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Portrait of
a Parish - Page 5
100 Years Ago
No car or bicycle however, is recorded as having been seen in
the village at that time. Such traffic as came was horse-drawn -
the post office van, - Mr. Morris's bakery van from Freshford,
the coal cart from the Midford Depot or the occasional light
trap bringing people from the stations in Bath or Limpley Stoke.
Sometimes there would be heavy stone wagons carrying supplies to
some building work and it is said that if, in a dire emergency,
the doctor was to be sent for he would ride out from Bath on
horseback.
There were two schools, the Village School for 70 children up
to the age of 11 and Monkton Combe School which had 50
"scholars" aged 13 - 19, so the two groups of youngsters had
nothing in common. There was even opportunity for conflict as
the privileged "scholars", with their boats on the river and
cricket teams and athletics on Longmead (sometimes shared with
Farmer Wick's cows) and their exclusive area for swimming in the
brook, must often have been envied by the village youth. A.F.
Lace, reliable recorder of the year 1900, in his book about the
School ("A Goodly Heritage"), describes the pupil power of the
day when a schoolboy prank, directed against the influence of
the school Secretary, went wrong. Every boy in the school was
involved, punishment was meted out, the Secretary withdrew and
it is said that the administration improved after that.
There was a Church Mission Chapel with seating for forty on
Mount Pleasant and a Congregational Chapel in Mill Lane, but
little is known about them. The church was still the hub of the
village and there were two services on Sundays, a Sunday School
and a choir. The plaque in the church to the memory of the Rev.
D.L. Pitcairn, who was then the Vicar, says that he was
"learned, kind and gentle" and he was frequently seen about the
village dressed in a black cloak and shovel hat. National and
other important events were celebrated in front of the church
when a band provided by the school, played suitable tunes, a
flag would be raised in the Brewery Yard, a service followed and
then there would be tea and buns at the vicarage which was
either Westfield House or Bushy House. Mrs. Pitcairn directed
the choir, its annual outing and she organised the ladies of the
big houses in charitable work. This was much needed as most jobs
were insecure, wages were low and domestic violence was
frequently the result of drunkenness. Old people too, were often
a burden on poor households and thee was no safety net for them,
other than charity. There were hand-outs of tea an coal to poor
families at Christmas from Mr.Vaughan-Jenkins of Combe Grove
Manor (the largest landowner). Boots for children who subscribed
to the card scheme at school, were supplied by Miss Knott. Apart
from this, the needy depended on what little could be spared by
their family (if any) or the pity of neighbours. Tramps were
seldom welcomed.
However, if the economic conditions of the day left little
time for the majority of the villagers to enjoy much leisure
from providing for their subsistence needs, others were more
fortunate and there was a good deal of friendliness and many
shared interests between the well-to-do and the staff of "the
College". There were dinner parties, and Mrs. Pitcairn, among
others, was very partial to a game of Bridge. A.F. Lace says
that school matches on Longmead were well attended by the ladies
and gentlemen of the parish and, particularly for the younger
members of staff, Miss Orchard's teashop at the post office was
a great standby. She would order cakes from the Freshford Bakery
so that the "young gentlemen" (there was a fairly frequent
turnover of graduates in their first jobs after leaving
university) could entertain their friends with propriety and in
the written recollections that stem from that period, it was
always summer and the surroundings were always idyllic.
Life 100 years ago:
page 4 - page 5 -
page 6 |
