Category: Meetings

‘An awfully nice place for a camp’

Fiona worked as a volunteer at Gloucestershire Archives and was involved with cataloguing and transcribing some of the Hicks Beach collection deposited at the Archives some years ago. The letters described were a small group written home by Michael Hugh Hicks Beach to his mother when stationed on St Helena, 1900-01.

The Second Boer War took place from 1899-1902. The 4th Gloucestershire Battalion were stationed St Helena to guard the South African Boer prisoners where they had been confined in the first so called ‘concentration camps’ (because a lot of people were concentrated in one place).

St Helena is a rocky isle in the Atlantic, 10 miles long. In 1900 it took a six weeks boat trip from England and three weeks from South Africa. Its capital is Jamestown. Usually the island was a supply station for ships in transit, the goods had to be unloaded and loaded from lighters as the big ships could not get close in. If anyone had escaped from the island there was no where to go.

Michael writes home about the conditions in both the soldiers’ camps and the Boers’ camps. At first they were all in just tents but later on the Boers were allowed to build their own huts. He writes abut the food, the Boers were useless as bakers but very good at butchering meat, and there were pictures of them with meat cleavers and carcasses. Some of the pictures came from the Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum, others from pictures that Michael has taken from the Archives.

At the time Michael’s father was Chancellor of the Exchequer and home was Downing Street. Letters arrived by mail boat every six weeks, but there was also a cattle boat that departed just before or after the mail boat. Michael writes to his father that if he sees the Postmaster General could he ask him to change the timing of the mail boat so they get mail every 3 weeks and it so happened, it was changed.

Fiona talked about the leisure pursuits of the soldiers as boredom was a great problem on the island. As in any community there was the social hierarchy, there was a Governor of the Island and Lady Bathurst with another lady had come out to join her husband, the Colonel-in-Chief; they lived at Longwood House, where Napoleon had been exiled. Michael and Lady Bathurst were good friends and hockey, tennis cricket were among the activities. For the soldiers there were games and competitions.

This was a really interesting, well illustrated talk about a place and event that little was known about. St Helena is getting an airport very soon as the regular ship the RMS St Helena will be retired, hopefully this will bring more benefits and prosperity to the Island.

In March Air Commodore Graham Pitchfork talked to FHS about some of the RAF aircrew who crashed or were shot down behind enemy lines in Europe during World War 2 and tried to evade capture.

They were mostly helped by the extremely brave local people in the Resistance who put themselves and their families in extreme danger. There were three main escape routes across France:

• the Comet Line. In August 1941 Andrée de Jongh (nickname Dédée) arrived at the British consulate in Bilbao with a British soldier James Cromar from Aberdeen and two Belgian volunteers, having travelled by train from Paris to Bayonne and then on foot over the Pyrenees. She requested British support for her escape network (later named ‘Comet line’)

• the Pat Line (named after Pat O’Leary) ran from Paris to Toulouse via Limoges and then over the Pyrenees via Esterri d’Aneu to Barcelona

• the Shelburne Line which ran from Paris to Rennes then St Brieuc in Brittany, where men were shipped to Dartmouth.

Graham told us tales of some of the individual’s adventures and the heros who helped them. He had personally met some of the evaders and the heroic people of the Resistance. He has written several books on the subject, the latest being:-

Shot Down and On the Run: The RCAF and Commonwealth Aircrews who got home from behind enemy lines, 1940-1945

At the daytime meeting in February to a packed room Edwin Cuss gave a presentation of a random selection of about 60 local slides which were looked at in detail. They ranged from a 1914 picture of the George Hotel before the plaster was removed with the Fire Station Bell on the building to the rear left to the Red Arrows team including Ray Hanna with their Folland Gnat in 1965. In between was Fairford in the snows of the 1960s, groups of firemen, builders and buildings. Edwin could tell us something interesting about each picture and pointed out features that were not always immediately obvious.

Martin Lee-Brown gave a fascinating talk on the origins and development of land ownership in England through the centuries starting with that most invaluable source of reference: the Domesday Book of 1086. Following the Norman Conquest much of the land was taken into Royal ownership and some of it was then granted to loyal followers. Proof of ownership was required and land was subsequently passed on to family members, or sold off (often to pay for debts). The administrative work required for proof of ownership led to the art of conveyancing and the birth of the all-important deed. The management of the recording and transfer of land and property ownership eventually became part of the remit of the solicitor.

To illustrate his lecture, Martin shared with the audience several local deeds from the 18^th and 19^th centuries. He pointed out that the descriptions of property in some of these deeds often left much to be desired and undoubtedly resulted in confusion and possibly legal action. He reviewed some of the early Fairford solicitors starting with George Symonds White (who acted for the Raymond Barkers among many others), and later firms such as Wilmots and Hitchman Iles. He mentioned the Fairford Booke (which has been transcribed by the FHS) as an invaluable source of information on early Fairford property.

Martin then continued to tell of his own experience as a solicitor in the Fairford district and how the various changes in legislation relating to land ownership and tenancy helped to define the law more precisely. Greater accuracy in the description and mapping of ground plans and the current practice of creating and storing online documents have also helped to improve the service provided by today’s solicitors.

The Fairford Booke

A 17^th century book deposited at Gloucestershire Archives by Wilmots Solicitors containing Fairford register of deeds to church lands, (1601-74), including schedule of lands, (1662) GA D1070/X/2

Tim Porter’s account of the arrival and the consequences of the Black Death for England provided an excellent and thought provoking study. He cast doubt on many of our certainties – for example he insisted there was no evidence that the disease that reached these shores, probably from Gascony in the late 1340’s, was in fact bubonic plague even if some of the numerous later plagues certainly were. He noted the timing of the plague and the outbreak of the Hundred Years War with one that consequence that war was postponed for a time.

What particularly impressed about the talk was its wide-ranging perspectives. For example the issue of climate was important – in the early 14^th century there was a period of cold with miserable summers and seriously reduced harvests. The effect was a population with reduced resistance to disease. A significant conclusion was that where people have assumed deserted villages must have been produced by the Black Death in fact very few can be shown to be directly connected or there were more significant factors. So the loss of population through famine and plague created a situation where farmers abandoned agriculture and turned to raising sheep. Sheep required fewer farm workers so many peasants left the land and moved into towns. A linked factor was that this surplus labour had more freedom to choose what employment they took up. Previously they had been tied to the land and had to do what their masters dictated.

An intriguing aspect of the subject was the church’s struggle to find a theological explanation for the plague. They tended to fall back on explanations about God’s justifiable anger with mankind’s behaviour but the democratic range of death when the good and bad alike suffered made such explanations inadequate.

Dr Ray Wilson took members for a gallop around the industrial heritage of the Cotswold covering a surprisingly wide range of subjects considering the agricultural nature of the area (apart from the Stroud valleys). The subjects covered included mills, railways, canals and industry.

The buildings included Lower Slaughter Mill, Northleach Prison, Culkerton Chapel and many more. The were reminders of former industry as at Tobacco Lane in Winchcombe and an example closer to home is Gas Lane in Fairford.

The information about Leckhampton quarries was fascinating. The stone was quarried from about 1798 to provide for the expansion of Cheltenham. By 1830 a network of tram roads were linked by inclined planes cleverly using gravity. The Devil’s Chimney is a pillar of stone left by quarry men.

The interesting building at the Seven Springs junction was a place where packages were left to be collected, a much more trusting society than now where the postman will no longer leave packages at houses.

The Gloucestershire Society for Industrial Archaeology (GSIA) have produced an informative booklet entitled ‘Exploring Gloucestershire’s Industrial Heritage’ which lists all features that are still visible over the County. Available from GSIA.

The FHS celebrated its 10^th anniversary during its AGM in June. About 60 members attended. The business meeting was over quickly and Geoff Hawkes, the Chairman, gave a review of activities and achievements of the past ten years mentioning some of the highlights and remembering some of its past members.

A ‘Show and Tell’ session followed with about 12 members talking for around three minutes each on a treasured possession:- a cup and saucer from the Royal Yacht, a first camera with separate light meter, a 4ft-long 1918 photograph of RNVR personnel, a Honeybone clock, a print compositor’s tray, a piece from a Wellington bomber, fossils found near Fairford, George Loughton’s wood working tool, a selection of old bottles found in the garden, a large picture of sailing schooner based in Falmouth sailed by the owner’s grandfather, a piece of shrapnel that fell in the owner’s cot during an air raid during WW2 – ‘there by the grace of God go I’ and some 18^th Century deeds found in Keble House and a leather letter pouch with “Revd Keble” inscribed on the brass catch. This item was then presented to the Society by the owner.

There were also displays of the FHS’s activities over its first ten years as well as material which had been deposited in the FHS Archive.

Members then enjoyed a selection of Gloucestershire food and drink and piece of birthday cake cut by the President June Lewis-Jones. A very enjoyable time was had by all.

A presentation on the history of Swindon was given to us by members of the Swindon Society. Actually it was given almost entirely by Bob Townsend but David Bedford and Diane Everett from their seats in the front row offered occasional corrections or suggestions and even some embellishments. It was an entertaining talk well illustrated by pictures from Swindon’s history. We visited many aspects of Swindon’s past in no particular order but it proved very absorbing. So we went from the settlement on the hill with its early church now only a fragment of its past glory via the railway works to a centre for 21st century high-tech business. One of Bob’s recurring themes was the failure to look after some of the town’s more significant buildings, for example the Mechanics Institute. This has been allowed to rot and decay for many years. Nevertheless alongside that long-running disaster has been the successful preservation of its neighbour development, the Railway Village. It was surprising that a town with important factories situated around a railway junction sustained little serious wartime damage. This was in part thanks to the siting on the Downs of deceptive structures aimed at misleading bombers and drawing them away from the town. We were left with a clear impression of the enormous rate of change undergone by Swindon in a short historical period.

 

Coleshill Park Gates (2013)

At the March meeting Bill King gave his usual informative, entertaining and gripping talk about Dad’s Underground Army, the Auxilliary Units an intentionally uninformative title. These were part of the precautions taken during WW2 if the German invasion had taken place. Bill has had a 35-year interest in this secret organisation. All members had been bound by the Official Secrets Act, and therefore never spoke about it. In 1994 a reunion was organised. Advertisements were place in national newspapers asking all ex-Auxilliers to meet at their old HQ [not named], about 100 ex-Auxilliers turned up. Thus a lot more information has been found out about these brave men.

Each unit was made up of 7-10 people who did not know anyone else. They had three underground ‘hides’ hidden in their area of about a five-mile radius within striking distance of targets suitable for being sabotaged in the event of an invasion. The bunkers were built by Canadian Engineers who were employed to dig holes not knowing where they were or what they were for. Suitable civilians who showed signs of leadership qualities were identified and recruited as suitable candidates for these. They carried on their day jobs as usual but if invasion had come a password meant they would have all disappeared underground away from the families who would not have known they were part of it. In 1940 the password was ‘Cromwell’ and at this time the country had been within a hair’s breadth (or 21 miles across the Channel) of invasion. These units had their specific targets to sabotage, their life expectancy was about two weeks, they would not have survived.

Having given the background Bill went on to explain about the bunkers and equipment that was used and the methods of sabotage which might have been employed. Coleshill House was the training centre for men and Hannington Hall for the women. The men were given a railway ticket to Highworth and told to present themselves at the Post Office, a pre-arranged conversation took place concerning stamps and change and the postmistress, Mabel Stranks, went to the back of the shop ostensibly to get change but in fact ring up Coleshill to come and collect the men.

This is just a very brief snapshot of Bill’s talk in which there was a huge amount of detail.

In June Bill will be conducting a walk around Coleshill, there are a few places left, please contact enquiry@fairfordhistory.org.uk. A mock hideout has been built and there is some evidence of the former occupation of the site. It is thoroughly to be recommended.

Entrance to one of the hides at Coleshill (2013)

 

 

Over 60 people attended the ever-popular February daytime meeting. This year the topic was ‘Fairford Farms’. Edwin Cuss showed about over 100 slides on an agricultural theme. He started off with a general section about local agriculture and the associated trades and activities in the area, including blacksmiths, saddlers, butchers, the Young Farmers, markets, fatstock events and ploughing matches.

 After the coffee break he covered the local farms in the area: Home Farm that provided foodand rehabilitative therapy for the patients of the asylum (now Coln House School); Horcott, Waiten Hill, Milton, Totterdown and Rhymes Barn farms on the west side of

town. Manor Farm Park Farm, Moor Farm in the centre and east of the town. He also covered smallholders.

 As always each picture was accompanied by an excellent informative commentary and this year with the added expert knowledge from local farmer Chris Peachey, which gave the whole event an extra dimension. As well as technical information about breeds of animals and types and uses of farm machinery, Chris commented that Bert Cuss’s horse ploughing was the straightest and cleanest furrow ever ploughed with horses and there were some of his former girlfriends among the photos!

 Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the morning and we wonder what the topic will be next year. The two pictures show Park Farm about 1870 and Bert Cuss showing a fine example of a furrow at a ploughing match