Memories
Leon Bradford
My brother and I arrived at Woodford as evacuees in early 1941 from Dagenham London and we were eventually passed into the welcoming arms of Jim and Edith Ballard and under the watchful eye of "Mother" Gunn with whom we stayed until 1944 .
Our new home was a thatched cottage (destroyed by fire in late 40s) opposite a butchers shop (in Addington Road and next door to a man named Frank Barringham who always returned home from work at the calli(y) banks at Thrapston covered in a peculiar yellow dust. My happiest times were weekends and holidays when I helped out on Bob Ward’s Home Farm (Daventry Farm near village green) along with two Italian POWs both named Mario and one had the surname Pittonetti. Bob Ward had two sons David and Michael and three daughters Mary, Monica and Gill; but only Michael, who was the same age as me helped on the farm.
My other memories include sitting in the (infant) school room and being fascinated by the workings of the school clock, helping out Carvel Bonsor in his workshop behind the pub by pumping the bellows of the forge, playing down in the Osier beds by the river or up in the "Rec" and the highlight of our week was to climb the windmill pump in the Rec (where the present school is located - no health and safety those days!!
I have no real recall of my time at the (Junior) bottom school but remember going to school in Thrapston by bus which was usually driven by Bill Waterman, son-in-law of Edith Ballard and who had a daughter Sylvia.
Another memory is of our twice monthly walk to Thrapston (Saturdays) and the pictures, two old pennies for the ticket, ditto for a bottle of "spruce" (lemonade) and tuppence for crisps. Walk back to Woodford via Alledge brook and a stop for a drink of spring water.
Sunday. Early morning trek to the bakehouse with the Sunday lunch-always beef - Reg Hawes the owner would sometimes give me a warm bread roll filled with beef or pork dripping.
The highlight of the year was Woodford Feast held on the green with old fashioned steam driven swing boats and penny arcades and the older men of the village would go to Buckby's pub (Coach and Horses) and the younger ones to the Reading room to play cribbage.
I remember when the Americans practised bridge building down by the river and the chewing gum and "Cookies" they gave us.
I have so many memories of those years, too many to include in this blog and some of them quite painful but at the age of 77 these memories have never left me and i shall never forget Woodford or the kindness shown to all we kids moved out from war torn London.
I now live only a couple of miles from Woodford and often drive through the village to relive old memories but one thing puzzles me, where do people now go to have their radio accumulators recharged now that Reg Essam's shop (was located where Victoria Court I now is) is closed!
Leon Bradford 17/8/33 - 1/8/2012
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