Kelvedon Hatch: The story of Monkey Joe

The Baptism of Monkey Joe (about 1860)

Written by John Maryon, 1897-1975.

I had heard of him since I began to know myself because he was a step uncle to my father and born about 10 years before him (1860) at the ‘Wheatsheaf” Nine Ashes.  I got to know him by sight in Brentwood up to about 1928, when I belive he died – in Billericay infirmary, or paupers end up.  A diminutive figure with a large mottled nose, and a squeaky little voice speaking in broad Essex dialect.  Such a dialect as you seldom hear now, 1970, having been eradicated by 46 years or so of BBC broadcasts and later TV.  Mores the pity as it had considerable humour about it, but to be fully appreciated, spoken with a long drawl, unsuitable for what little expression one has time to explore himself now.  Time is money and everything is calculated in terms of time.

I suppose Joe had a formal Christian baptism and this could be ascertained by a perusal of the church registers of High Ongar for that period.  But legend says, he had another and more boisterous one at the “Wheatsheaf” Nine Ashes.  This was done I gin, I understand, and undoubtedly the High Priest would have been Bob Amos – 1828-1917.  A sporting farmer, living hard by at Lorkins Farm, on Christian name terms with Jim Mace, and not a bad artist with his fists himself.  Could play a fair tune on a piana, or a strapping chorus girl from London, could he inveigle her down to his farm.  An excellent shot with a 12 bore was he, and muzzle loader before it.  He could mix in any company – high or low – with a strong preference for the latter.

This baptism would in modern parlance – be right up his street.  With him would be Dick Oliver a younger protégé of Bobs in the fist game, Choikey Brazier, Hookey Winger, Rhubarb Chandler, and other worthies.  They all earned a tough ill paid living in agriculture, and the taking of the products thereof to the Metropolis.  Especially hay for the teeming horse population there.  Also among them, would be also certainly be Lardie Farmer, a very kind person, but also of necessity rough and tough, and of most uncertain temper.  Always came in for a certain amount of teasing from the poverty striken community, but the teaser would find himself with bodily injuries, if he took things too far. 

So little Joe was christened in gin, and with this inestimable start, proceeded to grow.  He grew up in a rural environment, his father and my great grandfather being a jack of all trades such as thatching, sheep shearing, horse clipping and haybinding.  He was also the licensee of small country beerhouses and was landlord of three of these oasis – “The White Horse” burned down finally, after degenerating into a private residence on Paslow Common, the Wheatsheaf, and finally the Shepherd inn on Kelvedon Common.  Little Joe was to grow to manhood in the last named pub and by his appearance and cunning left his nickname “Monkey” as part of the unofficial title there: premises acquired viz – The Drum and Monkey.

Joe’s father was a poacher and the receiver and disposer of poached game.  He always obeyed the eleventh commandment, by never being caught at his pastime.  Little Joe’s mother, being as broad as she was long, became the Drum, of the Drum and Monkey.  She died of cancer on these premises.

JM

BLACKMORE HISTORY NEWS - October 2011

Welcome to this month’s round-up of local history and heritage in and around Blackmore, Essex.  It’s little later than usual owing to the marvellous October heatwave which forced me away from the computer and out in the garden.

Changes in Ongar

A large building, which initially looked like a multi storey car park, is being built on the site of the former Ongar War Memorial Hospital.  The Ongar Health Centre will be completed soon with the anticipation that men from the Ongar district who fell in the First World War will be remembered with their names engraved on glass.  Meanwhile in the High Street itself HSBC bank closed its doors for the last time on 30 September 2011.  The media say it is another blow to the town which lost its connection to the Central Line back in 1994.

Under construction. Ongar Health Centre

Pubs For Sale

Two pubs in close proximity to one another are up for sale.  Kings Brasserie, formerly The Wheatsheaf, in Nine Ashes, High Ongar parish has recently gone on the market having been shut throughout the summer.  It has been trading under its new name for only about eighteen months.  The Bull, Blackmore, which has been closed for at least a year is also for sale. It is difficult to tell the fate of these pubs, and whether they will open again as going concerns.  Meanwhile in Blackmore End, near Wethersfield, the former pub bearing the same name, the Bull, has also closed and a controversial application has been made for conversion into a house.  Having two pubs in the county called The Bull, one at Blackmore and the other at Blackmore End several miles away, caused great confusion.  Having visited them both a few years ago the former landlords both told me how occasionally a small party turned up expecting their booking for Sunday lunch only to find they had rung the wrong establishment.  It’s sad also to note that the Dog and Partridge (many years ago called The Swan) in Kelvedon Hatch has also closed.

Kings Brasserie (The Wheatsheaf), King Street, High Ongar

Nine Ashes Farm, High Ongar

A planning application has been made to demolish derelict cattle sheds at Nine Ashes Farm and for a number of houses to be erected.  Until twenty years ago the farm kept cows for milking. Now the sight of a cow or sheep is extraordinarily rare in this part of the county.  When it comes to redundant buildings the whole question of preservation, or conservation or demolition has to be addressed.

Disused dairy farm barns, Nine Ashes Farm, High Ongar

Moreton Hanger

A former hanger from the North Weald airfield in the centre of Moreton village has finally been removed and the site to be allocated for house-building.  The fate of the rather tatty wooden structure is unknown but I learned a while ago that North Weald airfield as well as a new First World War museum on the site of an airfield at Stow Maries near Maldon was interested.  I hope that it has found a home.

Airfield Hanger (now demolished) at Moreton (photo taken 2007)

Treasures of the Essex Record Office

The Essex Record Office produces every year a series of short courses on a variety of topics, ranging from understanding parish registers, and house history through to understanding maps.  On 4 October I attended an afternoon session entitled ‘Treasures of the Essex Record Office’ in which the archivist had laid out around twenty documents which she thought were special.  She gave a short introductory talk on each item then allowed those attending time to view them.  Of course any selection like this has to be somewhat subjective, and there is no doubt that another member of staff would choose a different selection of twenty.  On display before our eyes was the oldest record held by the archive, dated 962; a household record of the Petre family; an original Parish Register commencing 1538; a plan of Epping workhouse; photographs by Spalding of Chelmsford; a record of aliens in the First World War; and, would you believe it, letters written to Revd Edward Henry Lisle Reeve by men of the parish serving on the Front during the First World War.  I have seen these whilst researching Reeve’s biography.

Gift Day at Stondon Massey

A display of books, letters and manuscripts of the Reeve family will be available to view for the first time in Stondon Massey on Saturday 15^th October.   The congregation of St Peter and St Paul Church, Stondon Massey have their Gift Day with the building open to visitors between 10.00am and 4.00pm.  Refreshments will be available.  Revd. Edward Henry Lisle Reeve died 75 years ago this year and was Rector of Stondon Massey from 1893 to 1935, succeeding his father, Edward James, who was Rector for 44 years from 1849.  The material was a generous gift of a distant descendent.  Among them are two commonplace books, one by Edward Reeve (1785 – 1867) written towards the end of his life at Ongar, and the other ‘Jottings’ (dating from 1881) by his grandson Edward Henry Lisle Reeve.  A trilogy of booklets will be available to coincide with the exhibition, entitled ‘After Dinner Anecdotes’, ‘Relatively Speaking’ and ‘Captain’s Reflections’, each priced £2.00 each and sold in aid of church funds.

Links

For an extensive list of links to other sites go to: http://www.blackmorehistory.co.uk/externallinks.html

Margaretting: Christmas Eve at the 'Red Lion'

One theme keeps recurring: “Ah, but we had more fun in the old days” and it is a theme whose truth is very difficult to assess from reminiscence. Did the people get more enjoyment from the amusements they created for themselves, or is the fun transfigured by the warm glow of the past. There is no doubt in the mind of Mrs. Poole of “The Red Lion,” Margaretting, Essex, when she says:

Of course, things are not what they used to be. Specially Christmas, these days. We used to be able to supply everybody with anything they wanted, in the way of a bit of Christmas cheer. But not now, I’m afraid. They all used to come in, happy and excited, on Christmas Eve, all laden up with parcels and baskets full of good things. You could feel the excitement in the very atmosphere, and see it on their faces as plain as a pikestaff. And half of ‘em would forget their stuff before the evening was over, and on Christmas morning the bar would be littered with chickens and ducks and turkeys and goodness knows what else. And then they’d have to call back to collect their Christmas dinners. Mind you, I always did think it was a dodge, so they could get a quick one in early. Oh, but it was lovely in those days. I hope it won’t be too long before they come back. Roast pork, sides of beef, turkeys, chicken, sausages - real sausages, I mean - and all the rest of it. Pigs’ trotters, now. You never see ‘em about at all now. Anybody’d think pigs don’t have legs nowadays, you never see them in the shops.

Extract from ‘Country Magazine. Book of the B.B.C. Programme’ compiled and edited by Francis Dillon. (Odhams Press, London, c1950).

Ingatestone: Beard family at The Viper

Received
21 August 2010

Dear Andrew

Saw here that three generations of the Beard family ran the Viper in Ingatestone: http://blackmorehistory.blogspot.com/2009/03/ingatestone-viper-mill-green.html

Do you know much about them? Doing a bit of family history: (www.beardsofessex.com)

Jon Beard

Replied
22 August 2010

Dear Jon

The Viper is one of the best pubs around here: it that has always had a reputation for good beer and homely cooked honest food. It’s everything you would expect a traditional public house to be. The Beards would not sell a pint which looked remotely cloudy. The final Beard landlord was Roger. Before him, his father Fred was the licensee. I don’t know anything of the family. One suggestion to you is that you pay a visit to the pub and get talking to the locals. A fine excuse for some research!

Regards
Andrew

Replied
19 September 2010

Jon

I visited the pub yesterday. Whilst serving my pint, the Bar Manager told me that the Beard family was at the Viper from 1938 to “to about six or seven years ago” (c2004). There is an interesting link, showing a picture of the first generation (of three) of Beard landlord and landladies: http://deadpubs.co.uk/EssexPubs/Ingatestone/viper.shtml

Andrew

BLACKMORE HISTORY NEWS - October 2010

Welcome to this month’s round-up of local history and heritage in and around Blackmore, Essex.

Heart of Blackmore

The summer months has certainly seen a drop in visitors to the village because The Bull, the ancient public house in Church Street, has been closed. Local people have wondered about its fate. When pubs close there is always the concern that it will be forever. The good news is that the place has been sold from the pub chain, is now a Free House, and is undergoing refurbishment with a view of opening again as a pub restaurant before Christmas. For more see the press release: http://www.christie.com/news/latest/14/14015

Refurbishment and renewal is also happening elsewhere in the village. The French Golf Holiday Shop / Office has closed and has been converted to ‘Blackmore Tea Rooms’. Occupying an ancient property – formerly Dadds Village Stores – on Horsefayre Green next to the Leather Bottle pub, this has just opened to the public. (The photograph was taken in 1974).

Next, in the spring our hairdresser moved out of the small shop adjacent to the Nisa store – now a Coop – on the corner of Fingrith Hall Road and The Green. But now that site has been refurbished with ‘Ovel’s Hair Design’ now open (tel 01277 822117). The Ovel family, as mentioned elsewhere (http://blackmorehistory.blogspot.com/search?q=ovel ), have been in this village for a number of generations.

Finally, in the same week, a new bus service began operating: No 339 is an hourly service Monday to Friday between Blackmore and Warley via Ongar, Brentwood High Street and Railway Station.

It’s all happening in the heart of Blackmore! A warm welcome awaits you all!

Visitors

Hardly a week goes by without someone contacting me with a comment or to contribute something to this ongoing on-line project. I had the pleasure of corresponding with two members of the Norris family (originally of High Ongar) who share a common ancestor and putting them in touch with one another. (See http://blackmorehistory.blogspot.com/2010/03/high-ongar-norris-family.html ).

War Memorial Rededication

The newly cleaned and re-carved War Memorial at Blackmore will be rededicated on Remembrance Sunday, 14 November. The service will commence at 10.50am.

William Byrd Festival

The ‘William Byrd Festival’ will be held at St Peter & St Paul Church, Stondon Massey, in May 2011. For the latest information visit http://www.williambyrdfestival.blogspot.com/.

Aerial Photographs

A new project has just been announced by English Heritage to place online historic aerial photographs of Britain. For more go to: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about/news/lottery-funding-for-important-aerial-photo-collection/

A Folk Song A Day

Don’t forget the marvellous site http://www.afolksongaday.com/

Links

For an extensive list of links to other sites go to: http://www.blackmorehistory.co.uk/externallinks.html

Pleshey: Twenty Five Years Ago (2)

The White Horse (photographed on 16.8.1985), mentioned in Durrant's Handbook for Essex (1887) as an Inn, near the church is still open for business. Further down the hill is The Leather Bottle, once a Ridley's public house, also remains open.

BLACKMORE HISTORY NEWS - February 2010

Welcome to this month’s round-up of local history and heritage in and around Blackmore, Essex.


Winter in Blackmore

Fortunately the weather is warmer now than it was about a month ago. On Thursday 7 January I took the opportunity for a walk in the snowy cold weather to take some photographs. They can be found on the Church website on the Gallery page: http://www.stlaurenceblackmore.co.uk/gallery.htm. The picture here is of the icy moat which surrounds Jericho House, the site of the former Blackmore Priory.


Parish Registers Online
Blackmore
‘Essex Ancestors’ is a project under way by the Essex Record Office to digitise Baptism, Marriage and Burial Registers across the county. Early copies for Blackmore are now available.
SEAX http://seax.essexcc.gov.uk/
ERO D/P 266/1/1. Baptisms : 1602-1712; Marriages : 1602-1749; Burials : 1602-1678: http://seax.essexcc.gov.uk/result_details.asp?intOffSet=100&intThisRecordsOffSet=109
ERO D/P 266/1/2. Burials 1678 – 1749: http://seax.essexcc.gov.uk/result_details.asp?intOffSet=100&intThisRecordsOffSet=110

Not covered on http://www.blackmorehistory.co.uk/parishregisters.html is the reference to Baptisms at Blackmore Baptist Church between 1841 (the date of inauguration) and 1908. It can be found at the Essex Record Office on microfilm under reference ERO T/B 324/1.


Essex Ancestors: Parishes beginning with S

The Essex Record Office ‘Essex Ancestors’ project continues. I spy with my little eye something (or parishes) beginning with S: http://seax.essexcc.gov.uk/displayParishContents.asp?selAlphabet=S&selParish=0&selChurch=0
Follow this link to choose whatever parish letter you need.
At present none of the Stondon Massey registers have been digitised for viewing on line.


Electoral Registers Online

The 1918 and 1929 Electoral Registers were used to help identify the names of those recorded on the Blackmore War Memorial. Online copies are available through SEAX http://seax.essexcc.gov.uk/
ERO C/E 2/1/1. 1918 Electoral Register: http://seax.essexcc.gov.uk/result_details.asp?GDH=1&DocID=302555&Reference=C/E%202/1/1
ERO C/E 2/1/12. 1929 Electoral Register: http://seax.essexcc.gov.uk/result_details.asp?GDH=1&DocID=442966&Reference=C/E%202/1/12
The ones referred to here cover the Chelmsford Division, i.e. the parishes of Abbess Roding, Beauchamp Roding, Berners Roding, Blackmore, Bobbingworth, Boreham, Brentwood, Broomfield, Buttsbury, Chelmsford, Chignall [Chignall St James and Chignall Smealey], Chipping Ongar (duplicated), Danbury, Doddinghurst, East Hanningfield, Fryerning, Fyfield, Good Easter, Great Baddow, Great Leighs, Great Waltham, Greensted-juxta-Ongar, High Laver, High Ongar, Hutton, Ingatestone, Ingrave, Kelvedon Hatch, Lambourne (duplicated), Little Baddow, Little Laver, Little Leighs, Little Waltham, Margaretting, Mashbury, Moreton, Mountnessing, Navestock, Norton Mandeville, Pleshey, Rettendon, Roxwell, Runwell, Sandon, Shelley, Shellow Bowells, Shenfield, South Hanningfield, South Weald, Springfield, Stanford Rivers, Stapleford Abbots, Stapleford Tawney, Stock, Stondon Massey, Theydon Mount, West Hanningfield, Widford, Willingale Doe, Willingale Spain, Woodham Ferrers and Writtle. Registers for Chelmsford are arranged by street, otherwise the names are in alphabetical order.
Other Registers for elsewhere in Essex are available.


Western Association Front “enlisted”

The Blackmore War Memorial Research Project Group has enlisted enthusiasts who form the Essex Branch of the Western Front Association to share research on the names of those commemorated who died or who served from the village during the First World War. I met representatives who had a stand at the grand reopening of the Essex Regiment Museum on 24 January. The Association meets (typically) twice a month at Hornchurch and Hatfield Peverel for talks. Our research will be shared with the WFA and online in due course but in the meantime if interested in WFA go to http://www.westernfrontassociation.com/


Family History Research

Does anyone out there agree with the theory of Praeto’s Principle: in this case that 80% of family history research is achieved in 20% of the time?


Chelmsford Museums

One cannot fail to be impressed with the new museum extension which has allowed more space for the display of artefacts plus new galleries devoted to the history of electronics in Chelmsford plus a brand new area devoted to the Essex Regiment Museum. For more information go to: http://www.chelmsford.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=6779


Kings Brasserie, High Ongar

During the week commencing 11 January a brown tourism style sign appeared at the junction of King Street, High Ongar with the Chelmsford / Harlow A414 pointing to Kings Brasserie as a restaurant stop. The sign on the former public house changed from The Wheatsheaf on the Thursday evening. The property ceased to be a traditional public house in 2002 when it became a Brasserie and has now had a name change.
For a list of former publicans go to : http://deadpubs.co.uk/EssexPubs/HighOngar/wheatsheaf.shtml


Black Horse, Paslow Common, High Ongar

The year 2002 was an annus horribilis for closing pubs. Just down the road from The Wheatsheaf the Black Horse closed its doors forever. For a list of former publicans go to: http://deadpubs.co.uk/EssexPubs/HighOngar/bhorse.shtml


White Horse, Norton Heath

Another closed public house is the White Horse at Norton Heath, formerly on the main A414 Harlow to Chelmsford road. William J Scudder, later landlord at The Leather Bottle in Blackmore, was publican there in 1898 and 1899. His son, William, who died during the First World War and commemorated on Blackmore’s War Memorial was baptised at Norton Mandeville Church on 13th August 1899. The place of residence given was High Ongar [ERO D/P 267/1/7]. For a list of former publicans go to: http://deadpubs.co.uk/EssexPubs/NortonHeath/whorse.shtml


Margaretting Fire Damaged Pub to be Demolished

The Spread Eagle at Margaretting, a Shepherd Neame public house on the main road (B1002), was badly damaged in a fire last summer. Heritage organisations have surveyed the 400 year old property and agree that it is totally beyond repair. It is to be demolished and the site rebuilt with houses. For a list of former publicans go to: http://deadpubs.co.uk/EssexPubs/Margaretting/seagmarg.shtml


Other Pubs Gone

Charles Napier, Brentwood – demolished 2009: http://deadpubs.co.uk/EssexPubs/Brentwood/napier.shtml
Queens Head, North Weald – fire damaged and demolished: http://deadpubs.co.uk/EssexPubs/NorthWeald/qhead.shtml


A Civilian in The Second World War: The Diaries of E J Rudsdale

Catherine Pearson wrote a note of appreciation for including Eric Rudsdale's WW2 Colchester diary blog in our News item in December 2009. “I believe I have gained several new readers as a result and I have now added a link to your website from Eric's blog and hope it will bring visitors to your site too. Congratulations on your … blog - it is a wonderful resource for the history of Blackmore and the surrounding area and I look forward to using it in the future.” Such kind words are worth another plug for this interesting site. Eric Rudsdale (1910 – 1951) was a curator at Colchester Castle Museum in Essex who during the Second World War decided to maintain regular entries about Colchester and its area. January 1940 was a jolly cold month with much snow. Eric Rudsdale wrote on 26th January: “I am told that at places only a couple of miles out of the town people have been snowbound for more than a week”. Follow this link for more: http://www.wwar2homefront.blogspot.com/


Morris Nichols, cricketer, born Stondon Massey

For more information go to: http://england.cricketworld4u.com/profile/morris-nichols.php


Family History Links

Adams. Ongar. http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=428913.msg2937426;topicseen
Taylor. Buttsbury, Fryerning, Ingatestone, Stock. http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=0u82sl5o6q0ngj20okqj0afhs6&topic=21352.0


BBC A History of the World

A major TV, radio and online project for 2010. For the page on Essex go to http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/essex/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8352000/8352992.stm


New Flicker Pictures

The Bell Tower interior at “St Lawrence”, Blackmore (Eric Hardy): http://www.flickr.com/photos/erichardyuk/4297301848/


Links

For an extensive list of links to other sites go to: http://www.blackmorehistory.co.uk/externallinks.html

BLACKMORE HISTORY NEWS - November 2009

Welcome to this month’s round-up of local history and heritage in and around Blackmore, Essex.

November: a time to remember

There is no special anniversary of the First World War this year other than the fact the ninety years ago the first Armistice commemoration was hurriedly decreed. Since then people have paused for two minutes to remember those who gave their lives. Just before the anniversary day I will be making my first ever visit to the battlefields and cemeteries around Ypres. It will be a quick tour lasting one day. It will be a journey in more ways than one. Locally we remember as one of the fallen Private William White who was killed just days before hostilities ceased (on 5th November 1918). I found his grave at Downham Church this summer. It is this month’s photograph.

1911 Census

Family historians received a fantastic New Year present in January this year with the launch of the 1911 census. This has opened new doors into the lives of our ancestors.

‘Find My Past’ (http://www.findmypast.com/), the commercial family history website which has the rights to the 1911 census has launched the archive on their main site creating a complete and unique sequence of census data from 1841 to 1911. With the England and Wales census completely transcribed (Scotland will follow later) this had to be the next step in their marketing strategy. Subscribers to the 1911 census website (http://www.1911census.co.uk/) were given opportunity to sign up at a special introductory rate.

“1911 is the most recent available England and Wales census - it holds the key to your nineteenth and twentieth-century ancestors. The 1911 census contains information you simply can’t find elsewhere and without it your family history is incomplete.

“For the first time you’ll see scans of the actual forms filled in by your ancestors which can reveal the quirks of your ancestors’ handwriting, as well as any mistakes or extra comments they made, in crisp high-quality colour.

“The 1911 census holds more information on your ancestors than any census before it. You can discover:
· how long a couple had been married
· how many children were born to that marriage (and how many of them had died)
· details of nationality
· more detailed occupational information”

Findmypast made the 1911 census RG14 household forms available at the earliest opportunity and will be adding the accompanying enumerators’ summary book (RG78) images.

Essex Record Office Closure

The Essex Record Office will close for stocktaking from Monday 9th to Saturday 21st November 2009.

The 261 Bus Route

Blackmore’s hourly bus service to Brentwood (except Sundays) via Doddinghurst is featured in three ‘You Tube’ videos.
Part 1 shows the journey from the ‘Bus Terminus’ to Doddinghurst: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7AhHyevPVM
Part 2 takes us through the countryside from Doddinghurst to the Brentwood Centre at Bishops Hall:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkEMAWJqTYI&feature=related
Finally Part 3 completes the journey to Brentwood High Street:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWVzQGCONNE&feature=related
It gives readers a good idea about the area in which we live. Enjoy the trip!

Stately Homes of Essex

The following link gives details of opening times etc of three stately homes: Hylands House, Audley End and Ingatestone Hall. Go to: http://www.essexportal.co.uk/essex-information/stately-homes-of-essex

Chigwell Link

Other than its link with Samuel Harsnett and Charles Dickens, who loved the place, (see the following http://www.authorama.com/what-to-see-in-england-6.html) I have to confess that I do not know much about the village of Chigwell on the edge of the London Boroughs but still close to Blackmore. But the latest news is that Blackmore’s new Vicar (and Stondon Massey’s new Rector) has just been appointed to take on the role from February 2010. She is Revd. Toni Smith, currently priest at St Winifred’s Church, Grange Hill, Chigwell. My visit to Dicken’s Maypole pub (The King’s Head) is long overdue!

Ingatestone

The Bell public house, an ancient coaching inn in Ingatestone High Street has just had a change of ownership. ‘Shepherd Neame’, the Kent brewers, is the new name on the pub sign. Another opportunity for investigation!

RAF Chipping Ongar

During the Second World War there was an operational American Air Base at Willingale by the name of ‘RAF Chipping Ongar’. Older residents in the area remember when the Americans (387th Bomb Group) came over, spent money in the pubs, handed out goodies and wooed the girls. They carried out a dangerous job, and some did not make it. “We will remember them” is the caption at the bottom of a set of photographs – by Richard Flagg - showing the surviving buildings on the base and of St Andrew’s Church, Willingale Spain: the group’s church for the short time they were over here. http://airfields.fotopic.net/c1772044.html

Railways

Newly posted onto Flicker by ‘sink plunger’ is a photograph of a Class 90 electric engine taken at Shenfield station. It is one of the more modern rolling stock – taken May 2009 - which was not featured in our railway series recently. See: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sinkplunger/4042335184/

Links

For an extensive list of links to other sites go to: http://www.blackmorehistory.co.uk/externallinks.html

Mountnessing: Postcards

A selection of postcards of Mountnessing dating from the early twentieth century are now available to view on the main website. Visit http://www.blackmorehistory.co.uk/mountnessing.html .

The illustration here is of The Plough public house before it was rebuilt.

BLACKMORE HISTORY NEWS - August 2009

Welcome to this month’s round-up of local history and heritage in and around Blackmore, Essex.

Cuckoo to Reopen

The Cuckoo, Radley Green, is to reopen at the end of August as a new gastro pub. The local newspaper (Brentwood Gazette) carried job advertisements in July for prospective staff. Blackmore Area Local History reported that the former Greene King (ex Ridleys) pub closed at the beginning of January for what was thought to be the final time. It seems that the cuckoo has become the phoenix!

New Essex Lines

It is 120 years since the opening of the railway line from Shenfield to Southend Victoria and Southminster. To mark 20 years since the centenary celebrations on 28th August I am publishing the photographs I took then. Blackmore Area Local History will then be devoting a month to our railway heritage past and present.

Revd. Alfred Suckling

The series of transcripts from Alfred Suckling’s Memorials (1845) ends this month. The book covers the whole of Essex so I have not included those villages outside the Blackmore Area Local History region, namely: Hatfield Peverel, Bradfield, Danbury, Dedham, Langham, Great Horkesley, Little Horkesley, Wrabness, Dovercourt, Wix, Lawford, Colchester, Stanway, Inworth, Little Braxted, Great Braxted, Messing and Layer Marney. The clergyman’s research during the mid nineteenth century, before the arrival of the railway, was a considerable labour of love. Suckling writes at Layer Marney: “As the writer had already walked nearly twenty miles that day, and seven more lay between him and Colchester, the ultimate and most important object of the tour, the shades of an October evening warned him that any attempt to draw these effigies with accuracy and care would be fruitless; with regret, therefore he left these monuments of ancient sculpture unsketched. Lest, however, he be charged with apathy on this score, let the reader understand, that having breakfasted at six that morning, he had subsequently already visited the churches of Great and Little Braxted, Inworth and Messing, had made sketches of those portions to be found in this volume, with the brasses, arms, and inscriptions connected with them; had also drawn a view of Layer Marney Tower, the exterior of the church, and the arms and font, and copied all the monuments, without any assistance”.

Entries on this blog with reference to John Weale can be found under http://www.wikio.co.uk/news/John+Weale. He was Suckling’s publisher.

Lord Petre of Ingatestone Hall

‘SEO Elite Reviews’ has produced a summary of the Petre family of Ingatestone Hall (see photograph) from ancient times to date. For information follow this link: http://seoelitereviews.com/blog/search-engine-optimization/baron-petre/

Stondon Massey: AA Battery

A sequence of correspondence has appeared in relation to gun First and Second World war gun emplacements at Stondon Massey. To follow the story, go to http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?p=514815

Around British Churches

‘David J’ has an interesting blog entitled ‘Around British Churches’. Recently he has featured the Parish Church of St Martin in Chipping Ongar. For more go to: http://aroundbritishchurches.blogspot.com/2009/07/st-martin-chipping-ongar.html. For others in Essex, which currently include Greensted and Waltham Abbey, go to: http://aroundbritishchurches.blogspot.com/search/label/Essex

Brazier family

A local surname to this area is Brazier. I remember a George Brazier living in Norton Road, Ingatestone until about 1980. Anyway, for links and a thread to the genealogy go to: http://www.ancestryaid.co.uk/boards/request-help-your-family-history-research/20944-brazier-family-margaretting-ingatestone-writtle-essex.html

Tributes to Henry Allingham and Harry Patch

Not a local celebrity but national heroes – as were all the others who served in the First World War. Henry Allingham, the world’s oldest man, died on 18th July 2009 aged 113. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/5856015/Worlds-oldest-man-Henry-Allingham-dies.html. And ‘You tube’ connections: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdbVgzXoZbA and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk_R303aoso.

Harry Patch “quietly slipped away” at a nursing home in Wells, aged 111, on 25th July 2009. He and others came to present the last of a generation who, thankfully, were encouraged in their later years to share their war experiences. His biography, ‘The Last Fighting Tommy’ (Bloomsbury, 2008) is a lasting oral testimony. Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, calls for a national memorial service to remember the generation of people who fought in the First World War. The Queen said, "We will never forget the bravery and enormous sacrifice of his generation, which will continue to serve as an example to us all." An obituary given by the BBC can be seen by following these links: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8168717.stm , http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8168691.stm, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6954937.stm and http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/somerset/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8168000/8168020.stm

By way of tribute, I repeat the book review published on this blog last year as part of the Great War commemoration.

There is nothing singularly remarkable about Harry Patch’s service in the Great War. At 18 he was called up (conscription was compulsory) to serve ‘King and Country’ and spent time on the Western Front in Passchendaele before being wounded in September 1917 and sent home to recuperate. The story of this Somerset man is replicated across millions of his generation. But the fact that at the age of 108, as one of the oldest surviving veterans of the First World War, he decided to write an autobiography telling of his experience is remarkable. Only in recent years, since the age of 100, has Harry decided to tell his story. Like almost all who served the vivid remembrance of the battles is something which was not talked about. Harry Patch was born in 1898. In his training for military service, this plumber by trade, learned to use a Lewis Gun and be a second team member of six. He describes the closeness of this small group, the sharing of the cigarettes, pipe tobacco and cake sent from home, the mutual support in times of trouble, and the sadness afterwards learning that three of his mates were blown up by a shell which injured Harry in the stomach with a two inch piece of shrapnel which was removed without anaesthetic because there was none available. Life in the trenches is talked about and the fear that the men had of not surviving perhaps the next day. He mentions going ‘over the top’, those wounded and those shell shocked by the experience.

“We will remember them”.

Links

For an extensive list of links to other sites go to: www.blackmorehistory.co.uk/externallinks.html

Stapleford Tawney: The Moletrap, Tawney Common

In the last twenty five years the pub has been extended and the outside loo brought inside as a consequence. It is a place of great charm. Good honest home-made pub food and a decent pint reasonably priced. Be warned though that the landlord does not take cheques or credit cards and a cash point is miles away.

‘Essex pubs’ lists the former licensees: http://londonpublichouse.com/essexpubs/StaplefordTawney/moletrap.shtml

Beer In The Evening reviews: http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/27/27637/Moletrap/Tawney_Common

Ingatestone: The Viper, Mill Green

Three generations of the Beard family held this pub until about 2002 when it changed out of the family’s hands. There is a well-known local story that a letter addressed only ‘The Viper, England’ was delivered by the post office. This is another proper rural pub which gets busy at lunchtimes. It is a three bar pub – public, saloon and tap room – and only since the Beard’s left has a communicating door been knocked through between the saloon and rest of the pub. Good pub food and well kept beer continue to be the hallmarks of this CAMRA award winning pub. About twenty years ago I remember Fred Beard’s wife serving me a pint then moments later coming over to my table with a replacement. In her view the pint was cloudy and that would not do.

‘Essex pubs’ has some lovely old pictures of the pub and its former landlord and landlady: http://londonpublichouse.com/essexpubs/Ingatestone/viper.shtml

Beer In The Evening reviews: http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/37/3750/Viper/Mill_Green

Stock: The Hoop

This is a 450 year old weather-boarded pub known locally for its range of real ales. In recent years it has been tastefully refurbished.

‘Essex pubs’ does not appear to have this hostelry listed.

Visit its website: http://www.thehoop.co.uk/
Beer In The Evening reviews: http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/70/7070/Hoop/Stock

Roxwell: The Hare

The Hare, formerly the Hare and Hounds, on the A1060 at Roxwell is a vastly extended pub serving a range of food. A visit to its unspoilt public bar with old photographs of the pub is a delight.

‘Essex pubs’ lists the former licensees of the pub: http://londonpublichouse.com/essexpubs/Roxwell/harehand.shtml

Beer In The Evening reviews: http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/22/22018/Hare/Roxwell

Great Waltham: The Compasses, Littley Green

The Compasses is one of those rare, wonderful and timeless pubs in the countryside. Once the nearest Ridley’s pub to the former Hartford End Brewery, it is now owned by a member of the Ridley family and not part of the Greene King chain who took over the Essex family firm in 2005. As its website says, “After a while under a tenant, and then a manager, Greene King lost interest and put the historic Inn up for sale. They tried to get permission to sell it as a private house but finally sold it together with its license to the current owner - Jocelyn Ridley - who is indeed a direct relative of the original Ridley brewing family.” A tiled floor, beer served straight from the barrel, and huffers –large triangular rolls – available makes this one of my favourite pubs. It’s just a shame that Ridley’s IPA and ESX are no longer brewed just down the road.

‘Essex pubs’ lists the former licensees of the pub: http://pubcensus.co.uk/essexpubs/FordEnd/compasses.aspx

Visit its website: http://www.compasseslittleygreen.co.uk/
… and for a history of the pub and family click here: http://www.compasseslittleygreen.co.uk/history.htm
Beer In The Evening reviews: http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/28/28281/Compasses/Littley_Green

Harlow: Ancient & Modern (10)

Churchgate Street, to the east of the New Town, forms part of Old Harlow. It is a delightful area. A lovely place for lunch is the early sixteenth century timber-framed building, the Queen’s Head, with its long jettied front. The fireplace in the public bar is worth a look.

For a list of past publicans and other photographs of the street and pub go to: http://londonpublichouse.com/essexpubs/Harlow/qhead.shtml
Beer in the evening has the following: http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/26/26062/Queens_Head_Inn/Harlow

BLACKMORE HISTORY NEWS - February 2009

Welcome to this month’s round-up of local history and heritage in and around Blackmore, Essex.

End of an era for local pub?

The Cuckoo, formerly The Thatcher’s Arms, Radley Green, closed last month, perhaps forever. Greene King, who took over the Ridleys chain of public houses in 2005 – and closed the Hartford End Brewery - is selling the place which in all probability will become a private house. It’s a shame that another lovely proper country pub has closed but a reflection of changing times. As someone who has never probably stepped inside a pub once said, “the sustainability of the public house is diminishing”. For a history of licensees at The Cuckoo follow to this link …
http://londonpublichouse.com/essexpubs/Roxwell/thatcher.shtml
... and memories of darts matches held there and in the local area.
http://www.patrickchaplin.com/Ingatestone.htm

The Campaign for Real Ale is doing their bit to support the local. In the Epping Guardian it cited three pubs in need of support: The Forresters Arms, High Ongar; the Sixteen String Jack over at Theydon Bois; and The Moletrap, Tawney Common, Stapleford Tawney. The latter is a good, honest, old-fashioned pub in the country serving excellent home-made food. It is really worth searching out, but be warned the landlord takes cash only (no cheques or credit cards). Follow link for more information on the CAMRA article: http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/4070651.DISTRICT__Pubs_fighting_back_against_crisis/

Perhaps a future item for the blog will be to cover some favourite locals, a photograph and a pint – all in the name of research of course!!

1911 Census

Local and family historians have no doubt been subscribing to http://www.1911census.co.uk/ hosted by ‘Find My Past’. The Essex census is available to view, as indeed are all counties in England to the south of Yorkshire. The census was taken on Sunday 2 April 1911. I have found new information about my family. Have you?

There is also a blog for the site giving information on the rollout of material, bugs in the system, and other information about the project. Go to: http://blog.1911census.co.uk/.

The BBC News item on the census release can be found here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7826521.stm

Music by William Byrd

A recording of music by William Byrd, written when he lived at Stondon Massey. Follow link: http://www.musicalcriticism.com/recordings/cd-byrd-hodie-0109.shtml

Folklore Relaunch

Sylvia Kent is a local writer. Her book ‘Folklore in Essex’ has been reprinted. For more information go to: http://sylviakent.blogspot.com/2009/01/folklore-of-essex.html

Caught on Camera

Mountnessing Windmill: http://www.flickr.com/photos/garysmith70/3086922807/

Walks – with a bit of history mentioned

A circular walk from High Ongar via Willingale (“Matt’s walks”): http://www.matfrygbr.co.uk/willingale_walk.html

Overview of Essex

Hutchybee makes a rather self-deprecating comment at the end of an essay in which he extols ‘The Joys of Es-sex’. It provides an overview to the county which some will find interesting. Follow the link to this discussion board: http://www.morningstarr.co.uk/forum/general-discussion/18360-joys-es-sex.html

Afternoon Teas In The Summer

Blackmore, High Beech and Stanford Rivers churches all feature on entry encouraging cyclists to come and savour tea and cake in the summer. Follow link: http://stibasa.blogspot.com/2009/01/bike-ride-and-afternoon-tea.html

Victorian Farm

Don’t miss this series going out on BBC Two. Very interesting.

Links

For an extensive list of links to other sites go to: www.blackmorehistory.co.uk/externallinks.html or look at the news entry for 1 January 2009.

Blackmore: Public House - The Prince Albert

One of three pubs in Blackmore. Follow the link for a list of known residents.
http://londonpublichouse.com/essexpubs/Blackmore/palbert.shtml