From Village Voice
The following extracts from Village Voice include some articles that throw light on village history. April 1999This is the first in an occasional series of articles on Cuddington History provided by Peggy Cattell, Secretary of the Local History Society.At the beginning of the 16th century a wealthy Cuddington yeoman sent his son to be educated at Winchester School and Oxford University. This James Holyman then joined an abbey near Reading and because of his skill in preaching he was soon sent to London, where people flocked to hear him in St Paul's Cathedral.True to his principles James spoke out against Henry V111's proposed divorce from Catherine of Aragon. This resulted in his abbey being abolished and his abbot being put to death. Somehow James Holyman escaped and lived to be appointed the first Bishop of Bristol by a grateful Queen Mary, the Catholic daughter of Henry and Catherine.It is strange to think that over 400 years ago our then remote village had such an important link with affairs of State!May 1999 Dr. Stephen Turner of the Old Malt House on the Lower Green retired at the end of March after practising in Thame for 36 years In an interview with Village Voice's Peggy Cattell, Stephen recalled that, in the early days, he and his two partners not only had main surgeries in Thame, Long Crendon and Brill but also two days a week had rooms in five villages, including Haddenham and Cuddington.Cuddington's surgery was in Sunbeam Cottage, now the home of Sue English but then inhabited by Mr and Mrs Sonny Rose. Dr Turner would see his patients in the living room downstairs, while the Rose's would retire upstairs during surgery hours When Mr Rose became ill and bedridden downstairs, patients were seen upstairs and had to walk past the sick bed in order to reach the surgery! The informality of this medical 'cottage industry' was a main factor of those days, said Stephen. No appointments were made; there was no receptionist and Cuddington patients would wait on Lower Green to be seen.Modern medicine has much to offer, but then there was a very close doctor-patient relationship.Another memory Stephen Turner has is of the surgery in Haddenham - a hut by the Rising Sun pub. When the hut was demolished to make way for road widening, Dr Philip Hanfield-Jones invited the Thame doctors to use the surgery in his home twice a week. This co-operation between the two practices is one that Stephen remembers with great appreciation. When they left Haddenham in the early 1980's the Thame doctors kept their Cuddington and Haddenham patients, but took no further ones on from these villages.
Among Dr Turner's retirement presents was a hand painted plate which epitomises his years in this districtAlong with his name and the dates showing his years of service there is a painting of dog roses - the flower Stephen used to pick from the hedgerows for his wife, Mary, as he drove home to an outlying surgery. Depicted as well is a Latin inscription Cor ad Cor Loquitur –‘Heart Speaking to Heart’, which Stephen adopted as his personal medical motto 25 years ago.No wonder a doctor with this motto to guide him has been so much loved and appreciated, and he will be deeply missed by his patients, who still include some Cuddington residents. . Spanning Almost a Century in CuddingtonThis is what Grace Watson, who has lived all her life in the village has achieved. She was born in Vulcan House, at the corner of Spurt Street and Holly Tree Lane, on February 6th 1911, and the photograph to the right shows her at the age of three sitting on the steps of this house where her mother ran a shop. Grace recalls that as so many purchases were put on " the slate" and payment was never made her father finally decided that enough was enough and the shop was closed. The other photograph of Grace shows her as a very sprightly 80 plus recounting to Roger Frazer this and many other memories. It is thanks to Grace and her contemporaries with their phenomenal memories that we have such an insight into the past life of our village.
Grace Watson 1911 - 2002 Grace lived all her life in Cuddington. She was born in Vu1can House, where for some years her mother kept a shop, (our photograph shows Grace at the age of three sitting on the steps), and she continued to live there for very many years before moving to Welford Way when the Old People's bungalows were first built. She will be remembered and greatly missed in the village for the quiet and unassuming way in which she looked after so many people. Her friend, Florrie Clayden, who lived with her, had a long illness and Grace was always there to look after her and take her round the village in her wheel chair. Then there was Tom Stephenson who in his latter years was very dependent on the help Grace gave. Many times she could be seen struggling up Holly Tree Lane, finding that uphill walk quite difficult after working hard in his bungalow. When Vera Wratten, crippled for many years from Polio, returned to the village Grace, of course, was one of those she depended on for support, shopping etc. These three are only a few of the many people who had cause to be grateful for Grace's help. And it wasn't only people Grace helped; she loved cats and whether they were her own or belonged to members of her family or to neighbours, she was the one to look after them, so it was appropriate that one of her family's floral tributes to her was in the shape of a very realistic looking cat.Grace will be very much missed in Cuddington Church where she loved attending the services. She drew her strength from God through her worship, her own prayers and from membership of her Home Group, which she so much enjoyed.Not many people live their whole lives in one place, and for Grace it was a span of ninety-one years. She not only loved Cuddington, but her memory of all those years was phenomenal, and she delighted many people especially her fellow members of the History Society, whose meetings she thoroughly enjoyed, with her accounts of the past.Many, many of us in Cuddington will share with her devoted family a great sense of loss, but at the same time we will remember with great pleasure the privilege of having known her as a friend. Sunrise Walk Remembered The W.I. meeting on Tuesday 9th July was as always a really enjoyable afternoon. The first topic to be discussed was the Sunrise Walk, which sadly has not taken place for the last two years; last year because of the Foot and Mouth outbreak and this year because nobody was able to organise the event. The good news, however, was that one brilliant Cuddington resident is seriously considering taking over this event for next year which would be marvellous as with few exceptions it has been going since 1952. Dorothy read us a graphic description of this first walk which was organised by the then President, Ruby Small, together with the Misses Corby, in which they saw "a big red ball" on the horizon at precisely 4.53 a.m. February 2003The good old days on Cuddington’s roads - Peter Wenham writes:In view of the current interest and concern about the management of traffic in the village, it seems opportune to make a comparison with a past age - the inter-war years in the 1920's and 1930's.How times have changed is highlighted when we learn that in the early 1920's a man was employed by the Council to maintain the main roads and lanes in Cuddington by sweeping the surfaces clean and by weeding regularly. Such employment today would speedily result in injury or death! One holder of this post was Joseph Pittwell - a real village character. He was disabled but nevertheless performed his road duties conscientiously and was popular as he liked to play marching games with the village children and proudly carried the drum in the distinctive red and green uniform of the Cuddington Robin Hood Band. Sadly he died at the early age of 40 in 1924 and is buried in the Baptist graveyard.Then as now there were horses to be seen but apart from Mrs. Bernard's few were ridden in the village, most were working on the farms. The two local carriers, Webb and Welford, who journeyed with goods and passengers between Thame and Aylesbury, had wagons drawn by horses. The Webb horses trotted briskly but passengers were at the mercy of the elements, while the Welford horse was more sedate but the cart boasted an awning. However this form of transport was too expensive to be used often by most villagers. Carts would regularly be seen carrying goods like bread and coal and a handful of villagers had pony and traps. For example Mrs. Baker used hers to come to church regularly from her farm near Gibraltar. Billy Oakley had a specially designed container cart, which took away the waste from village privies.Bicycles became popular in the 1920's but mainly for getting to work more quickly. However some families in the village acquired this new fangled mode of transport and Charlie HorsIer from the then village shop (now the Old Post) had a bicycle repair workshop before he graduated into motor transport. Sadly in the early 30's there was a fatality when a butcher's boy, Les Watson (brother of Joan Underwood) was involved in a collision with a mail van while riding his bicycle on Swan Hill.Way back in the 1920's it was usual to see no more than half a dozen cars passing through the village crossroads each day. There were two early car owners in the village - Admiral Hamilton at Dadbrook House and the Lauries at Nunhayes. Fred White at the "Red Lion" was chauffeur to Colonel Bernard, who lived in Chearsley, and he and the Horslers at the village shop each ran taxi hire firms. The Horslers' son, Charlie, later built up a successful car mechanic business in Haddenham. Eventually a petrol pump was installed at the "Red Lion".In the 1920's there were at east three small bus companies which passed through Cuddington on their journeys between Aylesbury and Thame; one of these, Mr. White's private bus, the Crendonian, made the journey to Aylesbury and Thame every Wednesday and Saturday, and Lil Arnott recalls being a frequent passenger. There was also a very smart vehicle, which could be hired by groups for an outing.Later in the 1930's, these small firms were taken over or replaced by the Oxford Bus Company which boasted a Sunday service! There was also a special late service on a Saturday night so venturesome villagers could attend the cinema in Aylesbury.
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Among Dr Turner's retirement presents was a hand painted plate which epitomises his years in this districtAlong with his name and the dates showing his years of service there is a painting of dog roses - the flower Stephen used to pick from the hedgerows for his wife, Mary, as he drove home to an outlying surgery. Depicted as well is a Latin inscription Cor ad Cor Loquitur –‘Heart Speaking to Heart’, which Stephen adopted as his personal medical motto 25 years ago.No wonder a doctor with this motto to guide him has been so much loved and appreciated, and he will be deeply missed by his patients, who still include some Cuddington residents. . Spanning Almost a Century in CuddingtonThis is what Grace Watson, who has lived all her life in the village has achieved. She was born in Vulcan House, at the corner of Spurt Street and Holly Tree Lane, on February 6th 1911, and the photograph to the right shows her at the age of three sitting on the steps of this house where her mother ran a shop. Grace recalls that as so many purchases were put on " the slate" and payment was never made her father finally decided that enough was enough and the shop was closed. The other photograph of Grace shows her as a very sprightly 80 plus recounting to Roger Frazer this and many other memories. It is thanks to Grace and her contemporaries with their phenomenal memories that we have such an insight into the past life of our village.
Grace Watson 1911 - 2002 Grace lived all her life in Cuddington. She was born in Vu1can House, where for some years her mother kept a shop, (our photograph shows Grace at the age of three sitting on the steps), and she continued to live there for very many years before moving to Welford Way when the Old People's bungalows were first built. She will be remembered and greatly missed in the village for the quiet and unassuming way in which she looked after so many people. Her friend, Florrie Clayden, who lived with her, had a long illness and Grace was always there to look after her and take her round the village in her wheel chair. Then there was Tom Stephenson who in his latter years was very dependent on the help Grace gave. Many times she could be seen struggling up Holly Tree Lane, finding that uphill walk quite difficult after working hard in his bungalow. When Vera Wratten, crippled for many years from Polio, returned to the village Grace, of course, was one of those she depended on for support, shopping etc. These three are only a few of the many people who had cause to be grateful for Grace's help. And it wasn't only people Grace helped; she loved cats and whether they were her own or belonged to members of her family or to neighbours, she was the one to look after them, so it was appropriate that one of her family's floral tributes to her was in the shape of a very realistic looking cat.Grace will be very much missed in Cuddington Church where she loved attending the services. She drew her strength from God through her worship, her own prayers and from membership of her Home Group, which she so much enjoyed.Not many people live their whole lives in one place, and for Grace it was a span of ninety-one years. She not only loved Cuddington, but her memory of all those years was phenomenal, and she delighted many people especially her fellow members of the History Society, whose meetings she thoroughly enjoyed, with her accounts of the past.Many, many of us in Cuddington will share with her devoted family a great sense of loss, but at the same time we will remember with great pleasure the privilege of having known her as a friend. Sunrise Walk Remembered The W.I. meeting on Tuesday 9th July was as always a really enjoyable afternoon. The first topic to be discussed was the Sunrise Walk, which sadly has not taken place for the last two years; last year because of the Foot and Mouth outbreak and this year because nobody was able to organise the event. The good news, however, was that one brilliant Cuddington resident is seriously considering taking over this event for next year which would be marvellous as with few exceptions it has been going since 1952. Dorothy read us a graphic description of this first walk which was organised by the then President, Ruby Small, together with the Misses Corby, in which they saw "a big red ball" on the horizon at precisely 4.53 a.m. February 2003The good old days on Cuddington’s roads - Peter Wenham writes:In view of the current interest and concern about the management of traffic in the village, it seems opportune to make a comparison with a past age - the inter-war years in the 1920's and 1930's.How times have changed is highlighted when we learn that in the early 1920's a man was employed by the Council to maintain the main roads and lanes in Cuddington by sweeping the surfaces clean and by weeding regularly. Such employment today would speedily result in injury or death! One holder of this post was Joseph Pittwell - a real village character. He was disabled but nevertheless performed his road duties conscientiously and was popular as he liked to play marching games with the village children and proudly carried the drum in the distinctive red and green uniform of the Cuddington Robin Hood Band. Sadly he died at the early age of 40 in 1924 and is buried in the Baptist graveyard.Then as now there were horses to be seen but apart from Mrs. Bernard's few were ridden in the village, most were working on the farms. The two local carriers, Webb and Welford, who journeyed with goods and passengers between Thame and Aylesbury, had wagons drawn by horses. The Webb horses trotted briskly but passengers were at the mercy of the elements, while the Welford horse was more sedate but the cart boasted an awning. However this form of transport was too expensive to be used often by most villagers. Carts would regularly be seen carrying goods like bread and coal and a handful of villagers had pony and traps. For example Mrs. Baker used hers to come to church regularly from her farm near Gibraltar. Billy Oakley had a specially designed container cart, which took away the waste from village privies.Bicycles became popular in the 1920's but mainly for getting to work more quickly. However some families in the village acquired this new fangled mode of transport and Charlie HorsIer from the then village shop (now the Old Post) had a bicycle repair workshop before he graduated into motor transport. Sadly in the early 30's there was a fatality when a butcher's boy, Les Watson (brother of Joan Underwood) was involved in a collision with a mail van while riding his bicycle on Swan Hill.Way back in the 1920's it was usual to see no more than half a dozen cars passing through the village crossroads each day. There were two early car owners in the village - Admiral Hamilton at Dadbrook House and the Lauries at Nunhayes. Fred White at the "Red Lion" was chauffeur to Colonel Bernard, who lived in Chearsley, and he and the Horslers at the village shop each ran taxi hire firms. The Horslers' son, Charlie, later built up a successful car mechanic business in Haddenham. Eventually a petrol pump was installed at the "Red Lion".In the 1920's there were at east three small bus companies which passed through Cuddington on their journeys between Aylesbury and Thame; one of these, Mr. White's private bus, the Crendonian, made the journey to Aylesbury and Thame every Wednesday and Saturday, and Lil Arnott recalls being a frequent passenger. There was also a very smart vehicle, which could be hired by groups for an outing.Later in the 1930's, these small firms were taken over or replaced by the Oxford Bus Company which boasted a Sunday service! There was also a special late service on a Saturday night so venturesome villagers could attend the cinema in Aylesbury.
A Village WorthyA memorial window in St. Nicholas' s Church, Cuddington, reads "WaIter Welford 1877-1967 Church Warden 1927-1947". He is also remembered in the street name of Welford Way, completed in 1970. He was a well -respected character in the village. His father was Amos Welford who had a strong religious faith, worshipping in the village church as well as in the Wesleyan Chapel, where he was a Sunday School teacher. He had been an agricultural labourer but was listed as a farmer in Kelly's Directory of 1899.Walter seems to have been a gentle man with strong religious conviction. He was slight and spare and frugal in his lifestyle. He enjoyed a reputation in the village for kindliness and charitable works. He played the violin - hence his nickname "Tinny" and was noted for accompanying carols in the church at Christmas.WaIter married Florence Annie Adelaide. They began life together in Owl Cottage and were a devoted couple, but they did not have any children. They had a large brown sheepdog that used to howl when the church bells rang. Florence was a Sunday School teacher. Her pupils could be mischievous. For example they used to cook apples on the church stove during Sunday School sessions and some boys carved their initials on the wood casing of the organ. Florence also organised a charity and Dodge Walker can remember collecting for it as a child. Florence died before WaIter in April 1963. On her tombstone is engraved "She hath done all she could". WaIter was a carrier by trade and his horse and covered wagon plied between Cuddington and Aylesbury. After moving from Owl cottage WaIter and Florence lived at Tyringham Hall in the part of the building which is now the kitchen. He had become caretaker of the village club which was based there. It was owned by the Bernard family and a billiards room was donated to the men of the village after World War I, while the Girl Guides met in the room above.When Walter retired probably in 1942, he and Florence moved to No.2 Great Stone Cottages. This property had been lived in by various members of the Welford family for some time. WaIter was a handyman and used the derelict Methodist Chapel at the bottom of his garden as a workshop. When Florence died WaIter was looked after by the wife of his deceased brother - another Florence.Walter was a man of simple tastes and good works. He was well known for his role as churchwarden and verger. He read the lessons - not without problems as he often misplaced his aitches. His loud "amens" at the ends of prayers were very emphatic. He was noted in the village for riding his "sit up and beg” bicycle. His life centred on his faith and his wife. Walter died in the Victoria Cottage Hospital, Thame, on December 11th 1977, aged 90 and was buried in thechurchyard next to his wife. It is fitting that the inscription on his tombstone reads "Faithful unto death". As far as we know he left no relations in the village.The above article was compiled by Peter Wenham, Chairman of Cuddington's History Society, who wishes to record his thanks for their help to Lil Arnott, Nan and Peggy Cattell, Ivor Healy, Lil Tomes, John and Joan Underwood and Dodge Walker.
Bernard Hall - 76 Years Old!March 2005This year the Bernard Hall, itself the scene of very many birthday parties, will celebrate its own anniversary, for it was in November 1929 that this hall was officially opened.It had been given for the use of the village by Lt. Colonel F. T .H. Bernard. Along with its beautiful facade it was designed by the distinguished architect, Philip Tilden, who had been employed by the Bernard Family in Nether Winchendon. This was an architect, incidentally, who also provided designs for many illustrious families - even the Prince of Wales of that time was one of his many patrons!Over the years Cuddington has been very fortunate in having such a building to house its many varied activities, and appreciation is due not only to the Trustees, who under the Chairmanship of Robert Spencer Bernard, have ultimate responsibility for the building, but also to the Management Committee, which, currently chaired by Marcus Bolton, works hard with its day-to-day running. Thomas Arthur Payne 4th August 1911 - 20th January 2005Tom moved to Cuddington in 1953 with Betty and their daughter Sarah, and over the years he took a vital interest in the community. For some years he was a member of Aylesbury Rural District Council, during which time he served on the Housing Committee, not an easy job as he discovered but one to which he brought his professional knowledge as well as his integrity and concern to do what was right. Another of his interests was the Thame and District Housing Scheme and for many years he was one of its Trustees, spending much time in furthering its interests. Tom also served as a Governor of Cuddington School for some years, during which time his engineering experience was invaluable when building work was being discussed. Another occasion when this expertise was put to full use was some forty years ago when it was found necessary to alter the church's heating scheme. Here Tom provided just the advice that was needed and his plan for a new heating system was put into practice, and this is what still keeps our church warm.Everyone responded to Tom's friendly nature as was clear from the great number of people who attended the Service of Thanksgiving for his Life on Wednesday, 2nd. February, and very many happy memories of him have been recalled all over the village. His daughter, Sarah, has asked Village Voice to record the great appreciation of herself and her family for the innumerable letters they have received and also for the generous gifts totalling £605. These were given in her father's memory for Cuddington Sunshine Club and Long Crendon Day Centre, both of which he attended during the latter years of his life.Tom Payne generously donated one of the eight bells at St Nicholas Church, in memory of his wife.February 2006Organ Recital at St Nicholas's ChurchA captivated audience attended the celebration recital given by our organist Jane Benson at the end of November. The recital was to acknowledge not just the restoration of St Nicholas's organ but also to thank all those who had so generously contributed to the cost of the restoration.Jane's programme was drawn from the requests of many parishioners as well as pieces which had special significance to her. Appropriately, perhaps, we began with Bach and ended with Bach but in between there was Elgar, Faun, Clarke and Ravel amongst many others.Jane's playing was a real tribute to the restoration and her anecdotal introductions to each themed section gave a wonderful backdrop to the music.It was very fitting that Peter Collins and John Harper, who had undertaken the restoration work at their workshop in Melton Mowbray, also attended the recital.It was an evening of true celebration and our thanks go to not just Jane but to Angela Sanderson and her team of helpers who drove the whole project to such a successful conclusion.Womens' Institute AGMThe W.I.'s A.G.M. took place in the club room in December 2005 when Helen Griffin was re-elected as the President, Margaret Dorken as the Secretary and Barbara Curtis as the Treasurer. The three committee members are Peggy Cattell, Anne Holland and Caroline Thompson. Afterwards members and guests enjoyed a delicious festive lunch which had been prepared by the member. The first meeting of 2006 took place on January 10th when sixteen members were welcomed by Helen Griffin who then presented to Dorothy Woodford a book, written by Helen Carey, commemorating 90 years of the national W.I., and entitled "Bows of Burning Gold", in recognition of Dorothy's long service as a member of Cuddington's committee. The book was signed by all the members.After the business part of the meeting it is becoming a tradition for Peggy Cattell to be our first speaker of the year and once again we were enthralled with her colourful slides, on this occasion taking us on a walk round Cuddington through time from the beginning of the twentieth century. We started our walk at our beautiful church where there is a plaque in memory of the 48 people of Gibralter who died of Asiatic Cholera in 1849.We saw the ammonite in a wall down Tibby's Lane and in Lower Church Street little girls in aprons and boys in knickerbockers and caps dated the photograph of the Methodist Church. The Baptist Church was shown first as it was at the beginning of the twentieth century and then in February 1994 and finally a few days later after its unexpected collapse. The village shop was also photographed as it was at different times: one of 1884 was of the Munday family, who then owned it, standing outside the door, and other photographs taken in the early 1970's showed members of the same family serving in the shop and in the butcher's shop round the corner which, as shown by another photograph, is now Denise's hairdressing salon. A petrol pump by the side of the Red Lion was another glimpse into the past as was a photograph of Prince Phillip opening the playing fields in 1952. The oak tree planted to commemorate this occasion, and now well grown, was the subject of another photograph.
These were just a very small number we saw from Peggy's vast repertoire and it was fitting that she finished her show with breathtaking shots of the sunrise at the now famous Ruby Small Sunrise Walk. We were then shown a picture of Ruby herself, its instigator, followed by one of Frank Woodford who also contributed much over the years to its organisation. The final photograph, one of those showing the beauty of present day Cuddington, was an autumnal view of the Upper Green. Lydia Woodford then expressed our thanks for this fascinating walk down memory lane.
A different view of the Upper Green The photograph of the Green below shows not only the familiar sight of the old pump, surrounded now by its railings, but also the strange sight of piles of plastic bottles. For centuries some villagers without wells of their own would visit the Upper Green every day, but after piped water had arrived in the village some seventy or so years ago these daily visits to the green were no longer needed. We had a slight reminder of those by-gone days when, at the beginning of this January, because of a burst main, turned- on taps no longer provided us with running water and therefore everyone in the village had to collect water from the Upper Green, but, as this photograph reminds us, not to pump it up from the well but to pick up 2 litre bottles of drinking water deposited there by the Water Board.
The old pump looks much more picturesque than piles of plastic bottles but operating it would not have been anything like as simple as picking up the bottles!
march 2006
Curiouser and Curiouser
Alice in Wonderland's comment is very apt when applied to Alan Copeland's audio-visual presentation to Cuddington History Society on 28 February. Alan had been invited again to address us on 'Curiosities of the Chilterns Part II' following his entertaining Part I last April.He ranged widely over locations from Marlow to Henley and then on to Pangbourne. The curiosities included an underpass for toads near Marlow, the private steam railway in Robert McAlpine's garden at Fawley, the shark in the roof at Headington and the Maharajah's well at Stoke Row (see picture below). Thirty five members and guests thoroughly enjoyed his energetic, well illustrated and good humoured talk.
March 2006 The new schoolroom
In the 1960's an increase in the number of pupils at our village school made an additional classroom necessary. The photograph left below shows that classroom in the middle of its construction. Can anyone identify the two girls in the foreground? This addition to the School was used as a classroom for the younger children for many years and the picture below right shows it as it was very recently. Unfortunately, towards the end of the twentieth century, it was discovered that the structure was becoming unsafe, and so, in order to replace it, a massive fund raising scheme was launched to provide the money needed to add to the Local Authority Grants. Thanks to parents and friends in Cuddington, Chearsley and Nether Winchendon as well as many supporters from outside our catchment area the unbelievable sum of £65,000 was raised and plans for the building of a new addition to the school could then begin. After six months or so of a temporary classroom surrounded by builders the time finally came for completion of the work, and after the half term holiday of February 2006 children and staff moved into their wonderful new building which is shown in the photograph above.
Official Opening - 19th May 2006
The Countess of Buckingham has honoured the School by agreeing to come to Cuddington to perform this opening ceremony.Used to Buckinghamshire villages, the Countess thinks that village schools play a very valuable role not only in educating our children but also as an important part of the community.The children will be giving a short performance before Chris Blumer, Chairman of Governors, introduces the Countess and says thank you on behalf of the School to all those who have made the project not only possible but such a great success. The new classroom will then be dedicated before the Countess names the classroom and cuts the ribbon.
An Historic House
December 2006
Members of two local groups – the Gardening Club and the History Society – combined on the evening of 28th November to hear a talk on the history of Hatfield House and the gardens. Our speaker, Richard Cross, illustrated his talk with slides. Hatfield House was shown as a treasure house of history well; as being the family home of the Cecil family. It was in the grounds of Hatfield House that the young Elizabeth Tudor heard hat she was to become Queen. Robert Cecil became her shrewd and trusted advisor and founded the family fortunes. John Tredescant, the family’s gardener, was despatched to Europe and the New World, where he found plants which adorned the gardens of Hatfield House. He richly deserved the title of English gardening. Much later in the Victorian era another member of the family – Lord Salisbury – became Prime Minister. We were shown slides of successive members of the family as well as monarchs – for example James I and George III – who visited the house.
CELEBRITIES OF THE VILLAGE – PAST AND PRESENT
Anne Holland welcomed 15 members at the monthly meeting of the WI and after the brief business meeting, Peggy Cattell had our full attention when she gave us a potted history of some past and present people who lived in our village. As early as the sixteenth century a wealthy landowning family called Holliman had a son who became a monk, went to London and preached in St. Paul’s Cathedral against the divorce of Henry 8th and Catherine of Arogan. Although an unassuming person, his remarkable preaching skills took him to the sides of Kramer, Lattimer and Ridley and he spent long hours trying to persuade them to keep the catholic beliefs. A 20th century descendent, Dr. Will Strange was the Bishop of Bristol and a priest in Wing, died in 1952.
Into the 20th century we had a Tom Stevenson who lived in Staveley cottage for 16 years. Tom fought long and hard promoting the cause of accessing the countryside. Famous for his articles in the Daily Herald under the title “Right to Roam”, was responsible for the 1949 National Parks and Countryside Act and it took him and his supporters from 1948 to 1965 to open up the famous “Pennine Way”. Tom’s wife was one of our WI members and Tom died in Stoke Mandeville Hospital in 1987.
Peggy then reminded us of the three famous war correspondents – Chester Willmott who lived in Dadbrook House and was killed in a plane crash in 1954. Richard Dimbleby who lived in ‘Three Cottages’ and most recently, Terry Lloyd who covered troubled spots world wide. A very sensitive ITN news reporter Terry was caught in cross fire in Iraq and killed. His funeral in our church with the flag at half mast, was very moving and shown on national television
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Another notable person is Fiona Carr who was awarded an MBE in 2003 for her services to music in Uganda. Her “Piano’s for Uganda “ campaign is well known as is now the music school. One of her students called Paul won a scholarship in Edinburgh and last year gave a beautiful recital in the Bernard Hall to a rapturous audience. He is now married and teaches music in the college in Uganda.
Finally, Peggy concluded her talk with including our much loved Ted Ferris MBE as a Cuddington celebrity and who has recently moved to Norfolk to be with his family. Our village voice dedicated a full page write up on his achievements last month.
Lydia Woodford gave Peggy a vote of thanks for her excellent research and reminding us all of how lucky we are living in a village that is not only a backdrop for several television and film productions, but we can be proud to say the famous………..lived here.
