Prize Giving at Herries - 2.

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

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.