Being a Pixie

“I wanted to be a Fairy but I was a Pixie”. That’s what Lily told us when we showed her some Girl Guide and Brownie memorabilia recently. Amongst this collection of newly acquired Girl Guide and Brownie memorabilia was a promise badge and that was what got Lily talking.

The Brownie Man was the promise badge from the 1930s right through to the 60s

This was issued to Brownies when they made their promise on joining up. Well it certainly looks more pixie like than fairy like. Lily didn’t really like it.

Lily is the first girl in the second row of this photo of the Guides in 1942/43

The Lavington Guides of 1942/43

Market Lavington has never had its own Guides. They are still, officially, the West Lavington Guides even though these days they meet in Market Lavington.

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Mr Cooper washing

Some of the scenes we discover on photos, within living memory for the oldest folks, seem almost unbelievable now.

Mains water came to Market Lavington as recently as 1936. Prior to that (and afterwards) many folks walked down to Broadwell to collect water in buckets.

Residents around the Market Place had their own pump for water – one pump to serve quite a lot of houses. This picture shows Arthur Cooper using the pump.

Arthur Cooper uses the Market Place water pump in the 1930s

James was born and raised a Market Lavington Market Place resident. He married in 1937 and in 1939 his address was number 12 Market Place.

We cannot date the picture with certainty, but presumably in the 1930s

Easterton Shop – 1930s

We have recently gained a number of postcards of Easterton and this one has excited some interest. The scene is clear. The main focus of the photo is the shop – the one near the bottom of Easterton’s White Street and more or less opposite the Royal Oak pub.

Easterton shop in the 1930s

The shop is made clear with a zoom in.

Tea and lamp oil are advertised

An advert for Brooke Bond tea is clearly visible and, possibly, a poster for a garden fete. The end building advertises Empire lamp oil.

But what generates interest is the factory style chimney beyond the shop.

The factory style chimney on Easterton Street

As yet the purpose of this is unproven. Suggestions are that it could be a bakery or maybe a forge.

We’ll let you know when we discover its purpose.

This was a sent postcard. So let’s look at the back.

The back of the postcard

The recipient was Bessie Gye who became Bessie Francis. The senders were members of the Burnett family – well known in Easterton and previously shop keepers there. Bert and Elsie lived on High Street, Easterton. The date of sending appears to be 1938 but the postmark is not good.

Do help us sort out that chimney, if you can. Thanks.

 

A football team

A few days ago this postcard dropped through our curator’s letter box in an envelope and with accompanying letter.

A football squad – but which team is it and when?

The sender, a lovely chap who has suffered a stroke and is bedridden, thought, for a very good reason, that this was the Market Lavington and Easterton Football Club.

The good reason is that this is a Burgess card. The publisher is mentioned on the back.

The card is by Burgess Bros of Market Lavington

This dates to between the two world wars. And as we see, Burgess Brothers were a Market Lavington company, based on High Street, near the present Co-op.

However, at the moment we recognise nobody in the team. In particular, we’d have expected Bill Elisha to be amongst those present and we don’t spot him. Alfie Alexander was also part of the management of the club and he definitely isn’t there.

We are, of course, more than happy to be proved wrong. We hope somebody out there can put us straight.

If it isn’t our own local team, it is likely to come from a nearby village. We could suggest Urchfont, Potterne, West Lavington, Tilshead, Shrewton, Worton, Marston, Great and Little Cheverell or maybe Erlestoke as possible places where these lads played.

Once again we appeal for help in telling us more about this squad and maybe what trophies had been won and when.

Thanks.

 

Church Street in the 1930s

If an excuse was needed for showing this picture it is that it has a clear ‘Volunteer Arms’ pub sign on the right. This year we will have a display about pubs in Market Lavington and Easterton – past and present.

Church Street in the 1930s

Actually, there is a second pub in this image for The New Inn is way down the street on the left hand side. Both pubs have closed now.

There are other points of interest. Let’s zoom in.

We have the old school sign in the shape of a torch of learning. Market Lavington School (now The Old School) was on the right hand side.

School sign and petrol station

 

The shop on the left was, at that time Mr Potter’s store. It was one of several grocery shops operating in Market Lavington.

Beyond that was Mr Merritt’s Cycle Depot – half the sign can be seen. The business clearly did well for we see two bicycles in shot but a Shell sign indicates that petrol was on offer as well.

Cyclist and New Inn as well as the Light House

Further down the street we see another cyclist. We can also see the sign for The New Inn which, later, became The Drummer Boy. We’d love to be able to read a sign on the right. This was where a branch of the Hopkins family had once produced acetylene gas for lighting. Maybe the sign was still offering the gas. The premises were known as ‘The Light House’.

What a lovely snapshot of life some 80 or so years ago.

 

A vegetable mill

If you speak French you’ll realise that the item we look at today is just that – a vegetable mill for it says so on the handle.

The handle of a vegetable mill or Moulin-Legumes in French

And there we have it – Moulin – Legumes which must be French for Vegetable mill

And here’s the whole device.

The whole mill. Plates with different mesh size could be used.

Clearly small pieces of vegetable could be dropped into the container and when the small handle was turned the veg would be pushed through the holes into a waiting dish underneath.

We believe this device, which was made in France, dates from the first half of the twentieth century. They were invented by Jean Mantle in 1932 and can be used for all kinds of food – not just vegetables.

WE also think it probably had a big red (or maybe yellow) handle to use when turning the device. That is missing from our example.

These devices were used worldwide but ours, of course, has Market Lavington provenance having belonged to a White Street family.

A Charabanc trip

This photo is a tad careworn but we have enough information to make it interesting. It dates from about 1930 and shows an all-male charabanc party at a stopover, almost certainly in Salisbury.

A charabanc trip in about 1930. Probably a football outing.

A goodly collection of the people on board have been identified and this has allowed the museum to speculate on the nature of this outing.

Notes from our record card

This was the work of former archivist, Priscilla Manley who has suggested this was a football outing for a young team with adult trainers and supporters. Priscilla has sketched the position of heads in the photo and numbered those for whom there are names.

Here we have 1 – George Hobbs, 2 – Alan Baker and 5- Leslie Merritt

This pair are 3 – Albert Potter and 4 – Jim Hurkett who was one of the adults on the trip.

Number 6 – Alf Merritt

7 – Fred Hurle and 8 – George Pike

9 was Harry Hobbs, the driver and 10 was Mr Hurkett

We note that they are all wearing buttonhole flowers. This is surely not normal for a football team on their way to a tournament. Could they be going to a wedding?

Butcher’s delivery

This is a still from a promotional film shot and edited by Peter Francis during the inter war years.

The film shows the full process – and we really mean full – of getting meat from farm to door. Much of it is far too graphic for present day sensibilities. We have a full copy at the museum, but certainly wouldn’t show it.

At this time the company was called Doubleday’s to become Doubleday and Francis. They occupied the butcher’s shop still operating as such – where the Douses now sell their top quality products.

Back in those days – some 80 or so years ago, Messrs Doubleday and Francis operated a pair of vans for meat delivery. It quite amuses many of us that supermarkets invented delivery a few years ago. It used to be the norm – certainly into the 1960s. Our curator tells us he had a holiday job when he was a student, which involved driving a van and selling meat. That was for quite a different butcher elsewhere in the country but just shows it was the norm. Here, from the film, is one of the Market Lavington vans.

Butcher’s van in the snow in the 1930s

The weather was clearly bad with snow on the ground, but still the butcher got through, delivering his meat.

The photo quality is understandably poor. We do not know what it was originally shot on – probably the little 8mm film. It has been copied onto VHS video tape and then copied to a digital format. But it does give an idea of those 1930s days.

Picking flowers

We were recently sent a photo of a group of people – mostly women – picking flowers.

The picture was sent to us by Margaret who is a direct descendant of Samuel Moore – the man who turned jam making into big business in Easterton. Margaret’s grandmother was Bertha who was Samuel’s youngest daughter by his first wife. In fact, with no written evidence, we’d guess that the first wife, also Bertha, died as a result of giving birth to Bertha. Young Bertha was born in about 1909. She is the central lady in this image.

Picking flowers. Bertha Moore is the lady in the centre

We asked Margaret for any further information about this picture and the reply just said, ‘first picking of flowers’.

So we assume this is one of Sam Moore’s fields in Easterton but we were not aware of him dealing in flowers. Bertha, herself, has a fine bunch.

Bertha with bunch of flowers

Maybe somebody will recognise others in the photo which we’ll guess dates from the 1930s.

 

On the clay pit

A few days ago we featured Tom George who was born at the brickworks in 1920. His father was the manager there.

We have him again today, this time playing on a raft on the clay pit.

Tom George on a claypit raft in 1931

These days we hold up our hands in horror at the idea of kids playing on industrial sites. But Tom lived there and we are pleased to report he is still a fit man today.

The photo dates from 1931 and also shows Bert, Tom’s father and also his sister, Amy.

Tom’s father and sister are watching on

We are assured the water was only 2 feet 6 inches deep.

What a lovely photo of life in what looks to have been a fairly carefree childhood.