Miss Read at the Manor House Part I

I slathered myself with arnica gel (after my fall) and carried on with my day;

 I had a meeting to attend

and

 papers to deliver,

  the typed-up notes on 'Miss Read's Wartime Memories'.

I got to the village hall a little earlier than everyone else

so that I could turn on the heating (ceiling-height electric things, not very effective!)

to cheer the place up a little.

Our 'Miss Read' used to live in the Old Rectory, right next door to the village church,

then when she was 10 years old her family moved into the Manor House.

The house was demolished in the 1970's, nowadays that wouldn't be allowed,

even these remains are listed and protected.

Luckily we have Miss Read's memories of the place to call upon.

The core of the manor house was very old, but the main house and Hall were built in the 16th century from bricks which were produced in local fields.

The walls were 39" thick and caused a few difficulties when it came to curtaining windows

- especially during WWII when blackout curtains were necessary -

smaller, dormer, bedroom windows were a real problem.

Her father was responsible for fire-watching, distribution of gas masks

and

checking on the black outs in the village.

The ground floor drawing room and living rooms had wooden floors, laid directly onto the ground,

and therefore very draughty.

The scullery, pantries and kitchen had brick floors.

Ground floor rooms had very high ceilings

so heating was a real problem,

particularly during the war years when coal was severely rationed.

The old wall and gate, another remnant.

At some point in the history of the house, concrete had been used to make a floor for

a passageway and two of the bedrooms on the upper floor.

This caused the floor to slope so badly that beds had to be put on blocks to get an even keel.

The house had 8 bedrooms and lots of dark corridors and twisting staircases.

It was cold and damp, especially during those war years.

There was an indoor lavatory, upstairs.

To use this facility you had to carry a bucket of water upstairs with you

because the water system was not working.

There was also a twin seater outdoor lavatory.

Baths were taken once a week, in front of the fire, in a zinc tub.

It was quite a ritual as water had to be heated and then buckets were used to fill the bath.

Electricity came to the village in the late 1940's

so her childhood memories are of candles and oil lights,

ceiling oil lights

because her mother was always afraid that lamps would be knocked over.

This is all that remains, the old medieval hall, the house adjoined it at the far end.

This beautiful old building has seen many alterations over the years, 

I often stop by and just look at the brickwork.

History written on the walls.

Picture this hall about 65 years ago.

The Manor House was still attached.

It was Miss Read's wedding day

and

her wedding breakfast was taken in the old hall.

There were flowers, straw bales, and as great an abundance of food as was possible

to produce in those post war days.

Fingers crossed that I can persuade Miss Read to open her photograph album...

Our very own 'Miss Read' (with walking stick)  making her way home, after the meeting.

The building in the distance, with the blue sign,

was our village school.

These days it is a private residence.