Then and Now.

Then and now.

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

A hundred years of change:

With the last post we used a photo taken by William Bailey, I thought it would ideal to have a modern day photo so that one can compare the changes that have taken place. Don’t forget to click on the photo to get an enlargement.

 

 

 

The two photos are within a feet of each other and a hundred years apart. Some buildings have weathered time very well indeed, with careful maintenance they will still be there 100 years from now.

 



The Tradesman Donkey Cart.

The Tradesman Donkey Cart.

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

We have used quite a lot of photographs attributed to William Bailey, who has been described by trade as a Painter Decorator. The difference between the two trades of the late 1800’s and 2012 are quite different. First most of the materials used by Bailey would from a local source, the example being, sand, clay, lime and chalk together with hazel and willow branches which went to make up wattles used in making walls. Even the Distemper paint was made up by the man himself, yes I have not made a mistake, and Distemper is paint as well as being a complaint caught by cats and dogs!

To move his equipment and material like so many trades people of that era, was made by using a donkey cart, as in the photo above where two donkeys are being used. In this photo above my fellow researcher and I agree that the photo taken outside East Flint in the High Street, and sitting in the drivers seat is one of William Bailey’s daughters. This mode of transport would enable him to take materials to wherever he was working in the area.

Even as a young lad I remember that Distemper powder was available and was applied during spring cleaning time at Widbrook Cottage by my mother. It came from most Ironmongers including Mr. Church on Station Approach, and was available in many colours, of which Brimstone and White were the colours my mother used. Also in the 1930’s the first of the wall boarding was introduced called “Essexboard.” This was the forerunner of what is known today as gypsum plasterboard. So you can see that William Bailey had to have far more skills then, as quite a lot of plaster work including mouldings would have been part of his decorating skills.

 

 

 

 



Sir Isaac Pocock

Sir Isaac Pocock Memorial.

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

Isaac married Ann Brown of Cookham (Berkshire), widow of Peter Joye. He retired from active service and the two settled down on the Joye estate at Biggin Hall in Benefield, Northamptonshire. Two years later, Isaac rose to be sheriff of that county and the great service he had provided for his country was further recognised when he was given a knighthood.

In later years, Sir Isaac and Lady Pocock moved to the latter’s home parish. They built a large house alongside the Thames, near Maidenhead Bridge, called ‘Ray Lodge’ where they lived until their deaths. Sir Isaac is best remembered locally for having headed up the campaign against the enclosure of common land in Cookham, thus saving Widbrook and other lands for the peasant population        

.In 1810, Sir Isaac suffered a heart attack and died whilst punting on the Thames, near his home. The memorial plaque above the family vault where he is buried in Holy Trinity Church depicts his dying moments. 

Click on the photo above to get a full screen 4912x2760 pixel view.

The village described 150 years ago.

The village as it was 150 years ago.

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

COOKHAM Described in 1860.

COOKHAM (Holy Trinity), a parish, and the head of the union, and formerly a market town, in the hundred of Cookham, county of Berks, Three and one half  miles north and east from Maidenhead; containing 3,676 inhabitants. This parish which includes the northern portion of the town of Maidenhead, extending from the bridge to Maidenhead Thicket, and comprehending the whole of that waste, is the river Thames, by which it is bounded by the north and east, and comprises by measurement about 10,000 acres, of which nearly 4,000 are arable, more than a 1,000 grass, 93 acres in  orchards, 151 acres of woods, and 884 acres of common land. There is a considerable hamlet in the parish, called Cookham Dean, about a mile and one half west of the village, bordering upon Bisham, and consisting of scattered cottages; it is noted for its orchards, rural scenery, and woodland, and the wildness of its character, in the midst of a highly cultivated neighbourhood, renders it more attractive to the lover of nature in her simpler form. A bridge has been built across the Thames, which greatly facilitates traffic, and affords ready access out of Buckinghamshire to the Great Western Railway. The manufacture of coarse paper is carried on; and fairs are held on May the 16^th and October the 11^th. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king’s books at £14. 14. 02.; net income, £360. 0. 0.; patron, John Rogers, Esq.; impropriators, the Landowners. Near the entrance into the chancel of the church is a brass plate to the memory of Sir Edward Stockton, vicar of the parish, who died 1534, and is styled “Pylgrym of Jerusalem, and canon professed of the House of our Lady at Guisbro’ in Yorkshire:” this no longer appears, being probably concealed by a pew. Several descendants of General Washington, and Mr. Hooke, the historian of the Roman Empire, are interred in the church. There is an episcopal chapel in that part of Maidenhead situated in the parish; also places of worship for Independents and Wesleyans. A national school is supported by subscription; and two other schools are chiefly maintained by the clergyman. An almshouse, belonging to the Salters’ Company, of London, was founded by Mr. James Smith , citizen and salter, for eight aged men and their wives. The poor law union of Cookham comprises of 7 parishes or places, and contains a population of 11,060.

The village road sweeper.

The village road sweeper.

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

A couple of blogs back I mentioned the village road sweeper and now I have managed to find a photo taken in the early 1900’s of a road sweeper with his barrow at work. The initials on the side of his barrow stood for the council that he was working for, in this case CRDC stood for Cookham Rural District Council. The council at that time looked after the upkeep of the road network, also the refuse, and sewage collection as well. Their offices were located at the top of Castle Hill in Maidenhead,  on the left just pass the cross roads.

Bromley the Bakers

Bromley the Bakers.

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

There was a time when visitors to Cookham back in the 1930’s I remember on a day trip say from London by train to spend the day by the river. A great many would finish up their visit with a cream tea at Bromley the Bakers before catching a train back to town. It was also a meeting place for ladies of the village while in the village doing their shopping either at Budgen’s or the International Stores.

The shop itself had been operating as a Bakers Shop for a good many years going way back to the middle 1800’s. Together with Deadman’s, at Carmonta Bakery in the Dean they both kept the village well supplied with all its baked goods.