Merry Christmas to all our followers

We are away for Christmas and New Year. But keep looking as we will have more history for you in the New Year.

So a Merry Christmas to one and all, and mine is a pint of bitter with a handle.

Flood Control History.

Flood Control History.

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Back in the prewar days of the Thames Conservancy the management of the Thames Streams and Tributaries were an ongoing part of water management and flood control.

There were several teams of men who every couple of years would come along with very long handled rakes and clear Widbrook Stream of weed and rush growth. Then every five years or so, an excavator or a dragline would be used to remove the build up of silt in the streambed. A dragline would always be used on Strand Water and The Fleet, due to the long reach and great depth that was required.

The Thames Conservancy knew that it was impossible to stop severe floods, but to aid the flow of water was one way by keeping all streams clear.
The picture above is an old “Priestman Excavator” which was one of the tools the Thames Conservancy used.

The Miles Master Air Crash

The Miles Master Advanced Trainer.

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In the photo map below you will see the fields and hedgerows as they were in the days back when this story happened. The second photo is of the fields as they are now.

It was during the early to mid part of August in 1941 when a pilot flying a Miles Master Advance Trainer out of RAF Woodley, encountered engine failure over Cookham and crash landed or rather “Pan-caked” in a remote and secluded field at White Place Farm.

Fortunately, for the pilot he was able to walk away unscathed from the plane which had landed in a field of ripening wheat. He was glad of a cup of tea that my Aunt Amy Field gave him while he waited for my cousin John to cycle to the Police Station to inform them, and for the RAF to come and pick him up.


The army moved in and set up a Bell Tent on the edge of the field to guard the aircraft for about ten days. As the wheat was close to harvest, the RAF waited until the binder had been in and cut the crop. Then the fun began!


Airframe mechanics to disassemble the plane by first removing the wings and then the engine, which was hoisted on to a small dolly, due to the fact that the farm gates and turning points were very narrow. After several days the several parts made it to the farmyard where the RAF managed to bring in an arctic trailer to load all the parts on and cover with a large tarpaulin.

As it was school holiday time we were told to keep what we had seen to ourselves. So now it is more than sixty years ago, I guess this story can now be told.

The Sam Gammon Watercress Beds

A Health food extrordinaire

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Sam Gammon was a well-known man in the village, although he did not reside or make his living here. Everyone in this part of the Thames Valley knew of and had tasted the watercress from the famous beds on the Hedsor Road.

Today there is a Garden Centre where the watercress beds use to be, but through the magic of the computer one can turn back the clock and give the young an idea of what the beds looked like 70 years ago.

Sam was a rotund figure of a man and yet he was a very hard working gentleman, who was use to working in his beds on cold and frosty mornings cutting his watercress crop by hand, bunching and packing in osier wicker crates with lids ready for shipment. First he would load his pony and four-wheeled cart with about 100 crates and drive over the toll bridge to Maidenhead Railway Station to catch a fast train to Paddington. There the crates would transported to Covent Garden for sale. Of course he would pick the empty return crates at the station to take back home.

His season would start sometime in December and would carry through until Spring when he would start to refurbish his beds. Only a flood would spoil his operation for the length of time that it lasted. Locals from both sides of the river take weekend walks to see Sam and to buy a three-penny or six-penny bunch of watercress for a Sunday afternoon tea. Today watercress that you find in your Supermarket most likely comes from the famous watercress beds of Hampshire near Alton.

There were also watercress beds towards Well End on the banks of the Bourne, but even those have now been built over. Just Sam’s old beds as seen above.

Wartime Visitors to White Place Farm in 1942.

Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon visit White Place Farm.

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It was summer Sunday afternoon I was visiting with my school chum Geoff Emmett and were around the miking parlour when the Hon. Bill Astor walked in with a lady and gentleman, who we did not know who they were, all we knew that they were not dressed for walking around a farmyard. The lady asked us both if were evacuees from London and we said no. They then continued on with their conducted tour.

It was not until sometime later that we found out who they were, and that they were spending the weekend as guests of the Astor Family. This was while they were making the film which is now a classic "Mrs. Miniver".

Where on the Thames did the filming take place I never found out as in those days locations were kept very quiet indeed and nobody ever knew. Even when the film was first released it was nigh impossible to tell as they were using quite a lot of stage sets. Even the armada of small boats were scale filming.

In the picture above is Teresa Wright who also played a lead roll in the film. But the thing is that three film stars from Holywood did visit Cookham during the war.

The Alfred Major Allotment History

The protected Slow Worm.

The Alfred Major Allotment Story.

The Alfred Major Allotments were first started during the early 1940’s as part of the National “Dig for Victory” Campaign. The Cookham Rise Secondary Modern School as it was named then under the Headmaster Mr. G.H. Wood, took on six 10-pole plots of bare ground that had been pegged out by a surveyor and started to double dig with the aid of all the boys in the school. Forks and Spades came from Mr. W.G. Church on Station Approach.

Farm Manure from Bob Caught, and a fine large handcart was built by Harding’s Builders. Money to pay for all this was paid for in part by money the school made from the on-going Waste Paper Drives.

It was not the best location for starting an allotment garden due to the stony condition of the soil. Stone picking was a constant chore for us boys to start with. You were picking more stones than pulling weeds sometimes. Our work in the allotments replaced our Natural Studies, PT and one or two other classes as well.

The produce that we grew all went to help to provide School Dinners that the girls learned to make under the watchful eye of Mrs. Isherwood and Mrs. Deacon.

Now trees were planted sometime later, but I often wonder if there is still a good stonecrop to be had there still.

The Vicars Transport in the 1930-40's

A 1935 Humber 10 Saloon Car.

This is the same model of Humber saloon that the Rev B.H. Hayward Browne drove around the village all the time I knew him and his stay in the village as our vicar at Holy Trinity Church. It was the only one like it in the village, and you could always tell it was him, you could just see his small round head sticking up above the steering wheel and he never went any faster than somewhere between 20 and 25 miles per hour. Of course he was allowed a small ration of petrol during the war. so that he could get around the village to visit any of his ailing parishioners. One thing I forgot to mention about the Revd Hayward-Browne, was that he was a very keen Bridge Player. Quite often on a Sunday evening after Evensong he would be invited out to dinner and that would be followed by a rubber or two of Bridge. You may ask how did a very young boy come by such knowledge. Well quite often a couple of us choirboys would visit with the Sexton's for a game of Ludo after Evensong and a cup of coccoa. It was then we knew that the Vicar had gone out to Dinner and Bridge.

Keeping Chickens back when.

This is the size and shape of the chickenhouse that use to be at the top of our kitchen garden. It was of course at the corner of the chicken run

The barn fire at Lower Mount Farm and the chickens that were lost took me back to the 1930’s, when we were coming out of another recession of 1929 and things were pretty tough for village folks. In those days people even in the smallest council house garden kept a few chickens, which although kept in a pen, could be classed today as free range. They had a chicken house or coop in which to roost and lay their eggs, and a pen in which they could scratch for insects, worms and other food. Of course, they were fed scraps from the kitchen such as greens and vegetable peelings and scrap fat. Most people had a kitchen garden or an allotment to grow vegetables.

I am now going to describe how my father and mother managed their lives in that time period and through the war. We had quite a large kitchen garden area in which were a pigsty and a chicken house and run. In the early years of their married life, my father kept three or four pigs to fatten up and when ready he would take them to Colliass’s Slaughterhouse in Bourne End to slaughter. My father also besides at that time being a journeyman butcher was also a licenced slaughterman and when required did all of Ernie Colliass’s slaughtering for him. So my father and then, what he did not require to cure for bacon or ham slaughtered the pigs, was sold in the butchers shop on “The Parade”. As a matter of fact he apprenticed slaughterman at the Cookham Slaughterhouse, which use to be behind Dudley Sims butchers shop and later Jack Smith Butcher in the high street.

I strayed a little off the subject in the last paragraph, but back to the chickens, as they became the main product at Widbrook coming up to Christmas. Every March my father would buy through the mail nine dozen day old sexed cockerels from Sterling Poultry Farms in Andover, Hampshire. These would be dispatched by train in the morning and would arrive at Cookham Station in the afternoon. My father would pick them up from the parcel office and bring them home. My mother then took over and looked after them feeding them on mashed hard-boiled eggs and fine ground maize. She kept them warm in the kitchen until they big enough to move to a pen on the lawn. When big enough and had got their first feathers my father the moved them to bigger pens on the common to feed on the longer grass, but to now receive more solid food including waste scraps of butchers fat from the shop. During this period the odd bird was lost to cause unknown or it was found that some of the cockerels were pullets, that of course was a plus and were moved to the henhouse at the top of the garden. In that pen my father selected a cock each year for breeding stock, as he did like to raise his own hens where possible from his own stock, putting a clutch of thirteen eggs under a broody hen. Twenty-one days later we had a mother hen and a brood of young chicks, all home bred.

Every night the cockerels on the common as were the henhouse in the garden locked up to prevent being raided by foxes. By December these birds had put on quite a good weight and coming out at a dressed weight of between six to eight pounds. About two weeks before Christmas my father would start killing about twelve birds a night and he and mother would sit in the shed and pluck them by lantern light. Next morning they were taken to the shop where he would dress them and they would go into the large walk in cooler that he had, ready to be picked up by customers for Christmas.

The chicken ark shown in the photo above is similar to the size but not the shape as my father built his square to hold about twelve birds. They were moved every day on to fresh grass. Water towers were in each ark as was the chicken run and always treated with Permanganate of Potash to keep the birds healthy.

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The Revd B. H. Hayward-Browne B.A.

Big Ben.

He was a rotund figure of a man with a round head with a receding grey hairline, dressed in his charcoal grey clerical stack. Yes that is a little boy’s description on seeing the Reverend Benjamin Huddleston Hayward-Browne for the first time when he came to check the attendance register at Holy Trinity School in 1935. He carried this task as he was as in later years found out was chairman of the school governors. On other occasions another board member Miss Gwen Pinder-Brown carried out this task.

As we had a scripture class every morning he came around twice a year just before the exams to test us on what we knew from the syllabus that we had been taught from. I am not sure if it was the teachers that were being examined or we.

When we arrived in Mrs. Snapes class for two years, and we had singing lessons, which I enjoyed, which included such song as “Gossip Joan”, “The Keelrow”, “The Keeper” and “On Richmond Hill”, plus many other English folk songs. Every couple or months or so, “Big Ben” as we boys had quickly named him, used to arrive to listen to us singing. This is where he would pick his recruits for the church choir we found out. He would leave having not said a word. Then there came a time when he would tap you on your shoulder and say “Friday night, five o’clock at the Church, Choir Practice, and don’t argue, I’ve asked your Mother already!” It was only the boys that he wanted, as in those days the church choir was an all male entity. The men joined us at six o’clock and we would go through the psalms and hymns for Sunday services and any anthems that we were practicing for a Festive occasion.

Then came the time when every boys voice will break, and no longer can you reach those high treble notes. You think at last I’m free! No luck you get seconded to being a Server and a Crucifer, and at that time church bells were about to start ringing again, while they had been silenced for the early years of the War. So I learnt how to ring on a silenced bell for a while before the ban was lifted. One exciting thing was we had girls who were learning to ring as well, that made the task very enjoyable.

Being a bachelor for quite a while, towards the end of the War he met a lady from the New Forest and they were married. I can remember that the Easter of 1946 the Parish raised enough money to send both the vicar and his new bride on a holiday to North Africa, which had just opened up for tourists.

In July 1951 was the last time that I had a long chat with him in his study at the Vicarage, before setting sail for Canada. He had mellowed somewhat from those early years and he hinted then that he might not be in Cookham when and if I should return. The war years had been quite a strain for him and he was glad to have the support of a wife at last. By the time that I returned in 1954 he had left the village and taken a living in the small parish of Icklesham in Sussex in 1952. I did visit them once, and found that they were quite happy with a small congregation and a very relaxing life.

Icklesham Church, Sussex.

Many thanks to Pam Knight for help in obtaining the photographs in this story and help with some of the facts here contained.

The BBC Bandwagon of 1938-40

Radio was still in its infancy in 1937 and the BBC discovered that play programmes with straight dance music was not as popular as they once thought. So they assigned the job to Gordon Crier and Harry S. Pepper to come up with a Variety Show. The result was “Bandwagon”. With a compere-straight man, Richard Murdoch, who had been on the stage as a song and dance-man. Now they had to find a comedian. There were two comedians who were equally as good. Tommy Trinder and Arthur Askey. Tommy Trinder was not available, so Arthur Askey got the job. The teamwork between these two was unbelievable and a new style of comedy was born and copied by others in both Britain and the USA. Such as Abbott and Costello, and Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.

The scene was set in their rooftop flat in Broadcasting House, where they use to keep quite a menagerie, consisting of: Lewis the Goat, The four pigeons named: Basil, Ronald, Lucy and Sarah. They had a charlady called: Mrs. Bagwash, who had a daughter, who was called “Nausea”, Arthur use to introduce her as his girlfriend, though you never got to meet her at all, and he never got anywhere following Murdoch’s instructions. These were carefully scripted to follow the BBC’s code of ethics in 1938.

Arthur will be best remembered by the listeners of those days for his silly ditty songs of “The Seagull” and “The Bee Song”. His most popular saying was copied from the Cockney London Bus Conductor’s as they collected their fares of: ‘Ay thang Yew’.

There were many other characters in the show, but one that will be well remembered was “Syd Walker” the old rag and bone man, who after his opening ditty would open with the phrase: “Good evening chums, how are yer, Yes it’s your old friend Syd Walker, who wants to know. He would then go into his problem story, at the end of which he would say, “Well Chums, what would you do? Why not drop me a postcard to Syd Walker, c/o The BBC London and I will give you the answer next week.

The music in the main was supplied by Reginald Foort (who I have mentioned earlier) at the BBC Theatre Organ and in later programmes by Charles Smart.

The programme folded in June 1940, when Richard Murdoch joined the RAF.

The 1930's Battery Radio

The Phillips 1934 Battery Radio Set.

Having touched on the new church organ of the 1930’s. My thoughts go back to my early school days, which finished then at 4:00 p.m. In the afternoon, my thoughts turn back the autumn and winter months, when one hurried home to a nice warm log fire and tea. Because at 5:00 p.m. on the radio was “Children’s Hour”. Yes that was the time of day when all childish activity came to a halt, and silence reigned supreme.

In this section I am going to cover the radio itself, as it was far more complicated to use than the transistor frequency modulated unit that you carry in your pocket and are available today.

First of all, not every home was equipped with electricity, and others like the farm workers cottages at White Place Farm cooked and lighted their homes with paraffin, and “Valor” paraffin stove for heat. I guess we were fortunate to have mains gas and water at Widbrook. So that left those without electricity the problem of how to power a radio set.

The Six Volt Lead-Acid Battery.

The power that was required had to come in three distinct voltages of direct current from a battery source. This meant three separate batteries, the first being the six-volt lead-acid accumulator to power the cathode heaters in the valves. The next was a much smaller nine-volt electrolytic dry-cell battery to supply the valve grid-bias voltage. The third and final battery was known as the “High Tension Battery” which was again a dry-cell one hundred and twenty volt direct current battery, which supplied the required valve plate voltage.

The High Tension and Grid Bias Batteries.

The two electrolytic batteries lasted quite a while; it was the accumulator that had to be charged every week at the local garage in the village for the big charge of six pence per charge. We had three of these batteries, so that we always had one ready when the one in use ran down. This was my job every Saturday morning to take one battery in to be charged and pick up a charged one.

The organ of Holy Trinity Church

Reginald Foort.

As far as I can gather Holy Trinity Church has had an organ to provide music for the Sunday services. In the early 1900’s it was powered a young boy, usually a choirboy whose voice had broken and was not required by the vicar as a server for that service. His job was to on the nod of the organist/choirmaster start to pump the bellows with a large pole handle and keep up a steady rhythm for the whole of the hymn or psalm. This was one job that fell to my father for a year or so, before he was involved with his profession.

In the middle 1930’s things were happening in the village. Black Butts Cottages were built. The Pinder Hall was built and opened in 1936. Also in 1936-37 the church became the owners of a new electric driven bellows organ. This was of course a very big occasion, and for the dedication it required a very special organist, one who had become well known over the radio with the BBC. Reginald Foort was that man and his repertoire of Church music was quite extensive, though he made his name by playing theatre organs in the cinemas. The church was packed for that occasion.

There was one problem with the organ though, and that was the electric motor. On Sunday evenings it caused interference with Sir Algernon Guinness’s new Television, the first in the village, on a Sunday evenings during the service. As broadcasts from the Alexandra Palace were only from six until nine in the evening. Not to put the church to anymore expense, Sir Algernon ordered, and had an electrical suppressor fitted to the organ motor.

Since that time the organ has served the church well, with a couple of major overhauls, and relocation to its present position, it has served the church and village well.

Guglielmo Marconi of Cookham

Young Marconi taken around the time he lived in Cookham at the age of 22.

Young Marconi and his mother Annie Jameson

Guglielmo Marconi was born at Bologna, Italy, on April 25, 1874, the second son of Giuseppe Marconi, an Italian country gentleman, and Annie Jameson, daughter of Andrew Jameson (Irish Whiskey) of Daphne Castle in the County Wexford, Ireland. He was educated privately at Bologna, Florence and Leghorn. Even as a boy he took a keen interest in physical and electrical science and studied the works of James Clerk Maxwell, Heinrich Hertz, and Sir Oliver Lodge Lodge and others, under the watchful eye of Auguste Righi, his mentor. In 1895 he began laboratory experiments at his father's country estate at Pontecchio where he succeeded in sending wireless signals over a distance of one and a one half miles.

In about 1896 his mother brought him to Cookham to stay with his cousin Dr. Henry Jameson Davis who lived at the end of High Road and Whiteladyes Land called “Hillyers” where he continued with his experiments in a small laboratory. His cousin was influential in his meeting Mr. (later) Sir William Preece Chief Engineer of the General Post Office. It was through Sir William that young Marconi was able to demonstrate his wireless apparatus at various places in the country.

In 1898 Marconi founded the “Wireles Telegraph and Signal Company Limited”, building the first radio factory at Chelmsford in Essex, in which his cousin played a major role.

Other factors in this man's amazing life can be found in history books and from other sources. Only his stay in Cookham is not documented until now. Marconi died in Rome, in 1937, after suffering several heart attacks at the age of 63.

One other piece of trivia which has come to light is that the house “Hillyers” was once the home of the author Kenneth Graham. He was quoted as saying that Cookham Dean was too rough a place for his wife. He must have changed his mind as they did move to “Mayfield” in the Dean.

The Kings Arms Garage

The Kings Arms Hotel has had quite a varied life since my Great Grandfather James Hatch was landlord in the late 1800’s. With the coming of the motorcar a purpose built garage was built to the back of the hotel, where the chauffeurs could work on their vehicles as the grooms worked on their horses before them. A trip from London to Cookham could be very hard on the early motorcar and a lot of TLC was required. There was a garage shop where you could purchase, oil, grease, and other mechanical items that were needed, including the repair of punctures, which were all to frequent. The letter “A” by the High Street indicates this shop. The letter “B” locates the position of the petrol pump. The pump had two glass one-gallon cylinders that were filled by a manual wobble pump. You first filled one cylinder with petrol, when full you put the nozzle into the car petrol tank and switched a lever so that the cylinder could drain by gravity, meantime the second cylinder could be filled by the wobble pump. Besides the cars main tank, every car carried a spare two gallon can of petrol on the running board, due to the fact that petrol gauges in those days were not very accurate.

This garage ran quite well up until about 1935 when the operator of the garage business in those days, one “Ben Buttery”, committed suicide, which of course was at that time the talk of the village. I can remember my aunts and other family members talking about it for days.

The garage then went into a quiet era, though still open for Petrol, Oil, and other supplies, which included charging accumulator batteries for your wireless set. There will be more about these in a later story.

In 1939 the military moved into Odney and St. Georges Lodge and took over the petrol pump for their use. The garage itself took on a new lease of life when it became a factory; yes, Cookham had its own War-work factory, where quite a few local ladies learnt how to assemble electric motors and inverters for use in aircraft. So you see Cookham and the village did a great deal for the war effort.

The garage has since long gone, together with a lot of other changes, so now all we can do is to record it in village history.

Moor Hall in Wartime.

Soon after World War had started The J. Arthur Rank Organization of which Odeon Cinemas were a part, decided to evacuate the whole of their Wardour Street staff to the country for safety. Moor Hall was the chosen site because not only was it a very large house, the existing grounds were large enough to erect a network of temporary buildings, not only for their staff to work in, but to provide accommodation as well. So wooden barrack type blocks were built very quickly and the move was completed.

To look after the day to day running of this new working offices and hotel complex came one Miss Freda Salberg, who ran the place in such a way that it would put any Regimental Sergeant Major to shame, yet, while being very firm, she also had that motherly touch for those who were in her care, and that care spilled over into the village and the people. She was an avid Sweet Pea grower, and annual battles with the Police Sergeant Hollumby were something to watch at show time in the Pinder Hall. It was one day as I was delivering a load of well-rotted farmyard manure to the police station, that she stopped me in the village. She intimated that she must have the same. I told her that she would have to ring the farm manager and place an order. By the time I returned to White Place, I was told that my next load was for Miss Salberg, and I was to fork it over the fence at the bottom of her garden.

Stage and Radio Artist: Vic Oliver

Her wartime work and acts of kindness knew no bounds. She organized various events, such as Whist Drives for Savings Drives. Also, though her wide knowledge of actors and actresses in both film, stage and radio, she was able to put on some very good evenings in the large dinning hall for such events as, War Weapons Week, Warship Week and Wings for Victory, with a great many West End Bands, all of who fell under her charm of persuasion.

One person I remember well was Vic Oliver who was married to Winston Churchill’s daughter Sarah. Another couple was the Canadian couple Bebe Daniels and Ben Lyon, who came over from Canada to entertain the troops and made a big, hit with the British public on radio as well.

Bebe Daniels & Ben Lyon.

After the war was over, and the J. Arthur Rank staff had said their sad farewells to the village., Miss Salberg stayed on to take on The new fledgling company of Gaumont British Animations who arrived to fill a new venture, with David Hand from the Walt Disney Studios. Another well known character who worked there as a cartoon Director was Bert Felstead, who will be well remembered in the Pinder Hall Pantomimes.

Village at War

This is the High Street as it looked in Wartime of the mid 1940's. No date given at this time, but one can see that there was little or no traffic parked on the street due to petrol rationing and then if you needed it for business. On the right is Tom Emmett's forge, who was kept busy all the time, though wrought iron was very scarce, Still did a good business shoeing both farm and riding horses.

In the picture above which has been enlarged from the main picture above you can see the International Stores, which together with Budgens at the far end of the street on the right were the two full grocerery stores to serve the village itself. Next door of course was the Royal Exchange, with its landlord Jimmy Mayes.

This little shop was one of three Green Grocery shops in the village itself. This one was run by a Mrs. Smythe, whose husband Tom was a long time general farm worker for the Astor's at White Place farm.

The Saddle Stone

Antique Saddle Stone,circa 1800.

These stones can still be found around the village of Cookham today in some ornimental capacity, either in a garden or lining a driveway to a house. Before the the age of the combine harvester they were used to be the foundation for building corn ricks on, one to keep them off the damp Thames Valley ground and secondly to keep the vermin, rats and mice down to a minimum. To this end some farmer built their granaries on saddle stones to keep the grain dry and the vermin down. This is also why a farmer kept at least one Terrier dog on the farm. Prior to the farmers putting them to this use, the mushroom shaped dome tops were used by millers to grind the wheat, oats or barley into flour. When grinding methods improved in the mills, they were put to use by the farmers for more than a century. Today, they are a often sought antique for the garden.

Station Hill Cookham in late 1800's

A quiet Sunday afternoon stroll down the middle of the road. Mr. William Shergold's shop at Post Office can be seen set back in the picture. The road just to the left is Station Road. Way off in the distance can be seen the "Gate Hotel", which sad to say is no longer standing.

An account of Cookham in 1895

The transcript that follows in this Blog is a verbatim accounting of the Village, its life and population. It is written in the language of the day, together with its puncuation. It is not all transcribed at the moment as it is quite a lengthy document:

COOKHAM IN 1895

COOKHAM. Formerly a market town, is a beautiful village and parish, with a station on a branch line of the Great Western railway from Maidenhead to High Wycombe, Thame and Oxford. Three miles north from Maidenhead, sixteen miles north from Reading, nine miles north-east from Henley, and twenty-seven miles from London, in the Eastern division of the county, hundred and union of its own name, Maidenhead petty sessional division, county district of Windsor, rural deanery of Maidenhead, archdeaconry of Berks and diocese of Oxford. This place is on the west bank of the river Thames, on the Bucks side of which are the highly picturesque and richly cultivated domains of Cliveden, Hedsor and Taplow. The portion of the river from Maidenhead up to Cookham Lock is considered the most beautiful in the whole course from Oxford to London; an iron toll bridge, supported on seven iron pillars crosses the Thames at this point. The church of the Holy Trinity is an ancient building of chalk, sandstone and flint, chiefly in the Early English style, with some portions of Norman date, and consists of chancel, nave of four bays, aisles, south porch and an embattled western tower of massive proportions with a turret and containing six bells and clock; there are eleven stained windows and six-hundred sittings. The register dates from the year 1662, the fourteenth of Charles II. The living is a vicarage, average yearly value of tithe rent-charge £323.net £252. including 5½ acres of glebe, with residence, in the gift of J.T. Rogers esq. and held since 1864 by the Rev. Reginald Wellford Rogers M.A. of Trinity College, Cambridge; the living in 1297 was in the patronage of Eleanor, Queen of Edward I, about which period it was appropriated to the abbey of St. Mary, Cirencester, which religious presented to the vicarage in 1317. The Wesleyan chapel,, built in 1846, seats 200 persons, and there is an iron Wesleyan chapel at Cookham Rise. The Workhouse of Cookham Union was built in 1837, is a structure of brick arranged to hold 250 inmates; particulars of the union are given under Maidenhead. The charities for distribution, including Mrs. Poole of Wargrave’s cloth charity, are of the value of £70. Here is an extensive paper mill, which gives employment to many of the inhabitants. In the 16th century, the Mores, previously of Salop, resided here, and at the visitation in 1664 the families of Robinson, Salter, Turberville and Weldon recorded their pedigrees and arms of this place. The principal landowners are Henry Duncan Skrine esq. of Claverton, Bath, who is lord of the manor. John Thornton Rogers of Sevenoaks, Kent. John Philip Weatherby esq. Francis Devereux Lambert esq. Ernest Gardener esq. and the Vaughan trustees. The soil is various, but generally good corn land; subsoil, gravel, chalk and loam. The chief crops are wheat, barley and oats. The area is 4,474 acres; rateable value, £22,510; the population in 1891, including the district of Cookham Dean, was 2,965 (including the 196 officers and inmates of the workhouse). Holy Trinity district has a population of 1,358. Maidenhead once partly in this parish has been entirely separated from it.

RAY MILL. (Raymead) is a hamlet in the parish of Cookham, one mile from the Taplow and Maidenhead stations of the Great Western railway. Here is an extensive corn mill worked by the river Thames at the Ray Mill Lock. For names of residents within the borough see Maidenhead.

PINKNEY’S GREEN is an irregular but picturesque hamlet in the parish of Cookham and partly in the ecclesiastical parish of Cookham Dean. Three miles south from Great Marlow and three and a half miles west-by-north from the Great Western railway station at Maidenhead. The mission church here is connected with the church of St. John the Baptist, Cookham Dean; it is not consecrated, but has about fifty sittings.

COOKHAM DEAN is an ecclesiastical parish formed 2nd January 1846, out of the parish of Cookham and includes Cookham Woodside, a mile west of Cookham railway station and three miles north of the Great Western railway station at Maidenhead; part of this district is situated on an eminence of at least 250 feet above the Thames; the other portion lies in a dell. The church of St. John the Baptist, consecrated in 1845, is an edifice of flint with stone dressings, in the early decorated style of the 13th century, and consists of a chancel, nave of four bays, south aisle, south porch, organ chamber and a small turret containing one bell; nearly all the windows are stained, one being a memorial presented in 1893 by John Philip Weatherby esq. in memory of his late wife; in 1892 a new vestry was built by subscription at a cost of about £200, and in 1894 the interior of the church was restored and refitted at a cost of about £140, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone; there are 300 sittings. The register dates from the year 1846. The living is a vicarage, tithe rent-charge of £91, average £68, net yearly value £111, with residence in the gift of the vicar of Cookham, and held since 1888 by the Rev. Constantine Osborne Phipps M.A. of Exeter College, Oxford Diocesan Inspector of schools for the Deanery of Maidenhead. There is a primitive Methodist Chapel with a burial ground at Cookham Dean. Henry Duncan Skrine of Claverton, Somerset, and John Thornton Rogers esq. are the principal landowners. The population in 1891 was 998.

NORTH TOWN is a hamlet in the parish of Cookham adjoining the town of Maidenhead. The Congregational mission room here seats about a 100 persons.

STUBBINGS, a hamlet in the civil parish, has been formed into an ecclesiastical parish and will be found under a separate heading.

Sexton, Cookham, William Lane.
Sexton, Cookham Dean, Thomas Hazell.

POST OFFICES AND LETTER BOXES

Post, M.O. & T.O., S.B. & Annuity Insurance Office (Sub office. Letters should have S.O. Berks added), Cookham – Edward Cooper, postmaster. Letters arrive from Maidenhead at 7 a.m. & 12.45 & 6 p.m.; & dispatched at 10 a.m. 12.30 & 7.35 p.m. except Sundays when they are dispatched at 7.10 p.m.
Post, M.O. & T.O., S.B. & Annuity Insurance Office, Cookham Dean – William Deadman, postmaster. Letters through Maidenhead are delivered at 11.40 a.m. Sundays & weekdays; dispatched week days at 11.45 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Sundays, 10 a.m. The nearest telegraph office is at Cookham.
Post, M.O. & T.O., S.B. & Annuity Insurance Office. Cookham Rise – William Shergold, postmaster. Box cleared at 8.10 a.m. 12 noon & 7.00 p.m. Sundays 5.55 p.m. There is no delivery from here.
Post Office Pinkneys Green – Hannah Cannon, sub-postmistress. Dispatch at 12.10 & 7.10 p.m. week days; 11.30 a.m. on Sundays. No delivery from here, but from Maidenhead. Which is the nearest money order and telegraph office. Postal Orders are issued here, but not paid.
Wall letter box at Clarefield House, Pinkneys Green, cleared at 8.30 a.m.. & 12.40 & 7.30 p.m.; Sundays 12 noon.
Wall letter box, Cookham Rise, cleared at 8.00 & 11.45 a.m. and 7.00 p.m.
Wall letter box, Railway station, cleared at 8.10 a.m. & 12 noon & 7 p.m.; Sundays 5.55 p.m.
Wall letter box at West Lodge, Cookham, cleared at 7.45 a.m. 12 noon & 7.15 p.m.; sundays, 6 p.m.Pillar letter box, North Town, cleared at 7.45 a.m. 12 noon, 3.10 & 7 p.m. Sundays 6.20 p.m.

PARISH ROAD SURVEYOR

William Ware, Cookham Dean.

QUEENS TAX ASSESSOR & COLLECTOR FOR COOKHAM PARISH

George Fernie, The Crescent, Maidenhead.

SCHOOLS

Parochial Cookham (mixed) built in 1858, for 220 children; average attendance, 105; Miss Mary Gibbins, head mistress.

Parochial Cookham Dean (mixed) built in 1846, for 150 children; average attendance, 155; James Skinner. Master.

GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY STATION

Frank Tompkins, station master.

COOKHAM: PRIVATE RESIDENTS

Mrs. Ackland, The Berries.
Mrs. Adams, Hedsor View.
Mrs. Allen, The Myrtles, Station Road.
Hon. Mrs. Anson, St. Georges Lodge.
Mr. Charles Louis Bower, The Halls.
Mr. Thomas Edward Bower, The Halls.
Mr. James Walter Burrows, The Elms.
Miss Cahusac, Moor Cottage.
Mrs. Deerlove, Hillgrove.
Mr. John Calver Ellis, The Cedars.
Mrs. Ford, The Laurels, Cookham Rise.
Mrs. Ford, The Willows.
Mrs. Fraser, Moorside Cottage.
Mr. Walter Silvester Gardner, Widbrook.
Mr. Henry Gold J.P., Formosa House.
Miss Goolden, The Grove.
Mrs. Grazebrook, Strand Castle.
Mrs. Hatch, West View.
Mr. James Joseph Mallitt, Park House.
Mr. Richard Lacey, Nightingale Place.
Mr. Francis Devereux Lambert, Moor Hall.
Capt. Fletcher Littledale, Cookham End.
Mrs. Oakes, Church Gate House.
Mr. Edward Oxenford Preston, West Lodge.
Mr. Thomas John Pulling, Denver House.
Miss Rawlings, Sunny Cote.
Mrs. Roffe.
Rev. Reginald W. Rogers M.A. The Vicarage.
Mr. Hugh William Russell, Hedsor View.
Mr. Charles Saxton, Riverdene.
Mr. John H. Sitch, Inglefield.
Mr. Julius Spencer, Belmont Villa.
Mrs. Mary Ann Southgate.
Mr. Henry Sutton, Norman Cottage.
Miss Taylor, South View.
Miss Troughton, The Ferns.
Mr. Josiah John Waller, Moor House.
Mr. John Philip Weatherby, Melmoth Lodge.
Mr. Henry Worster, Newsam House.
Mr. William James Wrench.
Mr. Frederick Wm. Wykes, Clevedon Villa.
Dowgr. Lady Young, Formosa Cottage.
Sir George Young (bart) M.A. J.P., Sutton Croft.

RESIDENTS OF COOKHAM (COMMERCIAL)

Mrs. Elizabeth Aldridge, Shopkeeper.
Mr. George Aldridge, Grocer, Cookham Rise.
Mr. William Henry Bailey, Decorator.
Mr. Thomas Richard Briginshaw, Baker.
Mr. Alfred George Buckham, Draper & Ironmonger.
Mr. Charles Butler, Grocer, Cookham Rise.
Mr. Thomas George Cocking, White Hart Public House.
Mr. Edward Cooper, Grocer, Agent for W.&A. Gilby

Wines & Spirits Merchants,

& China & Glass Warehouseman.
Mr. Charles Cordrey, Bootmaker, Cookham Rise.
Mr. Thomas Cresswell, Coal Merchant.
Mr. Thomas Deacon, Royal Exchange, Public House.
Mr. John Calver Ellis, Ferry Family Hotel; good accommodation for
Boating and Picnic Parties; only hotel at Cookham facing the river.
Mr. William Fairlie, Bootmaker, Cookham Rise.
Mr. George Edward Francis, Apartments.
Mr. Joseph Frewing, Builder, Cookham Rise.
Mr. Edward Godden, Fisherman & Dairyman.
Mrs. Esther Godwin, Dress Maker.
Mrs. Penelope Gray, Apartments, West Villa.
Mr. James Greenland, Beer Retailer.
Miss Alice Hall, Shopkeeper.
Mr. William Harding, Builder, Hillgrove.
Mr. Alfred Hatch, Apartments, Eastgate.
Mr. George William Hatch, Farmer, Oveys Farm.
Mr. Frederick Hawkes, Saddler.
Mr. John Hawkins, Market Gardener, Cookham Rise.
Mrs. Elizabeth Heath, Shopkeeper.
Mr. Alfred Hyde, Bootmaker.
Mr. Chris Ivermere, Butcher & Beer Retailer.
Mrs. Mary James, Upholsteress, Cookham Rise.
Mr. Thomas James Jordan, Accountant, Rose Bank, Cookham Rise.
Mr. Edward Keeley, Shoemaker.
Mr. William Lacey, Boat Builder, & Proprietor.
Mr. Richard George Lacey, Builder.
Mr. William Francis Lane, Blacksmith.
Mr. James Llewellyn, Boat Proprietor, Elmstead.
Mr. William Lucas, Beer Retailer.
Mr. George Main, Jobbing Gardener.
Mr. Henry George Matthews, Dairyman.
Mrs. Elizabeth Medlicott, Kings Arms Hotel.
Mr. Henry Thomas Nott, Wheelwright.
Mrs. Susan Oxlade, Apartments, Harlesden Cottages.
Mr. Alfred Parsons, The Railway Tavern.
Miss, Mary Ann Pearce, Apartments.
Mr. James Penn, Apartments, Moor View.
Mr. William Peto, Farmer, Cannon Court Farm.
Mr. Richard Price, Market Gardener, Sutton Farm.
Mr. Frederick Pym, Bootmaker.
Mr. John Pym, Shoe Maker.
Mr. Ephraim Robinson, Baker.
Mr. George Savage, Engineer.
Miss Louisa Shergold, Dressmaker.
Mr. William Shergold, Stationer,Fruiterer, Post Office, Cookham Rise.
Mr. Herbert Smith, Farm Bailiff to F.D. Lambert Esq, Sutton Farm Lodge.
Mr. John Spencer, Builder.
Mr. William Spencer, Professor of Music, Fernley Villa.
Stuchbery & Thompson, Grocers,
Mr. George Tuck, Dairyman, Seaton Cottage.
Mr. George Venables & Son, Paper Makers, The Mill.
Village Club & Institute, Mr. George Spencer (Hon Secretary).
Mr. Josiah John Waller, Maltster, Moor House.
Mr. Henry Wappshott, Jobbing Gardener, Cookham Rise.
Webster & Plummer, Coal Merchants, Railway Station.
Mr. Thomas Warboys, Bel & the Dragon Hotel.
Mr. Thomas Wigg, Carpenter.
Mr, Thomas Wigg Jnr, Apartments.
Working Men’s Club Reading Room, William Shergold (Hon Secretary)
Cookham Rise.
Mr. Edward Michael Worster, Butcher.

COOKHAM DEAN (PRIVATE RESIDENTS)

Mr. Arthur Bloomfield Barrett, Grove House.
Mr. Charles Belton, Cartlands.
Mrs. Louisa Bottom, Hope Cottage.
Mr. John Badger Clark, The Cottage.
Mr. James Darby, The Cedars.
Mr. Stephen Darby, Sterlings.
Mr George Crosby Dunn, Woodside.
Maj. John Ellis, Lynwood.
Mr. Thomas Frost.
Mr. Walter Frost, Orchardleigh.
Mr. Henry Gosden, Sterlings.
Mr. Edward Gregory Jnr. A.R.A., Quarry Edge.
Miss Leaver, Orchardleigh.
Mr. Arthur Lewis Leon, The Mount.
Mr. George Lewis, Irlas.
Mr. Charles Noble Luxmoore, Dial Close.
Mr. William MacNab, Maybank.
Mr. Alfred Major, Woodland Cottage.
Mr. Ernest Major, Waterdale.
Mr. Frederick Major, Dean Croft.
Miss Morrison, Tugwood House.
Mr. John Pedder, Mount Farm.
Mrs. Pescod, Les Arbres.
Rev. Constantine Osborne Phipps M.A., The Vicarage.
Mr. Sidney Pitt, The Islands.
Mr. Alfred Putney, Stonehouse.
Mr. Frederick Rowe, Western Cottage.
Mr. Eldred Noble Smith F.R.C.S. Mount Villa.
Mrs. Stone, The Glen.
Mrs. Tatham, Henfield Cottage.
Mr. Arthur Edmund Thompson, Dean Cottage.
Mrs. C. Thomson, Grove Cottage.
Mr. Solomon West, Minns.
Miss Withers, The Park.

COOKHAM DEAN (COMMERCIAL RESIDENTS)

Mr. William Arman, Farmer, Woodland Farm.
Mr. William Baldwin, Fruiterer
Mr. Henry Bishop, Gardener to Stephen Darby Esq.
Mr. James Bishop, Farm Bailiff to James Darby Esq, The Cedars.
Mrs. Mary Copas, The Chequers Public House.
Mr. James Darby, Farmer, Kings Coppice Farm.
Mr. William Deadman, Grocer, Baker, Corn Dealer & Post Office.
Mr. William Fitchett, Basket Maker.
Mr. Richard Gibbs, Farmer, Winter Hill Farm.
Mr. George Grey, Tailor.
Mr. William Hatch, Beer Retailer.
Mr. James Howard, Blacksmith.
Mr. Henry William Jordon, Fly Proprietor & Fruiterer.
Mr. George Keeling, Shoemaker.
Mr. Walter Keeling, Shoemaker.
Mr. Alfred Luker, Farm Bailiff to Mr. Walter Frost.
Mr. Henry Middleton, Beer Retailer.
Mr. Frederick Parsons, Basket Maker.
Mr. Thomas Parsons, Farmer, Bigfrith Farm.
Mr. Thomas Paul, Fruiterer.
Mr. Thomas Rose, Farmer, Hill Grove Farm.
Mr. Edward James Startin, Shopkeeper.
Mr. Henry Taft, Bricklayer.
Mr. William Ware, Market Gardener & Road Surveyor.
Mr. Charles Werrell. Hare & Hounds Public House.
Mr. Thomas Wix, Carpenter.
Working Men’s Club & Institute. (George Grey, Secretary)

NORTH TOWN
PRIVATE & COMMERCIAL RESIDENTS

Mr. Joseph Douglas, Harrow Lane.
Mr. William Watkins French, Moorside.
Mr. Ernest Gardner.
Miss Gray, The Cottage.
Mr. Charles Cox, The Harrow Public House.
Mr. Ernest Gardner, Yeoman & Landowner, Spencer’s Farm.
Mr Henry Lovejoy, Farmer.
Mr. William Nightingale, Cattle Dealer.
Mr. Charles Pratt, Florist, Harrow Lane.
Mr. Frederick George Ridout, Beer Retailer.Mr. James Smith, Beer Retailer.

PINKNEYS GREEN (PRIVATE RESIDENTS)

Miss Cons, Home Close Cottage.
Mr. Walter Cooper, Hindhaye.
Miss Everest, Rose Cottage.
Mr. Charles Holdsworth, Hartwells.
Mr. John Holland, Camley.
Mr. Arthur Maurier Lee, Flint Cottage.
Lady Lee, Ditton House.
Mr. Leopold McKenna, The Walnuts.
Mr. Walter Stowe Bright McLaren M.P. The Nook;
& 3a Poets Corner, Westminster, London SW.
Mrs. Massingberg.
Miss Muller, Meads.
Mr. Henry Norsworthy, Clarefield House.
Col. Edward Charles Pemberton-Pigott, Furzecote.Mr. William Sang, Pinkneys Lodge.

PINKNEYS GREEN (COMMERCIAL RESIDENTS)

Mr. William Allin, The Golden Ball Public House.
Mr. Charles Barnes, Upholsterer.
Mr. Robert Brown, Fruiterer, Fern Cottage.
Mr. John Button, Gardener to Lady Lee.
John Kinghorn Cooper & Sons, Brick & Tile Makers.
Mr. John Goodall, Beer Retailer.
Mr. Robert Hunt, Farmer.
Mr. Joseph Mitchley, Fruiterer.
Mr. John Musselwhite, Beer Retailer.
Mr. George Parsons, Carpenter.
Mrs. Selina Sparrowhawk, The Stag & Hounds Public House.
Mr. William Weall, Farmer, Pinkneys Farm.Mr. George Wynch, Shopkeeper.

Cookham Weir 1895

This is a pen and ink shetch that was published in Kelly's Directory of 1895 of the Cookham Weir. The artist is not mentioned at all. Later I will publish the list of people who were living in what was then the Parish of Cookham.

Are you listed here in 1935 at Holy Trinity School.

Where are they today I wonder? This list is of students who were registered into Holy Trinity School in the year 1935. They were of varying ages, as some of their families had just moved into the village, They did not all start their school days with Miss Collins. They could have been in Mrs. Evans, Mrs. Snapes or Mrs. Adams class. Mrs. Adams was the Head Teacher and took care of all the enrollments.

We start with the girls and the date of enrollment:

7th of January 1935.
Joyce Honour. Mary Magnolia Easton.

Phyllis Lavinia Northway. Beata Doreen Sayell.

28th of January 1935.
Francis Peggy M. Burbage.

29th of January 1935.
Barbara Hursey.

15th of March 1935.
Elsie Hales.

30th of April 1935.
Beryl Veronica Easton. Sheila Gladys Hannant.
Daphne Mary Spencer. Muriel Stone. Joan Marshall.
Jean Margaret Hursey.

12th of June 1935.
Olive Jean Barnes.

17th of June 1935.
Doreen Lewis.

8th of July 1935.
Gwendoline Mary Fletcher.

23rd of July 1935.
Margaret Joan Quelch.

9th of September 1935.
Hilda May Henwood. Joyce Pearl Austin.

Joan May Westcott. Gwenyth Emily Rogers.

Jean Patrica Lewendon. Eileen Hatton.
Marguerite Sayell

Of course the majority of these ladies now will have married and have families of their own with fast growing up Grandchildren, who may read this and recognize their Grandma’s name when she was a little girl.

Now Boys, it is your turn to get posted. At least one that I know has passed on from our midst. Others I know are fit and well and still active.

7th of January 1935.
Colin Reginald Hatch. Peter John Cracknell.
Reginald George Lewendon

14th of January 1935.
Ronald Honour. Robert George Edwards.

30th of January 1935.
Jame4s Geoffrey Packham. Roy Dennis Wilsdon.

Gerald Effamy. William Frederick Burnap.

James Trevour Honour. Peter Derek Fisher.

James Hatch.

15th of July 1935
Maurice Leary.

9th of September 1935
John Philip Penny. Brian Joseph Ernest Carter.

The Two Mary's

Here we have two photographs of Mary Venables, the widow of George Venables, owner of the paper mill in Mill Lane. It must have been in the late 1800’s, as portrait photography was still in its infancy around then. Again I am not sure if the portraits were taken at her home or she travelled to the photographer’s studio. It could be both, as the same location was used and different furnishings are in place, though the same floor covering is there. In one she is dressed as if she is at home. The other she is dressed as if she was going out.

Remember that photographers of the day, made their own glass photographic plates, which they had coated with silver nitrate. Of course the driving force behind it all of this was William, Henry, Fox Talbot, but the general use by portrait photographers came much later. These photographs were taken after her daughters wedding in 1867, as I am sure it would have so recorded.

Mary Venables, after the death of her husband George in 1860, continued to run the paper mill business, and by all accounts was very firm in the way business was conducted. On the other hand, she was very kind and generous in looking after the welfare of her employees.

Once again my thanks to Joe Fisher, who provided me with the photographs and information.

The Cookham Paper Mill

For a great many years, the residents of Cookham have wondered who were the Venables. Who lived, and had a small paper mill down in Mill Lane. I often wondered as a boy, sitting in church looking up at the large memorial plaque, bearing the Venables name and wondering who they were. Well thank you to, Mr. Joe Fisher, a decendant of this illustrious family, I am, at long last able to bring you all a copy of a painting, of Mary Davenport and George Venables. These portraits were painted just prior to their wedding in Holy Trinity Church in 1832. There are more stories to come and will be written up in due course.

Holy Trinity Class No2

Here is another class photograph that has come to light. The board the little girl is holding in the front row says: "Cookham H.T. School No2." I have no idea if this means it refers to Class No2., or that it is second photograph taken by the photographer. By the dress of the teachers and the children I would put it at the late 1800's, possibly 1897-8.

The corrugated iron leantoo that I have mentioned in a previous blog is in the background, this is where the children could wash their hands and hang up their outdoor coats and hats.

I have no idea but, my father and some of my aunts could be in this picture. I'm afraid my school register records do not go back that far.

Some 300,000 Years Ago

Though the date on the map may be out. This is how early man crossed from Africa into Europe and to the far north.

You will find that this Historical Blog will not run in any sort of sequence, due to the fact I will be posting as facts that concern the area and Cookham in particular come to light.

We now step back in time some 300,000 years, yes I know it was a long time ago, but it does reflect on what exists today. The bones of the oldest person known to have lived in Britain, was in fact a woman. Her skull was discovered in the gravels in Swanscombe on the south bank of the Thames in North Kent. The age of this find was, according to records at a quarter of a million years ago.

Where did these people known as "Chellean's" come from. Again according to records I find that the most likely place was North Africa. You are now going to ask: "How did they get here?" Well at that point in time the continents as we know them today were still land linked. The Straits of Gibralter and the English Channel did not exist. It is thought that they lived in small comunities, and most likely in trees. Their club like axes and tools were not sharp at all, and again it is thought that food was mainly fruit and green vegetation. It was not until the Acheulian Man came along, were the stone axes and cutting tools pecfected to being quite sharp. They gave the flint a straight edge and followed the grain of the stone.

Then came the last Glaciation Period or Ice Age, and these settlers were forced to retreat to where they came from and warmer climes.

This I think gives you an idea of who was walking around this area during this time period, and makes up part of our history.