Plumbing and papering

The King family were painters and plumbers. In fact they seemed to do jobs where painting would be required as a final step. This bill, issued to Holloways in 1913 gives an idea of their trades.

J King bill for services rendered in 1913

We can see they list plumbing first but also they were glaziers, paper hangers and painters. The bill head images feature the plumbing side and also give an idea of fashion and styles from just before the first war.

What a fantastic loo!

Yes, high level cisterns with the good old chain to pull and decorated lavatories – this one with a sloping seat – must have been the fashion of their time.

Mr Holloway had purchased plumbing materials from the King firm. Kings had also altered a WC and done wallpapering in cottages, presumably on the West Lavington estate.

Of course, the amount of money exchanged seems laughably small these days. To paper out rooms at Pagnell Villas two men worked for twenty hours and the bill came to £1-12-8 or about £1.63 in decimal money.

We also note the time taken to pay. The bill was opened in April 1913 and paid in March 1914. Tradesmen, like Mr King, had to cope with this.

What great items these bills can be.

 

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At the cricket

It’s 100 and a bit years ago – we are not certain if it is 1913 or 14. All is right with a world and life goes on as it has since time immemorial. Well that may have been the way that the well-off saw things and we capture some of this atmosphere in photos taken at Market Lavington’s cricket ground in one of the last summers before the Great War changed everything.

The photo originals belonged to the Awdry family. Charles Awdry had owned the Manor and estate but he had died in 1912. Charles, like many of his family, was a cricket enthusiast and the Market Lavington ground was made very classy by him. It had a pavilion which could have graced a county ground but it never ran to stands for spectators. They occupied benches and deck chairs.

This photo – we do not know who the people are – captures the rather gentile life style of these privileged (by money) people. There was time to sit and enjoy the sunshine and the company of a handsome young cricketer.

At the cricket in Market Lavington in 1913 or 14

Another group are fairly obviously not watching cricket. The women wear the large hats that were fashionable in that era but also have umbrellas or sun shades. The building was the Market Lavington cricket pavilion.

People may not have had much interest in the cricket but it was a social event at which to be seen.

Lavington School was built on the cricket field and for many years the school caretaker lived in the pavilion. The little estate called Pavilion Gardens now occupies the site.

We don’t believe there is an active cricket team in Market Lavington at the moment although back in the 1980s there was a local club using the Elisha Field

 

A Hopkins Bill Head

We have a wonderful collection of Hopkins bill heads. Retailers got bill heads on the cheap by having a manufacturers advert on them – like this one below.

A Hopkins of Market Lavington bill of 1913

This one dates from 1913 so is just over the 100 years old as this is written. Of course we can marvel at the price of what appears to be a range back then with a smaller one at 18/5 (92p) and the portable one at £1-16-0 or £1.80 in present decimal coinage.

But it is the advert at the head of this bill that really appeals and recalls a bygone age.

These days the electric lamp is just about everywhere in the UK but back in 1913 most smaller places did not have mains electricity and locally produced gas could be used for lighting – particularly by the well to do folks. Most gas does not burn particularly brightly and so an incandescent mantle was used. When heated by the burning gas these mantles produced a wonderfully bright light. And the advert tells us that if we used the Veritas mantle we’d be quids in because we’d get our light burning less gas.

And these points are pressed home by a flag waving Boy Scout.

A problem with mantles was that once put into use they became very fragile. It didn’t take much of a knock to damage them beyond use so advertising as strongest was, no doubt, a good ploy. It rather looks as though our flag waving lad has broken the lamp cover but the mantle is still there and intact.

A lovely item here which says much about life 100 years ago. These days heating, cooking and lighting are all ‘at the flick of a switch’. It was so different back then.

 

 

Duty paid

At our recent Museum Miscellany – which once again was a grand success with more than 100 people attending and enjoying the information, the photos not to mention our wonderful museum food – one section was based around our receipted bill heads. These bills were like this one.

Receipt for items received by Thomas Holloway from Lavington Supply Stores in 1913

This bill was paid by Thomas Holloway to a supplier – Mr Walton of the Lavington Supply Stores back in 1913. These days we forget that the horse was such an important beast. There are still plenty of horses about – for leisure purposes but we wouldn’t expect our grocer or supermarket to be supplying sacks full of horse food. But clearly Mr Walton did just that and as some of the food said it was ‘delivered to Broadway’ we can assume this was going to horses used at the brickworks.

Of course, the bill head is pretty with its ads for Colman’s products – notably mustard.

At the end of the Miscellany our curator was asked, ‘Why had the receiver of the money signed over a stamp?’ Now in all honesty he/we hadn’t ever thought about it. Those of us old enough just assumed it was the done thing, without much thought. So a little checking up was done and it seems it was a legal requirement in some circumstances and actually conveyed a small sum of money to the Inland Revenue or tax man.

The signature acknowledging receipt of money is made over a stamp

It will be noted that then stamp actually says Postage on the left side and Revenue on the right. It was a one penny stamp and of course, in having to purchase that stamp Mr Walton had paid one penny into the Inland Revenue. We can, of course, be sure that Mr Walton had actually passed the cost on to his customer.

What we haven’t yet worked out is the precise circumstances that made the stamp a requirement. Once again we’ll appeal to somebody out there to let us know.

A Penny for your Thoughts

It isn’t only metal detectorists who turn up old coins. So, too, do gardeners and here we have such a find. It isn’t Roman nor even medieval, but it is more than 100 years old. It’s a good old penny coin.

Old penny found at Beech House in Market Lavington

It features the head of King George V who reigned in the United Kingdom from 1910 to 1936. This coin dates from the early years of his time as King as we can see on the reverse side.

The coin’s reverse side.

It is dated for 1913.

This penny was found in the garden of Beech House on White Street in Market Lavington in 2014.

If the coin had been lost when it was new, then it would have been a member of the Viner Johnson family who lost it. But coins like this had a life of fifty years or more. From the 1930s, Beech House was the home of James Welch and family and in the 1960s Tom and Peggy Gye moved in. The coin could have been lost by any of them or of course by any house visitor.

Incidentally to purchase what that penny bought in 1913, you’d need about 36p today. And remember the old pennies needed 240 to make a pound which means about 90 fold inflation over the 101 years. But we are all much better off now and in income terms that penny is now about £1.37.

Lucinda

The year is 1975 and the shop carrying the name Lucinda looks just a tad careworn.

Lucinda – a former shop on Church Street, Market Lavington

Lucinda is on Church Street and in a previous existence it had been Mr Pike’s butchery. George Pike had taken over the business from Mr Godfrey.

This shop has a long history. This photo shows George Pike and staff in about 1913.

That’s George Pike second from right.

It is interesting to note the petrol pump in the 1975 picture. This was associated with Mr Reid’s garage next door and was surely out of use by 1975.

Lucinda was about to change too. It was extensively rebuilt although it retained that gable end facing the road.

In this later picture, we can see the new brick frontage and see some of the other commercial premises which still existed on Church Street at the end of the 1970s.

Lucinda rebuilt – a view of Church Street, Market Lavington in the late 1970s

Beyond Lucinda is the Spar shop and in pale blue after that there is Peter Francis’s photographic business. The person on the pavement is just approaching where Saint Arbuck’s is now. This coffee shop is now the only commercial property along the length of Church Street apart from The Drummer Boy pub.