Cricklade Revealed
David
Price: £22.00 per complete set
Cricklade Revealed - Parts 1 - 3, A Portrait of Social Life between
the wars.
Reprinted Price: £4.00 each.
Cricklade Revealed - Parts 4 - 6, Social Life during the Second World
War.
Current Price: £3.50p each.
Cricklade Revealed - Parts 1 - 6, complete set.
Current Price: £22.00 per set.
Marion Parsons. Parts 1 - 6, published between 2001 and 2006.
DESCRIPTION: Cricklade Revealed Parts 1 - 6 is a series of booklets
which give a first-hand account of local life from the 1920s right
through to 1945. The tale of these times is based on the tape recorded
memories of local people, and compiled by Marion Parsons as an on-
going oral history project on behalf of the Cricklade Historical
Society. Well over sixty people have contributed their stories so far
- the oldest was born in 1905! There is every intention to continue
the series with Part Seven to include the post-war period and the
fifties, and new contributors are always welcome - their memories are
invaluable to future generations. Please call me on (01793) 750542 if
you can help with Part Seven in any way. Profits from the booklets are
donated to Cricklade Historical Society and The Parish (Jenner) Hall
Refurbishment Fund.
Part One: Life in Cricklade immediately after the First World War, and
how different the town looked then. Brief family backgrounds of the
thirteen local people on whose memories this first book is based. A
description of many Cricklade shops and businesses between the wars,
and the people who ran them. Memories of living conditions in the
town, such as health care, law and order, street fights, transport,
the railway station, winter floods and many more. Unemployment, farm
labouring and low wages. Making do. Street vendors at the door. The
gap between rich and poor people. Working for the gentry, and those
who lived at the 'Big Houses', such as The Manor House and Brook
House. The VWH (Cricklade) Hunt and kennels in Bath Road, recalled in
detail by one of the local hunt workers of the time.
Part Two: Cricklade's two Anglican parishes, and that of Latton-cum-
Eisey. How St Sampson's new vicar split the community, plus two
eccentric clergymen remembered. The four Non-Conformist chapels, and
their rivalry at their Sunday School Anniversaries. The Jenner Hall
remembered as both a boys' school and as an infants' school. The
Bottom School when a girls' school only. The mixed Bottom School with
its new headmaster, teachers and pupils. Children's work while still
at school. Blacksmiths, wheelwrights and the tennis racquet factory at
West Mill. L O Hammond's garage and his wonderful steam-driven fire
engine, plus memories from three of his apprentices. How electricity
came to Cricklade, and the big freeze of 1940. The story of the two
Ockwell glovemakers, and how their trades developed.
Part Three: The wider Cricklade, as seen through the eyes of
yesterday's children. Descriptions of the places where they played,
and the mischief they got up to. Adults' leisure pursuits, and
Cricklade's many sports teams. Fishing in the Thames without rod or
line. Huband's Royal Cinema, and other organised activities and
outings. The monthly street market, plus regular events in the town's
calendar, such as an Ox-Roast, dancing in the street, visiting fairs
and the Cricklade Show. The Town Band and other musical groups. The
opening of the new Town Hall. Three weddings of the thirties
described, and the undertaker's role in Cricklade society. Home life
between the wars, including keeping pigs, cooking, washday, hobbies
and pastimes. Childhood memories of Christmas in Cricklade. A
selection of the many extra anecdotes collected during this project,
which give even more insight into Cricklade life between the wars.
Part Four: Due to feedback from readers of Parts 1- 3, this part
begins with further pre-war memories of Cricklade and its surrounding
area, including life at Lovett's School, St Sampson's Vicarage, two
Cricklade farms, the Stank, Eisey Manor, plus the trade of a popular
tallyman. In three wartime parts, the area covered widens to include
the villages of Latton, the Leigh, Purton Stoke and Marston Meysey.
The impending possibility of war in the late thirties. South Cerney's
Flying Training School, and other preparations for war. How local
people reacted when war was declared. The earliest affects of the war
on local people including the blackout, joining the forces, reserved
occupations, soldiers billeted in Cricklade, and class prejudice in
pubs. How Cricklade and Latton received their first evacuees, and how
these city visitors felt about their new life in the countryside. The
setting up of Cricklade's Home Guard, and some of its members. Tank
traps and other neighbourhood deterrents. The local Fire Service, ARP
Wardens and Special Policemen. The Manor House as a babies' hospital,
and a wartime trip down Cricklade's streets to meet more of its
characters.
Part Five: Memories of Dunkirk, and the Coventry bombings, with
descriptions of localised enemy air attacks, and a plane crash at the
Leigh. The REME workshops established in Cricklade. The American
convoys which frequently passed through, and how social life for the
young improved when the troops came to the Town Hall dances. Women's
conscription, and those who worked at local air bases, or on nearby
farms. Italian POWs and other wartime farm workers remembered.
Cricklade's Red Cross, the Leigh Home Guard platoon, and WVS groups,
and how they all supported the war effort. Army Cadets' exploits. The
second wave of evacuees, and their High Street club. How the war
affected the Bottom School pupils and their teachers, with air raid
warning procedure, the arrival of evacuees, and after school pranks.
Older pupils' war work at 'the Dump'. The Forty House School. Living
with rationing and shortages. The versatile pig. Queuing. More High
Street personalities. Life in Latton, and concerts for the war
effort.
Part Six: The building of the RAF Blakehill Farm and RAF Down Ampney
airfields, and the affect this had on local people. How land was
commandeered and a farm demolished. The arrival of Dakotas and gliders
before D-Day. How the Cricklade Red Cross detachment tended the
wounded. Life on camp. Descriptions of the D-Day and Arnhem missions
from both bases, and why Cricklade civilians had to billet war
workers. Why traffic congestion toppled the Town Clock, and how
Hammond's Garage, local pubs and the telephone exchange all felt the
strain. Social events that raised morale, especially dances for troops
with the Robinson family band, and others at nearby military bases.
The contribution made by Dr Richards' family, with their Vicarage
memories and a wartime romance, plus more tales of Cricklade's gentry
class. The final months with the RAF squadrons based at Blakehill Farm
and Down Ampney. The founding of Cricklade's VWH Club. VE Day
celebrations. Two major accidents, and German POWs remembered. A final
dedication to all those who served locally during the war.