A Traditional Midlands Knocker.

A Traditional Midlands Knocker.

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This particular job dates back to the early time of the Industrial revolution in the Midlands, long before the use of alarm clocks were cheap and affordable by the average factory worker. The saying by some folks today still ask a guest, "What time would you like to be knocked up?" Like much of the English meanings today, there are different meanings to the saying today, though I do believe there are a group of Morris Dancers that use the word Knocker's in their name.

 

Sad to say that today the name portrays an unlawful profession!

As the wheel turns.

As the wheel turns.

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It made me smile when I read that The Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead want you to re-invent the wheel, I refer to the bicycle wheel. There was a time in Cookham when nearly everyone rode a bicycle. Husbands to work, wives to do their shopping, and the children rode a bicycle to school. Even the school teachers rode bicycles.

At an early age one knew how to repair a puncture in a tyre, it was common practice to carry a repair kit in a leather pouch attached to your saddle. For major repairs like aligning the rim of the wheel, one would go to Mr. Greenslade who had a little shop in The Pound.

As a backup you could always go to Owen Hildreth in Market Street, Maidenhead. He was the local bicycle dealer and repair shop. Here one could find a bicycle to fit ones pocket or purse. I doubt if the bicycle will come back to the wide use that the village once knew due to the density of today’s traffic. Plus the introduction of safe cycle-ways is nigh impossible due to the density of housing and narrow village roads.



The Victorian Apple Store.

The Victorian Apple Store.

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In the last blog I mentioned the Coppin Pruner. This lead me to remembering what I would describe as the last of the old Victorian Apple store sheds in Cookham, which was created by Lord and Lady Astor when they bought White Place Farm in the early 1900's and built the walled-in garden opposite Sutton Farm. The reason that this garden was built was to serve the kitchens of Cliveden House as the soil was more suitable for growing vegetables than at it was up on the hill. Also it was ideal for starting a large apple orchard. With that came the building of the apple storage shed as you can see from the old etched drawing above.



In the next picture you can see a re-vamped Google map of what the garden and orchard looked like, also there was an “L” shaped wall, which sheltered soft fruit such as peaches and nectarines from the cold north and east winds. In its hey-day it employed a gardener and four under gardeners



The next drawing is a colour sketch that I made up so you can see how the apples were stored on sliding trays, the bottom of which was fine wire netting covered with a layer of chopped oat straw. The apples were placed on the straw bed, making sure that they did not touch. This way the good eating apples such as Blenheim Orange and Coxes Orange Pippin would keep through until Christmas or mid-January. The favourite cooking apple the Bramley Seedling was a good keeper and would last to the end of February into early March. It also became a good eating apple in January, as aging seemed to sweeten it.



The Coppin Pruner.

The Coppin Pruner.

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If you refer back to the maps of the village of 1852, you will note how many orchards there were dotted throughout. Quite a few village members were also Fruiterers among other ways of making a living. In those days of course the apples when ripe were carefully stored in Apple Houses, the storage of which I will go into in a later blog.

The Coppin Pruner as illustrated in the above etching was invented by a George Coppin, a Horticulturist who lived in Surrey. It was quite a well-used tool around the country and in the village, even my father had one and we only had two Bramley Seedling apple trees. Of course this tool was well used in the Cherry orchards in Cookham Dean. It was also used by gardeners, who used it to trim their ornamental trees without having to use a ladder.

Widbrook Gate

Widbrook Gate.

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For those readers who have not lived in Cookham all that time the Commons under the names of Widbrook, Odney, The Moor and Cockmarsh were under parish control. It was only in 1937 that the National Trust took them under their wing.

One building that I have known the history of was Widbrook Gate. Before Widbrook Common was fenced off, there used to be a gate at either end of the road where it crossed the common. The one at the north end was looked after by the wife of the gate keeper. While the gate at the south end, was tended by the husband. These gates were manned from sunrise to sunset while cattle were grazing on the common. The rest of the year the husband was employed as a road mender by the council filling in pot holes. This information I learnt from my Grandmother. I do know that the last gatekeeper to live in the little bungalow according to records was a family called Plumridge that was in 1901.

I remember a family that lived there when it was re-named Widbrook Bungalow in the 1930’s and their name was Penndel or Pendle, at the beginning of the war they moved to a house in School Lane. The last people to live there that I knew was a family called Greer, he was a ferry pilot with Air Transport Auxiliary based at White Waltham. Then in the 1950’s it changed hands and it was called “Mizpah.”

Cookham Cottagers Horticultural and Industrial Society.

Cookham Cottagers Horticultural and

Industrial Society.

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My researching and memories have taken me back this time to way over a hundred years and the founding of The Cookham Cottagers Horticultural and Industrial Society. The Industrial part in the title goes back to when Boot and Shoe making was a thriving industry in the village.

Over the years it has gradually changed as the Industrial part faded away together with the Horticultural and Farming aspects which branched away on their own. This left just the professional and cottage gardeners who would compete in what became to be known as The Cookham Flower Show.

For many years this show was held under the benevolent auspices of Colonel Ricardo, on a field which is now part of The Odney Club, just off Mill Lane.

Here it remained until the beginning of the Second World War. After which it was moved to Dean Meadow.

In the 1930’s I remember there was very keen competition in the various classes. There was I remember a Professional Gardeners class. One for Cottage and Allotment Holders, who, not only entered their produce, but also entered their gardens and allotments to be judged. The ladies of course entered in the flower arranging and baking skill contests. The school children were not left out as there were classes for wild grasses, wild flowers, all of which had to be arranged and named as well.

To top it off there was the fairground with all the roundabouts and swings. Plus of course Horace Spencer who would entertain the crowd with his card tricks and magic.



Yes! You can have floods in the Summer in Cookham.

 

Yes! You can have floods in the Summer in Cookham.

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1903 Flood quotation from The London Illustrated News on the 27^th of June, 1903.
 

The Thames Valley presented an extraordinary appearance after the rain; bungalows were isolated, meadow-land, streets and roads, inundated. The river was so high that the steamers were unable to pass the bridges and the stream so powerful that boating became a danger. Eton oarsmen, unable to practise, will probably not be represented at Henley.

This photo is taken of Cookham Moor by the newspaper photographer and in the words of the reporter; “that this scene was between the station and the town.”



 

This photo shows two punts in Ferry Lane right by the Hedsor turning.

 

This is The Moor in Maidenhead showing Cox Brothers Builders Yard to the left.

So you can see that floods do not occur only during the Winter and Spring. With many thanks to the London Illustraded News for the photographs and write up.

You can enlarge the pictures by clicking on them.