A Sunday afternoon at Odney.

A Sunday afternoon at Odney.

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

Those lazy hazy days of summers gone by, when folks from London would arrive by train early in the morning with their picnic baskets, to spend a quiet day by the Thames backwater. Also to enjoy a tuppenny wafer or a threepenny choc-ice from old Joe, the Walls Ice Cream vendor. Who use to arrive on his "Stop me and buy one, tricycle", which was kept cool by using dry ice.

 

Click on the photo to get an elarged version.



Another Then and now photographs.

Churchgate in 1898.

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



Here above is another early photograph attributed to the village painter/decorater William Bailey. Note that it is a gravel road and one can set up a tripod without fear of being run over!

 

 

Churchgate Today.

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

Now here is a recent photograph of the changes that have taken place in the past 115 years. Gone is the ivy growth over the building, also the elm trees that suffered from the Dutch Elm discease.

 

Click on the photos to enlarge them.

 



High Street Cookham circa 1870.

High Street Cookham circa 1870.

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

Another photograph that I have dug up from the old Cookham files. This one I believe is before the local photographer William Bailey, it was also very heavy in sepia tone and hard to clean up. At least there is enough in this photo that one can compare with the High Street as it is today. Gone of course is the barn at the extreme left of the photo, where my grandfather use to entertain his friends in what was known has 'Smoking Parties.' With a barrel of beer and a lot of singing I am told.

Part of The Pound in 1840.

Part of 'The Pound' in 1840.

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

This old 1840 map, shows part of which is called ‘The Pound.’ I can see that 'The White Hart', now referred to as ‘The White Oak,’ is clearly defined on the map. Also Melmott Lodge can be seen as well. You can also make out the ‘The Fleet Water’ with a small crossing over it. Not so well defined is the road over Cookham Moor with a water splash between The Fleet Water and the pond to the north. There is an indication of a bridge crossing ‘The Fleet Water’ where the brick bridge built in 1928 now stands. This according to old records was a wooden foot bridge. Once again you will see large orchards that were in use in those days.
Just click on the map to enlarge the view to full screen.



How Cookham looked in 1840.

How Cookham looked in 1840.

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

This a restored map of Cookham Village in the year 1840. You can see clearly Back Lane, now of course known as School Lane, but with no school of course. Of particular note you will notice how many orchards there were in the village itself. Plainly marked on this map one can see the Venables’ Paper Mill down Mill Lane. Of course at this time the cottage Boot & Shoe industry was in full swing.



Scammell Local Delivery Vehicle

Scammell Local Delivery Lorry.

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

A lot of talk about overweight vehicles has occurred lately and I remembered one particular lorry that was used extensively by the Great Western Railway. It was the five wheeled articulated Scammell lorry that was used to deliver goods from the railway yards to the waiting village or town customers. It was in daily use from the mid 1930’s and right up until Dr. Richard  Beeching,  as chairman of Labours  newly defined British Rail, decided to reduce the country rail network. And sell of all unused rights of way. The photo above shows the vehicle in its GWR livery. Having just a single steering front wheel, it was useful to use in tight highway situations.



The one horse milk float.

The one horse milk float.

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

Up until the end of World War two the single horse drawn milk float was still widely used by local farmers to sell their milk to country folk. Of course in the big cities and towns large dairies had sprung up with their milk being supplied mainly from the west-country by either tanker lorry, or via what was known as the milk train full of churns of milk. With the advent of TT milk the use of glass milk bottles became the norm. I do remember my maternal grandmother in the 1930’s still having her milk delivered by milk float and the milkman measuring it out using either a half or full pint measure into jugs that my grandmother kept her milk in. It was then placed in her cool larder with a muslin cover with small beads sewn around the edge to keep the cover in place.