A Tranquil Village.

A Tranquil Village.

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Once again we switch back to the tranquillity of the village of about 120 years ago, when it was quite safe for the hobby photographer William Bailey to set up his tripod in the middle of the street without fear of being run over by a carriage and pair. Once again you can see buildings that still exist today. Also I remember even in the 1930-40’s, the council employed a man as road sweeper to keep the roads tidy. The only pollution that he had to contend with was the droppings from horses and cattle. In which he had a little business on the side, where certain villagers would pay him to empty his collection of the day just outside their gate so they could use it on the garden. His barrow was a three wheeled push cart with a hinged flap at the back so he could empty it easily. He also had several places where he could leave it with his shovel and broom overnight, and it was always there for him the next morning. His name I believe was Mr. Robbins,  which is the name that I remember.

The Diamond Jubilee Parade of 1897.

The Diamond Jubilee Parade for

Queen Victoria in 1897.

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Once again with thanks to the enthusiastic hobby photographer William Henry Bailey, we get a chance to see how the residents of Cookham celebrated the event some 115 years ago. From knowledge that we have that Bailey was a Painter Decorator, it seems that he took this photo from outside his home of East Flint and mounted his camera on top of a tall step ladder. Again you can recognise quite a few buildings, that thank goodness still are being preserved today.

Bel and the Dragon in 1895.

Bel and the Dragon Hotel 1895.

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Here is another photo of the village, this time of the Bel and the Dragon Hotel with the landlords name displayed of Mr. T. (Thomas) Warboys. Again I attribute the photo to William Bailey, the painter and decorator who lived at East Flint. Also you will note the size of the pram in the bottom left of the picture, but also the size of the child in the pram. Keeping this picture in mind and looking at the buildings that still exist today, you can see why I am interested in the preservation of this old Royal Manor.

When petrol flowed by gravity.

When petrol flowed by gravity.

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Yes, there was a time during the transition from horse drawn vehicles to motor cars and trucks, when the Kings Arms  upgraded to selling petrol to their guests for their cars. It was a very simple manual wobble pump that pumped the petrol from the underground tank up to one of two glass gallon jars and when full it was then switched over to drain manually via a metal boom pipe through a hose and into the cars petrol tank, or to fill the two gallon can as a spare on the cars running board. As the first was being emptied the second was being filled by the attendant. This photo was taken between 1925 and 1935, most likely using a Kodak 620 box camera, as it can be seen in the bottom right of the photo the shoe repair shop and what was Mrs. Vale’s sweet and cigarette and paper shop The petrol pumps remained in use until the end of the war, when they were dismantled.

The photo here is a close up to show you the way the petrol was delivered to the car from the measured glass jar via a swinging boom arm down into the car petrol tank using gravity.

"Moaning Minnie."

"Moaning Minnie."

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Going back as far as 1938 Great Britain was preparing for the possibility of war and the chance of there being air raids. So the installation of sirens started to take place. These sirens were hooked to a telephone network that was controlled by the Royal Air Force early warning system network, thereby giving people time to take cover in their Air Raid Shelters. One such siren was mounted on the Cookham Fire Station in Berries Road and the wailing sound of the alarm could be clearly heard. Bourne End had a different system. Theirs was the intermittent blast of a steam hooter at Jackson’s Paper Mill. This also could be heard for quite some distance as well. The ladies of the village soon found a name for the sound of the electric siren, which was dubbed “Moaning Minnie.”

When recycle was a duty.

When recycle was a duty.

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I see that the RBWM cabinet room boys and girls have come up with a new recycle of a wheel that was in use 72 years ago. The photo above shows housewives doing their bit for the war effort. In those days everything was biodegradable and there was no such thing as plastic wrap or styrofoam. Of course there were no fancy packages. Everything was in your store in bulk and was weighed and packaged by the store staff while waiting to serve customers.

The Old Cookham Ferry.

The Old Cookham Ferry.

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For the longest time I have been searching through my files for a print of the original Cookham Ferry that plied between the village and the Buckingham county shore. In this print you will note that the river does not seem very wide. This is due to the fact that Cookham Lock had not been built and the flow of the water had not been regulated weirs. At one time back in the middle ages at this point at certain times of the year the river was actually fordable by horse drawn vehicles. Also that sailing bargees used to dread that part of the river by Hedsor, as there was always a danger of running aground on a gravel shoal, and to get themselves re-floated would cost them dearly in time and money.

A young man's tranport in 1920.

A young man's transport in 1920.

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98 years ago this 1920 Douglas motorcycle was every young man’s dream of transport. At that time my father had returned from the 1914-18 war to resume his chosen profession of a Journeyman Slaughter-man/Butcher. He travelled from slaughter house to slaughter house.  In Cookham of course, where he served his apprenticeship. Also to Bourne End, Marlow, and Maidenhead, in West Street. So to get from Cookham to the various slaughterhouses he bought a motorcycle like the one above.

Even into the 1930’s I remember he was still active as a slaughter man for Ernie Colliass, at the slaughter house on the Parade in Bourne End. During the war he was still quite active at the busy slaughter house in West Street in Maidenhead. Also at that time he was managing the J.H. Dewhurst shop at 95 the High Street. Now long gone.

He rode the motorcycle up until he married my mother as she was not in favour of him riding one, plus other forms of transport was now available.