Easterton Street – very ragged photo

The Halstead Farm end of Easterton Street

We did say it was ragged in the title – but even so, it is a lovely shot and a ragged photo can tell stories or pose questions for us.

Let’s start with the survivor. On the left we have Halstead Farm which would have been in the hands of the Spencer family. It is a delightful building and it still stands, although denuded of farm land, alongside the junction where the road to the village hall and up onto the sands branches off High Street.

Halstead Farm

The other buildings shown in this image have gone. There was a barn alongside the stream.

The barn by the stream

The trees to the left of the barn are on the bank where the jam factory once stood. That bank has, for many years been a hefty wall and now there are houses up on top.

This house faced back along the street

This house on the junction has gone as well. There is a modern bungalow in that area now. But the enlargement appears to show a village sign standing in front of the cottage. Can anybody tell us anything about that?

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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.

 

Easterton Street

Easterton Street has always (or as far as memory goes) been more built up on the east side rather than the west and this photo certainly emphasises that.

Easterton Street – early 20th century

We are looking pretty well due north along the street heading towards Urchfont. These days we’d expect a line of parked cars to be outside the houses on the right, most of which do not have any off-street parking. But what a different world it was when our photographer snapped this picture. The only vehicle we see is horse drawn and appears to be a water bowser. This had probably been filled at Easterton pump and may well have been on its way to a hill farm. In this Edwardian photo houses would not have had water on tap, let alone electricity.

Boys feel able to pose in the road, near that bowser. One of them is relaxed enough to have sat down in the highway.

People have appeared from their houses, probably hoping to be included in the photo. A postcard copy of the photo could be purchased very cheaply so getting in the shot could be a cheap way to have your likeness taken.

On the right we have the old forge. There’s a couple posing and then a young chap (could he be a Burnett) has what looks like a horse drawn plough. Further people have come out right along the street. These days we see roads as being for cars. Back then they were for people.

The stream is on the left which may explain the fact that there are fewer houses. The land stays low for longer on that side so flooding may always have been a problem.

Darracombe – Then and Now

Darracombe is a bungalow on The Clays in Market Lavington.  It is a home for retired clergy of the Church of England – great for the village, for it means we get community minded people living there.

Our first photo shows the site in about 1964. Darracombe is newer than that.

The Clays,  Market Lavington in about 1964. Darracombe and another bungalow were later built on this site.

What we see in the photo is the shed used by Tom Haines. Tom – click here for more info – was the very last official town crier in Market Lavington. Beyond that we look at Beech House, a large building on White Street which was, for many years, the home of the Gyes and, before that, members of the Welch family.

A similar view of The Clays, Market Lavington in July 2012

A totally different scene greets us in 2012. The lush, almost exuberant vegetation all but hides Darracombe. Beech House is lost behind the greenery and the bungalow.  The old shed has gone, of course.

Walter, William and the Workhouse

Walter James was a baker. His premises were at number 1 High Street in Market Lavington – where the Post Office is now. He probably started work there as an employee of the Sumner family before taking over the business.

Walter was born towards the end of 1879. Locally born father, John James was a carpenter. The family lived on Church Street in Market Lavington.

Walter married Elizabeth Gye in 1904. The marriage took place in Marylebone. He died in 1943

Our picture, which dates from the late 1920s, shows Walter taking his horses, used for the delivery round, along Church Street on their way to a grazing field.

Walter James leads his horses past a house rebuilt by William Hopkins. This house is on the site of the former workhouse in Market Lavington. The picture dates from the late 1920s.

The building behind has lettering in the brickworks. It reads 1884 W H and records the fact that William Hopkins rebuilt the house in 1884. William Hopkins was not an uncommon name in Market Lavington. The William who dealt with this house lived close by this building and was a bricklayer and builder.

He was born in about 1849 in Market Lavington. In 1869 he married Elizabeth Brown. They had quite a large family and later they became builders merchants as well as builders in their own right.

And what of a workhouse? When Market Lavington had possessed one of these institutions it was sited at the end of The Muddle – where the building rebuilt by William Hopkins stood in the photo and still stands today – although the bricks are now painted so the old message recorded in the bricks is hidden from view.

Easterton Street

Today we feature a truly delightful picture which was given to the museum earlier this year. It shows a view of Easterton High Street. Sadly, the picture is undated but it clearly predates much in the way of traffic.

Easterton Street - undated but delightful. The photo is now at Market Lavington Museum

The view is towards Eastcott and Urchfont. The stream is on the left side where there must, once, have been more to the picture for only the last three letters of ‘Easterton’ still show.

The cottage at the end of the street, facing the camera has long since been demolished.

In the road – clearly a safe place to be – we can see a man with a horse, another with a laden barrow and there may be a couple of hens on the junction with the road up to The Sands (now Kings Road).

There is no pavement. With little traffic, and that slow moving, there was no need to keep pedestrians on the edge.

On the right of the main picture we can see a family in a doorway.

This family would appear to be keen on growing flowers. Note the pots on the porch. Mum looks really happy as she holds the baby. Sadly, we do not know who any of the people in the photo are but perhaps somebody can help there.

Perhaps the star of the picture is the older lady, fetching water.

This lady has, presumably, got water from the village pump which still stands near  the road junction. And to take it home she has occupied the middle of the street. What a determined look she has and what a great snapshot of village life – this time in Easterton.