from home.

If any readers like Dennis would to share their wartime experiences living in the Maidenhead-Cookham area, I would like to hear from them along with any photos that you may have. This applies to children and grand children who would like to relay their parents and grandparent’s stories, before they are lost forever.

You can contact me at: ve7cij@rac.ca

Gwen Pinder Brown

2011-02-02T11:44:00.000-08:00

Gwen Pinder Brown.

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The name of Pinder Brown is well known by the older members of the village community, besides the Pinder Hall built by her father in memory of her mother, Gwen Pinder Brown filled in as her fathers able assistant in her mothers place.

Her organizational abilities were second to none through out her life in the village. One position I remember she took on very well was that of a School Governor, and on a regular basis she would sweep into the classroom to count the children and sign the attendance register.

Her style of dress never changed though all the time that I knew her, that of a 1920’s debutante. She was an excellent speaker with a clear and precise delivery of thought.

During the war she was very much involved with the WVS and of course the Women’s Institute was one of her lifetime loves.

The last I heard of this great lady was that she was in a care home for gentle folk in Eastbourne in Sussex and she was well into her ninety’s at that time.

She never married, although several times village gossip would suggest that this beau or that beau was taking an interest.

Gwen Pinder Brown, who like her parents did so much for the village and not to be forgotten.

An Historical Cookham Christmas Wish.

2010-11-29T11:42:00.000-08:00

An Historical Cookham

Christmas Wish.

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Well that time of year has come around again where we take off for a little relaxation by the Muri Lagoon on the island of Rarotonga in the famous Cook Islands.

So we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Will are still gathering Cookham History of villagers and they way things use to be. We will restart posting again towards the end of January, 2011.

Wilmink's Greengrocer and Taxi Service.

2010-11-24T17:57:00.000-08:00

Wilmink Greengrocer

and Taxi Service.

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Mr. & Mrs. Wilmink ran this little greengrocers shop right through the 1930's and 40's. Mr Wilmink was of Dutch decent and Mrs. Wilmink had relations who ran a banana plantation in Jamaica. In the summer months they also served ice cream cones I remember.

There were very few cars in the village in those days, so the Taxi business was quite a prosperous business, even during the war they were very much in demand, especially by the American Servicemen stationed at the Odney Club.

I remember right after the war they were one of the first people to take a cruise to Jamaica for a holiday. Shortly after their return they sold the business and I believe they moved back to Jamaica to make their home.

James Moores Men & Boys Wear.

2010-11-16T19:19:00.000-08:00

James Moores

Men and Boys Wear.

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Just the other side of The Bear Hotel from Nate Smith's Toy Shop was another shop that a great many boys went into for their school clothes. The store manager was a very kind man, a Mr. Bennett if my memory serves me correctly. Grey flannel shorts, blazer and school cap. Ties, knee socks, black shoes and Dunlop wellington boots. The final item was a dark blue gabardine rain coat.

The same shop also supplied all my fathers clothes, plus they also supplied all his white smocks and aprons for the butchers shop. Always a very busy place I remember, yet the staff always time to make sure that the customer was well looked after.

I am not sure how long the business was in existence, but I think it closed its doors at the end of the 1940's.

Even today the shop front has not changed at all, even though it has changed its custom.

Nate Smith's Toy Shop.

2010-11-10T11:27:00.000-08:00

Nate Smith Toys.

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Nate Smith's toy shop was in its day Maidenhead's equivalent of Hamley's Toys of London. There was not a little boy living within 5 miles of Maidenhead that did not know Nate and his toy wonderland.

Mothers had to stop by at least in one direction or the other so their family could feast their eyes on what they wanted to save their pennies up for. For the boys it would be some Dinky Toy or piece of Mecanno that they wanted to add to their set.

He also kept a full range of Hornby Train Sets, both electric and clockwork models. You could also buy miniature model steam engines that you could use to run your Mecanno models. The fuel used was Methylated Spirit that you could buy from any chemist shop.

Another thing that he use to keep was a full line of fishing tackle, including bait like gentils (maggots) or loose uncooked hemp seed! Yes (cannabis) As a boy I often wondered why the old fishermen use to call it dope! We use to buy a half pound and take it home and boil it until the seed split, then it was ready for bait. Roach and Dace use to love it.
As I mentioned in the Guy Fawkes blog, Nate use to keep the best selection of Brocks Fireworks. Even to indoor party fireworks when it came around to Christmas time. The boys favourites were as I mentioned then was the 2d Cannon and the 1/2d Little Demon.
Of course to say those days are now long gone, and so is Nate Smith's.

Guy Fawkes Night at Widbrook Cottage.

2010-11-07T12:55:00.000-08:00

Guy Fawkes Night at

Widbrook Cottage.

*****************

Remember, remember the fifth of November. Gunpowder, Treason and Plot.

Yes in the 1930's Guy Fawkes Night was a cause for a family tradition and celibration with all the Aunts, Uncles and Cousins at Widbrook Cottage.

Toward the end of October my cousins John & Mary Field and I would start to gather all the dead wood that we could find lying around the common, mostly old willow branches are there were quite a good few trees around in those days.

The next thing was to ask our mothers for old worn out jacket and trousers that we could make our Guy Fawkes with, which we either stuffed wit straw or old newspapers. The mask we could usually buy either from either "Tanner Wooly's or Marks and Sparks."

We then took our Guy up to Sutton Road on a Saturday in an old pram and ask the cyclists of which there were a great many in those days for, "A Penny for the Guy."

We our collection of pennies we would go into Maidenhead to our favourite fireworks shop on the Colonade called "Nate Smith." He carried the best selection of Brocks Fireworks to be had anyware.

Of we boys loved the bangers, such as the 2d Cannon or the 1/2d Little Demon. Of course the girls and ladies loved the Catherine Wheels and Coloured Fountains. Of course the Uncles were the experts in launching the rockets.

After the fire had died down and the fireworks were over it was time then for Hot Chocolate and Baked Potatoes that had been baked in the embers of the fire.

Ah! I guess I can repeat that old saying: "Those were the days." The recipe for the Potatoes you can find in "Cookham get Cooking'.

The Snob's Last

2010-11-05T13:06:00.000-07:00

The Snob's Last.

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Going back a couple of centuries at least in the village that was once part of the boot and shoe industry of England among other things. I think that this cast iron last can still be found in the odd cottage. Most likely to be now relegated to the use of a door stop.

Though back in the 1930's I can remember these items were still in use in a lot of homes, where the family shoes were still repaired. One could buy the half leather soles or heels from Woolworth's in Maidenhead to fit your size of shoe or boot, together with the proper size snob's nails. Then you finish off the job on the edges with a rasp.

Or you could find them being used in a small workshop as a makeshift anvil. The Snob's Last I remember. had many uses. In true village tradition: "Necessity was the Mother of invention."

Nicholsons' Brewery.

2010-10-30T11:03:00.000-07:00

Nicholsons' Brewery.

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I know some will say what has Nicholsons' Brewery in Maidenhead High Street got to do with Cookham?

Well as a matter of fact quite a lot. You would find that both Budgen's and the International Stores carried the whole range of their beers.

At Haymaking and Harvest every farmer in the village would have a barrel of beer on hand for the workers to quench their thirst. Even the Astor's provided beer at White Place.

What actually got me thinking about this beer, was in my last post and my mothers Christmas Puddings. Due to the fact that a couple of pints of Nicholsons' Brown Ale went into the mixture!

I still remember their company slogan on their logo.

"Best in the long run."

The Washing Copper.

2010-10-25T14:34:00.000-07:00

The Washing Copper.

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Seventy odd years ago I can remember that the wood fired washing copper was quite well known in village and most families had one to be able to boil the whites in on a Monday morning, which by tradition was called wash day. Of course some of the big houses sent their wash to Thistle Hand Laundry, which was located next to the Pinder Hall. Or on the other hand it would be sent to the Maidenhead and District Laundry, which located in Furze Platt.

What actually triggered my mind about the Wash Day Copper, was the fact that in October my mother would make her Christmas Puddings, usually 12 to 14 in total. The whole mixture being stirred in a large china wash hand basin. The mixture was made and the white china pudding basins were filled with wax paper over the top and a cloth with butchers string around the rim and then tied back over the top to make a handle.

The copper fire was lit at 5.00 a.m. and would be boiling by six. The puddings were then put into the copper and the water topped of from a boiling kettle from the kitchen. This topping off of water went on all day, and so did the stoking of the fire.

The puddings were deemed to by well cooked by 10.00 P.M. The fire was allowed to burn out and the puddings were removed and set on the bench by the copper to cool. The next morning the puddings were put away in the cupboard to mature ready for Christmas.