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Portrait of
a Parish - Page 22
Reminiscences of Stan Wicks - Early 1900's
It was noticeable in the early part of the century that the
winters were colder and the summers hotter than they are today.
The fields near the brook, owned by farmer Fletcher, and mill
owner Oburn were set up to allow them to be flooded and used as
skating rinks, earning a nice bit of currency as the sporting
public came to frolic on the ice. There were no radios or
televisions in those days and people made their own
entertainment. Father was musical and had a melodeon which he
endeavoured to play. There was also a cylinder gramophone. The
cylinder was placed over a drum which revolved under the
influence of a spring and a needle attached to a sound box
picked out the tune. The quality was so bad that it was a relief
to get to the end of the recording. The girls of Tucking Mill
were always swinging their skipping ropes and marking squares in
the road to play hopscotch. The boys were more inclined to be
destructive and tried out bows and arrows, but then found
catapults more satisfying in smashing bottles.
The Fullers Earth works sprawled in the valley in a misshapen
mass of galvanised iron, inside it looked a bit more orderly.
Behind the stables of Tucking Mill cottage were a number of
settling tanks in a straight row, alongside these were openings
leading to a number of iron plated steam kilns. The Fullers
Earth in suspension was carried down the pipeline from Odd Down
and diverted into the settling tank. The heavy sand sank
immediately on entry to the bottom of the tank, whilst the
mineral in suspension floated to all parts before settling and a
pure product was available. The workmen dressed in corduroys and
clogs with spats of sacking, shovelled the wet mineral into the
trolley and it was then unloaded onto the steam kiln. When it
was practically dry, it was transferred to the fire kiln to
complete the process. On the south-eastern side was a loading
bay; a trolley on rails conveniently level with the floor of the
works, was loaded with two hundredweight sacks by the use of
sack trucks. Then after the order had been given to Messrs.
Hamlen and they had arrived with a wagon and six horses, the
loaded trolley was hauled up to the road by means of wire rope
round a wheel at the to of the incline, powered by a small steam
engine in a shed by the coal supply.
I can recall the day that mother had to take my elder sister
to the Royal United Hospital, to have her tonsils removed. It
meant the long haul up Bluebell Steps and a journey on the
tramcar to the hospital. A long wait for mother in the waiting
room for the patient to gain consciousness after the operation,
and a long journey back. My sister was on the point of collapse
and had to be carried across the field .... and down to the
cottages. I also remember the occasion when my brother was
coughing fit to choke. Mother became alarmed and telephoned
Doctor Morris of Combe Down. It was a quarter to twelve on a
very stormy night when he arrived. I remember it well, he was
arrayed in a dark overcoat and black bowler, all glistening in
the lamplight with moisture. He administered some kind of jollop
from a brown leather case and said to mother, "I am not well
myself Mrs. Wicks, the child has only got a cold and you have
fetched me out of a warm bed to treat him, across those muddy
fields in such atrocious weather." Such was the dedication of
old Doctor Morris.
Stan Wicks:
page 21 - page 22 -
page 23
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