October 2017 issuu

aroundYateley O N L I N E M A G A Z I N E #21

October 2017

health & wellbeing show 9 score years & 10 review widow’s windows s(fiction) heritage at St Peter’s old Yateley legends community radio cask & cork 2017 oyster’s birthday coffee morning charity golf

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outer cover photo: the Mayor’s charity golf inner cover photo: Shute’s pond on Yateley Green, taken in 2003, now silting up and in need of dredging 2 around Yateley October 2017

interactive contents

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cask & cork 2017 mayor’s charity golf oysters’ first birthday heritage of St Peter’s the old bank legend pootle legend activities & societies Macmillan coffee morning four score years and ten widow’s windows (fiction) celebrate listening – radio past people essential contacts health & wellbeing show acknowledgements

THE

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Abby Atkinson, proofreading Simon Bool, photography Greg Bramwell, folklore correspondent Jenny Cole, writer, reporter Penny Hopkins, proofreading Daniel Robinson, photography Tony Spencer, editor, photography

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Yateley Community radio In the first week of October, Sound Vault will be launching local Community Radio for our region, based in The Maltings in Farnham.

The broadcasts will not be over the airwaves like traditional radio, but be availasble in the form of podcasts, which are sent out on the internet and can be played back on computers, tablets or smart phones.

Like iPlayer, they will be available to replay at ant time. See the article on page 70.

It is hoped to start up a Community Radio just for Yateley, Frogmore and Darbuy Green and the immediate area in the near future, so watch this space for more information.

Mayor’s Charity Please support the Mayor’s Charity, in aid of YelaBus, buying tickets for the Mayor’s Charity Dinner at The Ely on 20 October and the Jazz and Chips Night on 11 November at Yateley Village Hall.

Details of the events can be found on pages 50 and 20 respectively. around Yateley 2017 October 3

Cask & Cork 2017 After the resounding success of last year, the first time this event was staged, The Yateley Cask & Cork Festival have bounced back with the same basic set up of 40 draught ales and ciders along one wall of the standing-room-only clubhouse, with wines and sparkling wines in a tent opposite, kitted out with chairs and tables for the comfort of those choosing the fruit of the vines, with the new addition this year of three lagers available on tap up at the bar counter.

There was also the usual mix of spicy Mexican snacks, meat or veg curries, chili con carne or hog roast, available to chase away the alcoholic “munchies�, or simply unaable to resist the tantalizing aromas wafting across from the cooking area.

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Once again, the beer show organisers provided live music entertainment in the marquee, which was set up on the grass next to the clubhouse, with three local acts playing each session.

As last year, I have put together a few of my personal tasting notes for those beers I sampled during the festival. around Yateley 2017 October 5

The first ale poured into my souvenir glass was sponsored by Cllr Chris Barnes and his company, Yateley Drawing Services.

The beer (that he had no choice in selecting!) turned out to be a dark ruby ale from Hammerpot Brewery, called Red Hunter 4.3%. It was a full-bodied red ale,

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which was rich and fruity, with a solid malty finish. I thought it was very satisfying as an opening session beer.

Reading the excellent free booklet produced by Abstract Print & Design, this particular beer won a Bronze Medal at SIBA SE 2017 and clearly deserved it on this tasting.

One of my favourite beers from last year was Surrey Hills Brewery’s Shere Drop, their 4.2% flagship bitter. so I had to

try this next. Unlike the just-tasted robust ruby ale, this brew was a subtle pale ale with a hint of fruit to the maltiness and deliciously hoppy. This is a beer that you could happily drink all night, with a long, dry finish that begs you to urge the barman to draw pint after pint.

I would have loved to have followed this delicious ale with my overall favourite from last year, the Greensand IPA, but this brew was not included in the selection of two brews from Surrey Hills, so I elected to try Collusion, a 5.2% pale ale described as a fusion of solid malt and aromatic and flavoursome hops. This ale around Yateley 2017 October 7

was solidly citrus in both flavour and aroma with a long fruity finish with vanilla undertones. One of the most refreshing

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Moneychair are a Wokingham-based band, who royally entertained the imbibers with classics from the 80s and 90s

pale ales I have experienced for a long while. It seems some head brewers forget that pale malt needs to be balanced with hops for its nose and tannin-dry finish to produce a satisfying pale ale.

Time for a cider next, I thought, to accompany a more than decent Chicken Jalfrezi curry. Of course,

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it had to be my favourite cider from last time around, the Mr Whitehead’s Cider Company offering, Devil’s Device. And what a temptation that even an archangel couldn’t resist, a heady 8.4% scrumpy that any cider farmhouse in the ancient kingdom of Wessex would wish as their own. This cider is so rich I would gladly share it with Rosie at the drop of a hat. There was a wonderous depth to the flavour, yet belying its high octane strength with a long dry finish that craves repetition.

While on the subject of ciders, the logical progression was to literally dip into the

perries. Now, Mr Whitehead’s Midnight Special came up trumps with an unbelievably fruity perry in the package of a modest 5% brew that could service an all-night session with no pain (OK, a little).

A further cider from Mr Whitehead’s prolific apple

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Decisions, decisions!

press behind the woodshed, was Boxing Dog 7.5%, which was made from mainly Worcester and Cox apples. Considering these are dessert apples and not natural cider ingredients, the high sugar content was reflected in the sweet aftertaste, not unpleasant, but unexpected. Definitely one to finish a “sesh� on, virtually a dessert cider.

There were fruity ciders locked away with the straight ciders,

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and they were not there simply “for the ladies” as there were some seriously scrumptious offerings ready to pour for those feeling adventurous with their plastic tokens. The Mango cider from Tutts Clumb Cider at 4% was very sweet and benign but was blessed with a fantastically mango fruit aroma, which was equally matched by the flavour. Being so low in alcohol, means even a lightweight drinker could enjoy a couple of these comfortably.

Not being much of a lager drinker, I managed a sip of my son’s samples, as he tried them all. He started with the Hog’s Back Brewery’s Hogstar Lager 4.5%, which was quite pleasant, with a good and hoppy flavour, and certainly not a drink I would turn down if thrust into my fist by a generous host.

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The Saazbrucker Pilsner from West Berkshire Brewery was also a nice crisp lager that was very satisfyingly bitter and refreshing.

Back to the bitters. I had to try the strong ale Raiona from Red Cat Brewing. This 6% IPA was softer and fruitier than expected, with the mango flavour from the hops dominant

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in the bouquet. The taste had a satisfying sweet maltiness that was smooth and easy to drink. I‘d think the unwary could drink this all night and be surprised in not being able to stand up at the end!

It seemed far too early in the evening, but we had reached our limit and it was time for the final imbibation of the evening.

I went for Thames Side Brewery, one I had not come across before, and opted for their Egyptian Goose IPA 4.8%, described as “an old fashioned and full bodied English style IPA, great for the autumn season”. That s exactly how it was, nothing special

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about it but this ale had a nice dry finish to round off a good night.

Overall, I think the festival was great, with solid beer and food, nice sounds, a good crowd but not too crowded and a comfortable ambiance. Well done!

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The Mayor’s Jazz Night at the historic Yateley Village Hall

Saturday 11 November 2017 at 7pm, carriages at 11.30pm

mellow jazz by

Grandpa Spells £12 each with Fish & Chip Supper (from Oysters) • Raffle (Vegetarian option available on request)

All proceeds will be donated to the Mayor’s Charity Book now. Tickets only available after 1 October from:

Yelabus

Yateley Town Council Yateley Green GU46 7RP Mayor’s Charity 2017-18 20 around Yateley October 2017

The Mayor’s Charity Golf Challenge Cup

Hosted by the Blackwater Valley Golf Centre

This was the Mayor’s first charity event of the year and 24 golfers took part in the event held in September at the Blackwater Valley Golfing Centre next to Sean Devereux

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Park, Chandlers Lane.The scores were very close at the finish, but the clear winners celebrated after being presented with the Mayor’s Cup. The weather forecast checked that day was for fair weather in the morning, wet in

the afternoon but shortly after the competition started at 10am, with the six teams teeing off at three holes simultaneously, the heavens absolutely opened up 24 around Yateley October 2017

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with a heavy shower that threatened to soak all the participants.

It didn’t dampen the sporting spirit at all and it was all smiles in the clubhouse as the scores were registered and the tall tales of wayward shots, lost balls, hole rimming without dropping banter cheered those alike whatever the scores. It is all part of the game.

I was only miffed that an injured shoulder (from Walking Football) prevented me taking part.

After a splendid lunch of Bangers and Mash, the sausages being Yageley’s finest, from Reeves the Butchers, naturally, and the presentation to the worthy winners, there was just the draw for the various raffle prizes.

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self-drive to an event or function.

If you wish to support this year’s Mayor’s Charity, there are two events coming up which are advertised within the magazine.

The event raised a very worthy £157.30 for The Mayor’s Charity, which this year is YelaBus, who provide bus transport for people in Yateley who do not have easy access to public transport or who wish to hire a bus to

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OYSTERS’ FIRST BIRTHDAY Oysters, the smart new Fish N Chip Bar, at 1 Kingfisher Parade, Rosemary Lane, Darby Green, celebrated its first birthday on Friday 7 September.

Guests of honour at the celebrations

the fishing grounds between Norway and the Faroes Islands and the chips come from specially selected British potatoes.

Everything is cooked in vegetable oil and at very high

included Ray Edwards MBE, inspirational speaker and the CEO of Limbcare; Tony Dean, Chairman of Sandhurst Town FC; and Tony Spencer, Yateley Mayor.

The shop sources fish from sustainable sources in Manager Mel Coopper with owner Gav Singh Ghag and the birthday cake

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temperatures so the fish is steamed within the batter coating and the hot oil drains off easily.

Probably the healthiest fish that you can get. around Yateley 2017 October 31

Good friends Ray Edwards and owner Gav Singh Ghag enjoy ing a chat

Manager Mel Cooper said that they can cope with orders for outside parties and functions, which can be collected piping hot and ready to eat. In fact the fish and Local children join in the celebrations with a healthy tea of fish and chips

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chips for the Charity Jazz Night at Yateley Village Hall on 11 November, will be supplied

by Oyster’s Fish N Chips Bar. Award-winning owner Gav Singh Ghag has been in the fish and chip business for over twenty years, and owns two other “chippies”, in Lightwater and Marlow.

The Darby Green chippie is open lunchtimes on Tuesday to Saturday from 11.30am to 2pm, and in the evenings from 5pm to 9pm.

As well as Limbcare, Oyster’s has always supported local communities, including Ray Edwards and Tony Dean n conversation

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sport, like Hellenic League side Sandhurst Town FC. They also sponsor Darby Green and Potley FC, who were established in 1982 and play on Darby Green.

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F CUS ON ...

The Heritage of St Peter’s On 9 September, St Peter’s Church held an exhibition of some of its treasures, organised

by Heritage Open Days. The church is believed to have been built in the Late Saxon period between 900 to 1066, on an earlier and much smaller chapel that was burnt down in the 8th or 9th centuries. The date of around 750 CE seems to be given in all the secondary sources for this burning but there is uncertainty over where or in what form exists the evidence for this assertion.

Next to the North Porch of the church, there are three windows dating from the 15th, 14th and Saxon developments of the church. Below these windows, abutting

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The sarsen stone by the North entrance

Chapel window

The Saxon window

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the porch, is a sarsen stone set into the foundations. This may well indicate that the site was originally a pre-Christian place of worship and, if there are other sarson stones within the foundations, these may well have formed a small stone circle which graced this area that, although not on a hill, may have been beyond the regular flooding of the water meadows from the River Blackwater.

The Saxon church was trebled in size between the 11th and 13th centuries, reflecting the growth in population

The sarsen stone by the North entrance

throughout the southern counties, until the Black Death in the 14th century.

The Hall was built onto the west side of the original church and the Chapel on the east side of the church, while the church

was also expanded to the south.

The wooden tower and porch were added between the late 15th and early 16th centuries.

The Choir and Warden vestries in the late 19th century and the clergy vestry in 1967. The church was virtually destroyed in 1979 by 40 around Yateley October 2017

The abchorite’s cell

The cross dating from the 14th Century, of Italian origin

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arson, but many of the historic features can still be seen and some of the church treasures were saved.

The old font lies in the Chapel, along with an Altar behind which is a fine Cross dating from the 14th Century.

There is a display of floor tiles, dating from the earliest manufacture of such tiles in England. They were discovered under the floor of the Chapel in 1829 when digging a tomb for a deceased couple. There was also evidence discovered of wall paintings, which were once common in churches.

Off the Chapel, in what is now the clergy vestry, was once an anchorite’s cell measuring only 11ft x 8ft, the foundations of which were discovered in 1903.

These were common in the 14th century, when hermit men (and sometimes women) were walled up in a tiny cell and fed for life through a small grating, which was a small opening which affords a unique view of the altar.

The Crystal Cup was given to the parish church of Yateley by 42 around Yateley October 2017

The only surviving remnant of a polyglot bible,by Brian Walton and printed by Thomas Roycroft in 1657, given to the church by Sir Richard Ryves

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“Mrs Sarah Cocks, when she was a widow, for the only use of the Communion Table, one Christiall silver and gilt Bowl with a cover, one damask table cloth and one damask napkin.”

All these early offerings were always made to the Parish Church, no mention of St Peter’s, so we do not know when the church was dedicated to the first pope. The earliest reference to any name was in 1593 when the church, then still a minor chapel of the Parish 44 around Yateley October 2017

of Crondall, was referred to as the Chapel of St Mary, Yateley.

The tour ended in the Bell Tower, where we were given a chance to

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ring the bells. Curiously, the bells do not ring on the pull, but when the bellrope is released. Those bellropes figure prominently in the church vestry accounts and new ropes were ordered every year, which would seem o indicate excessive wear of over-usage. The mystery was explained by the outgowing Churchwarden at the end of his year’s term claiming the rope to be ised in harnessing and other uses for rope around the farm, as a perk of the job.

When the bells were pealed on St George’s Day and 5 November and other important days, a round of ale for the bellringers was paid out of the vestry accounts by the Churchwardens.

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The Old Bank

L E G E N D S O F YAT E L E Y — T h e O l d B a n k a t S t e v e n s H i l l

It is said that the old bank on Stevens Hill was built to protect the villagers from the retreating Danes when Alfred King of Wessex pushed them back from Caesar’s Camp.

The villagers had heard the stories that the Danish invaders liked murdering and pillaging, so all the farmers and women of the village got together and built an enormous bank to protect the village from the south east, In the end no attack came, and so this odd defensive bank was left with no purpose.

One day a farmer decided to spade out part of the bank, suddenly a Faye appeared and the farmer was carried away never to be seen again, the gap he dug was filled in. Since then no one had dug in that place, allowing holly and oak to cover it. And really old families remember the curse, that if you dig in this part the faie folk will come and get you. Apparently, those old villagers invited the faie folk to guard the bank, and each year a garland of flowers was laid for them to feast upon.

Since recent times, and the cemetery built next to it, the faie folk are supposed to feed from those flowers left by mourners, and continue to guard the bank from being destroyed.

What details can we glean from this old legend?

There is no record of Caesar’s Camp ever being fought over by Alfred or the Danes. Despite the Roman name, Caesar’s Camp was first constructed as a univaliate fort in the Late Bronze Age (c2500-800 BC), probably part of the defences for the River Wey valley in Surrey. During the Iron Age the fort became multivaliate (i.e. walls within walls) with the outer wall a timber pallisade. Later the pallisade was replaced by a bank. The area covered by the fort is vast, 10.5 ha (26 acres). The inner rampart is 10m wide and 3m high, the outer rampart 6m wide and 2m high, with the ditch between 2m deep and 5m wide. There is an outer ditch too, which is a metre deep. These Iron Age forts, in poor heathland, were largely abandoned before Roman times. The next development was in the 11th Century when part of the fort was fenced with palings as it became part of an enclosed hunting park belonging to the Bishop of Winchester and Farnham Castle. A Middle Bronze Age rapier, 305mm long, 19mm wide and 7mm thick, dating from 1200-1000 BC, was found buried on the site.

If the Danes did attack Yateley from the south, it is more likely they would have around Yateley 2017 October 47

set out from their base on the Thames at Reading and forded the Blackwater at Mill Lane, at the settlement at Blackwater, or several places in Eversley, where there are now bridges and formerly fords. If they crossed at Eversley, the Danes may well have circled the village to gain the high ground along Hartford Bridge through Castle Bottom and attack the centre, based around the church. They would have been too far west to be troubled by defensive earthworks on the eastern side of Cricket Hill Lane.

There is no evidence of any Danish activity nearer Yateley than Englefield (17 miles north west) in December 870 or Basing (13 miles west) in March 871.

Who is Faye and the faie? Faie is Middle English, and has become modern English fay. Faie means fairy and Faye is the embodiment of a fairy in female form. In medieval times fairies were regarded as spirits, who, if they materialised, were usually human-sized and powerful demons. They were not the delicate, diminutive beings with tiny insect wings, which is the Victorian version of fairies.

What about the thought that men and women built this defensive bank together? Modern people seem to think that the idea of men and women working full-time jobs is something new. We may remember grandparents who were able to survive on a man’s wage alone while the better half stayed at home. This may have applied in the 20th century, but rarely before. Looking at the Factories Acts tells you that women and children worked long hours in factories. The 1844 Act was passed by only 9 votes, and restricted women to work a maximum of 10.5 hours a day, with a 90-minute break, and not to work outside the hours of 6am-6pm. That only became law because a clause to reduce women and young persons from 12 hours to a 10-hour day was defeated heavily and Ministers threatened to resign en masse if a compromise couldn’t be reached. In 1833 children aged 9-13 could only work an 8-hour day with a 1-hour break, provided they had a certificate from a schoolteacher that the child had attended school for 2 hours a day (the schooling paid for out of the child’s wages at the rate of 1d for every shilling earned). Young persons 14-18 could work 12 hours a day with an hour break. Adult men and women were expected to work 15 hours a day. In 1819 children below 9 couldn’t work in cotton mills and children 9-16 restricted to 12 hours a day Monday to Friday and 9 hours on Saturday, a maximum 69-hour week. These Acts only applied to factories, the vast majority of workers, especially in rural settings like Yateley, worked on the land and there were no restrictions at all. Looking at Workhouse Registers, men and women were expected to work and when they registered they were required to give their trades. Most women were laundresses or labourers, farm or ag labs (agricultural labourers).

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LOCAL BUSINESS FEATURE

DarbyGreen & Frogmore Social Hall

The Darby Green & Frogmore Social Hall, located in Frogmore Road, is a community hall funded by the Millenium Project and the National Lottery.

The new hall replaced an old wooden hut that served the surrounding villages for over 60 years. A group of volunterrs and trustees help run and maintain the activities and services offered at the hall.

They are a registered charity (No. 301799) and proud to be self supporting, are not run by Hart or Yateley councils, and they want to remain that way.

They are always looking for new members to join their committee. Meetings are held bi-monthly. If you are interested in being a member and helping to run and maintain the hall for future generations, don’t hesitate to contact them through their wesite www.dgfsocialhall.co.uk They have a wide range of activities booked in. On Mondays they have Revival Keep Fit, Art Club, Line Dancing, Brownies and Rainbows.

On Tuesdays there is Slimming World, Over 60 Club, Line Dancing, and Frogmore School of Dance (Tuesdays through to Saturdays).

Wednesday there is Zumba Gold, Line Dancing, and Frogmore School of Dance, Thursday there is Dog Club and Frogmore School of Dance, Friday has Little Kickers, Blackwater Friday Club, Line Dancing, and Frogmore School of Dance, Saturday morning Frogmore School of Dance, Saturday afternoon and evening, plus Sunday until 6pm are free for Private Parties.

For bookings call Booling Officers Sheila and Mick Stewart on 01276 502261.

Their address is The Darby Green & Frogmore Social Hall, Frogmore Road, Camberley GU17 0NP. around Yateley 2017 October 49

Mayor’s Charity Dinner at The Ely

Menu choices (please pre-book): STARTER Seasonal soup of the day Smoked salmon Chicken liver pâté Stilton-stuffed mushrooms MAIN COURSE Roast beef & Yorkshire pud Chicken supreme Salmon & Hollandaise sauce Sage roasted butternut squash bake DESSERT Eton mess Chocolate truffle torte, sauce & cream Vanilla cheesecake & fruit compote Bramley apple pie & custard followed by tea or coffee

Friday 20 October 2017 at 7.30 for 8pm, carriages at 11.30pm

3-course meal £30 Silent Auction • Raffle background music of classic hits

All proceeds will be donated to the Mayor’s Charity Booking form for meal choice online.

Tickets available after 1 August from:

Yateley Town Council

Yelabus

Yateley Green GU46 7RP office@yateley-tc.gov.uk www.yateley-tc.gov.uk

01252 872198 50 around Yateley October 2017

Mayor’s Charity 2017-18

Pootle stream L E G E N D S O F YAT E L E Y — T h e H a m l e t o f Po ot l e

Once upon a time, many years before the old hamlet of Pootle became fully integrated with Yateley, an old woman, who people often called “Witch” but was more a Healer, lived in a small thatched cottage hidden from many eyes.

One fine day a stranger arrived wearing an all-black Cloak.

He set fire to the common heathland and killed any horses he found, simply by his evil touch. He even tried to poison all the village wells with a finger nail clipping, but the clipping bounced back out of water and onto dry land, much to his anger.

The Yateley villagers asked the Chapel Priest what was happening to them. He couldn’t answer but put the blame on the old woman. The villagers stormed to her hovel, and dragged her to nearby Pootle stream. (Hospital Pond feeds it.) The mob gave her a choice, either confess to having summoned the demon or be drowned.

Laughing, she said, “Get a Saracens’ stone from the common hidden down by the source of this stream”.

They did, then she had them drag the stone to her hovel cottage. There, she blessed it in an ancient language and never again were the villagers attacked by this black-cloaked figure,

But Minley village, in revenge, was destroyed by a black hooded figure, wiping out the whole old village below the Manor house.

Romany folk passing through the village even now, are known to touch the stone for protection. The Saracens’ stone stands hidden but proud on the brow of Cricket Hill, the old woman’s cottage long gone and newer housing built but no one dares remove this stone.

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Yateley WI QUILT Prize Draw

1st prize The Quilt 2nd prize two quilted cushions 3rd prize a pram/cot play quilt The Prize Draw will be made at the Yateley Christmas Fayre on 25 November

WHERE TO GET YOUR PRIZE DRAW TICKETS Tickets can be purchased from any one of the WI members Tickets are on sale at the Yateley Country Market on Friday mornings 9.30 to 11.30 at the Monteagle Centre on the Egg table Buy direct from Marilyn J Rogers (Promoter for the WI of this project) Creative Designs, Thessaly, Hall Lane, Yateley GU46 6HP 52 around Yateley October 2017

Activities & Societies Blackwater Friday Club

Meet every Friday 12.30-15.30 Darby Green & Frogmore Social Hall GU17 0NP for playing cards, bingo, curling, cross toss a ring, quiz, bring and buy, tea and biscuits.

Contact Gillian Foster 01276 34100 or Jean Armstrong 01252 860584 Camberley & Yateley Friendship Centre for over 50s

Meet third Thursday each month 14.00 Hedgecroft, Bracken Lane GU46 6JW and first Thursday for pub lunches at 12 noon. Contact Barbara Brown 01252 876615 Guiding Blackwater Valley (Yateley, Hawley, Frogmore and Darby Green)

There is Guiding happening every night in the Blackwater Valley for Rainbows (5-7), Brownies (7-10), Guides (10-14) and Rangers (14 and up). Find the unit that suits you best through https://enquiryym.girlguiding.org.uk/

Always looking for volunteers, they don’t have to be every week. If you would like to join or talk about volunteering, try https://enquiryv.girlguiding.org.uk/ Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust

Organise monthly walks during the summer. Contact Lyn Deavin 01252 879255 left www.hiwwt.org.uk to right: Carol Siggery, Sylvia Jeffries, Wendy Mepstead, Brenda Ford, Marilyn J Rogers, Sylvia Peacock and Ann Stevens

K9 Planet dog training

Dog training at Yateley Village Hall, every Wednesday 18.30-19.30.

Contact dog.training@kpplanet.co.uk K9 Services dog training

Dog training at Yateley Village Hall, every Friday noon-15.00.

Contact info@k9services.co.uk Ramblers Association (NE Hants) www.nehantsramblers.hampshire.org.uk Rotary Club of Hart

Meet Thursdays 19.30 for 20.00 North Hants Golf Club, Fleet GU51 1RF www.rotary-ribi.org.uk Theatre 64

Theatre drama group, meet Monday & Friday evenings Frogmore Junior School

www.theatre64.org.uk The Yateley Society

Meet monthly except January 19.30 for 20.00 Red Cross Centre, Monteagle Lane GU46 6LU and at Yateley Green for May Fayre. Conservation voluntary work on Yateley Common www.ydgs.org.uk around Yateley 2017 October 53

Tythings Coffee Club

Meet every Thursday morning for a gentle chat, quizzes and raffles, and regular outings 10.45-12.45 The Tythings GU46 7RP

Contact Ann Kern on 01252 872975 or email: akoffice@o2.co.uk Yateley & Crowthorne Big Band Society

Meet monthly second Tuesday 19.45-22.30 The Tythings GU46 7RP

01252 661037 Kay Sealey or kay.sealey@talk21.com Yateley & District Gardening Society

Meet monthly except January 19.30 for 20.00 Hedgecroft, Bracken Lane GU46 6JW and at Yateley Green for May Fayre. www.ydgs.org.uk Yateley & District University of the Third Age (U3A)

Meet first Thursday each month 10.00 for 10.30 Sandhurst Memorial Hall GU47 9BJ www.yateleyu3a.org.uk Yateley & Hawley Bridge Club

Meet Wednesdays and Fridays 19.20 Memorial Hall, Fernhill Road, Hawley GU17 9BW

www.yhbc.org.uk or contact Alan Brown 01276 27354 or Judy Douch 01483 475133 Yateley Bowling Club

6-rink green and clubhouse The Bowling Green, Reading Road GU46 7RP

https://yateleybowlsclub.sharepoint.com Yateley Choral Society

Rehearse weekly Mondays 19.45-21.45 Drama Hall, Yateley Manor School GU46 7UQ

www.yateleychoral.org.uk email: info@yateley-choral.org.uk Yateley Lifesaving Club

Meet every Thursday TBA Yateley School pool, School Lane GU46 6NL

Contact Pat Brewer on yateleylifesavingclub@hotmail.com Yateley Morris Men

Meet Tuesdays (October-April) 20.00 Drama Hall, Yateley Manor School GU46 7UQ

www.yateleymorrismen.org.uk email: squire@yateleymorrismen.org.uk Yateley Neighbourhood Watch

Assists residents in both reducing the opportunities for crime, and the passing of info to police.

www.yateleynw.org.uk Yateley Tennis & Wacquet Ball Club

Monday to Thursday + weekends Yateley School, School Lane GU46 6NL or Yateley Green GU46 7RP

Contact Joel James on 07753416450 or yateleytennisclub@gmail.com

Juniors 5-12, Teenagers 13-17, Adults +18, Seniors +60.

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Macmillan coffee morning at Accents Hair Design

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FOUR SCORE YEARS and TEN

On Saturday 23 September the Oxford-based touring company Flintlock Theatre put on two performances of “Four Score Years and Ten”, a play written by Anna Glynn, based on the spoken words of six 90-year-olds from Winchester.

This really was “theatre in the round”, with the audience 56 around Yateley October 2017

Charlie Richards played Charlie

Leonie Spilsbury played June

sitting in a VE-Day type tea-time setting with bunting and trestle tables, while the performers and the play happened all around the audience, participating in a new experience for me.

The theatrical set was laid out in Yateley’s historic Village Hall, that was already 50 years old and full of memories by the time Lewis, the oldest of the subjects, was born. Bunting swayed overhead, and warm uplighting set the mood, with tea brewed in flowery teapots reminiscent of visits Hannah Genesius played Eve

to Granny, and fruit cakes and Victoria sponges served on glorious bone china teaplates, upon paper doilies and with gingham tablecloths. Yes, the setting was perfect.

The six speakers recalled their early memories,

around Yateley 2017 October 57

Nicholas Waters played 99-yearold Lewis

58 around Yateley October 2017

Natasha Cowley played Phyllis

Carl Stone played Tom

each of them hailing from contrasting backgrounds, some more privileged than others, the only common denominator being fate which brought them all to Winchester at the time their reminiscences were recorded. All the three men and women ranged in age from 82 to 99. around Yateley 2017 October 59

They were frank in their recollections with passages of deep sadness and others of light humour, therir long lives lived to the full through good tikmes and bad. All the way to the subject of Brexit and their relationships with their families.

I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, those wonderful insights into

Chanele Sillince, Hat Fair Engagement Producer

long lived memories and delivered by these young actors so realistically and in heartfelt sincerity.

I came away from the experience with the feeling I had a better insight into the world of my parents and even my grandparents, 60 around Yateley October 2017

conscious that both my mother and motherin-law are just enterig their 90s now and must have shared many of the same experiences and memories.

The play was produced

by Hat Fair and forms part

of the Celebrating Age project, which is sponsored by the Arts Council England, the Baring Foundation, Winchester City Council, Winchester Theatre, The Core at Corby Cube, Made in Corby, St John’s Winchester Charity, Age UK, MHA Live at Home, Hampshire Records Office, and Media Archive for Central England.

I will keep an eye out for future productions and invite them to return to YVH. around Yateley 2017 October 61

62 around Yateley October 2017

LOCAL BUSINESS FEATURE

is available to hire for all occasions:

Kitchen for your use and a fenced off garden so safe for children Plenty of room for a bouncy castle Telephone to view the facilities and for further information 01252 870707 or email on yateleyvh@gmail.com around Yateley 2017 October 63

Widow’s Windows A WORLD WAR I AND PRE-WORLD WAR II STORY by Tony Spencer

“Mum showed us yer war medals an’ the Military Medal for ‘gallantry’, las’ week, Dad,” 11-year-old Art says as the pair walk to the next job, “next munf it’ll be twenty years since The Great War started in 1914.”

“She should’ve asked me before she dug out my medals, Art. Although,” Roger Bird replies, “I’d almost forgotten about them.”

“Sorry, Dad, I never meant to upset yer.”

“Art, you’re old enough now to know about that awful war, it could all happen with Germany again.

They’re preparing for another war, while we dither.”

“The MM medal reads ‘for gallantry’, Dad. Does that mean bravery?”

Roger shoulders his ladder, carrying his bucket of soapy water.

“Depends on what you call bravery son, sometimes you don’t have any choice. The citation says I erected a machine gun under enemy fire and gas attack, and therefore helping our advance. I was the only surviving NCO from my section, I was left in charge so I get the medal. The Company Captain, William Baird, saw the action from the flank but was helpless to provide covering fire as we were in the way. My lieutenant received the Military Cross, posthumously.”

“Post-um-?”

“He died.”

Bird recalled the events of September 1915. [*** I remember the mud, the blood, holding my stricken Lieutenant to my breast.

“I’m dying Roger,” he said, coughing up black bile. “Look after Eveline and the boy for me?”

“Yes, sir.” I promised.

From that point my worthless life had some purpose. I held on as bullets rocked us. I’d saved his life once, now and for evermore he was saving mine.***] Art swings his bucket of clean rinsing water and, clutching his bundle of chamois leathers, follows. His window cleaner father stops, checking his notebook, then crosses the quiet suburban street. Art follows.

“A certain house down here needs cleaning today, son, and we’ll talk there.”

A large detached house with a glimpse of an orangery out back loomed ahead. The glass sparked in the summer sunshine. They didn’t look as though they needed doing yet.

“This is it, Art,” Bird says.

“Lots o’ winders,” Art laughs, “an ‘arf-a-crowner this one, I bet!”

He’d been learning the ropes since school broke up two weeks ago. He would probably join his Dad’s business and take over one of the rounds in a couple of years. In his enthusiasm to hear his Dad’s story, he runs ahead and turns up the front path.

A tall, slim young man wearing cricketing whites emerges from the front door, smiling at the eager youngster. “Hallo, son, what’s all the hurry?”

“Sorry Sir,” Art stutters, looking behind to see where his Dad is. The tip of the ladder can be seen bobbing along behind the tall front hedge. “I’m ‘elping’ me Dad, he’s yer winder-cleaner.”

“Of course,” the smiling man nods, holding out a hand, “I’m Rodge.”

“Arthur Bird, Sir.” The boy tentatively shakes hands. Gentlemen, even young gentlemen, do not normally shakes urchins’ hands.

“Pleasure to meet you, young man. Are you taking over the round from your father? He’s cleaned our windows for as long as I can remember.”

“No, Sir, jus’ fer the school ‘olidays. You playin’ cricket today?”

“Yes, we’ve a game against the Gasworks Offices’ team this afternoon. You play cricket, Arthur?”

“Yes Sir, at school, an’ I plays up the Rec wiv me mates before tea.”

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Rodge plucks a shiny red ball from his bag, tossing it to Art, who maintains his grip on his bucket; though releasing the leathers, he neatly catches the ball one-handed.

“Safe hands in the field, Arthur,” Rodge laughs, “do you bat or bowl?”

“Bofe! Bowlin’s me best though, medium off-breaks. Bin workin’ on me speed but we ain’t got no nets dahn the Rec.” “Yes, you need nets and plenty of balls too, so you can build up a nice bowling rhythm. Ah, Mr Bird,” Rodge addresses the newly-arrived window cleaner, “Arthur’s been regaling me with his bowling prowess.

I’m considering drafting him into my team.”

Bird laughs, “Yes, Mister Roger, Art’s pretty useful. He hasn’t any proper kit, mind, ‘though I have knitted him a cream sweater.”

“You did?” Rodge enquired, eyebrows raised.

“Yes, I learned to knit when stationed in India for seven years. Good way of keeping idle hands busy.”

“Interesting, Mr Bird, we must talk about your military service some time. I suppose we’ll all be in the Army soon. Well, I must be off. I’ve net practice tomorrow, Art, if you’d like to come along and lob a few balls at me.”

Art grins, tossing Rodge’s ball back, and looks to his Dad. Bird nods, “He’s free, I’ll bring him here, say same time tomorrow?”

“Excellent! Right-oh then, bye, see you both then.” [*** “Why’d you join up, Sergeant?” Lieutenant Arthur Edrich asked, calming down after the shock of facing death and seeing the Oberleutnant drop dead on the end of my bayonet.

“Over a woman, Sir,” I laughed, knowing that was only half the story.

“Ah.” Lieutenant Edrich was thoughtful. He guessed he owed me his life and we were alone in his bunker office. “I noticed you ignore the village girls that, er, are available.”

“Yes, Sir, a bit too close to home for me.”

“Ah, I see. Well, er, I ... joined over a ... man ... a teacher at school ... who abused and confused me.”

I’d known men in the Army that had a “certain preference”, the worst of them praying on weak men.

When discovered, whether they were instigators or victims, their lives became nightmares. It took a leap of bravery ... or innocence … by the Lieutenant, to own up to such abuse to someone like me, a common labourer from the ranks.

Trust and honesty, sharing private thoughts; two men, with different experiences, from completely different worlds. There were lines in the sand and they had been crossed.

“My ‘woman’ nightmare was my mother, Sir. It’s a long story.” ***] As they wash the windows, Bird tells Art about Flanders and Loos, where he won his MM, the Military Medal. They can’t stop working to talk, it’s hot and sunny, perfect weather for cleaning windows.

“Art, there’s no glory in war, just mud, blood and pain; death follows hot lead, cold steel, or bare hands if you have to; it’s kill or be killed. People die, friends die.”

A tear momentarily beads in one eye, which he rubs away with the back of his rough hand, as private thoughts haunt him. [*** “Eveline’s pregnant!” Edrich spluttered, his face pale, even by the flickering lantern light.

I was in his bunker, reporting on the nightly patrol, when the post arrived. Everything stops when post from home comes. I never got any as no-one knew where I was or even if I was still alive. I’d not been home in the eight years since I left and four more years were to pass before I saw my four sisters again.

Lieutenant Edrich appealed for a break from my report with the eagerness of a puppy dog, as soon as that letter was thrust into his hand. I nodded with a grin and started boiling up a can of water on his stove for a brew, while he read his pages, until his exclamation about his wife’s condition.

In an earlier conversation he had told me about Eveline. She was four years younger than him, a pretty girl who had always lived next door and long had a crush on him. She begged him that he marry her before

around Yateley 2017 October 65

he left for the Front and, after he received his Commission, he relented. They were both virgins, with little idea what they were doing in the week before he embarked to Flanders.

“Congratulations, Sir,” I said, “Have you got a date when the baby’s due?”

“Er ...” he read down further, “First September. Bloody hell, me a father, that’s a joke!”

“You’ll be fine, Sir,” I said, “You’re already ‘father’ to thirty blokes and NCOs.” “So, Sergeant, are you saying that you’ll come home to help me look after this mewling sprog after the war?”

“Haha, the men with families reckon being a father’s easy as fallin’ off a log.”

“So, why’re you not married with a crowd of kids then, Sergeant?” Edrich asked, “I notice whenever we are billeted you steer well clear of the women who make themselves, shall we say ... available. So, do you also have a wife at home?”

“No wife, I can’t trust any woman.”

“Women-trouble, eh?” Edrich laughed uncertainly, “I remember you mentioning your mother, did she object to your choice of mate?”

“Not exactly, after my old man died, she ... shall we say ... made herself available ... and I found that I was unable to live with that.” ***] “We advanced,” Bird continues, “behind enemy lines into open ground approaching Bois Hugo Chalk Pit, which was our particular objective. Along our right flank, protected by trees and uncut wire, several enemy machine guns sprayed us with deadly crossfire. We were hampered by gas in the hollows where we dug shallow trenches for shelter.”

“Did many die, Dad?” Art asks, eager for details.

“Yes, all but three of my platoon, officer, two NCOs and 28 men. My Company were hit first. Our Sergeant fell instantly dead, my Lieutenant Edrich was badly wounded. We dived to the ground but were affected by the gas, which was heavier than air. We were coughing, eyes streaming, while trying to set up our Lewis guns. Bullets flew over, around and between us.”

“Must’ve bin fright’nin’, huh, Dad?” “Terrifying, Art. Fright keeps you alive, though. It’s the ‘brave’, the ‘scared witless’ and the plain ‘unlucky’ that gets killed first; those with a healthy regard for life live longer. You make the most of cover. We had none, so desperately we started digging in.” [*** Lieutenant Edrich rejoined the regiment after a month’s compassionate leave, his wife Eveline had given premature birth to their son in early August. I welcomed him at the station with a C Company escort.

He was still the same lean, fresh-faced 22-year-old, Lieutenant I had known since he transferred from the 2nd Battalion in January. I was a 35-year-old veteran with ten years’ Indian service and more than 12 months in Flanders under my belt.

We’d formed a bond of friendship, eight months earlier, on our first patrol, when Edrich encountered a lone Enemy officer in No Man’s Land. The German Oberleutnant must’ve been lost in the mist. The enemy drew his Luger first, aimed at Edrich before I bayonetted him up through the chin, killing him instantly.

As his Sergeant, Edrich and I spoke often during our time served, becoming friends, as far as officers and men could be, separated by class, rank and education. As an accountant in his father’s firm, he taught me bookkeeping to help my business, coached my penmanship, and gifted me his dictionary, improving my civilian options at war end.

Lieutenant Edrich stepped down from his Premiere Classe carriage. I noticed his extra shoulder pip, promoted to First Lieutenant in his absence.

“Hallo, Sergeant-” he started.

I pointed to the single stripe on my sleeve.

“Ah, Lance-Corporal Bird,” Edrich laughed, “Fighting? Drinking?”

“Never touch a drop, Sir,” I said, standing attention and shielding my grin from the escort, “Simply relaxin’ a few mouthy insomniacs; can’t beat the advantages of catching forty winks during these nightlong bombardments.”

66 around Yateley October 2017

“’Insomniacs’ eh? Long word for a busted Corporal,” Edrich suggested, lifting one eyebrow.

“Been readin’ yer dictshunry, Sir.” “Clearly,” he laughed, “well, lead off ... Corporal.” ***]

“Weeks before the battle, Art, we left the front line in the dark, bivouacking in tumbledown houses in Vermelles. We moved further from the Front, rested and drilled, before collecting Lieutenant Edrich plus new troops to bring us back up to Battalion strength. After Sunday service the Bartonshire Regiment march-” “That’s the regiment name on your cap badge,” Art interrupts.

“Yes, the 1st Battalion arrived in France on August 13th 1914, just nine days after war was declared, and only weeks at home after spending seven years in India. A year later, in September 1915 we were billeted at Burbure, before marching through the night in heavy rain for six hours to bivouac in railway cuttings at two in the morning. We spent the next day practicing attacks.

“The weather forecast was fine with little wind, favourable for gas attack on the German lines. The overnight and early morning shell bombardment hardly touched the defensive redoubts and failed to cut the barbed wire.

“Supporting our advance were the Rifles and Sussex on either side of us, with the Lancashires in reserve.

There were 10 battalions in our section of the attack.

“The gas was turned on before 6, with shelling switched to the enemy’s rear trenches. Because of the light wind, though, the gas hung around our own lines, the Rifles and our A Company were badly gassed.”

“We gassed our own soldiers?” Art was incredulous.

“Yes, it didn’t blow towards the enemy as intended, it just hung about in our front trenches. The gas delayed the advance of us and the Rifles for about three hours, although the Sussex were able to move forward alone. When we reached the wire, we found it was uncut by the shelling and was difficult to get through. The Enemy had plenty of time to get ready for our push. We were caught like fish in a barrel.”

“Didn’t you have no wire-cutters, Dad?” “Each Company had a couple o’ sets, son. C Company were caught in open ground under heavy machine gun fire, with yards of wire between us and the Enemy. Unable to go forward we took heavy casualties.

Lieutenant Edrich was targeted and mortally wounded in the first fusillade and, with the Sarge dead and the Corporal gut-shot and out of it, I was the NCO in charge. We couldn’t survive long enough out in the open to cut the wire, so we dug in under withering fire, for over two hours. The Sussex were also tied down but were well dug in as they got there before the Enemy. Once our Lewis guns were set up, though, we were able to return fire and eventually drove the enemy off.”

[*** “I visited your mother,” Edrich coughed, his face pale but bubbles of blood on his lips, “while on leave.”

“I know, you left her my new name and BFPO address. My sister wrote to me.”

“Your mother wouldn’t talk to me, but Eveline persuaded her to open up; taking the baby along with us broke the ice. She desperately wanted to see you, but she’s dying, consumption.”

“Hetty explained to me,” I said, “that Mum was a workin’ prostitute when she first met me Dad. Me Grandfather encouraged Aunt Rose an’ Mum to go out and be friendly,help the family income, they were a large poor family. Dad was well aware of what she was and he took her away from that part of her life.

Tragically, the three young children she bore out of wedlock, had already died of typhus in the Workhouse.

She was a good wife an’ Mum to me four sisters and me until Dad died, worn out by a lifetime of hard work, then Mum relapsed to her old habits. That was before they started payin’ out the national pensions.

I couldn’t live with the life I thought she was leading, so I left home, joined up.”

“I dreaded coming back here,” Edrich coughed again, “wondering what my men would say of me, Captain Baird made it clear before I left that he had friends that knew of me and Mr Carruthers at my old school.”

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“Nothing would have been said, Sir, the lessons in Company ‘tolerance’ cost me two stripes for ‘selfinflicted injuries’, while the Captain didn’t have the same requirement to make muster, he could declare himself sick without reporting to sick bay.” ***]

“Elsewhere Loos and Hulluch were captured, taking 300 prisoners. With the Gloucestershires now on our right flank, Companies A and B moved up with us, leaving D Company in support. We made it over the Loos-Hulluch road, up to the chalk pit without further opposition as night fell. We dug in at Bois Hugo, our advance being 2 miles in 15 hours. We had a very wet night and, without our greatcoats, suffered hardship in cold wet mud, no hot food or drink, with continuous shelling and sniping.”

“Didn’t you have your greatcoats with you, Dad?” “Can’t charge in greatcoats, Art, and the forecast had been for fine summer weather, but they were wrong. At first light we repulsed an Enemy attack, before being relieved by the Lancashires, who occupied and improved our shallow trenches. We suffered more casualties under fire as we retired. Later we heard the news that Buis Hugo, the chalk pit and Hill 70 were lost to a counterattack. The Bartonshires lost 10 of our 24 officers and nearly 300 of 1000 other ranks, over a third of the Battalion, all for nothing.”

Art went as pale as a brand-new chamois leather.

[*** Only three men advanced from those shallow trenches, to join up with the rest of C Company, under Captain Baird. I saw that two injured men were stretchered back to First Aid, but neither made it, I found out later.

I stripped the Lieutenant of his few personal effects, to be returned to his family. I still had my duty to do, and left his body behind, as he would have expected. ***]

“Lieutenant Edrich and my friends were never found, Art. They have no known grave, buried in the mud where they fell, or maybe dragged off by the Enemy and dropped into a mass grave somewhere, with no metal dog-tags like nowadays. We lost 60,000 men in those two days and a third of ‘em still have no known grave. That officer, my friend, taught me bookkeeping, to read poetry, and gave me his dictionary.

All that’s left of him is a name on a war memorial. At the end, before he slipped away, we both declared our undying love for the women in our lives. For me, I regretted leaving my mother in anger, the grandmother you never knew and I never saw again, because she died during that winter; while the Lieutenant realised he really loved his reluctant wife, Eveline, and the boy they had together.”

[*** “If you distrust women so much” Edrich smiled, having folded his wife’s letter, “you’ll have to marry a saint or maybe a nun!”

“Per’aps I will, Sir.” I grinned back. ***]

“Blimey, Dad, was you wounded as well?”

“No, Art, that day I never had a scratch on me, other than the burning to my lungs from the gas. We had gas masks but they were useless and you couldn’t run and draw breath at the same time in them. We couldn’t put them on until after we had dug in and set up the Lewis guns, by that time there were only three of us left unscathed and you need two men to fire each gun.”

“It must have been horrific, Dad.” “It was a nightmare, Art. We were up to our knees in mud, stained red with the blood from people we had talked to for years in some cases, or merely days in the newcomers. All were men we had eaten with, slept next to, trained and fought the enemy side by side. And we still have to live with those memories.

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Not just on those two days but all the way through that terrible war. The whole four years we would march a day or two to get to the Front, spend five days or a week fighting the Enemy or sheltering from shellfire.

Then relieved, we would march one or two days away to somewhere quiet and spend a week drilling, drafting in new troops to make up the numbers, then back to the Front.”

“Still, you survived, Dad,” Art says, “but you never saw your Mum, my grandma, again?”

“No, but your Aunt Hetty wrote and told me that Mrs Edrich had very kindly helped make my Mum comfortable during her last few days—” From the back door an elegant, attractive woman emerges, carrying a tray of tea and a glass of lemonade, “Refreshments gentlemen, you both deserve a break. It’s so hot out here today.”

“Gosh, thanks, Missus!” Art says.

“I didn’t realise you were at home, Ma’am.” Bird says quietly, “I hope you didn’t hear too much of my nons—” “I did, Mr Bird, but not to concern yourself. I believe ... I now realise … that I, we, Roger and I, are in your debt.”

“No, Ma’am, just the usual shilling for the windows.”

“Here, young Art, I have a tip for you,” she says to the boy, “don’t spend it all at once on sweets.”

“Gosh, Ma’am, ‘arf a crown!” the boy cries, biting the coin, as he had seen others do, before stuffing it into his pocket. Then he was rubbing his leather on some imaginary stain on the French windows before helping himself to lemonade and a biscuit.

She turns and presses a bob into Bird’s palm.

“My late husband left me well provided for, so I can afford to pay you for what the job’s really worth, Mr Bird, and I am sure now that it should be a lot more than ‘just a shilling’,” she says, a tear escaping to run down her cheek. She continues, dropping her voice to a whisper. “Arthur was a wonderful man, who I loved very much, still love with all my heart, Mr Bird ... may I call you Roger?”

“Er, yes, of course, but I can afford to take a lot less than a shilling, I don’t clean your windows for the money,” Bird too, whispers back, tears in his eyes, though he tries his hardest to smile too, “And for me, Mrs Edrich ... Eveline ... Lieutenant Edrich was a fine man, I was fond of your Arthur, too.”

Eveline blinks back her tears and squeezes Bird’s hand, still holding the shilling.

“Arthur spoke of you often, while he was home. We had no secrets from each other, none. He told me how you saved his life, but the letter from his Captain never disclosed how he died or who comforted his last few hours.” Eveline lifts her voice, adding in as cheerful a tone as she can, observing the boy hungrily tucking into a custard cream biscuit, “A fine boy, you have there, Roger. Were you able to find and marry your saint? Or was she a nun from the convent?” she manages a weak smile to accompany her attempt at humour.

“Firstly, I must say that, for a long time I have considered your Roger a fine young man, a gentleman.

His father would be so proud of him, and of you too for his upbringing,” Bird replies, with a smile, glad the subject was moving from the sad past to a more pleasant present day one.

“Thank you,” Eveline smiles.

“As for your questions about Art’s mother, the answer is neither, Eveline. Well, not exactly anyway,” Bird chuckles, “Immediately after demob I did especially go out of my way to wash the kitchen windows at the St Margaret Convent in the High Street. There I met my wife Mary. She was orphaned at five years old and had spent fifteen years in various convents and ended up working as a kitchen skivvy. She was a sweet and innocent girl, almost twenty years younger than me. I count myself very lucky. As mother to Art, his two younger brothers and two sisters, as well as being my better half, I suppose you could say that I married an angel.”

“I’m pleased for you, Roger. Now, you must bring all your family over for Sunday tea, I’d like to get to know them, and Mary, as friends. After all, I’ve known you for such a long time Roger, fifteen years or so, without really knowing you as well as I should. Arthur would have invited you over long ago and often, if he’d known you were watching over us, and I feel I’ve rather let the side down. So, say you’ll come, Roger, please.”

“Yes, Eveline, we will come.”

The End

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Celebrate Listening – with community-driven radio

by Paul Simpson

“That’s the sound going into your ear ‘ole!”

From just about as early an age as I can remember, I have been captivated by the sounds that have emanated from the radio.

Often it was the intimacy of the relationship with the local radio stations growing up in Yateley (never quite deciding whether I should look towards Radio 210 in Reading, or County Sound in Guildford).

That immediacy remains today, when I get a cheap thrill after hearing a text or email read out by presenters I listen to regularly, such as Jo Whiley (on BBC Radio 2), Janice Long (now on BBC Radio Wales), Lynn Parsons (Magic Radio) or Nick Abbot’s fabulous show late on Friday and Saturday nights on LBC. I was lucky enough to get to know Jo, Janice and Lynn through eventually getting to work in the press office, as head of PR at BBC Radio 1, who have just celebrated their 50th anniversary of broadcasting.

Radio can paint such vivid pictures in the mind. Something as simple as the station jingles would captivate me, and evoke a whole personality for a station. My personal favourites were for ‘Pennine Radio 235’ in Bradford (“That’s the sound going into your 70 around Yateley October 2017

ear ‘ole!”) which I used to catch when we visited Dad’s side of the family every once in a while in West Yorkshire, and Radio Victory in Portsmouth (“Everything that touches you is Victory! – Be a soldier of the free!”) when the family used to holiday in Selsey Bill every year.

Favourite sounds

But the most powerful thing about radio is the huge range of content it manages to curate – seemingly more diverse than the fare of soaps, reality shows and talent contests on television. I’ve always been a big fan of how it has allowed a DJ to share their passion and experience of a particular genre of music, to signpost things you might want to listen to, or new releases you might not know about. Online services like Spotify might try to do that with an algorithm, but there is no substitute for a real human being who you can relate to, whose stories you trust, and whose taste you can act on. I’m a big fan of Phil Taggart on Sunday nights on Radio 1, for example, but others who fit this category, for example, include Annie Nightingale on BBC Radio 1,

Radios and radiogram, sets the audio mood

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Paul at the editing console

Steve Lamacq and Don Letts on BBC 6 Music, and Bob Harris and David Rodigan on BBC Radio 2.

Despite many people sounding the death knell for radio over the years, it has never been more vibrant, with more stations, more formats, and many more different ways of listening. Which is where we find ourselves today with podcasting and online radio which have widened the availability of types of listening beyond our wildest dreams, from sources all around the world.

Towards the end of 2016, I started to hatch the idea of harnessing the power that the digital environment gives us, to create a community-driven podcast and online audio network. That is how the idea of Sound Vault was born.

Sound Vault: a new podcast and online audio network based around Yateley

Sound Vault aims to craft a collection of shows by giving anyone the opportunity to pitch a show idea, and if successful, will work with them (whether they have the digital skills in production and editing yet) to produce it, and bring it to the attention of the wider world via the network.

72 around Yateley October 2017

Our programming focuses on four main areas: * first-person storytelling and unheard voices; * specialist music; * sound design/soundscapes/collage; * backstage work inspired by the venue that gives us our home, and whose partnership has made the project possible – Farnham Maltings.

Podcasting has enjoyed growing success in recent years, with more and more people choosing to listen to audio content online.

In simple terms, a podcast is a regular set of digital audio files, where listeners can subscribe to regular episodes of so that each new episode is automatically downloaded to their local computer, phone or tablet via any one of a number of syndication platforms – for example, iTunes (now called Apple Podcasts); Stitcher; Overcast; Spotify and Deezer.

Podcasting has democratised access to the airwaves. If you have a creative idea, a format, or a viewpoint, the floor is yours. While some podcasts are just a downloadable version of a previous radio show, many more are bespoke, specialist, niche – and made by anybody. The improvements in recording quality made possible by smartphones, and the availability of free editing software options, such as Audacity, have only encouraged this.

We also make use of what is called‘online audio’. Because podcasts are downloadable, they cannot contain copyrighted material. This means that they almost always do not contain music, except for that which is available without copyright.

In the beginning, we had radio – AM, FM, DAB, and internet-streamed radio for example. Now, just like podcasts, there is also a format where you can share your passion for music, express your creative presentation skills, or signpost new music finds in a particular genre you have a taste for, and that is online music/radio streaming, thanks to Mixcloud. Not just DJ club sets, Michael Chacko but actual radio shows.

Their official blurb says; “Mixcloud has blanket radio licensing deals with various collecting societies around the world. This means that users can upload their shows or mix sets with songs from any catalogue and we [they] pay royalties to these societies, who in turn distribute them to artists, labels and publishers.”

This deal is in part funded by ad revenues, and subscriptions. The only rules it has is that it does not allow the around Yateley 2017 October 73

upload of single tracks or albums, and has a limit of tracks you can use by a single artist.

Like the BBC’s iPlayer Radio (and Mixcloud), you do not have to sign up to a podcast in order to listen to it. It is perfectly possible to just listen to a single episode in the place that you find it – that could be on the original website hosting it, on the audio Ruby Bassett (far right) working at former PM Harold Macmillan’s 90th platform hosting it (such as Birthday Mixcloud or Soundcloud), or even via a ‘widget’ that you have found ‘shared’ via social media, such as Twitter or Facebook.

Sound Vault: ‘a radio space for all’

Because this online radio space is a bit of a ‘wild west’, a few of us wanted to come together to create a network which makes full use of podcasts and online radio streaming, where: • Anyone who had an idea or an ambition to make a radio show or podcast to get the support to realise that and, if it met the values of our space, share via our networks too; • We could help a wider group of people understand how to find and listen to the treasure trove of output available online – and realise that with the beauty of mobile phones, bluetooth, wi-fi, and speakers, it really is simple to access a huge range of content from around the world. This is sometimes given the glorified title of ‘digital literacy’ in policy circles. We just like to #CelebrateListening While our studio might be based in Farnham, we have people involved throughout the local Surrey/Hampshire border area – and that includes Yateley.

Local Yateley Sixth Form student Michael Chacko is set to host a series which looks at the history of hip-hop, called ‘Tracks with Chack’. He spent a week on work experience with Sound Vault at Farnham Maltings over the summer.

I live in Yateley, and I’m producing a show called ‘The Particular’ which bills itself as “listening to the past today – unleashing the commonplace, wisdom, memories, insights, and secrets of a special generation”.

74 around Yateley October 2017

Like much of the content on Sound Vault, it can trace much of its inspiration back to a show on BBC Radio 4 called ‘The Listening Project’, which is fronted by Fi Glover. It captures everyday conversations and, in doing so, shines a light on some very raw and very human issues.

I have already had the pleasure of interviewing a number of Yateley residents for my programme – and it has enabled them to talk about some often painful episodes in their lives.

For example, Ruby Bassett shares the story of how she was abandoned by her Mum at the age of seven years old.

“She just gave me a note one day. She said, ‘Take your dollies’ pram, and take this note down to Granny’. So I said ‘Ok’. Seven years old, you don’t think nothing. It was a long, long walk. By the time Ruby Bassett with her beloved bike I got down there, she read it, and she grabbed my hand and we raced all the way back up to the village. But it was too late. My Mum had got on a bus and gone. So, she’d got that all planned out.”

She does go on to share how they were eventually reunited years later – and other happy memories, such as the thrill of receiving a bike as a Christmas present during My Nan (left) outside one of the Nissen huts that what were otherwise very austere times Blanche Rodgers moved into at the age of 4 – and being part of the catering team for former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan’s 90th Birthday celebrations.

Fellow Yateley resident Blanche Rodgers tells her story of moving to Yateley at the age of 4, to live in one of the Nissen huts which had been vacated by the airmen at Blackbushe Airport.

Hearing history told by the voice of those actually affected by it gives it a whole new dimension – and all of these shows will be permanently available online, in a similar way to the BBC iPlayer.

Here is a taster of some of the other shows which will be available on the Sound Vault network from launch: around Yateley 2017 October 75

In the hot seat during recording

• An Audio Listener’s Guide to Adequate Hearing/Tom Garrett produces a tonguein-cheek soundscape/audio instructional manual for your ears; • Ex-Hebridus/Alasadair S. Goldie introduces an assortment of poetry and prose from the Hebrides; • Farnham Rants/ an audio version of the local social media forum; • Keep It Cheap Radio/Students Sam Gard & Alex Jennings use music markers to discuss serious issues; • Let Me Take You There/In each edition, a guest will pick six tracks that remind them of a particular location, or take them to a spiritual place; • Mixed Bag/Local bricklayer Mark Sumner plays soul/jazz/rare groove fusion from his vinyl collection; • Resonance: Museum of Sound a collaboration with the Museum of Farnham for their next season’s exhibition on sound; • Tale Waves/Gilly Stewart with children’s storytelling from a different character each week; • The Particular/Paul Simpson with slices of oral/personal history from a special generation of people in their 60s, 70s and older; • Tracks with Chack/Michael Chacko with a brief history of hip-hop made by a sixth former who has done work experience with us; • MXcast/an audio diary of someone transitioning from female to non-binary status; • USA Railway Travelogue)/Tim Davies with an audio diary of a five-week railway journey on three of the USA’s most famous Amtrak railways. Show will arrive later in the year!; • World of Wonder/at 11 years old, Noah Dann is our youngest show host. This show combines politics and the latest technology, but for a younger audience.

76 around Yateley October 2017

Anyone can suggest and make a series, and with four ongoing strands (Sound Vault: Voices; Sound Vault: Music; Sound Vault: Collage; and Sound Vault: Maltings+), we will also have space for one-off specials, and occasional shows.

We been lucky enough to welcome the Mayor of Yateley, Tony Spencer into the studio recently to record a couple of shows, so listen out for them. In one of them, he reveals he is already an avid podcast listener, tuning in to ‘Nothing But The Blues’ – a weekly podcast by Cliff McKnight.

One of the flagship shows is called “An Audio Listener’s Guide to Adequate Hearing”, which is a surreal audio instructional manual, as if you were opening your ears for the first time. It brings together ambient music, and a creative writing with the tones of a voice actor. It has echoes of Chris Morris’ Blue Jam. It has been produced by Tom Garrett, a film production student at the University of the Creative Arts in Farnham.

I really hope it’s something you might be intrigued enough to want to listen to Sound Vault – or even get involved in, and make shows for.

Want to listen? Want to create?

Everything is online – and we launched for real on 2 October. All new shows will be posted as they go-live at our new website, www.soundvaultHQ.com You can also keep up-to-date with everything we are doing on Twitter and Facebook @SoundVaultHQ – please ‘Follow’ and ‘Like’ us.

We are also on Instagram and Pinterest @SoundVaultHQ too – so please follow us on there if you’re on either of them, for more of a visual insight into what we are about.

And, if you want to suggest an idea for a show, or want to find out more about how to get involved, you can email us SoundVaultHQ@gmail.com

Radio for the local community

The potential for community radio specifically for Yateley has never been stronger.

OFCOM are currently inviting bids for an FM community radio licence which would cover Yateley, Fleet, Camberley and Farnborough.

There is a group which is putting a bid together. The deadline for the application is Tuesday 24 October, 2017 at 3pm.

Eagle Radio does lots of good work across the Surrey/Hampshire area, but much of the rest of local media is on the retreat. Providing a space where local people can learn the ropes of how to produce programmes can only be a good thing, as well as space on the airwaves which diversifies what’s available.

When I used to hear the term ‘community radio’, I used to think of something that I can only describe as ‘smelling of bleach’. Community media needn’t be that way. It around Yateley 2017 October 77

can turn heads. It can be a creative space. It can be a place where connections are built, and confidence gained.

Yateley’s Mayor, Tony Spencer has submitted a statement in support of the bid. In it, he says, “I fully support Community Radio and would be an enthusiastic listener, active supporter and contributor.”

I’ve submitted a letter of support. In it, I say, “The communities of Farnborough, Fleet, Yateley and Camberley are heavily interrelated, with people’s lives tending to ‘straddle’ each place due to health service provision; school attendance; further and higher education attendance; commuting to London; extended family relationships; plus friendship networks, work commitments, shopping and social lives.

“However, the community links between these places do not always follow so strongly, because we find ourselves spread across three different local government district boroughs (Hart, Rushmoor and Surrey Heath) and two counties (Surrey and Hampshire), even though we only live a matter of a few miles between each other.

Those miles can feel like a very long distance if you don’t have access to a car, as the public transport links between some parts of the area have suffered in recent years, and are set to get worse.

“A community radio station can therefore help enhance the links between these inter-related communities, providing glue where traditional media has been in retreat in recent years. Local newspapers have become less regular (and the local website which supported them, ‘Get Hampshire’, has been mothballed). Being on the edge of two ITV transmission areas, we often slip between the net of coverage between Meridian and London. A dedicated community radio station will help the area find its voice, and help bring it together.”

If you think you might be interested in submitting a letter of support for the licence bid, drop me an email at paul@dutchHQ.com and I will explain what you need to do.

Yateley on the radio map

We now have access to Sound Vault – a local community-driven podcast and online audio network.

It might not be long before we have our own community FM radio licence for the Yateley, Fleet, Camberley and Farnborough area.

Who knows – where the BBC leads with the i-Player, there could even be scope for a dedicated ‘y-Player’ of content imagined, created and curated in Yateley – whether that is music, creative, or journalistic in tone. Stay tuned! It’s never been a better time to celebrate listening!

78 around Yateley October 2017

“Love Bites”

Paperback

Now available in paperback by Tony Spencer: LOVE BITES This book has received five  Reviews: Amy Heaney “A beautiful collection for any mood” Susan Kilkelly “extremely witty” Sleepy “I laughed, I cried and I emphasised” “very talented writer [I] can’t recommend enough” Hullaballoo “wit, wisdom and good humour” Sara Alexi “intriguing, each with a twist” around Yateley 2017 October 79

y

Yateley Past People 200 & 381

YEARS AGO

This series of articles on the history of Yateley looks back into the past of ordinary people who were born (baptised) in this month in centuries past. I hope you find it interesting.

The Parish Records of St Peter’s are a superb online source published by The Yateley Society which we can use. The baptism record ends about 1904, so 100 years ago is not available. There were no baptisms in October 1717, so have gone back to the 4 baptisms in October 1636, and 5 in October 1817.

1636 October

There were 4 baptisms this month 381 years ago: (1) Mary Savine baptised 2 October 1636 daughter of Edward Savine (2) Franciss Meere baptised 20 October 1636 son of John Meere of Southwarnborough (3) Richard Scott baptised 21 October 1636 son of Robert Scott, Yateley minister of this place (4) John Nelson baptised 23 October 1636 son of John Nelson

y

Mary Savine

Franciss Meer

Mary Savine was baptised 2 October 1636 in Yateley, daughter of Edward Savine.

This family must have stayed here only briefly as there are no other mentions of the Savine family here.

Franciss Meere was baptised 20 October 1636, the son of John Meere of y Southwarnborough.

The family did not have any more children recorded in Yateley, although a Hugh Meere married Barbara Dinnet in Yateley in 1661, but whether this is the y same family is unknown.

Richard Scott

Richard Scott was baptised 21 October 1636 son of Robert Scott, Yateley minister y of this place. Robert Scott (c1600-1667/8) was referred to as Curate or Vicar of 80 around Yateley October 2017

St Peter’s for about 40 years, from around c1627 to 1667. The children of Robert Scott born in Yateley were: (1) Richard Scott was baptised 21 October 1636 son of Robert Scott, Yateley minister of this place, see below (2) Elizabeth Scott baptised 20 November 1639 daughter of Mr Robert Scott, Minister (3) Elizabeth Scott baptised 21 September 1641 daughter of Mr Scott, Minister (4) Rebecca Scott baptised 19 June 1643 daughter of Mr Scott, Minister (5) Sarah Scott, daughter of Mr Robert Scott buried 25 February 1666/67 A William Scott was buried on 14 January 1640/41. A Mary Steward, wife of Edmund Steward was buried 11 May 1641, and noted that she was Mr Scott’s aunt.

Constance Watts, an aged Widow of 80 years or thereabouts, Mr Scott’s Wife’s Mother was buried on 27 February 1644/45. Mrs Alice Scott, Mr Scott’s most dear Mother was buried on 21 January 1645/46.

One burial entry was Robert Mylles, interred on 5 May 1655, is listed as “Mr Scott’s very good friend”. Later, Elleanor Phillips Widow the Sister of Mr Scott’s friend John Dewsnepp was buried 27 August 1656. Mary Stovel daughter of John Stovel of Frimley was buried there by Mr Scott on 7 October 1657. Lucy Cooke of Farnborough a Widow of great age was buried there by Mr Scott [who read] a Sermon on 11 November 1657. Robert Doyley, Esquire buried was buried on 14 June 1658 by Mr Scott, and Robert Sawyer buried 30 October 1661 by Mr Scott, which implies that he did not always officiate at funerals.

Mr Robert Scott, Curate of Yately for about 40 years was buried on 10 January 1667/68. Constance Scott, presumably his wife, was buried 13 November 1670.

As for Richard Scott and his four sisters, I have been unable to trace where they went from Yateley.

John Nelson

John Nelson baptised was 23 October 1636 son of John Nelson. The children of John Nelson born in Yateley were: (1) John Nelson baptised was 23 October 1636 son of John Nelson (2) Nicholas Nelson baptised 31 October 1641 son of John Nelson, buried 19 February 1641/42 as son of John Nelson (3) Joan Nelson baptised 13 August 1643 daughter of John Nelson, possibly buried 1 October 1666 John Nelson senior was buried 14 March 1659/60, “an old man”. around Yateley 2017 October 81

1817 October

During this period 200 years ago there were four baptisms in Yateley, two on 5 October and three on 26 October 1817: (1) George Man baptised 5 October 1817 son of Anne & Man of Hawley, Single woman (2) Charlotte Milam baptised 5 October 1817 daughter of Henry & Sarah Milam of Yateley, Weaver (3) John Willis baptised 26 October 1817 son of Thomas & Ann Willis, Yateley, Labourer (4) George Head baptised 26 October 1817 son of Henry & Sarah Head, Hawley, Labourer (5) William North baptised 26 October 1817 son of William & Mary North, Yateley, Labourer

George Man

George Man was baptised 5 October 1817 son of Anne & Man of Hawley, a single woman. I have not found any other entry for either George or his mother.

Charlotte Milam

Charlotte Milam was baptised 5 October 1817 daughter of Henry & Sarah Milam of Yateley, Weaver.

Charlotte’s father Henry Milam (1788-1872) was the son of Henry Milam (17511827), weaver from the parish of Eversley and Ann Baker (1754-1827). He was baptised 4 August 1788 Yateley, and married Elvetham-born Sarah Wright (17861855). Henry and Sarah had the following children: (1) Sarah Milam (1809-18??) born 11 August 1809 baptised 27 August 1809 daughter of Henry & Sarah Milam of Yateley, Weaver (2) Richard Mileham (1811-1826) was born 12 December 1811, baptised 29 December 1811 son of Henry & Sarah Mileham of Yateley, Weaver, buried Yateley 17 November 1826 age 14 (3) George Milam (1814-1828) baptised 26 February 1814 son of Henry & Sarah Milam of Yateley, Stocking Weaver, probably died 1828 age given as 10 (4) Charlotte Milam (1817-1859) baptised 5 October 1817 daughter of Henry & Sarah Milam of Yateley, Weaver, see below (5) Rhoda Milam (1820-18??) baptised 26 November 1820 daughter of Henry & Sarah Milam of Yateley, Weaver, married (gardener of 97 Princes Road, Rhoda’s address given as No 98, one of the witnesses Thomas Lucken) John Graver from Yarmouth in Norfolk on 20 January 1850 in Lambeth, by 1861 lived in Edmonton, 82 around Yateley October 2017

Charlotte Milam’s marriage, Croydon, Surrey 1842

children Rhoda Graver 1851, James Graver 1853, Frances Graver 1854, Ellen (or Elleanor) Graver 1856, Alice Graver 1862, died 1894, Edmonton, Middlesex (6) Sarah 1821 (married ? Edwards), living as a widow in Yateley in 1871 Charlotte’s father Henry Milam was buried on Yateley 23 August 1872 age 84 (entered as Henry Milom).

The Milams were a family of handloom weavers of cotton stockings, living in Yateley in the late 18th and to mid-19th centuries. They start with the marriage in Yateley of Henry Milam (1751-1827), weaver from the parish of Eversley and Ann Baker (1754-1827) in Yateley on Saturday 6 January 1781. Ann was the daughter of Luke (1720-1802) and Anne Baker, baptised as Anne Baker on 9 October 1754 in Yateley.

Charlotte Milam’s grandparents Henry and Ann Milam’s children: (1) Thomas Milam (1781-1855) baptised 16 September 1781, married Jane [unknown surname c1807], children were: (1) Henry Mileham (1808-1869) baptised 30 October 1808 Yateley (born 21 October 1808), in Finchampstead 1841 ag lab 30, 1851 servt 42, 1861 ag lab 52, unmarried, died Wokingham July 1869 age 60;

Baptism of Charlotte Milam’s husband, Thomas Lucken, Ifield, Kent 1820

around Yateley 2017 October 83

(2) Thomas Mileham (1810-1855) baptised 2 December 1810 Yateley (born 25 November 1810), in Finchampstead 1841 ag lab 25, died April 1855 in Wokingham district; (3) Anne Mileham (1812-??) baptised 16 August 1812 Yateley (born 12 August 1812), possibly married 1839 in Hartley Wintney district; (4) Jane Milam (1814-15) baptised 2 October 1814 Yateley, buried as Jane Milham 29 August 1815 age 11 months Yateley; (5) Mary Milam (1817-62) baptised 16 February 1817 Yateley, married gamekeeper James Goswell 15 April 1846 Finchampstead; (6) James Milam (1819-??) baptised 2 May 1819 Yateley, servant poss married Eliza Dawkins nee Powell, widow 29 July 1858 St Pancras, died October 1887 Wandsworth 1d 408 age 58; (7) Sarah Milam (1825-??) born c1825 Yateley, with father 1841 census; (8) George Milam (1825-??) baptised 28 September 1825 Finchampstead, with father 1841 census, ab lab unmarried 37 in 1861 Finchampstead, died Wokingham 1893.

Thomas died Wokingham District 1855 (2) William Milam (1783-1869) baptised 22 June 1783 Yateley, married Hannah Horne (1785-1854) from Englefield on 19 May 1804 Sandhurst, children: Mary Ann 1806 Sandhurst, William 1806-1883 (born Yateley but baptised elsewhere and married Mary Alexander 1833 child John 1834, died in Barkham Union Road Workhouse), Hannah 1810 Sandhurst, Susannah baptised as Susanna Mileham 10 April 1814 Yateley, John 7 May 1816-1877 Yateley, Edward Frances 1818-1899 Yateley, Maria 1820-1820 Hawley (buried Yateley 1 April 1820 infant), Caroline 1821 Yateley, Harriet 1824 Yateley, Henry 1827-1909 Sandhurst. Hannah Milam nee Horne buried Finchampstead 1 August 1854, William Milam died 18 January 1869 in Finchampstead age 86 (3) Henry Milam (1788-1872) baptised 4 August 1788 Yateley, see above Charlotte Milam was working as a female servant to a corn merchant’s family in Bermondsey in 1841. She married Thomas Lucken, a warehouseman (possibly worked for her employer at some point?) the following year in Croydon, Surrey on 24 July 1842. They both entered “of full age”, she would have been 24, later we find Thomas was 22. His father was Robert Lucken a farmer, her father Henry Milam, weaver. Both signed the register but their witnesses, Samuel and Sarah Costing signed with a mark. Thomas and Charlotte Lucken’s children: (1) Henry Lucken baptised 9 April 1843 Denton Kent, son of Thomas & Charlotte carpenter of Wickham Street (2) Thomas Cook Lucken baptised 9 March 1845 in Lambeth, daughter of Thomas & Charlotte warehouseman of Wickham Street, buried 11 July 1845, Lambeth, probablh only 4 months old 84 around Yateley October 2017

Burial of Charlotte Lucken nee Milam, Camberwell 1859, age 41

(3) Rhoda Lucken baptised 14 June 1847 in Lambeth daughter of Thomas & Charlotte shopman of Wickham Street (4) Sarah Ann Lucken baptised 7 January 1849 in Lambeth daughter of Thomas & Charlotte draper of 98 Princes Street, buried 16 February 1851, Lambeth (5) Charlotte Catharine Lucken born 1851 in Lambethand baptised 23 January 1853 in Lambeth (with younger sister Elizabeth Sarah) daughter of Thomas & Charlotte draper’s assistant of 98 Princes Street (6) Elizabeth Sarah Lucken baptised 23 January 1853 in Lambeth (with older sister Charlotte Catharine) daughter of Thomas & Charlotte draper’s assistant of 98 Princes Street (7) Fanny Lucken born April Quarter 1851 in Lambeth, daughter of Thomas & Charlotte Charlotte died in 1859, age 41, and by 1861 Thomas Lucken’s surviving children were not living with him. Either they died or they were spread among other family members. It is possible that Thomas, Rhoda and Fanny Lucken emigrated to Brooklyn, USA, in the early 1860s, but cannot find any of them on shipping manifests, although an 1880 census record was found which shows shop clerk Thomas and Rhoda living as man and wife, with Fanny as their daughter, so this could be a different family, even thought the ages seem to match.

1841 Bermondsey Upper Grange Road William Nettleton 25 corn mercht y Sarah do 50 n Ann do 30 y Charlotte Milam 20 f[emale]s[ervant] n

around Yateley 2017 October 85

1841 Yateley Castle Bottom Henry Milam 50 stocking m[aker] y Sarah do 55 y 1851 Lambeth Surrey, St Mary, 98 Princes Road household 1 Thomas Lucken head mar 30 draper Kent Ifield Charlotte do wife mar 32 Hampshire Yateley Henry do son 8 scholar Kent Denton Rhoda do daur 4 Surrey Lambeth Charlotte C do daur 3 do do Mary J Edwardes visitor 6 scholar Middlesex Stepney [poss Charlotte’s neice] Eliza J Simpson lodger u 26 dressmaker Kent Chatham 1851 Yateley household 79 Henry Milan head mar 59 handloom weaver Hants Yately Sarah do wife mar 63 - do Elvetham 1861 Lambeth Surrey, St Mary Sturmington, 10 New Road household 243 Thomas Lucken [blank: head] widr 41 warehouseman Kent Ifield Sarah Glover wife w 69 - Berkshire Thomas do son unm 25 photographic floust[?] British Subject 1861 Yateley road leading Manor House to Cricket Hill household 9 Henry Milam head widr 72 cotton weaver 1871 Hampshire Yateley Blackwater Road household 10 Henry Milam head widr 82 weaver Hants Yately Sarah Edwards daur w 50 Hants Yately

John Willis

John Willis baptised 26 October 1817 son of Thomas & Ann Willis, Yateley, Labourer Thomas Willis (1789-1867) was married to Ann Eles on 2 October 1808. Thomas and Anne’s children: (1) Thomas Willis (1809-30) born 27 February and baptised 19 March 1809 son of Thomas & Anne Willis of Yateley, buried 3 August 1830, age 30, Coroner’s Inquest: “Suden Death” 86 around Yateley October 2017

(2) Anne Willis born 23 March and baptised 7 April 1811 daughter of Thomas & Anne Willis of Hawley (3) William Willis baptised 17 January 1813 son of Thomas & Anne Willis of Yateley, labourer (4) Helen Willis baptised 8 January 1815 daughter of Thomas & Anne Willis of Yateley, labourer, possily died 1838 Basingstoke (5) John Willis baptised 26 October 1817 son of Thomas & Ann Willis, Yateley, Labourer see below (6) Owen Willis baptised 12 March 1820 son of Thomas & Ann Willis, Yateley, Labourer , Colour Sergeant joined the 76th Regiment of Foot in 1840 and admitted to the Royal Hospital Chelsea in 1859, regiment number 1817, death registered at Hartley Wintney January 1860 age 39 It looks like Anne Willis died between 1820 and 1824, as Thomas Willis married Sarah Xerxes (1781-1848) on 24 December 1824. Sarah was a single mother of a child Mercy Xerxes, born c1820. Sarah was the daughter of Moses and Elizabeth Xerxes baptised in Yateley on 1 November 1781. She had a sister Elizabeth baptised in Yateley on 25 February 1785. Thom`s Willis married for a third time on 8 October 1855 to Susannah White, widow.

1841 Hartley Row John Willis 25 painter y Martha do 55 y 1841 Yateley Darby Green Thomas Willis 55 ag lab y Sarah do 55 y Mercy Xerxes 20 y Sarah do 7 mo y [Sarah Jane baptised 22 November 1840 daughter of Mercy Xerxes, single woman]

George Head

George Head baptised 26 October 1817 son of Henry & Sarah Head, Hawley, Labourer.

George’s father was Henry Head (1788-after 1820). He was the the son of Henry Head (c1738-1826) and Ann Bedford (1754-1811), born 4 July 1788 in Cove and baptised in Yateley on 12 July 1788. Cove was part of the Parish of Yateley then.

Henry and his girlfriend Sarah Williams had an illegitimate girl who was baptised as Eliza Head. Sarah Williams was the daughter of Robert & Sarah William, born around Yateley 2017 October 87

on 9 March 1786 and baptised in Yateley on 2 April. When Sarah fell pregnant again, Henry Head and Sarah Williams married in Yateley on 29 April 1817. Then they had the following children: (1) Eliza Head baptised 2 February 1814 daughter of Sarah Williams of Hawley, a single woman.

(2) George Head baptised 26 October 1817 son of Henry & Sarah Head, Hawley, labourer see below (3) Frederick Head [trasnscribed at “Reade”] baptised 25 September 1820 twin son of Henry & Sarah Head, Hawley, labourer (4) Louisa Head [trasnscribed at “Reade”] baptised 25 September 1820 twin daughter of Henry & Sarah Head, Hawley, labourer, buried 22 February 1821 age 5 months (5) Elizabeth Head born around 11 November 1820 daughter of Henry & Sarah Head, Hawley, labourer, died and buried Ringwood 1 November 1822 Henry Head and Ann Bedford married in Yateley on 18 October 1774 and had the following children: (1) Thomas Head baptised 26 August 1775, Yateley son of Henry & Ann Head (2) Hannah Head baptised 9 May 1784 daughter of Henry & Ann Head (3) James Head born 27 March and baptised 30 April 1786, son of Henry & Ann Head, Yateley (4) Henry Head born 4 July in Cove and baptised 12 July 1788, Yateley son of Henry & Ann Head see above (5) George Head born 14 January in Cove and baptised 23 January 1790, Yateley son of Henry & Ann Head (6) Elizabeth Head born 22 February in Cove and baptised 3 March 1790, Yateley daughter of Henry & Ann Head (7) John Head born 19 January and baptised 7 February 1795, Yateley son of Henry & Ann Head (8) Samuel Head born 12 November in Cove and baptised 11 November 1797, Yateley son of Henry & Ann Head (9) Maria Head born 25 September in Cove and baptised 29 September 1800, Yateley daughter of Henry & Ann Head George Head (1817-94) married Frances Elizabeh Taylor (1815-85) in Yateley on 13 December 1836

88 around Yateley October 2017

1841 Ringwood, Poulner Henry Head 50 farmer y Sarah do 50 y 1851 Hackney, 23 Homerton Grove household 6 George Head head mar 33 police constable Hampshire Hawley Frances do wife mar 36 - Surrey, Bagshot Henry do son 13 scholar Berks Sunninghill Eliza do daur 10 do Surrey, Bagshot George do son 9 do Middlesex Hackney Anne do daur 6 do do William do son 8m - do do 1851 Berks Sunninghill St Michael household 6 Henry Head head mar 64 brick maker Hampshire Cove Sarah do wife [mar] 63 - do Yateley 1861 Hackney, Homerton Grove household 133 George Head head mar 43 police constable Hampshire Hawley Frances do wife mar 44 - Surrey, Bagshot Mary Ann do daur unm 25 servant house do do Anne do daur un 17 Middx William do son do 10 scholar do Frances do daur do 8 do do Sarah do daur do 6 do do Martha do daur do 4 do do 1861 Berks Sunninghill St Michael iousehold 6 Henry Head head mar 74 brick maker Hampshire Cove Sarah do wife [mar] 73 - do Yateley 1871 Hackney, 23 Homerton Grove household 35 Frances Elizh Head wife mar 6 laundress Surrey Eliza do daur unm 30 do Surrey William George do son 3 mo do 1881 Hackney, 23 The Grove household 399 George Head head mar 63 labr Hants Hawley Frances E do wife mar 66 - Surrey Bagshot around Yateley 2017 October 89

Martha do daur unm 24 servt Homerton Annie Mayse [do] granddaughter 2 do 1891 Hackney, 23 The Grove household 193, 4 rooms George Head head widr 73 retired policeman Hants Hawley Martha A do daur s 34 dressmaker worker London Homerton Rose A E do granddaughter 26 nurse sick worker Middlesex Stanmore Annie M do do 12 London Homerton Edith E do do 4 London Hackney

William North

William North baptised 26 October 1817 son of William & Mary North, Yateley, Labourer.

William North’s father (c1787-1864) married Mary Collins (c1794-1850) on 3 March 1815 in Yateley. William North Senior’s parents were John North (c17661826) and Mary Trift (or Thrift) (c1767-1846) who were married in Hampshire by licence on 12 October 1786, the licence stating she was “a minor with consent of Thomas Trift, her natural father”. Mary was probably the daughter of Thomas and Jane Trift/Thrift. William was born around 1787 in Sandhurst, Mary Collins born about 1794, also in Berkshire. William and Mary had the following children: (1) Mary Anne North baptised 3 March 1816 daughter of William & Mary North of Yateley, labourer, married George White in Yateley 8 January 1835 (2) William North baptised 26 October 1817 son of William & Mary North, Yateley, labourer see below (3) Edward North baptised 21 February 1819 son of William & Mary North, Yateley, labourer, died 1895, Oxfordshire (4) Jane North baptised 22 December 1820 daughter of William & Mary North of Yateley, labourer, buried 25June 1833 Yateley, age 8 [actually 13] (5) Charlotte North baptised 3 November 1822 daughter of William & Mary North of Yateley, labourer (6) John North baptised 26 December 1824 son of William & Mary North, Yateley, labourer, died in Hartley Wintney Workhouse buried Yateley 10 May 1886 age about 61 (7) Frances North baptised 15 August 1826 daughter of William & Mary North of Yateley, labourer (8) George North baptised 22 June 1828 son of William & Mary North, Yateley, labourer 90 around Yateley October 2017

(9) Daniel North baptised 25 July 1830 son of William & Mary North, Yateley, labourer (10) Charles North baptised 26 August 1830 twin son of William & Mary North, Yateley, labourer, buried 25 June 1835, age 3 [actually 4] (11) Robert North baptised 26 August 1830 twin son of William & Mary North, Yateley, labourer (12) Eliza North baptised 19 April 1835 daughter of William & Mary North of Yateley, labourer, buried Yateley on 1 July 1835, infant William North (1817-40) was buried on 25 November in Yateley, age 23. His mother Mary North was buried in Yateley on 27 February 1850, age 57. His father William North was buried in Yateley on 20 November 1864 age 77.

Thomas Thrift (c1739-1827) and Jane Critchfield (c1741-1828) on 23 May 1763, Yateley. Thomas and Jane Trift/Thrift, had the following childen in Yateley: (1) James Trift baptised 29 September 1763 son of Thomas & Jane Trift, married Sarah Moor (1768-1830) 29 March 1788 Yateley, buried 15 October 1801 age 36 (2) Elizabeth Trift baptised 30 May 1767 daughter of Thomas & Jane Trift [was this “Elizabeth” married as “Mary” in 1786?]

(3) William Thrift baptised 17 June 1769 son of Thomas & Jane Thrift, married Eleanor Hathaway (1770-1837) 17 January 1791 Yateley, buried 20 March 1851 Yateley age 81 (4) Jane Thrift baptised 8 June 1770 daughter of Thomas & Jane Thrift (5) George Thrift baptised 1 August 1774 son of Thomas & Jane Thrift (6) John Trift baptised 3 May 1778 twin son of Thomas & Jane Trift (7) Ann Trift baptised 3 May 1778 twin daughter of Thomas & Jane Trift, married as Anne Thrift to William Day 6 August 1809 Yateley Thomas Thrift was buried in Yateley on 1 March 1827 age 88 and Jane Thrift buried a year later on 16 March 1828 age 87.

John North (c1766-1826) was born in Frogmore, parents unknown. He married Mary Trift (or Thrift) (c1767-1846) by licence on 12 October 1786. William was born around 1787 in Sandhurst, Mary Collins born about 1794, also in Berkshire.

John and Mary had the following children: (1) Susanna North born 1783 Sandhurst daughter of John & Mary North, married Nimrod White (1785-1853) on 14 July 1808 Yateley, children Charles Wythe alia around Yateley 2017 October 91

White 1809, twins Mary and John Wyeth alias White 1811, William Wyeth alias White 1812, George White 1814, Henry White 1817, Thomas White 1820, Edwin White 1822, Aaron White 1824, Jane White 1828, James White 1829, remarried Thomas Willis (1781-1867) on 8 October 1855, buried 18 July 1858, Yateley age 69 (2) William North born 1788 Sandhurst son of John & Mary North see above (3) Sarah North born 1789 daughter of John & Mary North 1841 Yateley HB Flats Hartfordbridge Flats William North 50 ag lab N Mary do 40 N John do 15 do y George do 13 y Daniel do 11 y Robert do 9 y 1841 Yateley Nimrod White 45 farmer y Susanna do 50 N [William North’s aunt] Edwi do 15 y 1851 Yateley Hartfordbridge Flats household 5 William North head widr 63 ag lab Berks Sandhurst Robert do son u 18- do Hants Yately 1861 Yateley Common house household 16 William North head widr 73 road laborer Berks Sandhurst

Your one-stop shop for advice.

Hart Citizens Advice Bureau

www.hartaccesstoadvice.org.uk 92 around Yateley October 2017

Essential Contacts GOVERNANCE Member of Parliament, North East Hampshire (Yateley) Ranil Jayawardena MP

House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA. 020 7219 3000 ranil.jayawardena.mp@parliament.uk Member of Parliament, Aldershot (Frogmore & Darby Green) Leo Docherty MP

House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA. 020 7219 5650 leo.docherty.mp@parliament.uk Hampshire County Council

The Castle, Winchester SO23 8UJ. 0300 555 1375 www3.hants.gov.uk Hart District Council

Civic Offices, Harlington Way, Fleet GU51 4AE. 01252 622122 www.hart.gov.uk Yateley Town Council

Council Offices, Reading Road, Yateley Green GU46 7RP. 01252 872198 www.yateley-tc.gov.uk EMERGENCIES Fire, Police and Ambulance 999 Childline 0800 1111 Silverline (helpline for older people) 0800 4 70 80 90 Samaritans 116 123 UTILITIES Southern Electric (SSE) 0800 783 8866 Gas 0800 111 999 South East Water 0333 000 0365 Southern Water 0330 303 0277 or 0800 0270800 Thames Water (sewerage) 0800 3169800 Floodline 0345 988 1188 TRANSPORT Hart Shopper (book 1 to 6 days ahead, cost £5 or £2.50 concessionary) 07719799263 Sainsbury’s Watchmoor Park (Thursdays only, pick up Vigo Lane 09.47, Monteagle Lane 09.48, St Swithun’s 09.55, Manor Park 09.59) YELAbus Tracey 0771 9799263 Yateley Neighbourcare 03000 05 05 05 around Yateley 2017 October 93

On the

Yateley & District Lions Health & Wellbeing Show

On 16 September, in the Monteagle Hall, the Yateley & District Lions held a Health & Wellbeing Show, which covered diabetes, dementia and carers. The Lions offer a free “Message in a Bottle”, which should contain your personal details, name and physical description, your doctor’s name, surgery address and telephone, a brief description of any medical conditions you suffer from, allergies and allergic reactions to medication, location of any medication in your name, the names and phone numbers of two people who may be contacted in any emergency, and details of any pets left on the premises. This bottle should be kept in the refrigerator and the two labels affixed to the door of the fridge and to the inside of your front door.

The Lions handed out lists of services and organisations in and around Yateley, including all the surgeries and health centres, hospitals and clinics, caring organisations and social groups, library and citizens’ advice, Yateley & District Lions, Councils, undertakers, places of worship, Emergency Services, emergency contacts for utilities, and dentists.

Another leaflet gave details of mental health safe havens, including the crisis helpline, Samaritans on 116123, NHS on 111, and the nearest centre, in 94 around Yateley October 2017

Aldershot. There is a Carer’s Hub meeting at the Monteagle Community Hall on 30 October called “Hitting the Cold Spots” giving advice about grants, alternative heating and how to keep warm in the winter. On 27 November Hampshire Fire & Rescue will deal with keeping your home safe. Over 200 attended, 30 took the diabetes test and 2 with a propensity for Type 2 Diabetes were discovered. More info to follow.

around Yateley 2017 October 95

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If you are interested in using any of the above material, please contact the editor on aroundyateley@ gmail.com with your contact details and your request will be passed on to the copyright holder.

WORDS

4-18,21-29,38-46,56-62,64-69,80-92, Tony Spencer 47-48,51, Greg Bramwell 70-78, Paul Simpson

PHOTOS

Cover,2,4-18,21-29,38-46,56-62,7072,80,94-96, Tony Spencer 73-76, Paul Simpson

©2017 around Yateley online magazine is published monthly by Tony Spencer 10 Dumas Close Yateley GU46 6XZ • email: aroundyateley@gmail.com • tel: 01252 409041

96 around Yateley October 2017