Age To Ageereford Lore Reminiscence Newsletter

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Hereford Lore, 26 Quarry Road, Hereford HR1 1SS A u g u s t 1998Vol 6 Is s ue 4

Photo: Hereford Library and Derek Foxton

Coffee Anyone?In June we had a stall in High Town to

publicise Age To Age.

The day was cold and wet, but the receptionwe h a d f r o m p e o p l e w a s w a r m a n denthusiastic. Many promised to cbme to ourcoffee morning o n Wednes day Oc tober 7from 10.00 to 12.30 at the Town Hall and wefeel sure that they will be there. Rememberthere is a lift if the stairs are a problem, andspeak to Rie c e p t i on i f y ou n ee d a cc es s for a

wheelchair B o o k t hat dat e f o r a happy ,carefree, friendly morning. Admission is free.

Vi Thomas

Inside thisIssue

The Bad Tempered Goose'I* Letters To America

That mystery Picture•I• Redhill Street Party

Remember TheLamp Man

Who remembers James

Young, Hereford's las tgas lamplighter? writes

Mrs Wheatstone of The QueensArms, daughter of Mr Young. Hewas a f ami l iar f ac e aroundHinton and Putson where h elived. He rode his bike all yearround and carried his ladder withhim O n many occas ions h ewould b e called out t o repairlamps and mant les broken byyoungsters using the lamps fortarget practice.

%1104. C O M I C•

RELIEFCharity Projec ts UK

A Century Ago

On September 29 1898 the

heavens opened and t herain poured down. I t rather

dampened enthus iasm f o r t h eGent's 200 yards needle-threadingand l ight ed c andle races , t h ecycling process ion, t h e Ladiesparasol race and t he illuminatedparade of boats, all planned as partof the celebrations for the grandopening of the Victoria Bridge.(See Bridge Over The River Wye,inside)

For only E3 a year you could have Age To Age delivered to your doorAge To Age is the bi-monthly newsletter from Hereford Lore, a groupof people working to collect and remember our past. Our editorialteam, Edith Gammage, Roy Kennett, Bill Morris, Vi Thomas, TomWoolaway and Jim Thomas depend on grants, donations, book salesand your subscriptions.Age To Age is available free at the Town Hall, City and BelmontLibraries, Tourist Information Centre, Age Concern and Garrick Houseand many residential homes and day centres. If you want to secureyour own copy, send for a subscription to Hereford Lore, 26 QuarryRoad, Hereford HR1 1SS. Next issue - October 1998.

We are grateful for the support of

Bridge Over The River WyeHappy birthday to the Victoria

Bridge, now spanning a century aswell as the River Wye. Graham

Roberts, f o rmer l y Here f o rd Ci t y ' sSurveyor, has sent us his researches intoVictoria Bridge.The Romans called the Wye the Vaga,appropriately e n o u g h , g i v e n i t sunpredictable vagaries - as it meandersthrough t he county, t he Wy e createsshallows in the dry seasons and yet canrise anything from 15 to 20 feet above itssummer levels.The Romans' wooden bridge across theWye at Kenchester did not last after theirdeparture and people instead had to relyon Hereford's t wo fords, one by t heBishop's Palace, the Palace ford, and thesecond, the Castle ford, on a continuationof Mill Street (known as Bruton Streetuntil 1855). The Old Bridge was built in1490 and apart from this, the only way tocross the river for many centuries was byferry. There were two in Hereford, thePrincess Mary which operated for a shortwhile from July 1893 near the old Castleford and later at Hunderton betweenBelmont and Broomy Hill.The Victoria bridge, like the Victoria Eye

and E a r hospital a n d t h e Vic toriachildren's ward at t he Infirmary, wereplanned to mark Queen Victoria's GoldenJubilee in 1887 Unlik e the latter twoprojects, the footbridge plan was shelveduntil the Queen's Diamond Jubilee yearwhen it was resurrected mainly by MrAugustus C Edwards , (Si lk Mercer,Draper, Milliner, Costumier of Hereford).Funded b y publ ic subscript ion a n dcosting no more than E1200, the Bridgewas finally built at the close of the lastcentury.With a central span of 110 feet, two sidespans of 37ft 6ins each, and four rows ofsteel l ink chains f or t he suspensionchains, the bridge was opened by LadyEmily Foley in September 1898. Sixtyyears later, time had taken its toll on thisgraceful and elegant structure, whichneeded extensive repairs. The E12,000bill was ten times its original cost.'Artistic in design, elegant in form, light inconstruction and beautiful in effect' t heVictoria Bridge has become a vital link formany hundreds of people. There may besome of these with special recollectionsof the old bridge? Write in and tell usabout them.

Letters To AmericaWhen June Williams (formerly

Pettitt) f rom Carmarthen was ayoung girl in Hereford, her friend

Sandra's father was the caretaker of theKey Hostel, next to the Odeon in HighTown."I wonder if that was where your Americanwho w a s a t F o x ley ( He a l i n gHerefordshire, February 98 issue) wentdancing.Sandra's father used to spread Frenchchalk on the floor to make it slippery fordancing and we were allowed t o s lidearound to work it in. Her sister married a

Polish soldier and went to live at FoxleyCamp and we used to visit there. Whileexploring the woods, we discovered atower and on the walls were hundreds ofaddresses of Americans who had spenttheir time at Foxley. We wrote letters tothem and were so pleased when we gotreplies." June was a telephonist at theHereford Exchange in 1952. "I would loveto hear of others who worked there at thetime," she writes.Above is a picture of a get-together bywartime telephonists in 1978. (Photo:Hereford Times).

S N I P !The Bad Tempered Goose

M adeleine We n t o f Hundert onwanted t o know which regimentwith a goose as a mascot was

stationed a t t he Cat t le Market in t heSecond World War John Williams has toldRoy Kennett the goose was a stray, not amascot, adopted b y t he Roy al ArmySupply Corp, stationed at the market. Thegoose was not always friendly and wouldattack and give chase if took a d is "1- . t o

iyou.

More On The May Fair

A.R.Willis of Three Elms Road recalls

a curious structure that stood inHigh Town during the last war when

the traditional May Fair was banned fromthe city in the interests of national security.There is a clause in the Showman Guild'sancient charter which states that if they failto stage a Fair in any one year, they forfeitthe right for ever after Each year a brightlycoloured stall was erected in the townoutside Bell's the tobacconists (now theMonsoon Clothing store) for the period theFair would have been in the streets. Thistoken structure fulfilled the conditions ofthe charter I always wanted to photographit but there were always civil and militarypolice on duty and it was dangerous totake photographs in public as one could bearrested on suspicion of being a spy.

' E T S(ingstone Sunshine Club

w

' e had a pleasant afternoon atKingstone Sunshine Club i nJune," writes Age To Age's Vi

'Thomas. Gladys Chandler told us that hermcle, Albert Morgan, started an ice cream)usiness about 1920. Joyce Howells said)er uncle, Albert Badman, was manageror Slatters about 1920 and his wif evlargaret had a grocery shop with a petrol)ump -•-f ion outside on the Ledbury road,ilso , . 1d1920 .

'ostscript

Do words fascinate you?" asks

Barbara Ramsey of Postscript. I sgetting out and about a problem?

hen Postscript Newsletter may interestou. It 's aim is to give people who areousebound, f or whatever reason, a npportunity to stimulate and practise theirvriting s k i l l s a n d f i n d o u t a b o u tpportunities for writers. The newsletter ist mixture of encouragement and practicalidvice. Age is no bar to writ ing - MaryVesley became eligible f or her senior:itizen's bus pass long before her firstlove' was published. If you would like toind out more, send a stamped addressednvelope t o Barbara a t The Laurels,

-arrington, Hereford HITI 4HY

.Ahey Now?" h e r e a r e t h e y now?" as k s

WMonica Beavan of Whitecross.Monica, who is involved with

Hereford's Family History Society, wasloaned these two pictures by June Joiner,whose mother , M r s O liv e Wathen o fWathen's Sweet Shop in King Street, ispictured fourth from the left beside theseaside (below) This is thought to havebeen an outing for customers of the SpreadEagle public house in King Street duringthe early 1950s.The street party (left) may be a VE or VJday celebration taken in Redhill T he lateJohn Harris in jacket and tie sits on theright. Do you have any more details? Let usknow at Age To Age

II 0 ,

f• • —

Mystery Picturey

" e s , r e me mb e r the demolished building pictured in your last issue,' writesMark Black of Tupsley. "I was its last owner"

Pulled down to make way for the relief road, it was two years older than the OldHouse in High Town, but down it had to come. Very sad. Betty Barnett, DennisEdmunds, Billy Williams, E.J Broad and Norman Owen, of Stanhope Street alsoremember the building, 128 Widemarsh Street. It stood opposite Garrick House andnext door to the Old Harp and was pulled down to widen Blue School Street. In 1934it was a fried fish shop belonging to James Trigg, whose daughter Eileen Tudge wasthe last Mayoress and kindly supplied the photograph, but in the mid 50s it wasAladdin's Cave, owned by Mr and Mrs Holt. I saw a copper kettle in the window andwanted it to distil my home made wine. Mr Holt was horrified, explaining that it wasillegal t o distil one's own spirits. But he allowed me to purchase it, providing Ipromised not to do anything against the law.'

Hereford Amateur OperaticSocietypresent

Me and My Girl

[ a t The Courtyard, Edgar Street

from Friday October 30 to SaturdayNovember 7 1998.

Call George Powell (355441)f or bookings.

1 Friends of Age To Age

FREESTYLEFields Yard, Plough Lane, Hereford HR4 GEL

Tel: 01432 343188 Fax: 01432 358513ABBOTSFIELD FUNERAL

DIRECTORSMonkmoor Street. Hereford HIR1 2DX

COPYING & RESTORING OLDPHOTOGRAPHS, PHOTO GLAZING

IJuergen and Janet Koenigsbeck, Telephone

341608 Work 8t 1560 HomeHEREFORD A M A IIE U R O P E R A TI C

SOCIETYROCKFIELD DIY

Station Approach, Hereford 01432 274146'Your Local Independent DIY Store

Imperial Restaurant and BarsWidemarsh Street, Hereford 01432 273646

All o u r res idents enjoy reading Age To Age.Wishing you continued success in the future.

Field Farm House Residential Home,Hampton Bishop.

Hereford HR1 4JP (01432 273064)minimum

NoticeboardHereford Lore (Age To Age)

Will be holding aCoffee Morning

on Wednesday 7th October1998

In Hereford Town Hallat 10.00 -12.30

Admission Free All welcome

kSIOStENOR*11.01.

The CourtyardHEREFORD'S NEW CENTRE FOR THE ARTS

18 Sept 2 6 Sept 98' C a b a r e tTickets E7, E5.50 Concessions

1 Oc t 4 Oc t 98' B u g s y M a l o n eTickets E6, E4.50 Concessions

6 Oct 10 Oct 98' Shading The CrimeTickets E6.50, E5.00 Concessions

For all shows, callThe Courtyard Box Office on 01432 359252

Copies of the brochure for the f irst season can be obtained bycalling the Box Office or writ ing to

The Courtyard, FREEPOST SWC2122, Hereford HR4 9ZZ

Elizabeth Edgar (formerly Cadmore) of Whitecross Road thinks her picture of a class at the Catholic School was takenabout sixty years ago in the 1930s. If there is anyone you recognise here, drop us a line at Age To Age, 26 Quarry Road,Hereford HR1 1SS.

Even publicans take the occasional night out. Here Peggy Ford (far right)who ran the Booth Hall and Mrs Jones (right), licensee at the Imperial joinedHarold Beaver (centre) and Mr and Mrs Reg Stallard for a Licenced VictuallerDinner.