Pond Farm Camp kitchen

Pond Farm Camp was used by Commonwealth men during World War One but before that it was used as summer training camps, often for territorial soldiers. Many of the postcards of the camp show row after row of tents. This one has concentrated on a camp kitchen

Pond Farm Camp kitchen – 1909

First of all, this is Pond Farm Camp – the card is captioned.

We can get some idea of cooking facilities.

Is this some kind of stove?

Large, two handed pans were used, but we can’t make out quite what the stove is but something in the way of a chimney seems to be attached.

This card was posted in Market Lavington on May 15th 1909.

The message on the card

It was sent to a Mrs J Collins of Clunton which according to A E Housman in his Shropshire lad is…

Clunton and Clunbury, Clungunford and Clun,

Are the quietest places under the sun.

The information really tells us that three thousand men were drilling together. This makes one suspect there were more kitchens than just this one.

Pond Farm Camp in 1908

We have quite a few photos of Pond Farm Camp in the years prior to World War One. Here we have a plan of the camp as it was laid out in 1908.

Plan of layout of Pond Farm Camp in 1908

 

This plan was copied from The Cavalry Journal (III) for 1908. Water for the camp was pumped from the well at the bottom left which was adjacent to the farm buildings. We can see just how important the horse was then with a large area set aside for grazing and rows of troughs. We can see the Field Post Office from which the men sent postcards back home and we can work out just where the camp was.

This document also shows the programme for the soldiers enjoying their summer camp.

The activity programme for the men

This is a bit brief, but we can picture a lot of men coming down into the villages on those half holidays.

Pond Farm Camp – 1909

In the Edwardian era – the start of the 20^th century – Pond Farm, on Salisbury Plain above Easterton, was a working farm but it was owned by the War Department and used by them for summer camps for a variety of different regular and territorial regiments.

Once the post card era arrived, local photographers realised they had a good source of income, making and selling cards which showed camps. There seem to be dozens of such photos and we have shown several on this blog before. Here’s another.

A Pond Farm Camp in 1909

The sheer scale of the camp makes this quite a substantial township. It would have more than doubled, albeit temporarily, the population of Easterton. No doubt the authorities looked to the locality to provide some food and fuel – all cooking had to be done up there on the wild, windswept downs. Local farms may well have been able to provide fodder for large numbers of horses and of course, Lavington Station was one of the rail heads for these soldiers arriving in Wiltshire. These camps must have brought additional prosperity to the area.

This card has been sent although probably not until the soldier had returned home.

The basic message sent to Miss Jones

The postmark is Chester and it was sent to a Chester address (although Buckley was actually in Flintshire) by Jack who wrote it on 17^th May 1909 and stated this was the Welsh Royal Mounted Brigade Camp (Shropshires).

 

Pond Farm Camp – 1909

There are many different views of army camps at Pond Hill in about 1909. These summer camps for territorial soldiers had been a part of life for some time. But by 1909 there was an awareness that the Pond Farm area was to become part of a permanent military range. The summer camps would be over. Local photographers recorded the scenes and sold them as cards, like this one.

A 1909 photo of Pond Farm Camp in Easterton

This is certainly not the best card we have ever seen, but the message on the back paints a picture which certainly adds to the feel we can get for a Pond Farm Camp.

The message on the card

We can see this card was posted in Market Lavington on 12^th May 1909. The writer (W H Edwards) was not the best speller but he conveys his meaning and the address to send to for replies. The message reads (retaining Mr Edward’s spelling):

Dear May

Just a line to tel you I am all rite there is plenty of fun hear there his about 20 thousand of us hear. With love from H Edwards xx

So, there were twenty thousand men up on Salisbury Plain above Easterton and Market Lavington.  It sounds like they were enjoying themselves. No wonder they had an impact on the two parishes. And no wonder post card producers produced cards to sell to those twenty thousand temporary residents.

Before World War One

This year, and quite rightly, there has been much talk about World War One – and we’ve done our share of that. But of course, parts of our area were militarised before the Great War – that war which was supposed to end all wars – began. In an attempt to keep body and soul comfortably together, our Manorial Lord had sold his lands on Salisbury Plain to the War Department. Tenant farmers continued to user the land for several years but at Pond Farm, now in Easterton parish, an annual summer camp for reservists took place.

In the Edwardian era the whole area was closed and it became a permanent military training area. Local photographers made sure the last of the fairly open summer camps were well recorded. And here we have one such photo.

Soldiers at Pond Farm Camp in 1909

This card shows signs of its past life as a piece of pub décor. It has been in the museum for some years but had an earlier home at The Drummer Boy which has now closed.

The card gives a real sense of the vast openness of Salisbury Plain. If it wasn’t for the soldiers, the area would really look empty. Somehow that distant horse and rider on the horizon adds to the sense of huge space.

The year is clearly given on the card. It is 1909. The regiment here are obviously ‘of horse’. Regular summer campers were a regiment known as the London Rough Riders. Here the troops look anything but rough as they maintain a neat formation led by their officers.

The vast open space of Salisbury Plain

What a lovely image and it can remind us that when the war started, just five years later, the horse was still the mainstay for haulage and transport. Sad to say horses suffered very badly in the war, just as the men did.

A Souvenir of Market Lavington

Today we have a postcard sent home by a soldier visiting a camp on Salisbury Plain. It is a multi-view card.

Postcard entitled Souvenir of Market Lavington

The five views shown are of the church, exterior and interior at the top, the church from the recreation ground in the middle, Church Street and Clyffe Hall Hill.

The post card has a Pond Farm Camp post mark

The card was post with a half-penny stamp and it carries a Pond Farm Camp post mark. The day and month are clear – August 10^th. We think the year is 09 – 1909.

Card message – from brother to sister.

The message is typical of the era – basically saying I’m still alive with a little bit of news. It appears to be sent by a chap called Irvine.

The card was in Walton’s series; presumably this was the Mr Walton of the Lavington Supply Stores.

Recipient – Ruth Ann Briggs of Halifax, Yorkshire

The recipient was Miss R A Briggs. Ruth Ann Briggs was about thirty at the time, a single lady living with her mother and great aunt. She was a worker in worsted manufacture. The family came from and lived in Halifax in Yorkshire.

She had a younger brother called Irvine Briggs so we expect it was him who sent the card.

 

The Pond Farm Camp Ambulance

Pond Farm Camp was used for ‘summer holiday’ exercise camps by many different regiments. Huge quantities of men spent weeks or fortnights ‘enjoying’ the uncertain delights of Salisbury Plain. In amongst a large number of men there were bound to be illnesses and injuries (and the occasional death). Such events provided training opportunities for the medical staff and the ambulance brigade.

Today we are featuring the third Pond Farm Camp photo which came from a descendant of William Davies from Llanfihangel in Breconshire. William features in one picture. Another, of church parade shows men with Red Cross arm bands. This third one shows the ambulance.

Pond Farm Camp, Easterton in abouit 1909

Well there’s a reminder that in these pre World War One days we were also, largely, pre motorised transport.  The ambulance is powered by four horses with each pair having a driver. We can also get a feel for the bareness of Salisbury Plain.

It is almost inevitable that we don’t know the regiment or the soldiers.

 

It is a very outside chance that somebody will recognise any of the men – but hope springs eternal.

Do get in touch if you recognise regiment or men.

Church Parade

Today we look at another recently given photo of Pond Farm Camp. This time the men are all in uniform and the photo is captioned ‘Church Parade’.

Church Parade at Pond Farm Camp, Easterton. This was probably in 1909

Our guess is that this was in 1909. It was in that year that Alf Burgess, Market Lavington’s professional photographer took many photos of life at Pond Farm Camp. This may well have been inspired by plain commerce. All those men were going to want a postcard to send home to loved ones and what better than one which showed them. But Alf may also have been inspired to record what might have been a feature of local life which was about to pass into history. Salisbury Plain had just been sold to the War Department and the old summer camps were likely to give way to much more permanent military occupation.

Once again, we have a wild hope that some of the men might be recognised, or somebody out there might be able to suggest the regiment they belonged to,

Was this the ambulance brigade? The men are wearing a cross on their arm.

These chaps seem to have Red Cross badges on their arms but the cap badges may be too indistinct for identification.

But do get in touch if you are able to help.

Marching to Pond Farm Camp

One of our displays at Market Lavington Museum for this year is ‘Pond Farm Camp’.

Before the First World War different regiments took summer training camps at Pond Farm, which is in Easterton parish, but approached from the top of Lavington Hill.

Trains brought soldiers to Lavington Station (It had been Patney Station before Lavington opened) and from there they marched through Market Lavington and up onto Lavington Hill. Local photographer, Alf Burgess, recognised that these soldiers could be a source of income and made postcards showing the men. Here is one of his series of men marching up Lavington Hill.

Marching up Lavington Hill in about 1909

This is another of the cards we have that was sent to Alice Hiscock in Winchester. We gave a very brief summary of her life here.

The card was sent to Alice Hiscock, born and raised in Market Lavington

This card carries a Littleton Panell post mark, dated Feb 20^th 1911. We do not know who sent the card.

Do visit the museum for a display of photos at the camp – all dating from before World War 1.