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Wh'std
home page | e-mail your
contribution Why not contribute to Web page on early Families of Wheathampstead |
Updated 23 January, 2008
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Barbara de Mornay Penny I have just found Wheathampstead web site which brought back old happy memories. My name is Barbara de Mornay Penny. I was born at Gustardwood the daughter of Mr and Mrs R. de Mornay Davies. We moved down to Wheathampstead in 1946 to the brand new Swedish house which were I believe the first stage of the new Marford estate, remembering clearly the developement of Conquerors Hill, Caesers Road etc. This was my home till 1962. I married my husband Anthony (formerly of Ayot St Lawrence) in 1960 and from 1962-2004 our home was in Caesers Road. On retirement we moved to Wells, Somerset to be near to our daughters Deborah and Yvonne, and Granddaughter Phoebe who all now live in Glastonbury. Since moving to Wells I have discovered this was the birthplace of my Grandfather and his forbears, evidence of which can be seen on floor plaques in Wells Cathedral and St Cuthberts Church. For your interest and others I have attached a photograph of a girls sports team (of which I am one) to partner your photograph of a boys team taken the same year 1955. Incidentally I can confirm the boy holding the cup was indeed my brother Ian de Mornay Davies. see photo Also in my possession is another sports photograph of my daughters era
which I will forward when I have seen my daughter who will be able to name
most. contributed March 2007 |
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Simon Johnson
Hi my name is Fiona. My husband used to live in Wheathampstead
about 15 years ago. He went to Beech Hyde school and he was in the villages promotional video in the 90s. his name is
Simon Johnson. If anyone remembers him and wants to get in touch with him you can email me at my address because we are thinking about moving back into the area and would like to get in touch with his old friends and family. Rugby, Warwickshire, England Thursday 28 April 2005 |
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Nicholas David King I
have been in Egypt for three years now and before that I lived in the Yemen
for seven years - not very computer literate countries. Dr Nicholas David King email -
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Kim Lewis (nee Jackson)
Have just come across the Wheathampstead website, and have thoroughly enjoyed the trip down Memory Lane it prompted. Our family moved to 2 Tudor Road from Harlow in December 1963, when I was 20 months old. My parents are June & Herbert Jackson, my brother Colin was born at No.2 in June 1965. We left Wheathampstead in July 1978, moving to Gloucester with my father's job. NEIGHBOURS - Neighbours I remember include, the Smiths at No.1 (children David, Caroline and a.n.other), the Woodrows at No.6 (children Susan, Anne and Jonathan), the Wrights at No.9 (sons Gordon, John and Alan), the Pikes at No.18 (Gwen & John, sons David and Alan), and a girl called Melanie at No.3 who had a cat called Cassidy. Neighbours on Dyke Lane I remember as the Playells (children Karen and Kevin), the Wards (Jenny & John, children Matthew, David and Ruth), Marjorie & John Brown, and Mrs Carter. ST HELENS SCHOOL - I went to St Helens, initially in the Victorian School, before moving "over the road" to the new buildings, and was taught by Miss Bailey, Mrs Lefevre, Mrs McNally, Mr Sharpe and Mr Parkes. At the old school, I remember buckets on the floor to catch the rain, the woodburner or boiler in the middle of the room which we weren't allowed too near, the sliding door which divided the huge space into two classrooms, the little triangular playground above street level, and nature walks to Bury Green. I was christened at St Helens Church, and remember Harvest Festivals being held in the church, the Christmas Carol Concerts, and going to church for school assembly on Thursday mornings. My most surprising memory, by today's standards, was that Mr Parkes smoked at his desk in the classroom - and no-one batted an eyelid!! Names I remember from St Helens are Ghislaine Walker, Heather Clarke, Jayne Seymour, Sandra Culpitt, Tian Cappy, Debbie Holpin, Debbie Smith, John Beckett, Andrew Hurst, Graham Harry, plus others who, try as I might, I can only remember christian names - Carolyn, Caroline, Denise, Janet, Paul. EVENTS - I remember the demolition of the railway bridge after the station had closed, and the demolition of the farm on the corner of Marford Road the The Hill - which I think made the evening news, as there was a preservation order on the building? SHOPS - I clearly remember all the shops - all detailed already by previous ex-pat contributors! - but particularly the chemist, Halls the bakers, where we used to get free stale bread to throw to the swans on the river which ran under the building, the Doctor's surgery with its dark waiting room where no-one ever spoke, the wool shop, Stewarts the tailors, where my dad got his suits made, the Salad Bowl, the hardware store, and Stimpson Lock & Vince the estate agents, where I used to clean, once a week, for the princely sum of £2.50! I also cleaned the offices upstairs, and I think I earned £4 in total. I remember the Marford Road shop, at the top of Necton Road, where as a youngster, I'd take my mum's shopping list in, and they'd deliver her order to the door later that day. As a teenager, I'd buy my cigarettes there! SCHOOL DINNERS - I have fond memories of St Helen's school dinners - Jamie Oliver would have approved, I'm sure. My mum was a dinner lady for a while, and remembers Lizzie Latchford, the head cook, and her daughter Margaret Drewett. I THINK I remember there being two Drewett boys at St Helens, and that one died in a tragic accident. I left St Helens for the Girls' Grammar in St Albans in 1973, and as I said earlier, we left the village for Gloucester in 1978. I hold very fond memories of my Wheathampstead childhood. Regards to anyone who remembers me; apologies to those I've omitted to mention! Kim Lewis (nee Jackson) e-mail : |
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From Paul Langford Found your web site very interesting, wonderful for the nostalgic I was a teacher at Wheathampstead Secondary School 1966 to 1971 responsible for Environmental Studies and Head of Casio House. Beryl & I had a very happy time in the village joining in many of the activities then available. We also helped with Scouts & Cubs. We still hear from one or two old pupils and one parent each Christmas. Leaving in 1971 I became Deputy Principal of the London Borough of Newham's Outdoor Education Centre where I remained until I retired in 1993. We still live in the village. I visited Wheathampstead in 2000 to take photographs of the village to compare with those I took in 1968. Very little had changed in the photographs except the Railway Inn, later The Abbot John ( my local ) has gone to make way for the roundabout on the bypass!! I have a photograph of the old railway bridge being dismantled, about 1968. Paul Langford email
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From
Jean Collen (nee Campbell). I was interested to discover your website. I taught music and drama at Wheathampstead Secondary School from 1966 to 1968 and have fond memories of the children I taught. My colleague, Vera Brunskill was a flautist and had a recorder group. She and I taught ourselves the guitar and worked with groups of children who were keen to learn the instrument in the days when the Beatles were all the rage. I have a recording of a number of the "children" who were keen enough to give up their break to come in to the music room to work at their singing. In particular I remember Reginald Dyke and Denis Andrews, who sang duets together, Sheila Faulkner, Mary Rose and Jeannette Wright. I directed several plays at the school and enjoyed the improvised drama classes, where everyone let their imaginations run wild, although imagination was often tempered with TV series of the time, notably 'Till Death Us Do Part'!
Although I am British by birth, I had lived in South Africa and had studied singing with Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth, who were living in Johannesburg at that time. I was told that the Queen Mother would discuss South Africa and my association with Anne and Webster, whose singing she had always enjoyed. The day of the visit was very exciting for staff and students alike. The music pupils played and sang "Cheelo Cheelo", a South African folk song, for the Queen Mother in the school library. I still have several photographs of us in that performance, and being presented to her afterwards. She was very charming and I'm sure everyone who was present will remember that memorable day thirty-six years ago. I returned to South Africa in 1968, where I met my husband and married in 1970. I kept in touch with some of the children for a while, and with Vera Brunskill until the early 1990s. I was sorry to hear that the school in Butterfield Road is no longer there, as it began with great promise and had so many wonderful open-hearted children and staff. It would be lovely to hear from anyone who remembers me or the days at Wheathampstead Secondary School all those years ago. Jean Collen (nee Campbell)
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From Zoe
Minton (nee Dixon)
Our family moved to Tudor Road from London when I was 6 months old in 1961 to what was then 14 Tudor Road; some more houses were built and ours became no 24. I remember playing with my 2 sisters in the the unmade road where there were plentiful puddles and and mud pies to be made. We lived next door to the Redwoods who said I should never walk past their gate again - I was about 5! Our other next door neighbours had a Cortina Mark I and lots of people envied it including us! Opposite us lived the Jowatt family and and next to them a family with 3 boys younger than us [one of whom - Alan who was autistic profile, but liked snails?] Next to them but one lived the Hollands. Mr Holland was a maths teacher who wrote maths books and taught at Sandridge junior school. They had an only daughter Elizabeth who was quite a few years older than myself. She was very good a knitting and I still have a tiny knitted jacket that my girls use for their dolls. She even won guess the name of the doll at the library Betty when it was Betty Lou and she gave it to me! Ttowards the end of the road there lived the Daltons and the Roberts family - one of their sons was called Robert. Parked near them was the owner of a bubble car - what a great site to see this vehicle going by negotiating the puddles!. At the entrance of the Road lived identical twin boys whose names elude me at this precise moment - they always wore the same clothes. Another family who moved in to No. 7 were Doreen and Douglas who had 2 boys I think and were into Woodcraft. A Scottish family with 3 boys moved down from Scotland and lived in a house about halfway down. They had plenty of comics that I read/devoured and they taught us naughty words! My mum was friendly with Mrs Fuller who lived in Necton Road and she had a glass clock which fascinated me. The dustcart was old fashioned and the men used to ride on the back and there were always deliveries of coal. We used to love going to the Devil's Dyke and usually Elizabeth would take us and we would see if we could find blue, pink and white bells. We love running down and then up the other side of the dyke - what freedom. I remember going quite often down to the farm across the main road with our parents for walks via the pub. The farm was opposite a nice house where the Hicksons used to live [they moved to Rugby]. There was Rosalind and Hal and an older boy with dark hair. They might have been one of the first families to have a Hygena kitchen. My Mum is still friends with the Randall family who lived in the house with the steep drive down - they now live in Old Welwyn. Nicholas and Emily were the same age as us. My sisters and I went to St. Helens school. I started with Mrs Lefevre, Ms Rose, Mrs Bailey and then Mrs Mc Nally - I loved that school with the bucket/pails to catch the rain from the leaking roof. Mrs Baileys class had toffee glue in red pots with white lids and I learned to tie knots. We read Little Black Sambo stories and made Easter cards of chicks with screwed up pieces of crepe paper. In my class I remember Carol Barrie, Katherine [Butterfield Rd?] Carolyn Olney, Ian? Whattaker, Vincent and Jasmine, My Mum was friendly with the Munday family who lived in a new house just up from the school - Jeremy Alan and Nicholas were the sons - all older than my sisters and I. I remember going to the Harvest Festivals with the school with home made bread and also the blind man who came to tune the piano at the school. My Dad used to go to work in London using the Wheathampstead station before it was closed down - very Victorian and lovely so it was. I remember going to the Dr Ackroyd's surgery in the village and getting injections and remembering how the surgery smelt of strange things - he had half moon glasses and was very old then. I remember the Chemists and the sweetie shop just up from their opposite where the new Fine Fare was. In there you could get jamboree bags, Bimbo comics and 3D lollies that came in chocolate or lime. I could go on for hours recounting lots of memories like blackberry picking on Nomansland Common with all the gorse bushes and picnics etc. I enjoyed reading the other tales too. We left Wheathampstead in October 1968 to live in a larger house in St. Albans. None of us are there either any more! I last visited W'stead about 10 yrs ago; Newcastle is a long way away! Zoe Minto nee [Dixon]
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From Duncan
Stickings
I was born in St Albans 1962. and lived in 1 High Ash Road, probably until I was around 8 or 10. Then I moved away with my parents to Leicester. I remember cutting through the churchyard to go to the store on the high street. My mother would give me a threepence to get a mars bar. I remember fishing for those little fish (stickleback?) in the river near the pub. One day the Queen was to drive through the village and, all the school children including myself would line the sides of the road, waving union jacks. I recall walking home from school in the snow. At the end of High Ash road, was fields that led to the commons I think. I recall having a hiding place in one of the trees there. Now I live in Vancouver, BC, Canada. I was browsing and found this site. Quite amazing. So long ago now. :)
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By Claire
Roberts (nee Milton)
Contributed December 2007 email -
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My name is Brian
Snellgrove. I was born in Wheathampstead in 1952, but we moved to St. Albans the following year. I was Baptised in St. Helen's Church and my father is buried there. My mother's ashes were scattered on his grave. Whenever I am in the area, (not often as I live in Yorkshire) I return to the grave. I have also been to look at the house I was born in on Conquerors' Hill. email -
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