Within Living Memory: looking back at our history exhibition in May 2024

Well, what a fantastic time we had on Saturday, May 11 2024 at Stoke Ferry Village Hall. The History Group’s interactive display, Within Living Memory, allowed visitors to walk through the High Street, from Oxborough Road to the Village Hall. They were encouraged to interact with old images, press clippings, photographs and specially prepared booklets for each of the buildings. As well as adding their memories to the displays, a number of local people recorded their High Street recollections. All these have been added to our Community History Archive for future generations to enjoy.

Here are some of the comments from the day:

“Brilliant, wish the Tardis could transport me back.”

“As a former landlady of the Blue Bell, I think this is a wonderful exhibition.”

“What an excellent idea of bringing history to life and the people who live in Stoke Ferry.”

“Well done. A fascinating and extensive collection of historical artifacts.”

“What a fantastic show of Stoke Ferry.”

“Good work on getting this important exhibition together – great to see these past memories.”

“Thank you to everyone involved in putting together this excellent exhibition.”

“So impressed by all the research and hard work that has gone into putting this exhibition together. Thank you.”

“A lovely trip down Memory Lane.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

During our research into the High Street display one of our members, Anne Ellis, came across the following article in a back issue of the Village Pump dated, November 1979:

“My memories of Stoke Ferry as a little girl in the early 1900s may be of interest to the readers of ‘The Village Pump’. This charming village has always been very dear to me, from the early years spent there, to the present time.

“My parents lived in Canterbury House, and, with my brother and me, made up our little family. My early memories of Stoke Ferry, strange to say, have not faded over the years. I recall with great excitement at being taken to the station to see the train, and we were entertained by the train driver, Uncle Joe, blowing the whistle, letting off a cloud of steam. The station master was so kind to us. Mr English was his name my mother reminded us. We were so fascinated by the station that we got somewhat mixed up in our prayers asking God to lead us into the Station. This treat would not have been complete without a visit to the nearby Mill House and the old mill to have tea with Granny Wright who lived in the House. The old mill and the house have been demolished alas, but I have my lovely memories.

“Another wonderful memory was a visit to Mr. Harold, the photographer opposite the station. The camera was a very new invention in those days. We were to have our photos taken to send to our grandparents in Scotland. This was a very wearying job. Mr. Harold kept disappearing under a black cloth showing us to ‘Watch for the birdie.’ I still treasure the photos, taken by this Stoke Ferry photographer of the 1900s onwards.

“The shops, seem to have provided me with most of my memories. The Chemists, Mr Hind, full of bottles of all kinds, and large coloured bottles in the windows. On the opposite side of the road was the Post Office, the joy of pushing letters in the letter box. I had to be lifted up to reach – my  brother could reach the ‘posting hole’.

“Mr. Bayfield, the butchers was another shop in my memory album, everything was so bright and clean. Large pieces of meat hanging from a shiny rail on equally bright hooks. Even Mr Bayfield’s face was shiny with rosy cheeks, and a long white coat and a blue and white striped apron. What we really liked about the shop was drawing lines in the deep sawdust on the floor with our feet, whilst mother made her purchases.

“From our garden fence at Canterbury House, we could look into the bakery yard and smell the lovely loaves being baked. How we loved that smell. We watched the Baker load his box like cart on two wheels. The horse was already in the shafts. The Baker climbed up onto the top, and with a crack of his whip went the village Baker to deliver his bread to the villagers. We often saw the village doctor called Steele on his rounds. He rode in a trap, if he was in a hurry he rode on his horse without the trap. My mother used to say, ‘Someone needs a doctor in a hurry’. To this day when I visit Stoke Ferry, I seem to see it as a very small girl with such a wealth of memories that recall so much happiness. “ Isabella Burbeck (Mrs), nee Lake, 1979

Contrast  Isabella’s interview (above) with Richard Allen’s fond recollections recorded on May 11 2024:

“I was born in the High Street at Allenville. Nurse Harris came down from all the way from Barton Bendish in a Ford Motor car to deliver me. Well, news got around the village fairly quickly ‘cause Bessie Bayfield, who lived opposite spotted the midwife coming in and apparently told everyone else, ‘ You know Mrs Allen’s gone and got a boy?’. So that was in 1955. I lived in Allenville up to 1967.

“I have extremely fond High Street memories. I mean, what a place to grow up in! Really good childhood we had. And it was like a little town. It’s called a village, but it was a town. And there was everything you needed several times over. There were actually, several Barber shops. I remember old Tom Ricks in the High Street, I used to get my haircut for about 1/8d, I think it was.  And, you had to hang around a little while for the card school to finish before he would actually cut your hair.

“But I remember the pubs we had. Actually, when my dad was around back in the ‘30s, there was seven pubs. I believe when I was around there was 4 pubs….I remember going into the Duke’s Head, my Uncle John Bailey used to play the piano in there for a pint and, I’ll be honest with you, but I wasn’t old enough to drink. Uncle John says, ‘A man must have a pint of Bullard’s best ale’. I was like a sort of early teenager and Mrs Barnes was looking over her glasses. So, I quickly downed this pint of beer and then sort of managed to stagger home.

“The High Street, it was lovely. There was Charlie Johnson’s shop which the Baker Shop [right]. He’d come around with his own van and deliver as well. [There was] Barclays Bank and West’s was a treasure trove. Oh, my goodness, although we had our own shop in the village, Grandma and Granddad had a shop and my dad took over. Their sweets were too expensive, [and] it was boring stuff like Fry’s Chocolate Cream. So, we just got our pocket money, which at that time was about six pence and, instead of going to our own shop and patronising that, we would go cheaper [and go to] Florrie Pointer’s at West’s, or, even better still, and cheaper still, was Herbert Morley’s, which was in the High Street. Which reminds me, Herbert Morley shop was very dark and there was no lighting in there. He was a tobacconist and sweeties and so on, and it was a lovely old place to go into.

“So, coming up the High Street, we had Ward’s Garage. They used to serve petrol in the High Street with the gantry that used to come over and fill the cars up. There was a haberdashery shop, which was Hicks. At one time I think it had a Barber Shop  as well. Then there was the chemist, Mr Stevenson…. It was an old fashioned chemist shop. But it was so lovely. And it had all the potions and bits and bobs that you expect to see in the chemist shop and that. This is before iPhones, so we’d get our holiday snaps and take them to Stephenson’s and wait for them to be developed two weeks later. Thank. You.”   Richard Allen, 11 May 2024.

~~~~~~~~~