The 1911 coronation again

In our previous blog, we looked at two framed photographs of Market Lavington decorated for the coronation of King George V and his wife Queen Mary. George became King following the death of King Edward VII in 1910, but the coronation celebrations took place in June 1911.

At Market Lavington Museum we have a large collection of local postcards and some of these feature this 1911 event.

This picture looks down the High Street, past Old Bell House (a replacement for the Bell public house, which had burnt down) and the Green Dragon towards the white building we know as the Co-op. The right hand part of this building, formerly a market house, has since been demolished. We can see that many of the buildings have Union Jacks fluttering above them and imagine that the drapes might also have been red, white and blue, although photography was just in black and white then.

Our second postcard shows the decorations from further down the High Street.

Here we are looking up the High Street from the crossroads, with the building that currently houses the Post Office on the left. As well as bunting and flags, we can see a large GR (George Rex) above the door to the department store.

For information on the celebrations in our neighbouring village of Easterton, see 1911 coronation in Easterton.

1911- Market Lavington celebrates the coronation

In Market Lavington Museum, we have two pictures of King George V’s coronation celebrations in oval brass frames.

This one is of the eastern part of the High Street, taken from the Market Place. In 1911, the Post Office was on the corner of the Market Place, but is now situated further west, on the corner of Parsonage Lane. The Green Dragon can be seen in its familiar location on the right hand side of the picture, although its porch no longer extends so far across the pavement.

The matching frame contains a photo looking up the High Street to the crossroads and beyond. The picture was taken from outside a former public house, The Volunteer Arms.

Several of the houses and the department store at the crossroads have been decorated for the occasion.

A silver cornet

At Market Lavington Museum, we are able to preserve the memory of the proud history of the Market Lavington Prize Silver Band. We have many photographs, bandsmen’s caps and jackets, account books, tuning information and the like.

We also have a few instruments. See Bang it on the big bass drum and The E flat horn as well as this silver cornet.

It is marked ‘Superior Class’ and came from Hawkes and Son of Leicester Square in London.

A linseed oil container

Our records inform us that this item contained linseed oil and was kept on a woodworker’s bench .

A finger dab of the oil was used to lubricate the surface of tools such as wooden planes.

The favoured method of producing such homemade containers was to use an empty coconut shell, mounted on a wooden block. This one is said to date from between 1901 and 1930.

Tiny oil cans

At Market Lavington Museum, we have a range of artefacts linked to trades in the village, alongside many items used in local homes. These three oil cans were definitely for domestic use.

They came from the home of Flo Shore, the lady whose childhood home is now our museum building. We believe they were used for oiling garden tools.

A cobbler’s bench mount

At Market Lavington Museum, we are fortunate to have many items from Ken Mundy’s shop, where he sold and repaired shoes in the village. See Memorabilia from Ken Mundy’s shop, Ken Mundy’s Shop, Ken Mundy and A cobbler’s last.

Ken had a selection of lasts, to support the shoes he was working on, and these needed to be held firmly, while he hammered on new soles and heels.

Here we have a mount, which would have been screwed to the workbench, and a selection of lasts to fit onto it, according to the size of the shoe.

These items date from the early twentieth century.

Another paint muller

We have already considered one of these former tools of the painter’s trade in A Paint Muller but, at Market Lavington Museum, we have another such item, larger and heavier.

It was used on a flat stone for grinding pigments to a smooth paste, ready for making hand mixed wagon paints.

The Gye’s business in Market Lavington, on White Street between Broadwell and the High Street crossroads, employed the Burnett brothers from Easterton. Bert was a blacksmith and farrier and Charlie, a wheelwright. See Wheelwright memories, Wheelwrighting and The Wheelwright at work – fitting a tyre. or type Burnett into the search box on the blog front page for even more information about these talented brothers and their family.

Up until the 1950s, their work was required for repairing farm carts and, no doubt, it was important to produce exactly the right shade of paint to suit the customer and to match the rest of the paintwork on a wagon being restored.

The costs of running a band

We have recently looked at a little diary from the 1930s, sold to boost the funds of Market Lavington Prize Silver Band. But Tuppence for the Band was obviously not enough to keep the band up and running. Our blog Band Account Book features some accounts from the 1920s, but was later used as a notebook for copying down rules on the tuning of brass instruments.

However, at Market Lavington Museum, we do also have an account book from 1947-58.

Here we are informed of some of the means of acquiring income. Some of the performances were paid for, such as playing at the Church fete and for Poppy Day. There were donations from individuals, such as the vicar, and fund raising enterprises such as a collection in the Market Place and the sale of some games.

Of course, there were expenses too. Much of the income from fetes was paid to the band members. There were other expenses connected to performing. Bus drivers had to be paid for transporting the band to places such as Avebury and Wilsford.

Some of the instruments belonged to the band and, when a new slide was needed for a trombone, that cost £3.1s. 0d. A new head for the side drum and return postage in 1958 cost £2. 6s. 6d. An apron for the drummer set the band back by £1. 2s. 10d.

The band would have had a range of music, which needed adding to from time to time, with parts for each player and a score for the bandmaster. In 1948, two marches came to 8s and six waltzes cost 6s.

More mundane costs included paying for electric light and oil for the heater (presumably in the practice room near Broadwell). There were also phone calls and postage to be paid, probably for arranging performances. A new 2 way switch cost 3s.

Prior to decimalisation in 1971, there were 12 pennies (d) in a shilling (s) and 20 shillings in a pound (£)., so 240 pennies made a pound.

The black cat diary again

In our blog post, Tuppence for the Band, we have already seen this delightful tiny diary.

It dates from 1935 and was sold for 2d (less than 1p) to raise funds for Market Lavington’s Prize Silver Band. As well as providing dates for the year, and a small space to write in for each date, it holds a fund of interesting information, some of which we have seen before.

We also learn that the taxation per head in 1933 had been £16.8s.0d, which is compared with considerably lower charges in various other European countries.

The back page features two rhymes, one on the rule of the road at sea and this one for land travellers.

The Rule of the Road is a paradox quite.

For in driving your carriage along,

If you bear to the left you are sure to go right,

If you bear to the right you go wrong.

But walking the streets ’tis a different case,

To the right it is right you should steer,

On the left should be left enough clear space

For the people who wish to walk there.

Bandsmen’s hats

Market Lavington had a band for many decades and, at the museum, we are fortunate in having many photos of them in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

Of course, photography in those times produced black and white pictures, so we are delighted that we have some items of their uniforms, so we can see their true colours. The uniform jacket was a burgundy colour, which also featured in the cap.

This sported a lyre motif at the centre front.

This style was worn by Market Lavington Prize Silver Band in the 1920s and through to the 1950s. By the 1960s, a new hat was introduced and we have one of these in our collection too.