Mr Digby had very kindly set up the hall with displays of some of the history of the village and surrounding area. Over the last decade or so he has gathered together old photographs, maps, newspaper cuttings, oral history, documents and books and snippets of fascinating facts.
I persuaded my husband, daughter, and granddaughter to attend, too. They soon melted away, but I spent an hour there and during that time there were about twenty-five visitors, including several born and bred villagers, who found that there was plenty to bring back memories, along with fascinating stories and facts which they hadn't known about.
A farming friend was thrilled to find that the old blacksmith's ledgers contained notes about work which had been done for her father, back in the late 1940's. When the blacksmith died, a couple of years ago, papers and ledgers were dumped in a skip. Luckily, Mr Digby was able to get permission to rescue some of them!
One story which I thought I would share with you is the tale of a 25 year old man who lived in the village in the 1840's. He was arrested, tried and convicted of killing a sheep and stealing 3lbs of wool from the carcass. His previous convictions included the theft of a smock and a hat worth 1 shilling, for which he received 3 months imprisonment with hard labour. The sentence for killing the sheep was transportation to Tasmania, for 15 years.
He was transported in 1841.
There were no notes about whether he ever returned.
The tales of the Naughty Nuns, I will leave for another time.
One story which wasn't covered, was that of a local landowner/farmer who was so convinced that his horse was going to win a race, that he used his farm as the stake... the horse lost the race, and he lost his farm...his poor wife and family!
Sounds like a story from long ago, but in fact it happened around the 1950's.
The family still live locally.
I have harvested my quinces - they are much larger this year and I am delighted to say that they smell heavenly.
One has been added to an apple crumble - and it really added to the flavour. One or two will be sliced and added to trays of roasted vegetables...then I move on to the much more exciting quince butter and membrillo. I just need the free time to get cooking.
I have been working for an hour or so each day, cleaning out the ditches which surround Owl Wood...my back is not happy. Two more days should see the job completed. Thank goodness.
Been involved with a couple of exhibitions useing photos and giveing presentations, it's a lot of hard work. Do like the photo of the sheep
ReplyDeleteHard work, definitely. It was really interesting. I think that is the biggest sheep I have ever come across!
DeleteI love it when villages have displays of old photos, some of those stories sound fascinating
ReplyDeleteI usually go to the village where I was at primary school each October when they have an event - but missed it this year.
Cleaning out ditches sounds like hard work, take care
Hello Sue, I think you would have enjoyed it, lots of variety and interest. The ditches were just hard work, but with all this heavy rain, I am glad that I did it!
DeleteWhat wonderful stories. Transported to Tasmania for sheep stealing? That seems pretty harsh.
ReplyDeleteHello Marcia, They were hard times! I must check with Mr Digby to see whether there is any record of him coming back to Lincolnshire.
DeleteI love, love, love exhibitions like this - real tales of past times.
ReplyDeleteGolly that was a hard sentence for the sheep stealer!
Oh the ditches we have one or two in our wood - we are lucky in that one of them takes the surface water off the road above our wood across to the burn so the council have to keep the ditch clear (when we can get them here!)- the other one we have to clear ourselves and a third one has dried up now for whatever reason. I can feel your backache.
No help from the council here. Unfortunately, the verge is very wide and very soft, otherwise the local farmer would have helped out with his digger. My back was not happy, but it is getting a bit easier now.
DeleteThe story of the immolating house is interesting. Actually, the part about rebuilding in the same footprint. I am guessing this is a more recent event, as the restriction smacks of zoning requirements, and zoning, I believe, is a newer concept. I'd enjoy hearing more of that story.
ReplyDeleteThe house (our next door neighbour across the woods) has always intrigued me. The plot is extremely narrow and hundreds of yards long - squished in between two smallholdings. It was over 200 years old! No doubt some sort of story there.
DeleteVillage history is important..and some people don't realise that tomorrow is built on yesterday and today
ReplyDeleteI suppose not many of us fully appreciate it when we are younger, too busy living life and looking after children, etc.
DeleteOh can't wait to hear about the naughty nuns.... Love the photo of the sheep.
ReplyDeleteHello Sheri, Busy time right now but, at some point, I will definitely tell some of the things which are known about the nuns.
DeleteLove these stories. They're fascinating. Well done to Mr Digby for putting on such a great exhibition.
ReplyDeleteMolly, He did a brilliant job. I knew he had lots of information, but the exhibition exceeded all expectations. I hope all is well with you.
DeleteI'm glad you're still blogging here, I love these stories of your village.x
ReplyDeleteHello Yarrow, Thanks! It is a really tiny village, but he managed to winkle out a surprising amount of history and interesting stories.x
DeleteHello, I have just signed up to follow your blog so I hope you keep going. I plan to go through the old posts as a winter reading treat.
ReplyDeleteHello Susan, and welcome. Good luck with the old posts - names and place names may have changed over time, so it could be a bit confusing, but I am sure you will cope!
DeleteI love your post about village memories. Our Colorado State Historical society and local museums and the county library have started a project to capture people's memories of the "villages" along the Arkansas River. This is in Southern Colorado and a "young" area compared to your part of the world - settled in the mid-1800s but inhabited by Native American tribes for a long time before that. There are fascinating pictures.
ReplyDeleteOne story I want my SO to write about is when her paternal grandfather "Daddy Bill" lost the onion crop in a poker game. This was in the 1940s. Fortunately it was only one crop but it was one of the "money" crops (not crops used for feeding cattle). Apparently the normally serene and lovely "Mommy Bill" was livid. Needless to say he didn't do it again.
I went foraging as well - we went to take a lawn mower for its fall overhaul and low and behold along a little ditch next to the shop were cat tails! My maternal grandmother used to go out in the fall to cut cat tails for her classroom (she taught in a one room country school until age 79!). I had a hard time finding old fashioned Aqua Net hairspray - it is basically just varnish and it was what she used. They are in a vase with some seed pods and tall grass that I bought for a fall display.
Love your blog posts!
Mary
Hello Mary - and welcome! I am glad you enjoyed the read.
DeletePoor 'Mommy Bill', I can well imagine her displeasure. Good to know that he learnt his lesson, even if it was the hard way.
Your part of the world sounds very interesting, thank goodness memories and tales are now being recorded before they are lost.
I am glad to say that most of our foraged things have now been converted into saleable items, ready for the craft fair weekend at one of our tiny local churches. I will try to take a few snaps of what we have produced. My grandchildren certainly know a lot more about craft working now, than they did before we began their projects. They may lack finishing power, but they did put a lot of effort into it all.
One of my son's, my daughter, and her husband, are all teachers. They all enjoy what they do, put in lots of extra hours, but I don't think they would care to be doing it until they are 79. That is so impressive!