RUISLIP, NORTHWOOD & EASTCOTE LOCAL …btckstorage.blob.core.windows.net/site8867/Journals/2009...Ruislip, Northwood and Eastcote Local History Society Registered Charity No. 289234

JOURNAL 2004

RUISLIP,NORTHWOOD

& EASTCOTELOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY

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RUISLIP, NORTHWOOD AND EASTCOTELOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY

JOURNAL 2004

Ref. Contents Author Page

Committee Members ii

Lecture Programme 2004 - 2005 ii

04/1 PARK HEARNE, CANNONS BRIDGE AND CHEAPSIDE,RUISLIP, MIDDLESEXThree Hamlets that became Ruislip Common Eileen BowIt 1

04/2 MY LIFE IN RUISLIP Ethel Gander 20

04/3 RUISLIP RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION RESCUESUNIQUE MAP OF COPSE WOOD Colin Bowlt 25

04/4 EASTCOTE IN 1841 Colleen Cox 27

04/5 A PREHISTORIC FLINT BLADEFROM THE COLNE VALLEY, HAREFIELD Colin BowIt 35

04/6 EASTCOTE - MEADOW TO METROLAND Karen Spink & Susan Toms 37

04/7 BEATING THE BOUNDSBETWEEN HAREFIELD AND RUISLIP Eileen Bowlt 41

04/8 Obituaries - BOB BEDFORD 1916 - 2004 Kay Holmes 4504/9 - EILEEN WATLING 1924-2003 Eileen BowIt 46

Cover picture: Cannons Bridge (Denise Shackell)

Designed and edited by Brian Grisdale

Copyright © November 2004 individual authors and RNELHS.

Ruislip, Northwood and EastcoteLocal History Society

J ournal 2004

Membership of the Ruislip, Northwood and Easicoie Local History Society is open to all who are interested in localhistory. For further information please enquire at a meeting of the Society or contact the Membership Secretary,Meetings are held on the third Monday of each month from September to April and are open to visitors,(Advance booking is required for the Christmas social.)

An active Research Group supports those who are enquiring into or wishing to increase our understanding of thehistory of the ancient parish of Ruislip (the present Ruislip, Northwood and Easicoie). Its members are largelyresponsible for the papers in this Journal, and for other Society publications that are produced from time to time.


Registered Charity No. 289234www.RNELHS.flyer.co.uk

COMl\1ITTEE 2004 - 2005

President Leonard Krause 01923 836074

Chairman Eileen Bow It 01895 6380607 Croft Gardens, Ruislip HA4 8EY

Deputy Chairman Simon Morgan 019238271889 Green Lane, Northwood HA6 2UX

Secretary Susan Toms 01895 6371343 Elmbridge Close, Ruislip HA4 7XA

Treasurer Jessica Eastwood 0208621 537968 Nibthwaite Road, Harrow HAll TG

Membership Secretary Delia Montlake 01895 67666334b Eastcote Road, Ruislip HA4 8DQ

Minutes Secretary MaryPache 01895 635890

Editor Brian Grisdale 01895 673299

Outings Organiser Sylvia Ladyman 01895673305

Eric Spanier 01895636026Karen Spink 0208 866 7279

LECTURE PROGRAMl\1E 2004 -20052004

September 20October 18

A History of London UndergroundAGM and The Church in the Meadows:

150 years of Holy Trinity, NorthwoodThe Brentford Flood of 1841The History of Pantomime

November 15December 20

2005

January 17February 21March 14Apri118

A History of London WoodlandsThe Archaeology of St Paul's CathedralCharacters and Properties of old RuislipThe History of Cassiobury

DavidClarkEileen Bow It& Simon MorganValerie BottBarbara Lanning

Colin BowltJohn SchofieldResearch GroupSarahJones

Meetings are on Mondays at 8.15 pm and are held in St. Martin's Church Hall, Ruislip.


11 Journal 2004

PARK HEARNE, CANNONS BRIDGE AND CHEAP SIDERUISLIP, MIDDLESEX

Three hamlets that became Ruislip Common

By Eileen M. Bowlt

In this paper I explore the development of threeRuislip hamlets, Park Hearne, Cannons Bridgeand Cheapside, from the time that they were firstrecorded until the present. I suggest why theycame into being and assess their socialsignificance over the centuries.

Most people in Ruislip are familiar with thename Cannons Bridge (sometimes written asone word) because there is a farm of thatname at the top of Bury Street beside anentrance to Park Wood. The other two namesare no longer current. Park Hearne was ahamlet situated north of the stream that ranthrough the shallow valley between ParkWood and Copse Wood and it virtuallydisappeared under the waters of RuislipReservoir (the Lido). Cheapside was anearlier name for Withy Lane.Map 1 shows the relative dispositions ofthese areas.

Earliest references to the hamlets

Documentary references to Cannons Bridgehave been found from the fourteenth century,to Park Hearne from the sixteenth centuryand to Cheapside from c1670.

Cannons Bridge was used as a place name in1443/4 when William Edlin made over acottage there to his wife, Constantinei.However, a bridge called Cannons Bridge ismentioned some 50 years earlier, in 1377/82•

Canon appears as a family name in aCustomal of the Manor of Ruislip writtenc12453, when Roger Canon's widow, Lucy,owned two crofts of land, perhaps in thatlocality. The Canons continued to feature asproperty owners in court rolls until theseventeenth century.

The first mention of Park Hearne is in theRuislip Terrier of 15654, but the place hadprobably existed in medieval times, because

Hertfordshire/Middlesex greyware datingfrom the turn of the 13th/14th century wasfound when preparations were being madefor the building of Abercorn Grove to thesouth of Reservoir Road in 19835• The namederives from the position of the hamlet on thecorner of the Park. 'Hearne' is from the OldEnglish 'hyrne' signifying a corner or angle.By 1565when the name is first used, the Parkmentioned in the Domesday Book hadextended beyond its original embankedenclosure to the stream.

There is evidence from the 1565 Terrier thatthe land that was later called Cheapside, wasconsidered to be at or near Cannons Bridgeand did not have a separate name at thattime. Cheapside appears as a name in aRuislip Court Books in 1678 and was latersuperseded by 'in the withies', becomingWithy Lane in Victorian times.

The area covered by the three hamletsgenerally became known as Ruislip Commonin the nineteenth century.

The reason for the settlements

The three hamlets are rather more than a miledistant from the main settlement of Ruislipand its open fields, and one must wonderwhy they came into existence. A glance atMap 2 shows that the prime settlement atRuislip, where a manor hall and a church hadbeen established by the mid-eleventhcentury, was near the River Pinn. Openfields where crops could be grown were tothe south of the manor hall and church,where the terrain was flatter. The slopesnorth of the Pinn were covered by thewoodland that extended across most ofnorth-west Middlesex. A park, where deercould be kept, had already been enclosed bythe time of the Domesday Survey in 1086.

1Ruislip, Northwood and EastcoteLocal History Society

Journal 2004

Hertfordshire/Middlesex greyware datedc1300 was found there when the land wasbeing prepared for the building of the PloughFarm houses in 19839.

The three hamlets under consideration in thispaper were not only on the edge of theCommon Wood, but were also at acrossroads of two fairly important medievalroutes and where a stream had to be bridged.Ducks Hill and Bury Street were part of theroute from Rickmansworth to Ealing andultimately London. A way from Uxbridge toWatford ran across Uxbridge Common, alongBreakspear Road South, Breakspear Roadand along the valley by the stream, toNorthwood and from Batchworth Heath toWatford10.

Park Hearne, Cannons Bridge and Cheapsidewould have all been attractive places to live,having running water for drinking, washingand sewage disposal, and the commonwoodland to provide grazing for theinhabitants' animals and fuel. There was alsothe possibility of paid work in the woods atcertain times of the year. Accountsu from1289 show that the sale of wood made up25%of the income of the manor and it is clearfrom other accounts that the hornbeamunderwood was being coppiced in thefifteenth century, a job that must haveoccupied many labourers.

The Cannon Brook

Nowadays it is not very easy to see that BuryStreet bridges a stream that runs from theLido to the River Pinn. The stream does notseem to have an official name, but is knownlocally as the Cannon Brook, perhaps takingits name from Cannons Bridge. It runs intothe Pinn near Tile Kiln Lane.

Map 3, is based upon the Enclosure Map ofRuislip surveyed in 1806 and shows theoutline of the reservoir because at that timethe land was being purchased by the GrandJunction Canal Company. It also shows thehamlet of Park Hearne that was shortly tovanish beneath the waters. The stream runsalong the edge of the wood, crossing BuryStreet obliquely and then down the western

side of the street to a point opposite Cannons .Bridge Farm, where it veers to the west andcrosses the fields towards Howletts Lane, asit still does. Oddly enough the map showsthe stream crossing the road, rather than theroad bridging the stream. Could the bridgehave been out of repair at the time? Therewas certainly a bridge there in the fourteenthcentury and one is clearly drawn onDoharty's map of 1750. The original mapalso appears to show a branch of the stream,or perhaps a ditch fed by it, forming aboundary around Park Hearne and rejoiningthe main brook on the eastern side of BuryStreet.

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Map 4 A plan accompanying sales detailsfor Cannons Bridge Farm in 1919, showingthe disposition of the Canal Feeder inrelation to the Cannon Brook

The Canal Feeder, through which water fromthe reservoir ran for the first time in 1816,liesvery close to the Cannon Brook and onlydiverges from it after crossing under BuryStreet.' Map 4 shows the position of the twowaterways in 1919. The feeder was divertedinto the Brook in the mid-1970s when theCouncil built the Brickett Close estate righton the line of the feeder.


Journal 20044

Park Hearne in 1565

The Terrier (land survevji? of Ruislip madeforKing's College, the lords of the manor, in1565, starts at Park Hearne and sets out theposition of the houses and pieces of landthere in relation to others nearby. The hamletwas described as being 'below the commonwood called Ruislip Wood to the north andRuislip Park to the south'. There were fivecottages at Park Hearne, two of thembelonging to Agnes Winchester alias Mowerand the others to John Martin, Ralph Barnardand Thomas Gates respectively. Each had anorchard, pasture or meadow alongside,varying in size from a quarter of a rood totwo acres. Separate from the cottages werethree enclosed pieces of pasture, all calledNewlands, two owned by William Nicholasand the other by John Hale. The exact total isimpossible to compute because one of AgnesWinchester's pieces was described as 'a smallmeadow' and the size of William Nicholas ofPerivale's meadows is illegible in thedocument, but was probably about ten acres.Agnes's larger meadow was called Blackesand was two acres in size. The name,Newlands, suggests that land had beencleared of trees at the edge of the CommonWood, but not necessarily recently as thename 'new' could survive for centuries. JohnMartin's rights in his cottage lasted onlyduring the lifetime of his wife, Ann. Afterher death it was to descend to Roger Est.Agnes 'Winchester's cottages and Blackeswere to go to her daughter Joanne, as soon asshe became 21.

Park Hearne ran into Cannons Bridgewithout any clear division. The last cottageat Park Hearne belonged to Thomas Gatesand was said to be 'west by the close of JohnStockden', whose cottage was 'at CannonsBridge'. Fitting the descriptions together likea jigsaw puzzle, Thomas Gates's property canprobably be identified with a timber-framedhouse, known in the mid-twentieth centuryas the Mushroom Farm or Dell Cottage,which was dismantled in 1964and re-erectedat Turville. It nestled down in the hollow atthe western end of the Lido, where blocks offiats, built from 1965 onwards, now stand.

The aptly-named Dell Farm Road was madeas an access road to the new development.Four hundred years ago, Thomas Gates hadan orchard and an acre of meadow alongside,not to mention an unbroken view along thevalley up to Haste HilL

Cannons Bridge in 1565

John Stockden and William Nicholas ofPerivale owned a cottage each 'at CannonsBridge'. John's interest in the property wasthrough his wife who had been marriedbefore and upon her death everything was todescend to Henry Redinge, the son of herprevious marriage. His cottage, with anorchard and meadow alongside, lay betweenThomas Gates's house andCannons Bridgeand is shown on the 1865 25 inch OrdnanceSurvey map, but the site had been cleared bythe time of the 1897OS map.

William Nicholas's house was situated on thenorth side of 'the Queen's highway atCannons Bridge', ahnost certainly at thebottom of what became Cheapside and isnow Withy Lane. He had a two acremeadow there as well.

There were other houses in Withy Lane lyingto the north of William Nicholas's house, saidto be 'at Cannons Bridge' in the Rentalattached to the Terrier. They were owned byWilliam Winchester alias Mower, WilliamBarrenger and Robert up ton, whose cottagewas described as lying north against RuislipCommon Wood. The Common Wood in 1565was 800 acres in size and stretched from thePinner boundary in the east to the boundaryof St Catherine's Manor in the west. Thatboundary now runs through BreakspearCrematorium grounds and is clearly markedby an embankment and ditch running norththrough Mad Bess Wood parallel with DucksHilL In the sixteenth century Ducks Hill wassimply a track meandering up through theCommon Wood, east of the boundary.

The one house, mentioned in the Terrier thatstill stands, Cannons Bridge Farm, belongedto Godfrey French and was described asbeing south of John Stockden's land and


Journal 20046

between Ruislip Park on the east and theroad to Cannons Bridge on the west. A twoacre meadow was attached. This house wascalled Petres in the Rental. It was Godfrey'sduring his wife's lifetime, but no heirs werenamed.

There were two more houses between RuislipPark and the road to Cannons Bridge. Onebelonging to Ralph Reding was calledWechardes Hill and the other was owned byJohn Flye. The next building to the southwas said to be in Silver Street (the portion ofBury Street by The Plough and WoodmanFarm).

If these two are included in the count therewould have been nine houses in the CannonsBridge - Withy Lane area in 1565.

Park Hearne, Cannons Bridge andCheapside in the seventeenth century

A Ruislip Court Book in the British Libraryrs,running from 1589 to 1681, and anotherdocument there, a Survey's made in 1685,make it theoretically possible to trace theownership of the houses mentioned aboveover a long period, especially as the Surveywas clearly used as a working document atthe manor courts and has marginal notesadded down to 1707. However, there aresome problems. Firstly there is the gap indocuments between 1565 and 1589, duringwhich time many people may have eitherinherited or purchased property andsecondly there is the possibility that sometransactions failed to be registered at themanor court.The 1685 Survey names seven dwellings atPark Hearne, an increase of two over the 120years since 1565, but the quantity of landremained at roughly nine acres. None of theowners' surnames correlate with those in theTerrier. They were Sarah Shepherd, [amesBatt, Richard Tunbridge, Richard Tuly,Widow Hill of Harefield, Matthew Bodimeadand Henry Edlin. Matthew Bodimead'scottage was valued at only 10 shillings perannum and all the rest at £1 5s. Based uponthe Doharty Map of 1750 (see below, Map 5)I suggest that two of the plots of land had

been subdivided and new cottages built.

Much more development had taken place inthe area that had been designated as CannonsBridge in 1565. There were six houses 'at' or'near' Cannons Bridge, one 'near Cheapsideand Cannons Bridge' and eight 'in' or 'at'Cheapside, making 15 altogether, wherethere had only been nine in the previouscentury. It is quite likely that some newbuildings had been erected, but others mayhave been divided into two or moredwellings. This was common practice inHarefield, where the manor court rolls aremore explicit-e. The Ruislip cottages werevalued at 10 shillings, £1, £1 5s, £l 10s or £2per annum. The least valuable may representdivided cottages.

Such increase in population could reflectgrowing prosperity.

The eighteenth century: information fromDoharty's Map16of the Demesne lands 1750See Map 5

Although not part of King's College demesne,the houses at Park Hearne and down theeastern side of Bury Street were shown onDoharty's map, and their owners are namedin the accompanying Terrier.

There are 13 plots at Park Hearne numberedon the map and ten of them have buildingsdrawn on them, three more than in 1685.I suggest that plots 250 and 251 had beenenclosed and had cottages built upon themsince 1685, but admit to some difficulty inthat the house in plot 249 seems to have beenJohn Stockden's house in 1565,then said to beat Cannons Bridge. The first plot on theDoharty Map, no 238 is close to a gate intoPark Wood, labelled 'Park Heron Gate'. Notethe interesting metamorphosis of the name.Six plots have two buildings and one hasthree. The drawings are extremely attractiveand detailed and include shadows suggestingthat the sun was in the west when they wereexecuted. It could be assumed that the ninebuildings with chimneys are houses andthose without either barns or outhouses.


Journal 20047


8

Map 5A copy of the Park Heame and Cannons Bridge portion of Doharty's Map 1750

Various styles and size are depicted. One has It would be easy to be beguiled into believinga cross wing, others have dormers and the that we are looking at a realistic picture ofrest are simple rectangular shapes. The Park Heame, but we have to remember thatlargest is in plot 248 and appears to have a Doharty's map has a number of inaccuracies,wing at right angles to the main house and at not least in its alignment and rather oddly inleast two chimneys. There is evidence of the position of Sharps Lane on a section ofencroachment onto the common in several the map not shown here. None the less thecases, in plot 246 for example, and the little differing sizes of the houses and thebuilding, perhaps a lodge standing outside disposition of the buildings must surely givethe gate of plot 244,has four carefully drawn us an impression of how the hamlet looked.trees sheltering it.

Journal 2004

Two pieces of meadow, plots 241 and 242,seem to correspond with the area calledNewlands in 1565and numbers 243 and 245could be one of Agnes Winchester's cottagesand small meadow. Looking at the map it iseasy to see how the settlement arose, near thestream and close to the common wood andlater open common, where pasture wasreadily available for animals and paid workcould be found in the woodland.

Between Cannons Bridge and Silver StreetGreen, three plots, 252, 255 and 256 areshown with buildings. From its positionbeside the way into Park Wood, 252 isCannons Bridge Farm. Two buildings, bothwith chimneys are shown. The smallbuilding end on to the road lookssuspiciously like the house that still stands,although now extended, in which case theother building has long since disappearedand the stable that now stands to the left ofthe gate dates from the late eighteenthcentury or later. Alternatively, Dohartysimply got it wrong.

Plots 255 and 256 perhaps correlate withWechardes Hill and John Flye's messuage of1565. Both sites were later occupied by thepresent Bury House and its grounds. Thehouse drawn in 256 is quite elaborate with along frontage and wing jutting out centrallybehind .. I have suggested previously (thisjournal 1998) that the wall of post medievaldate found when the ground was beingprepared for the development of Woodsidein 1998,may have been connected with JohnFlye. Woodside stands in what was plot 257on Doharty's map which has a very smallbuilding in one corner. There can be nocertainty on this point.

Owners of property between Park HeronGate and Silver Street Green 1750 fromDoharty's Map and Terrieri?

238 John Paine 2 buildings239 Sarah Anderson 2 buildings240 Mr Banister meadow241 Sarah Anderson meadow242 Mathew Sach 2 buildings and pasture243 Richard Marsh meadow

244 Richard Marsh 1building & meadow245 John Sears 1building and pasture246 Matthew Bugbeard 1build. & pasture247 Stephen Swain meadow248 Austin Nichols 1building and pasture

(becameDell Cottage)249 Stephen Swain 2 buildings & pasture250 Charles Turner 2 buildings251 Charles Turner 2 builds. & meadow

(one is Shepherd's cottage and garden)252 William Cranwell 2 builds. & meadow

(Cannons BridgeFarm)253 Mr Perry the woodway254 Mr Perry meadow255 Mr Perry 2 buildings and pasture256 Henry Arnold 1building and pasture257 Charles Turner meadow

Cheapside in the eighteenth century

Cheapside is not shown on the Doharty Map,but it is beautifully depicted on a map drawnin 1789 in preparation for the building of aparish workhouseis. (see Map 6) Sevenbuildings are shown, probably all cottages,but there maybe a barn or shed among them.The lane marked Cheapside (now WithyLane) runs to the west of the settlement andjoins into the track that is Ducks Hill. Thismap clearly shows Cheapside as being arather haphazardly arranged group ofdwellings taken out of Ruislip Common.The line on the map that is marked 'Theexecutors of Mrs Lewin' is the boundary ofSt. Catherine's Manor. One of the buildingsat the bottom of the lane corresponds toWilliam Nicholas's house that was said to be'at Cannons Bridge' in 1565. It may be on thesite of The Ferns, now a monumental mason'spremises.

The little hamlet seems to have had its ownpublic house, The Black Potts, just across theboundary. The Black Potts is mentioned inLicensed Victuallers' records from 174819.

William Bugbeard, Henry Burkett, JohnClayton and Ann Clayton were licensees upto 1807. The field in which it stood is called'Black Spots', a slightly corrupted version ofthe name, to the present day, although onlyolder Ruislip residents remember this.


Journal 20049

There was probably some opposition to thecreation of the reservoir. Henry Golder atfirst refused to treat with the Company onany terms, whilst other owners hedged Untilbetter prices were offered. Henry Golder andRobert Lively sold out to John Dean in thesummer of 1807and in August the companywas able to complete the purchases. TheCompany paid the Rev William Blencowe£210 for a cottage and one and a half acres,£100 to Daniel Hill for a cottage and 21perches and £250 to John Dean for threecottages and five and a half acres. TheCompany Minutes state that those prices'were collectively more moderate thanpurchases formerly made for the reservoir inthat parish'n. The Canal Company, as can beseen from rate books and a Terrier of 183722,

purchased Old Enclosures 481-9, so HenryGolder sold only his meadow and retainedhis cottage in OE 480although it is shown onthe map as within the land to be purchasedby the company.

Hugh Mackintosh constructed the reservoirin 1811, with John Rennie as ConsultingEngineer. The embankment was not builtright at the edge of the company's property,but through OE 481. The reservoir wasreported to be nearly full of water inDecember 181123. The parish rate booksshow that the tenants remained in thecottages until [une 181124. There is anunsubstantiated story that the military had tobe called out from Windsor to evict them.The rate list for December 1811 shows threeof them living in other cottages in thevicinity. James Bray was actually living inhis own cottage, a mean affair, presumably,since it was rated at only £2 per annum. Thefate of the other two tenants is unknown.

Presumably the cottages were dismantledbefore being submerged, as timber and othermaterials were usually reused, rather thanbeing wasted. The outline of part of the onein OE 489 emergedas a crop mark in 1990,when the Lido was drained for severalmonths to allow repairs to the swimmingarea.v

Old Enclosures 478-9equate with Plot 249onDoharty's Map and the house in 479 wouldhave been John Stockden's cottage 'atCannons Bridge' in 1565. The Enclosure Mapseems-to be well surveyed and reliable andshows no buildings further west on the bendround to Bury Street, leaving us to wonderwhat happened to Plots 250-1 drawn sopainstakingly by Doharty. Were they reallybuilt after 1685 and demolished before 1805?It would seem so.

The only buildings remaining; in OE 479 and480, seem to have been survivors from thesixteenth century, John Stockden's andThomas Gates's houses respectively.

The effects of the enclosures

The Enclosure Commissioners laid out whatis now Reservoir Road, to run along thenorthern edge of the reservoir. Former wastebetween Old Enclosures 477-80and the newroad was divided and allotted to HenryGolder (New Enclosure 56) and the RevRichard Glover (57a and b). 39 acres of landbetween Copse Wood and Park Wood weregranted by the commissioners for the use ofpoor people for grazing and survives asRuislip Common. The rest of the landbetween Reservoir Road and Copse Wood,apart from the Workhouse (now the OldWorkhouse in Ducks Hill) and its ground,was also allocated, mostly in small pieces tovarious proprietors. Sometimes the newlandowners used these otherwiseunproductive small enclosures to buildcottages and this happened in a small wayalong Reservoir Road.

New Enclosures 49, where a modem housestands beside the 'bus turn around point inReservoir Road, and 51 had been purchasedby William Poulter. By 1818the rate books 26show him as the owner of four small cottagesand by the time of his death in 1829, therewere six, all with a low rateable value,showing that they were intended for thelabouring classes. Four of them appear tohave been built in NE 51, now the site ofnumbers 7-11Reservoir Road.


Journal 200411

Ralph Deane of Eastcote House was allocatedNE 45 on the common and purchased NE 53from Richard Bugbeard and 54a and 54bfrom members of the Decharme family,giving himself a frontage up Ducks Hill.He built a cottage there-". The adjoining 16acre field, NE 50 also became part of theDeane's estate in 181928. The Council houses,built in 1919 and more recently on ReservoirRoad, stand at the bottom end of this field,most of which remains open to the public.Ralph Deane also bought the Workhousewhen it became redundant in 1838as a resultof the Uxbridge Union Workhouse havingbeen erected at Hillingdon in accordancewith the Poor Law Amendment Act.He converted it into cottages-". Many yearslater, after his death in 1852,his son, FrancisHenry Deane, seems to have sold the cottagein Ducks Hill to Fanny Collins. PagesCottages were built on the site in 1906 andDucks Hill cottages a little later. The cottageon the corner became Brocklehurst's Stores.The shop has been boarded up for manyyears.

Francis Henry Deane built a keeper's cottageon NE 45 between Reservoir Road and CopseWood before 1865 and Harry Edgell Esq andE. Robinson built cottages in NE 42 and 47 onthe same strip of land.

The 1837Terrier 30 gives the owner of OE 480and NE 56 as Mr Churchill, 'late HenryCoulder'. The occupier was [ames Massey.His wife, Charlotte, haled from the Isle ofWight and had first married the WilliamPoulter mentioned above, who was sometwenty years her senior, in 1819. After he lefther a widow with three small children alivein 1829,she bore an illegitimate child, Eli, toMark Clayton, publican at the Six Bells.Mr Clayton paid two shillings and sixpence aweek towards Eli's upkeep, from September1831until Charlotte married [ames Massey in1835, when payments ceased. The Masseyshad four children of their own»,

However, Charlotte had more than her fourchildren to offer James. She had also WilliamPoulter's cottages, including the one in whichshe and her family lived.

William Poulter left everything to MatthewRatcliffeand Thomas Gregory in trust for themaintenance of his wife and her childrenlawfully begotten until the youngest childbecame 21 years of age. Then the propertywas to be sold and the proceeds dividedequally among his wife and children,including three natural daughtersv.

For a short time after her new marriageCharlotte continued to figure in the ratebooks as Mrs Poulter and owner of thevarious cottages. James Massey seems tohave moved into her house. In October 1836[ames occupied a house owned by 'his wife intrust for her children=. At the next rate inJanuary 1837 'Mrs Massey' is the owner andCharles Massey is living in the house, whilstCharlotte and James have moved back into acottage that [ames lived in previously ownedby Harry Edgell Esq on the other side ofReservoir Road; By April 1838 the Masseysappear as joint owners of the Poulterproperty and in August 1838,James Masseyfeatures as the sole owner. The 1837 Terriershows them unequivocally living in HarryColder's former cottage in OE 480,apparently owned by William Churchill,whose name is pencilled in faintly. Theyseem to be a couple that moved around a lot,but always within a small area. Althoughdescribing himself as an agricultural labourerin the 1851, 61 and 71 census returns, [amesMassey appears to have laboured for theRegents Canal Company rather than localfarmers. Charlotte's death certificate refers tohim as labourer to the Canal Company andon his own death certificate in 1871, he wasactually described as a manager of the CanalCompany. Their son, Thomas, was workingfor the Company as a Reservoir Keeper at thetime of the 1881census. This reminds us thatthe Reservoir and the ground around it hadto be maintained. The Company let theshooting rights to local gentry and employeda gamekeeper who may have lived in F.H.Deane's keeper's cottage.

By the time the 1865 25 inch OS map wasbeing surveyed a pair of cottages hadappeared within the curtilage of the originalhouse in OE 480. Just when the Masseys

Journal 2004Ruislip, Northwood and EastcoteLocal History Society

12

moved away from OE 480 is not clearbecause the rate books are not continuous.William Churchill left the house to MarthaPearce>, and Charles [ames Filkins, aHarefield farmer, bought the cottage andthree roods of land from [ames Pearce andCharles Davis Browne in 1891. When he wasadmitted to the property at a Manor Court inJune 1891, the cottage was described as being'at Park Hearne near Cannons Bridge andformerly in the possession of Henry Coulder'.This reasonably positively identifies theproperty as Dell Cottage (the MushroomFarm) and is a very interesting late referenceto Park Hearne. The house was divided intotwo at that time and occupied by SamuelHearne and Widow Massey. Mr Filkins alsohad two cottages built on the site on the sideof Reservoir Road on the edge of his land,where Job Lavender and William Ives lived.With Dell Cottage divided into two, this gavehim six cottages' on the original OE 480 andNE 56.

The Filkins family retained the cottages untiltheir demolition. Mrs Filkins improved themby building on bathrooms at the side about1960,when the Longhursts and O'Sheas wereliving in the two oldest ones=, They all stoodempty for several years before beingdemolished in 1983 to make way forAbercorn Grove.

Dell Cottage, however, was purchased by theBerrys and made into a beautiful single houseagain. They grew mushrooms there untilmoving to Turville in Oxfordshire (taking thedismantled house with them) in 1964. Theresurrected cottage is called Badgers.

Cheapside/Withy Lane and the EnclosuresSee Map 7

By the time the Enclosure Map was drawn in1806, there were still seven buildings shownin Cheapside as there had been in 1789.We also have information from rate books totell us whether they were dwellings or barnsetc. All seven were cottages apparently.OE 211 corresponds with The Ferns, the sole

survivor from early times, but not for long asthere is a planning application for itsdemolition and replacement by flats. Most ofthe houses and cottages in Withy Lane weredemolished in the mid-1970s. Working ondescriptions of the buildings as they were inthe 1940s36, it would seem that two of thefour houses mentioned in the 1565 Terrierwere still standing and the footings ofanother were above ground. I suggest thatthe seven houses shown on the EnclosureMap were the four mentioned in 1565 andthree more built in the seventeenth century.

The enclosure failed to inspire the sort of newbuilding that was seen in the Reservoir Roadarea. The 1865 OS map shows much thesame configuration of buildings as theenclosure map, with perhaps one additionalhouse and, important for the spiritual life ofthe area, a chapel. The chapel had been builtin 1852 for the use of 'Protestant EvangelicalDissenters' and had been licensed in 1854.This was the first dissenting place of worshipon the Westcote side of the parish. The OSmap marks it as a Wesleyan Methodistchapel and in 1882 it came under thedirection of Primitive Methodistsv.

The land between the lane and the boundaryof St Catherine's was allocated by theenclosure commissioners as common land forthe use of those occupying cottages of notmore than £5 per annum rateable value, inother words, the poor. All the properties inWithy Lane fell into this category-e. Thisportion of the common was sold in October1961 to the Ruislip-Northwood UrbanDistrict Council with the approval of theCharity Commissioners. It now forms part ofBreakspear Crematorium grounds.

The lane into St Catherine's actually led to thepublic house called The Black Pots, situatedbetween the stile and the Crematorium fence.Ann Clayton was the licensee from about1775 to 1807 and it was owned by MessrsShepherd and Lewin, the main proprietors inSt Catherine'sw.


1ournal2004J3


14 Journal 2004

Map 7The 1865 Ordnance Survey 25 inch map

There was another licensed house close bycalled The SixBells, standing on the corner ofHowletts Lane. Samuel Salter, theRickmansworth brewer, acquired it before1807, and he was given one and a quarteracres of waste, NE 59, in 1806. The presentSix Bellswas built upon it sometime after thesale of the old SixBells in 18094°. Membersofthe lve family were licensees on and off untilthe 1950s. The Black Pots probably went outof business as it ceases to appear in ratebooks, but William Woodley who had boughtthe old SixBellsfrom Salter, was still runninga beer-house on the old site at the time of the1837Terrier.

Ruislip Common in the twentieth centurySee Map 8

NE 57a and b on the bend of Reservoir Roadremained free of development untilthe twentieth. century when acommercial/industrial area developed.The area is shown as Lot 2 on Map 4 as it wasin 1919, described as 'ripe for buildingpurposes'<. The 1935OS 25 inch map showsthe early stages. Three pairs of cottages hadbeen built on Reservoir road, one of whichwas a grocery and Post Office. Just round inBury Street stood a workshop beside a largebungalow called Chlemsine Court. Furtherdown the hill towards the stream was atimber yard occupying the whole area nowoccupied by New Wave and the garagesbehind Bellway. Peter Baxter, who movedinto Chelrnsine Court with his family in 1941(having being bombed out in Ealing) recallsthat the timber yard was owned by 'Ratty'Lavender. Rather confusingly there wasanother woodyard on the corner ofBreakspear Road in the 1960s owned by aReg Lavender. Ratty also had a herd of dairycattle at the Homestead on the north side ofReservoir Road (now a paint spray business)and each morning they were taken acrossDucks Hill and along the lane by the SixBellsinto BlackSpots Pield-s.

The workshop beside Chelrnsine Courtbecame a garage and eventually a petrolstation. Two Polish men who had worked atNortholt Aerodrome as engineers, W. Knarr

and M.T. Skiba ran it. Mr Skiba movedacross the road in the early 1960sand openeda new petrol station on the corner ofBreakspear Road beside the new fire station.The Baxters replaced their bungalow with theChelmsine Court group of offices that stillstands .. They ran various enterprises there,building, landscape design and the Punchand Iudy Cafe in the 1970s. Other firmshad premises near the stream, in anarea known as Bury Wharf. Siebert Ltd.(builders), Osborne (radio and TV), ECCTelecommander Ltd and Prowtings, were alfthere in the late 1950s43. A large yard belowand behind Chelrnsine Court was owned byArchie White, the chirnneysweep. Heeventually sold out to Prowtings and theybuilt Breakspear House. The area has beenextensively redeveloped in the 1990s withlarger buildings being erected, but is stillcommercial in character.

Several houses were erected along Ducks Hillbelow BellsLane in the twentieth century, theearliest, Royston, predating the First WorldWar, and there was a certain amount ofcommercial activity in Withy Lane. DoreenGladman's father, 'Curly' Woodman ran theWoodland Boarding Kennels at the top ofWithy Lane and Monty lve who lived inSanasa had a nursery garden near The Ferns.Later L.A. lve was a plumber in the sameplace.

The great upheaval of the mid 1970sbroughta block of flats and industrial services to thebottom of Withy Lane and new houses alongthe lane by The SixBells.

Ruislip Common Chapel became a privatehouse in the 1990sbecause congregations haddwindled to five in 1992and it was no longerviable as a place of worship.

The social history of Ruislip Common

The social position of the people who lived inthe three hamlets in the sixteenth century isdifficult to establish because we only knowthe names of the owners, not the occupiers, ofthe houses.


Journal 200415

5037·386

Jaos1.393

.OR.P.

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16 Journal 2004

Map 8The 1935 Ordnance Survey 25 inch map

The only house that survives, CannonsBridge Farm, was a small two-bayedstructure before being restored and extendedin 1958,but it may be the remnant of a moresubstantial building. Dell Cottage, however,which was photographed early in thetwentieth century and in 1963and 1964, (seeFigs. 1 and 2) was a building of much higherstatus, apparently with a hall and cross-wing,as good as others in Bury Street and WellGreen in Eastcote. None of the houses,however, had common field land attached tothem in the sixteenth century, showing thatthe occupants had no share in the growing ofcrops and must have depended for theirlivelihoods upon the Common Wood, orlabouring for other people, or some form oftrade.

The expansion of houses and population inthe seventeenth century may reflect growingprosperity and better health. On the otherhand if the houses were simply beingdivided, rather than many new ones beingerected, they would have becomeovercrowded, leading to an insanitary andimpoverished lifestyle.

It is noticeable from rate books from the endof the eighteenth century onwards thathouses in the three hamlets continued to belet and not owner occupied. Henry Golder,for instance, seems to have been the onlyperson at Park Heame who was living in hisown house around 1806. Most had a value ofless than £5 per annum, in contrast to the £8pa of Woodman Farm and £15pa for the OldHouse in Bury Street. People living incottages of £5 or less were considered to bepoor by the Enclosure Commissioners,provided that they had no other place ofresidence.

The new cottages built on the NewEnclosures, whether for a large landownerlike Ralph Deane of Eastcote House, or asmall proprietor like William Poulter, wereall cheap and intended for agriculturallabourers and their ilk.

The people living in the new cottages in thenineteenth century, with names like Allday,

Boddy, Bray, Brill, Collins, Ive, Lavender,Massey, Stent, Tobutt, Weatherley, Woodley·and Woodman continued to inhabit the areainto the twentieth century and indeed someremain in Ruislip Common to this day.Generally speaking they were not very welloff and several, like the much respectedHannah Lavender who devotedly nursed herneighbours during the cholera epidemic of1848, died in the Union Workhouse atHillingdon. It is perhaps no surprise that thecholera epidemic struck that part of Ruisliprather than any other and perhaps indicatespoor living conditions or at least acontaminated water supply. This may bewhy Martha Pearce had a well sunk on herproperty at Dell Cottage.

It was at a house in Withy Lane that WilliamTerry died of starvation in October 1844.The inquest held at the SixBellswas reportedin The Timess+, He had been brought in adung cart from Pinner, to his sister, MaryLavender. She was in great distress herself,her husband and son being out of work, andhad only bread and butter in the house.

From nineteenth century census returns wecan see what the inhabitants did for a livingand although there were a lot of labourers,there were several dealers as well. Therewere 28 households at Ruislip Common in185145• 11were agricultural labourers. Therewas one farmer, William Churchill who lived .at The Ferns. Henry Lavender was a sanddealer and John Bray and John Lavenderwere dealers in wood and sand. Sand camefrom mines across the common inNorthwood. There were two men dealingspecifically in wood and three wood cuttersand a kindlemaker. This means that eighthouseholds were dependent upon the woodsin some measure for their livlihood. Therewas one bricklayer. George lve was at TheSix Bells and Daniel Collins was ashopkeeper. Elizabeth Tobutt describedherself as a laundress and Maria Tobutt was awasherwoman. Perhaps the laundress didmore specialised work. 73-year-old GeorgeBarker was the Reservoir Keeper.


J7

Although fairly poor and sometimesdevastatingly so, social life was available tothe inhabitants of Ruislip Common at The SixBells and several small and short-lived beer-houses. A member of the Stent family wasrunning one at Cannons Bridge Farm in185746. The effect of the beer-houses, wascountered by Temperance meetings at thechapel, which also provided a focus for socialgatherings like Sunday School teas. Therewere 83 children on roll in 188247.

It is significant that the Ruislip-NorthwoodUrban District Council chose Reservoir Roadas the site of some of the first council housesin 1919. With their attractive cottage styleand modern conveniences such asbathrooms, they must have seemed likepalaces to those living in the old cottages.

It seems that the people of the three hamlets thateventually made up Ruislip Common had alwayslived on the edge of poverty and derived a fairproportion of their income from the woodlands.

Fig. 1Dell Farm, north side, c1902

18

Fig. 2Dell Farm, south side, 1963


Journal 2004

I King's College: Q 51.2 Uxbridge Library: D.F.A. Kiddle: The changing landscape of North- West Middlesex. 1974.3 Brit Lib: Add MS 24316.4 King's College: RUI 182.5 RNELHS Journal 1984: 13th century habitation at the site of Park Hearne in Reservoir road indicated by pottery finds,

C. Bowlt.6 Brit Lib: Add MS 9367.7 King's College: RUI 182.8 RNELHS Iournall985: Woodman's Farm, Silver Street Green, Bury Street, Eileen M. and Colin Bowlt.9 Ibid.10 Uxbridge Library: D.F.A. Kiddle: The changing landscape of North-West Middlesex. 1974.11 National Archives: SC 6/917/26.12 King's College: RUI 182.13 Brit Lib:Add MS 963714 Ibid: Add MS 963815 Karen Spink: Tylers at the Butts, Ruffins and Nelhams in the Street'in 'Here and there in Harefield'

Harefield Extra-Mural Local History Class, 1989.16 Ruislip Library: photocopy of original King's College document.17 King's College: Doharty's Map and Terrier, 1750.18 Ruislip Library: photocopy of original King's College document.19 LMA: MR LV 6/84 -9/128.20 LMA: MRlDE RUI El and E2.21 Ruislip Library: L.E. Morris Collection - notes from Company Minutes Book.22 LMA: DRO 19 E3/2.23 Ruislip Library: L.E. Morris Collection - notes from Company Minutes Book.24 LMA: DRO 19 E2I22.25 RNELHS Journal 1991: Drained Lido reveals secrets. Colin Bowlt.26 LMA: DRO 19 E2I22 and 23.27 LMA: DRO 19 E3/2.28 LMA: MDR 1819 5 314.29 LMA: MDR 1921 29 691 and rate books.30 LMA: DRO 19 E3/2.31 Massey family history: private communication from Ray Massey.32 Copy of will: in possession of Ray Massey.33 LMA: DRO 19 E2I25.34 LMA: MDR 19092940 and Deed of Enfranchisement at King's College.35 Private communication from Gwen and Peter Longhurst.36 RNELHS Journal 1990: Withy Lane c1940, Doreen Gladwin,37 RNELHS Journal 1993: Methodism, Alison Akerman.38 LMA: DRO 19 E3/1. .39 LMA: MR LV 9/10 and LMA: DRO 19 E3/1.40 LMA: MDR 1809 5 576.41 Own possession: Sales Particulars, Thursday 27 March 1919.42 Private communication from Peter Baxter.43 Ruislip Library: Kemp's Directory of Ruislip-Northwood.44 http://web6.infotrac.galegroup.com: The Times, Oct 31, 1844: p 6; Column A.45 Colleen A. Cox: A Quiet and Secluded Spot, 1991.46 LMA: DRO 19 E2I39.47 Colleen A. Cox: A Quiet and Secluded Spot, 1991


19 Journal 2004

MY LIFE IN RUISLIP

By ETHEL GANDER (1909-1996)

(Ethel's mother, Rose, was a member of the Bray family who had lived in Ruislip from about 1740)

"I was born in Mad Bess Cottage (Fig. 1)in Ruislip Woods -on the 6th March 1909.My father Fred Martin was a gamekeeper fora Colonel Cox who lived in Harefield Place.

When my birth appeared imminent myfather walked to Harefield one mile away toinform the doctor. Dad returned and laterthe doctor arrived on horseback anddelivered me. Later that day, Dad walkedthrough the woods to Pinner to bring thelocal midwife who stayed with us for somedays.

My mother, whose maiden name was Bray,was a member of a family that had lived inthe Ruislip - Harefield area for manygenerations, all being buried in bothHarefield and Ruislip Churchyards.Grandmother Bray had eight children,Elisabeth, Eliza, [ulia, Mary, [ane, Rose (mymother), and Edward and Joseph.Grandmother lived in one of the cottages inBreakspear Road not far from the'Breakspear Arms'. She was a moss gathererand had a pony and cart which was stabledat the side of the cottage. She used to takethe moss to Ealing and sell it to florists andgreengrocers for wreaths and plants. Theywere all narrow country roads in those dayswith only a few villages on the way.

As children, we used to play in Poors Field,commonly known as the Post Field, and alsoon Black Spots at the rear of the 'Six Bells'and on 'Sixteen Acres' up Ducks Hill by theOld Workhouse. Old Jimmy Collins used tocut the hay each year and on Black Spotswere orchids, violets, and cowslips and otherlovely wild flowers with which we used tomake garlands.

Father used to breed the pheasants and feedthem with meal and chopped hard-boiledeggs and the locals used to let him use theirbroody hens for the hatching period.

At shooting time the village lads were paidone shilling a day and the squire would givethem their dinner of Irish stew brought overin large containers from Pinner.

I was four or five years old (Fig. 2) when wehad to leave the tied cottage when myfather's working conditions were altered andthe only available accommodation was tworooms, one up one down in the OldWorkhouse in Ducks Hill Road. Living inthe workhouse were five or six families, theDaddyman Ive, his brother Bindy andfamily, Mr Ioey Lavender, and DarkieHeame who lived alone, and of course myfamily. Darkie had a horse and cart in thestables and he sold fruit and veg and inSpring, plants for the garden.

Fig. 2Ethel (Ettie) at school in 1914

with her friends,(back row) Louie Bell and EdieCoIlins, (front row, 1to r) AnnieCoIlins, PhyIlis West and Ethel

These people and others at Ruislip Commondid odd agricultural work, such as haybinding, wood dealing and tree felling. Mybrother Fred, who was also a gamekeeper inPark Wood, became a tree feller and waspaid extra cash for climbing high trees torope and saw heavy branches. Of course, inthose days it was all handwork there beingno mechanical saws at all. (Fig.3).


Journal 200420

Fig. 3Fred Martin (2nd from right) at work

on the Swakeleys estate in 1924

My grandmother, Rose Bray got herschooling from a 'Dame School' run by a BetWillis in the largest cottage behind the'Brakespear Arms'. She also fostered severalchildren from the 'Union' workhouse atHillingdon. All the children were taughtreading and writing, knitting and chrochery(crochet?) and helped to cook and clean thecottage. Bet was a kind woman and thechildren benefited according to what mymother told me because she knew many ofthem.

My own education began and finished atRuislip National School (see Fig. 4) from fiveyears of age until I was fourteen. TheHeadmaster was Mr. Youens and myteachers were Miss Clough and Miss Grist.The school in Eastcote Road had a total ofabout ninety pupils, some of whom camefrom as far as West End Road, Northolt andEastcote. For children so young that wasquite a distance to walk and like us fromRuislip Common we all wore studded bootsbecause of the rough roads.

My brother Fred [born 1902] passed anexamination and was allowed to leave schoolwhen he was 13 years old. He had beenworking at Manor Farm before leavingschool, his job being to get the horses fromthe fields and groom them and to do otherjobs all before 7a.m. When he finally leftschool he was employed full time at the farmand later took employment as a garden boy

and odd-jobber ata big house up Ducks Hillcalled 'The Grange'. It was after that hebecame a keeper and tree feller.

My brother Ted [born 1913] went to thevillage school too and passed for ascholarship to the Grammar School atUxbridge, but he could not go because myfather could not afford his uniform. His palwho lived next door to us also passed andmanaged to take advantage of the chance anddid very well.

In my childhood days the locals had acountry dialect of their own, for instance, thehaws from the hawthorn were called 'arzeygarsies', the young leaves which we ate werecalled 'bread and cheese' and if you took thehawthorn (May) indoors it was very unlucky,and if you took a robin's egg you wouldbreak an arm. Lilac in the home was also anill omen. Dandelions we never pickedbecause they made you wet the bed!

We had many wild birds in those timeswhich we rarely see now. On the reservoirthere were many wild ducks and over theCommon by Copse Wood the nightingalesused to sing. I last heard them in 1944.Like the birds we have lost many of theflowers that were abundant on the Common,Black Spots and the Poors' Field, such as wildviolets, cuckoo flowers, cowslips, bluebells,anemones, lady's slipper and waggawonds -a kind of grass .:The reservoir was full of fish and I remembera huge pike swimming up a narrow streamabout six inches deep and floundering aboutuntil a man caughtit and took it away. Therewas always fishing at the Lido as it is nowcalled, but in the old days Harry Wallis wasthe keeper and his sons later ran a cartagebusiness.

Betweenthe wars the reservoir was drained by astopcockin the corner (wecalled it the ackedock)and the water ran into what we called the feederand into the Grand Union Canal. At times aperson would get drowned and the police camefrom Northwood with a wicker-topped stretcherand the body was wheeled over the Common tobe identified.


Joumal200421

My mother told me that when she wasyoung the winters were bad and thereservoir used to freeze up and people camethere to skate. (Fig.5) They even lit fires onthe side so that they could see. I myselfremember the reservoir freezing over in the1914 - 18 war and seeing the Australian andNew Zealand wounded soldiers coming bysolid tyred coaches to watch the sport.

Fig. 5Fred Martin Jnr. skating on

Ruislip Reservoir c.1921

When I left school at 14, I went into domesticservice with a Mrs Guy whose husband hadbought the Old Workhouse and converted it.I was nursemaid to her two babies - HeathGrizelda Love-in-the-Mist, what a name tolive with!, was aged' one year and fivemonths Her baby sister was only fivemonths old and her name was Susan, [aneAnn Laughing Water. I had to work from 20'clock until 7pm seven days per week forone shilling a day. Old Ioey Lavender's wifedid a few hours housework until Mrs Guygot a girl from Wednesbury in Staffordshireto do both our jobs and live in.

At the cottage at Ruislip Common we had alovely Blenheim Orange apple tree andbefore I slept in the attic we stored the applesthere which was cool, these lasted us formany weeks.I remember now, that before we moved intothe cottage it was rented by old [ane Tobuttwhom we all called Aunt Jane. She had jarsof assorted sweets in the front window andthe local children would go in and spendtheir farthings and halfpennies on liquoricebraid and other small toffees and sweets.

During the 1914- 18War, we used to get ourrations at the corner shop run by Mr and MrsMallet and Ethel Lavender worked there.Opposite, in Reservoir Road WilliamLavender [had] a small general shop and itwas also a sub-post office and Bertha Whiteused to help him at times. She was theVillage Post lady during the 1914 - 18 and1939- 1945wars.

Our newspapers came from Mr. Riddlewhose shop was in the village next door toCrookalls the butcher. I used to collect themorning newspapers when I left school at4pm and deliver the five or six copies tohouses at the Common. They would gettheir papers at about six o'clock and onSaturdays I would walk the mile to Mr.Riddle's and then deliver on my way homeand would earn nothing from Mr. Riddle butrely on a penny or so from my customers.Another person would collect the weeklybills in the district for Mr. Riddle.

As children we had a happy time playingour different games such as hoops, tops anddab stones and in summer we would takeour sandwiches and go picnicking in thewoods. Reservoir Road was a narrow laneyears ago and we would skip and playmarbles in the road without the fear of anytraffic coming to disturb us. Although wewere very poor we had a lovely life with thewoods and fields all round us for us to walkand play in during spring and summer. Butduring the winters which seemed muchcolder in those days, we would be very cosyin the old cottage and would amuseourselves in many ways. In the weeksbefore Christmas we would make paperchains by cutting strips of coloured paperand pasting them together with paste madefrom flour and water. We also did this in thevillage school. Also we could buy thepackets of coloured papers which was easierfor us to do.

A job which occupied us all at home was themaking of rag rugs, if the rags were not goodenough for us to earn a copper or two fromthe ragman we would cut them up into smallstrips and knot them into a piece of sacking.My father used to cut a small branch of the


22

ash tree, and then trim the pegs to a point topush through the sacking, the pieces wouldkeep in place until the rugs had been wellworn, and the continual shaking made somepieces fall out. Sometimes we were able tomake patterns if we had a mixed supply ofrags, but later we bought a wool rug hookand made much better rugs with wool whichwas cut and made specially for rugs.

The reservoir used to freeze every winter andus children used to enjoy these dayswatching the skaters. I tried to skate on aborrowed pair one winter and slipped andchipped a piece of bone on my elbow whichhas troubled me all these years. We used tolook forward to the longer days of thespring, and on May Day we used to dress inour best white dresses and amuse ourselvesby dancing on the street. May Day was notcelebrated in our school but on Empire Daywe would all go into the hall and sing songs.One that I remember is 'Rule Britannia' and'Land of Hope and Glory' besides ourNational Anthem and a few prayers.Ruislip Sports Day was held in the summerat Manor Farm and everybody, men, womenand children from the village took part.It was a very jolly day and we all lookedforward to it.

Acknowledgemen ts

In fifty years Ruislip has changed from aquiet rural village to a sophisticated suburbof London. All the fields that used to supplyhay for the cart horses of London have gone.Estates such as Ruislip Manor, Southbourneand Old Eastcote have been built on andlarge blocks of offices and flats have takenthe place of many old farm houses. In thesetimes the old neighbourhood has changedsuch a lot. The friendly gossip at the oldshops has gone. We used to know who wasill, when the next baby was expected, whatkind of a harvest we were going to have, andwhen we could buy some new laid eggs.Everyone knew when a boy played truantand how he got a spanking from his father,and how much Mary's new dress cost. Mostpeople in the close-knit area rallied round tohelp in distressful times, but it seems thatthose times have gone never to return.

In the local press there have been cases of oldpeople being found alone at home dead orvery ill. So these are some of the changes inthis so-called modern way of living today in1990."

It is as a result of the endeavours of Celia Cartwright that this article has been made available forpublication. After learning of the existence of these memoirs contact was eventually made withJoyce Gander who together with Martin Gander (Ethel's daughter and son), kindly allowed Celiaaccess to them and provided accompanying photographs. The Society thanks the Gander familyfor allowing the use and reproduction of the material.


Journal 200423

Fig. 1Keepers Cottage, Mad Bess Wood where Ethel was born.

c.1906it shows Fred Martin and his wife Rose (nee Bray) and their eldest son Fred


24 Joumal2004

Fig. 4Ruislip National School 1913

Ettie is in the 2nd row 2nd from the left and Fred is on the end of the row behind

RUISLIP RESIDENTS ASSOCIATIONRESCUES UNIQUE MAP OF COPSE WOOD

by Calin Bawlt

In the summer of 2003 the Ruislip ResidentsAssociation was contacted by Peter Swan, abook dealer in West Norfolk, to say that hehad an old map of Ruislip Woods for sale.The Association asked Eileen Bowlt for anopinion to see if it would be a useful additionto the Ruislip archive.

Peter Swan was happy to send the map forinspection on a sale or return basis. It provedto be a large-scale cloth backed map of CopseWood, apparently assembled from pieces ofthe 25-inch OS map of 1897. Various linesand numbers had been inked in on the map(Fig. 1 shows a portion of the map). In thebottom right hand corner was the inked-inname of Farebrother Ellis and Co., Surveyors,29 Fleet Street, London EC. Clearly the mapindicated some sort of survey - but what sort,and why?

One inked line went up the middle of DucksHill Road (not named) with numbers from236 at the southern end, to 224 at thenorthern .. The numbers over the map rangedfrom 172 to 318, and herein lay the clue. 172is inscribed at the northern end of RuislipCommon (Poor's Field), whereas 318 Is at thejunction of Jacketts Lane with Ducks HillRoad - the lowest and highest points, in feetabove sea level.

To check that the map was a detailed surveyof elevations in Copse Wood, measurementswere taken using a Global Positioning Systemdetector at positions numbered along DucksHill Road. Agreement was good, showingthat the supposition was indeed correct. Thesurvey must have been a long and tediousbusiness using the techniques and equipmentavailable at the time. Lines of sight throughthe wood must have been hamperedsomewhat by trees.Sowhy was it done - and when?

There is no date on the map to indicate whenthe survey was carried out, but it seems likelythat such a detailed topographic survey ofCopse Wood was initiated by King's College,Cambridge in connection with proposeddevelopments of their lands from 1899onwards'. Of interest, and a clue to theearliest possible Fairburn Ellis survey date, isthe fact that an area at the southern end ofthe wood, which was granted to a man calledJosef Conn on a 99-year lease in 19052, ismarked off by a red line and has no heights.He built a house here, which subsequentlywas named 'Battle of Britain House' beforebeing burnt down in 1984.

Also marked in red are two parallel linesfrom the north east corner of Copse wood tojoin Rickmansworth Road. King's Collegehad made plans for a road here across theworked out gravel pits as early as 18993• Thisroad was eventually constructed as CopseWood Way to give access to the developmentof Links Way, Nicholas Way and theBroadwalk in the 1930's.

A rather curious inked addition is that of theOrdnance Datum levels of the covers andinverts of three manholes with theirconnecting short stretch of connecting pipe,at the northern end of Poor's Field. This mustbe part of the drainage system connectingNorthwood to the Sewerage Works atLadygate Lane, which started operating in19024. Interestingly, a disused, brokenmanhole is still present here at the easternend of the Post Pond on Poor's Field. The1897base map shows OD benchmarks at theentrance to Ducks Hill Farm and on the eastside of the Post Pond. They are no longerpresent. I wonder whether any of thebenchmarks in the Ruislip area dating fromthe nineteenth century still survive?

25 Journal 2004Ruislip, Northwood and EastcoteLocal History Society

The survey must have been made sometimebetween 1905 when [osef Conn bought theland on which 'Battle of Britain' stood, andthe 1920s when Northgate and other roads inCopse Wood were beginning to bedeveloped''. It was most probably carried outbefore the First World War, and for King'sCollege, when plans were being made for thedevelopment of the northern part of the

demesne lands of their manor of Ruislip anda Town Planning Scheme was beingcontemplated. It is a significant and usefuldocument.

The Ruislip Residents Association havekindly purchased the map and donated it tothe local history archive for Ruislip at ManorFarm Library.

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Poors' Field264

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1 Bowlt, EM 1989. The Goodliest Place in Middlesex, p254; Hillingdon Borough Libraries.2 Cartwright, C. 1985. From Horsens to Ruislip College: the Story of Battle of Britain House.

Journal: Ruislip, Northwood and Eastcote Local History Society.3 Bowlt, EM 1989. as above, p254.4 Bowlt, EM 1989. as above, p249,5 London Metropolitan Archives: MDR 1922 10 707.


26 Joumal2004

EASTCOTE IN 1841

By Colleen A. Cox

Although a census has been taken in thiscountry every ten years since 1800, the 1841census was the first in which the name ofevery individual was recorded.Unfortunately the quality of the copies forthe Ruislip area is very poor. In some placesthe entries are. barely legible and in othersthey can only be deduced by reference toother sources such as the rate books and the1851 census. The entries for Eastcote are inthe worst condition.

The information the enumerators wererequired to record was limited, makingcomparisons with later censuses difficult.For example, the age of adults was onlyrecorded to the nearest five years, there wasno indication of marital status or relationshipto the head of the household so family sizecannot be estimated, and place of birth wasonly given as born in the county or not.

Analysis of the information on Ruislip andNorthwood has previously been published inthis journal (1998 and 1999). The Eastcotearea was centred on Eastcote High Road andthe ancient lanes to the north indudingWiltshire Lane, Fore Street, [oel Street andCuckoo Hill, and Field End to the south.(Fig 1) With its three large houses and theirsubstantial households Eastcote was longconsidered the social centre of the areaalthough this may not have been so apparentin 1841 when two of the three houses wereoccupied by tenants who did not stay long inthe area.

The enumerator for Eastcote in 1841 wasDaniel Matheson who farmed at HaydonHall Farm. He was not as systematic as someof the other enumerators and it was verydifficult to follow his route. He started withGeorge Green a 30-year-old farmer but didnot record where he lived. According to the1837 Terrier (Survey) Green had previouslykept The Ship Public House in Joel Street buthad been succeeded by Matheson's son also

Daniel, by 1841. In the 1841Rate Book Greenleased a cottage and land from Ralph Deanebut it is not known where this was. He alsohad land from Mr Tyte of Myrtle Cottage in[oel Street so he may still have been near [oelStreet.

The second entry in the census was for MaryBaker who, with fifteen people, had thelargest household in Eastcote and so would .have needed a good-sized house. It ispossible that she was the wife/widow ofCharles Baker who according to the 1841RateBook occupied Sunnyside (also known asRedbourns), which was part of the HaydonHall estate and was at the bottom of JoelStreet. The household was an interesting oneinduding as it did one man, two women andfour children who were probably familymembers and six male agricultural labourers,one with his wife. These men were almostcertainly lodgers.

[ames Foort the stocking-maker was next inthe census with no indication of where helived. In later years he occupied a cottage inNortholt Lane to the south of the presentrailway but in the 1841 Rate Book he wasrecorded as living in a cottage at Field End.From Field End the enumerator's route'became even more difficult to follow but heappeared to visit cottages and farms in theancient lanes before returning to Field End tocomplete his task.

There were 525 people in Eastcote in 1841 ofwhom 246 were men and 279 were women.A total of 99 houses were occupied with amean household size of 5.3. Eight houseswere unoccupied.

The largest and most important houses inEastcote were Eastcote House, Haydon Halland High Grove. Eastcote House was ownedby Ralph Deane but he was not living there atthe time of the census when the occupier was52-year-old John Pearce.


Joumal200427

This entry is barely legible but his occupationappeared to be that of a 'warehouseman'.His household comprised two men and twofemale servants. An entry in the 1837Terrierindicates that Eastcote House and land wereleased by Pierce and Stone and anothersource refers to John Pearce and EdwardStone as the occupiers of Eastcote House.Both were described as IGentleman'.

It is not known what if any part John Pearceplayed in the social life of Eastcote nor thatplayed by Miss Susan Maitland the tenant ofHaydon Hall. This house had been ownedby Adam Clarke the well-known Methodistminister until his death in 1832. It had thenpassed to his widow and his son John whodied in 1840. It probably belonged to hisson's widow Elizabeth in 1841. SusanMaitland was a 40-year-old woman ofindependent means. Two other women werein the house at the time of the census andthere were three male and three femaleservants.

The third large house was High Grove, theonly one to have survived. Unfortunately thefamily was not in residence on census nightbut it is known that the owner was GeneralSir [oseph Fuller who lived there with hiswife Lady Miranda. It is known from othersources that the Fullers did play an activepart in the social life of the village.

There were two other houses of note in theHigh Road, Spring Cottage and EastcoteLodge. Spring Cottage, also known at sometime as Flag Cottage, is a 16th century cottagewhich still stands on land that in 1837 wasowned by the Clarke's of Swakeleys andoccupied by Philip Souper a 40-year-old manof independent means. In the census he isrecorded with his wife, five daughters andone son between the ages of three and elevenyears, together with two female servants.The family's stay in Eastcote must have beentinged with sadness as a gravestone in St.Martin's Churchyard, Ruislip, indicates thatthree other children were buried there,Frances Lloyd Souper in 1839aged two years,Mowbray Charles in 1840 aged six monthsand Frances Rosetta aged ten weeks.


Next to Spring Cottage was Eastcote Lodgeowned and occupied by Mrs Hingestone, a75-year-old lady of independent means.The household comprised two other womenof independent means, a 15-year-oldgirl andfour servants, two male and two female.

Two other households worthy of note werethose of Robert Tyte a retired naval officerwho lived with his two daughters and onefemale servant in Myrtle Cottage in [oelStreet, and that of Charles Jenkins of EastcoteCottage in Wiltshire Lane. He was a man ofindependent means and had a male and afemale servant.

In such a predominantly agricultural area itwas not surprising that farmers were highlyregarded people in the community.Seventeen men were farmers, 13%of men forwhom an occupation was recorded. It waspossible to identify the location of the farmsbut there was no indication as to their size.(Fig 2) A total of 62 (48%) of men weredescribed as agricultural labourers thus justover 60% of working men were employeddirectly in agriculture. There were no femaleagricultural labourers but eight women weredescribed as labourers as were two men.

The next most common occupation was thatof servant of which 17 were men and 22women. Although it is likely that all thewomen worked in the house, a number of themen were young boys in the houses offarmers who probably did general work bothindoors and outside.

With few exceptions the remammgoccupations reflected the needs of the villageat the time. The four gamekeepers wouldhave been employed to care for the woodsand to deter the locals from poaching thegame. Four carpenters, three bricklayers andtwo sawyers indicate the nucleus of aconstruction industry although no brickmakers were recorded in this census. Muchuse would also have been made of the farrier,Henry Baldwin, whose smithy was near theBlack Horse and the wheelwright, HenryHill, whose cottage was in front of TheShooting Boxfurther along the High Road.

28 Journal 2004

Eastcote was in the parish of Ruislip and thevillagers would have been expected to attendSt. Martin's Church, and any children ofschool age to go to the-National School nearthe church. No record was made of whetheror not the children went to school but in lateryears attendance of children from the villagewas poor. During his lifetime Adam Clarkehad allowed a stable and coach house at thebottom of Joel Street to be used as aMethodist Chapel and a Sunday school wasalso held there, well supported by localpeople.

For those with different tastes there were twopublic houses, the Black Horse kept by 35-year-old Hannah Smith and The Ship on [oelStreet run by Daniel Matheson. [amesLipscomb had a grocer's shop in the cottagethat later became The Case is Altered.Another grocer, Elizabeth Gregory, livednear The Shooting Boxfurther along the HighRoad. William Eastman a policeman livedwith his wife and son in Fore Street. We do

Sources

not know how busy he was kept but laternewspaper reports indicated such problemsas family squabbles, drunkenness andpoaching.

Nine women and four men were recorded as'Independent' which meant that they hadprivate means to support themselves.A number of them have already beenmentioned and appeared to be in moreaffluent households but four of the womenwere elderly relatives living with their familyin very modest cottages.

This article has focussed on Eastcote in 1841and ideally should be read in conjunctionwith the articles published in earlier Journals(1998and 1999)on Ruislip and Northwood toget a complete view of the parish in this year.The overall picture that emerges however isthat of a quiet country village which hadchanged little over the years and remainedmuch the same for most of the 19th century.

1. 1841Census. Uxbridge Library2. Cox CA. Ruislip in 1841.RNELHSJournal 19983. Cox CA. A Middlesex Village. Northwood in 1841.RNELHSJournal. 19994. Ruislip Terrier and Valuation 1837 LMA DRO 19/E5. Bowlt E.M. The Goodliest Place in Middlesex Hillingdon Borough Libraries 19896. Cox CA. A Quiet and Secluded Spot RNELHS1991


Journal 2004

PARk"\/V'OOD

\\,

\.\\\\\,

\ 00'/-~

Fig. 1Map of Eastcote in 1841


30 Joumal2004

Fig. 2 - Farms and Occupiers in 1841 and 1851

Farm Occupier in 1841 Occupier in 1851

Joel Street Farm Richard Poulton Edward Staples

Haydon Hall Farm Daniel Matheson Daniel Matheson

Ivy FarmWiltshire Lane

Thomas Ewer Thomas Ewer

Fore Street Farm Charles Tillett Charles Tillett

Southill Farm George WhiteWilliam Whittington

The Grange Richard WattsJohn Churchill

St Catherine's Farm Edward LongDaniel Long

Mistletoe Farm Daniel Deacon John Goodman

Cuckoo Hill Farm William Bugbee?

Cheney Street Farm Edward Long Daniel Long

Field End Farm William Durbridge William Durbridge

Orchard Farm Joseph Ambridge [oseph Ambridge

Field End Lodge William White

Field End Road [ames Nightingale [ames Nightingale

Field End House Thomas White William .Lawrence

Sigers Farm Richard Eales Richard Eales

Park Farm William Lawson Henry Powell

Ruisiip, Northwood and EastcoteLocal History Socie~

31 Journal 2004

Fig. 3 - Heads of Household

Location Head of household Age Occupation

Eastcote George Green 30 FarmerMaryBaker 60[ames Foort 32 Stocking makerWilliam Haynes 60 Agricultural LabourerGilbert Lawrence 50 Sawyer

[oel Street Daniel Matheson 25 PublicanWilliam Lawrence 25 Sawyer

Myrtle Cottage RobertTyte 66 ex NavyJohn Stent 50 IndependentWilliam Mead 40 Ag. Lab.John Lawrence 25 Ag. Lab.Richard Poulton 45 Bricklayer

Haydon Hall Farm Daniel Matheson 60 FarmerReasons Hill William Nash 25 Ag. Lab.

George Bugden 20 Ag. Lab.[ames Lawrence 20 Ag. Lab.HenryWebb 40 Ag. Lab.

Wiltshire Lane George Lavender 56 GamekeeperIesse Aldridge 30 Ag. Lab.Noah Botwright 25 Ag. Lab.James Hilliard 30 Ag. Lab.

Eastcote Cottage Charles Jenkins 50 IndependentWilliam Hilliard 55 Ag. Lab.Richard Long 25 Ag. Lab.[oseph Herridge 40 Ag. Lab.William Weatherly 60 Ag. Lab.William Baily 37 CarpenterDaniel Gregory 25 Ag. Lab.Mary Stent? 45 LabourerThomas Ewer 50 FarmerWilliam White 30 Ag. Lab.Thomas Nash 25 Ag. Lab.William Holdford 40 Ag. Lab.James ? 60 Ag. Lab.Samuel Clarke 42 ?

Fore Street William Alexander 25 GamekeeperWilliam Biggs 28 Ag. Lab.William Eastman 25 PolicemanJohn Page 65 BricklayerWilliam Jennings 40 Ag. Lab.Henry King 35 Ag. Lab.William Bowden 60 Ag. Lab.John Gregory 50 Ag. Lab.Catherine Atherly? 28 Labourer


32

Fig. 3 - Heads of Household (Cont.)


Fore Street Farm Charles Tillett 40 FarmerJohn Bishop 70 Ag. Lab.Joseph Ambridge 20 Ag. Lab.William Bishop 45 Ag. Lab.William Hows ? 50 Ag. Lab.James Clarke 45 Carpenter

High Grove [anet Tate 50 Female Servant[ames Ambridge 50 Ag. Lab.

Spring Cottage Phillip Souper 40 IndependentEastcote Lodge Mary Hingestone 75 IndependentBlack Horse PH Hannah Smith 35 Publican

Henry Baldwin 45 ' FarrierRebecca Temple 29 LabourerWilliam Wilton 45 Ag. Lab.[ames Long 45 CarpenterGeorge Lawrence 55 Ag. Lab.John Ashley 35 ?

Easicoie House John Pearce 52 WarehousemanHaydon Hall Sarah Maitland 40 Independent

Edward Hilliard 60 Male Servant[ames Lavender 30 Ag. Lab.

Case is Altered [ames Lipscombe 35 GrocerSouthill Farm William Whittington 20 Farmer

John Churchill 60 FarmerHighRoad William Bowles 45 Gardener

Elizabeth Gregory 30 GrocerHenry Hill 40 WheelwrightThomas Gibbs ? 40 Labourer

St Catherines Farm Daniel Long 25 FarmerThomas Bugden 30 Ag. Lab.

Mistletoe Farm Daniel Deacon 25 FarmerWilliam Bugden ? 50 Farmer

Cheney Street JamesWebb 45 Ag. Lab.Cheney Street Farm Edward Long 55 FarmerField End Farm William Durbridge 50 FarmerOrchard Farm Joseph Ambridge 50 FarmerField End Mary [oel 55 LabourerField End Lodge William White 70 Farmer

John Rose 75 CarpenterThomas Eales 25 Ag. Lab.Sarah Woodly 70 Labourer[ames Nightingale 70 Farmer[ames Nightingale 20 Ag. Lab.John Edmonds 35 Ag. Lab.William Peveral 45 Ag. Lab.Henry Douglas 35 Ag. Lab.John Bignall 25 Ag. Lab.

Ruislip, Northwood and Eastcote 33 Joumal2004Local History Society

Fig. 3 - Heads of Household (Cont.)


Field End HouseSigers

Thomas WhiteRichard EalesJames PrichetElizabeth HedgerWilliam Lawson

40 Farmer45 Farmer60 Ag. Lab.60 Labourer53 FarmerPark Farm

N.B.Italics

?Information known although not recorded in census.Entry not legible.

Joumal2004Ruislip, Northwood and EastcoteLocal History Society

34

A PREHISTORIC FLINT BLADEFROM THE COLNE VALLEY, HAREFIELD

by Colin Bowlt

I record here my finding of a worked flintblade in the Colne Valley in 1986. It was anunstratified find, but is thought worthputting on record. It was found at thesouthern end of Broadwater Gravel Pit (in thespoil heap of alluvial soil removed before theextraction of gravel (grid ref TQ 046S92).

'\I

_.l....--....l.....---1-----1.....---1._.l..-.-..JL

012 3 4 5 6 cm.

Fig. 1. Prehistoric Flint Bladefrom the Colne Valley, Harefield

The blade is some 6.Scm long by 2.0 cm at itsgreatest width. (Fig. 1) and shows clear signsof manufacture. Long slivers have beenremoved by a flaking technique on one side.The other side shows the typical ripple linesspreading out from where the piece wasstruck to part it from a larger lump of flint(the core). The narrower end is snapped toproduce a chisel end. It is unclear whetherthis was originally accidental but the endnow seems to show a polished end due towear.

Blades of this type are usually associatedwith Mesolithic times (SOOO- 4000 BC).Although one cannot be sure of its date ofmanufacture since it was simply found lyingunstratified on the heap of spoil, its situationwas close to that of the well knownMesolithic site at Dewes Farm, SouthHarefield, that was investigated some yearsagot,

More recently a nationally importantMesolithic site was found further down theColne Valley at Uxbridge opposite the TreatyHouse-. Remarkably, the site contained relicsof occupation at two periods separated bysome one to two thousand years. The earliestcontained bones of reindeer and horse,indicating cold, tundra landscape. Carbon 14dating indicates a date of circa SOOOBC.The bones in the second area were largely ofred deer indicating a change to warmer,wooded conditions, with a provisional datingof 6000BC. The site contained much flintwork, some of it fitting together, showingthat it had been worked on the site.

People sometimes find stones in theirgardens with intriguing shapes and wonderwhether they were stone-age implements.One has to remember that although flintoccurs in the chalk outcrop at Harefield, theRuislip area has no natural stone or flint. Allthat is found here has been imported, most ofit recently (in archaeological terms) forbuilding purposes. Often this contains bitswith interesting shapes, but these are usuallydue to natural causes. However a few piecesof prehistoric worked flint have been found,mainly in the vicinity of the River Pinn.Some worked flints were found in theexcavation by the Society of the largeearthwork at Manor Farm 3. These werequite different in shape from the blade foundat Harefield and were probably of later date.


Journal 200435

This earthwork has not been dated but iscertainly no older than the shards of Romanpottery also found in the earth bank.The pieces of flint were probably accidentalinclusions. A few similar pieces of workedflint have occasionally been found,unstratified, in gardens, such as those found

I Lacaille AD. Trans. LAMAS 1961; VCH Middlesex 119702 Lewis J.S.C. in The Archaeology. of Greater London. 20003 Bedford R. and Bowlt C. RNELHS Bulletin 1977

by the geologist, the late S. W. Hester, at 63Manor Way, RuislipEven though little prehistoric material hasbeen found in our local area so far, it is stillworth keeping an eye open for worked flints.Unexpected archaeological finds continue tobe made in the London area.


Jouma12004

GUIDED WALKS

As a contribution to National Local History Month in May 2004, the RNELHS organisedfour guided walks around the original Parish of Ruislip led by members of the Society.These walks were entitled:

Eastcote - Meadow to Metroland - led by Karen Spink and Susan Toms (2 May)Northwood - Hamlet to Town - led by Simon Morgan (9 May)Old Ruislip - led by Eileen Bowlt (16 May)Beating The Bounds between Ruislip and Harefield

led by Eileen Bowlt and Robert Goodchild (Harefield LHS) (19May)The 2 May and 19May walks are described in th'efollowing two articles.

EASTCOTE - MEADOW TO METROLAND

by Karen Spink and Susan Toms

The main aim of our walk was to give animpression of how Eastcote changed from asmall rural village to the modem suburb wesee today, with the opening of theMetropolitan Railway between Harrow andUxbridge on 30 June 1904. It was thereforeappropriate that we started our walk atEastcote Station, the catalyst for thisdevelopment. The first original stationopened 26 May 1906 as a halt, which meantpassengers wishing to board the train had towave a green flag to alert the driver whilesimilarly they had to give the guard noticewhen wanting to leave the train. The stationcomprised two wooden platforms and agalvanised iron waiting room. However themajority of passengers in the early yearswere not commuters but children and adultscoming out for day trips to Eastcote, 'one ofthose picturesque rural villages thatpopularity has failed to spoil'. Many thencontinued to the Pavilion EntertainmentGrounds run by Arthur Bayly, a bandleaderin the Salvation Army, further down FieldEnd Road.

As the population grew due to the massivedevelopment of the many estates in the 1920sand 30s the station became inadequate and anew building designed in the modem styleby Adams, Holden and Pearson wascompleted 3 September 1939. In recognition

of the many remaining modem-style featuresthe building was listed in 1994.

Most of the land that was developed forEastcote shops and houses had belonged toRalph Hawtrey Deane of Eastcote House.The first of Eastcote's shopping parades,Field End Parade, developed by the TellingBrothers in the 1920s,.offered everything thetwentieth century shopper could need, withmany more shops than the old village furthernorth.

The parade, with its decorative style anddiaper-pattern brickwork, was designed byFrank Osler who was one of the architects forthe Hampstead Garden Suburb. We couldsee his influence in the adjacent Eastcote EndPark Estate, also built by Tellings in the1920s. The tree-lined street of Morford Wayhas a variety of cottage-style dwellings,many with decorative plasterwork (notablygrapevines), window details and prettyporches. Contemporary advertisements forthe estate described it as 'the ideal residentialsuburb'. Tellings also provided tenniscourts, bowling green and a community hall.The hall was converted into the Ideal Cinemain the 1930sbut was demolished in the 1950sand replaced by officeblocks. Ideal Motors,next to the cinema, had a similar fate.The Manor (formerly Manor House) pub wasbuilt in 1934.


Journal 200437

The shops on the opposite side of Field EndRoad were developed, at different stages, byRotherham Estates, as was Orchard Parade,that we passed on our left, as far as the shopthat currently houses the post office. DuringWorld War Il this was used as a BritishRestaurant which provided low-cost meals.The rest of the parade was completed in thefifties, ending with Eastcote Library in 1959.The rather plain Deane Parade opposite,beween Abbotsbury Gardens and Dean CroftRoad, was built by T.F.Nash.

Standing on the site of the present WarMemorial we viewed Field End Farm acrossthe road. This timber-framed building wasmentioned in the 1565Terrier when a houseon this site belonged to John Feme, a miller.In 1750 it came into the possession of theHawtrey family, one of the main landownersin the area and it remained as part of theirestate until the land was sold off in the 1930s

. to form the Rotherham Estate. During theearly twentieth century it was farmed by J.Westacott as a dairy farm, hence the farm'spopular name Westacotts.

The Field End Farm estate included a muchsmaller farm of four acres called OrchardFarm which we also viewed from the WarMemorial. However it was converted intothe modem pebble-dashed bay-windowedhouse we see today in 1931by E.S. Hartley,the architect for the Rotherham EstatesCompany.

Before continuing we reminded ourselvesthat our viewing site had originally been thecattle pond for Field End Farm and wasconsidered a local beauty spot withschoolchildren coming to paint and drawthere. It was also a hazard before streetlighting with several records of people fallinginto the pond when it was dark. However in1929 all that changed when the WarMemorial was moved here from outside theTudor Lodge Hotel and the area becamepublic gardens.

Further along, on the other side of the road,an old barn that had been part of OrchardFarm was demolished when the new road,The Sigers, was developed in the 1960s.


The street takes its name from a farm whichactually stood further along Field End Road.

On our right we passed the largedevelopment of flats, The Forresters, built in1987 on land that had belonged to theHawtrey Deanes. The blocks were built onthe same footprints as the 1960s pre-fabricated concrete council flats that theyreplaced. These had replaced large detachedhouses, put up by the builder T.F.Nash, anda grand mock-Tudor house calledGriffinhurst.

Tudor Lodge Hotel, a genuine sixteenthcentury building with later additions, hadnot been owned by the Hawtrey Deanes, butduring the nineteenth century by the Wattsfamily who were corn chandlers. It was Mrand Mrs Benjamin Hall who, during WorldWar Il, allowed their house to be used as aVAD hospital, and erected a memorial tolocals killed' during the war on the roadoutside. It was the replacement of this crossthat we saw in the Memorial Gardens.

With the increase in population there was aneed for a place of worship in Eastcote otherthan the Methodist Chapel and in 1913oneacre of land was purchased from theHawtrey family. Further active fund-raisingby Kenneth Goschen of Sigers resulted, on 18December 1920, in the establishment of acorrugated iron mission church on the site ofthe present parish hall. In 1921a further acreof land was donated by Ralph HawtreyDeane and after more fund-raising the newchurch and parish' of St Lawrence wasconsecrated on 21 October 1933. The simplestrong red brick building, holding acongregation of 400, is the building we seetoday.

Before walking up Cheney Street, westopped on the site of another of the Eastcoteponds and looked up the old bridleway, nowBridle Road, to the parish boundary withPinner. The earliest houses in this road werebuilt about 1912, as were those that wepassed at the beginning of Cheney Street.

As we continued along Cheney Street wepaused to admire Cheney Street Farm, a fine

38 Journal 2004

original sixteenth century farmhousementioned in the 1565Terrier. We noted thevery sympathetic extension added in the1930s when tiles and wood from ademolished barn were' used to create anauthentic-looking new building behind theoriginal farm, which abuts on to the road.Unfortunately this was not typical of theperiod when the more normal practice was todemolish anything' old-fashioned'.

Further up Cheney Street we came to the siteof Thomas Elkington's brickfield. From 1896to c.1904soft red facing bricks and mouldedbricks and tiles were made here for use inEastcote and Pinner.

We then walked through the Eastcote ParkEstate which was built in the 1930s byComben and Wakeling as a result of buyingEastcote House and grounds and somesurrounding land. The original plan was todemolish Eastcote House but there was somuch opposition that in 1931 the RuislipNorthwood U.D.e. purchased the House and9.1 acres of its grounds for use by the localresidents. Unfortunately the House wasdemolished in 1964 but the gardens stillremain for our enjoyment.

This estate was the premier estate ofEastcote. It was aimed at professional upper-middle class people. The layout of the estatewas spacious with sweeping curved roadsand generous amounts of greenery toemulate the garden suburbs. There was avariety of houses but all were detached orsemi-detached. This was not high-densityhousing. We viewed some attractive originalwindows and pargetting and the superiorhouses with their green tiled roofs,throughout the estate. In particular weadmired the original 'Dutch-style' leadedwindows which were the trademark of localbuilder Cyril Vincent Galley who completedthe estate when Comben and Wakelingdisposed of 88 plots to him. One of the bestexamples was the house he built for himselfat 7 St Lawrence Drive on the edge of theestate.

At the junction of St Lawrence Drive withField End Road was another pond, now filled

in as a small green with the Eastcote ParkEstate sign on it. Close by stood Sigerswhich was demolished when the estate wascompleted. Sigers (or Seizers) is an oldEastcote name dating back to the thirteenthcentury. The house became a gentleman'sresidence in the 1880sand it was here in thegardens that Kenneth Goschen held summerfetes in the twentieth century to raise moneyfor the new St Lawrence church.

Goschen also leased 57 acres from theEastcote House Estate including Park Farm.This timber-framed building was mentionedin the 1565 Terrier as being the 'brick place'of Thomas Wetherly who paid rent of 1000bricks per annum. During the nineteenthcentury it became part of the Eastcote HouseEstate of the Hawtrey Deane family and itwas the home farm of the house. In 1930most of the land was sold for the EastcotePark Estate but a small amount was retainedas a dairy farm until the 1950sand now onlythe farmhouse remains.

The other side of Field End Road had beenthe Field End House Estate, about onehundred acres extending southwards;including a portion of land that was sold in1901 to the Harrow and Uxbridge RailwayCompany for' the extension of theMetropolitan line. The old farmstead and theVictorian farmhouse have now both gone.The only surviving farm building, on thecorner of Farthings Close, was converted intoRetreat Cottage in the 1920s.

The mid-nineteenth century owner of theField End House Estate, William Lawrence,built the small white cottage, Field EndCottage, and this was tenanted to a variety ofinteresting occupants including (in thenineteenth century) a beer-seller, policeconstable, coachman, (and in the twentiethcentury) an estate agent, paint supplier and awidow who managed an RSPCA Cats Homehere. Eight Field End Villas, were also builtby Lawrence (1856-1862),so that he couldbenefit from the rental income of professionalpeople who were moving out from Londonto rural Eastcote, though the nearest stationat that date was Hatch End some three milesaway.


Journal 200439

Because of the Methodist Chapel, built in1847next to the first of the villas, this part ofField End has been known colloquially sincethen as Chapel Hill. An earlier name wasClay Street, an evocative and accuratedescription. The chapel was demolishedafter the new Methodist church in PamelaGardens was completed.

Our final stop was to view Eastcote Cottage,another . ancient building of Eastcotementioned in the 1565 Terrier under thename Plocketts or Plucketts. This wassurrendered to Ralph Hawtrey of EastcoteHouse in 1606 and remained as part of thefamily's estate until the late nineteenthcentury. It was during this time that thehouse came to be called Eastcote Cottage.As with many other buildings, all thesurrounding land was sold for development,in this case Eastcote Place, Azalea Walk andGeorgian Lodge. But fortunately this

handsome wide building with threeprominent gable ends to the front survived.

In one sense the end of our walk marked theboundary between the old village of Eastcoteand the new modem suburbs. The oldvillage and its great houses represented theold order with their large estates but theywere no longer financially viable and theyhad to be sold off. These then formed thebasis of the new suburban estates of the1920sand 30s which were to develop into thenew community of Eastcote centred aroundthe station and the shopping parade.

NB. More detailed information on some of thebuildings seen on the walk can befound in earliereditions of RNELHS Journals, ego Griffinhurst(1996), The Development of the Retail Trade inEastcote (1998) and Field End Revisited (2000).


Journal 2004

BEATING THE BOUNDS BETWEEN HAREFIELD AND RUISLIP19 MAY 2004

by Eileen M. Bowlt

During Local History Month RNELHS onceagain held a joint meeting with HarefieldHistory Society to beat a portion of our jointboundary. (see Fig. 1) This year it wasdecided to brave the hazards of muddy andrutted fields, prickly hawthorn hedges andbarbed wire, to follow the boundary northfrom Warren Farm in Breakspear Road Northas far as Battlerswells at the top of JacketsLane. Following farmers, Robert Horton ofWarren Farm, Dick Wylde of Bourne Farm,Mr Parfitt of Youngwood Farm, Mr Cooke ofDucks Hill Farm and Steve Denny of Hollandand Holland Shooting Grounds, of whichAshby Farm is part, kind permission toaccess their land, a group of about 30 peoplemet in Bayhurst Wood car park onWednesday 19 May at 7 o'clock in theevening.

Rogation

It was the day before the feast of theAscension and the end of Rogation, theperiod when parishioners processed aroundthe fields in medieval times asking God(rogare = to ask) for a fruitful harvest. Afterthe Reformation the processions weretransformed into perambulations' of theparish boundaries led by the parson andchurchwardens who literally beat the boundswith willow wands at intervals usuallymarked by a significant tree or sometimescrosses or boundary stones. Small boys weretraditionally beaten at the same time toensure that they would remember the placein later years and be able to settle futureboundary disputes. Sometimes they weregiven sweets and cakes as well!

Gospel Oak and Crouch Cross

Clearly there had been boundary markersaround Harefield, because one of thequestions put to a Court of Survey held for

Richard Newdigate, Lord of the Manor ofHarefield, on 26 April 1692,was about LandMarks:

'Whether has any tenant .... plowed up or castdown Removed or taken away any Meer Stone,Baulk Hedgerow or Land Share' 1

The document goes on to mention a crosscalled 'Crouch Cross alias French Cross', whereRuislip, Harefield and Rickmansworthparishes met. In fact this was where wefinished our walk near Battlerswells. Thewood on the north side of Jackets Lane inRuislip Parish is called French Grove to thisday. Incidentally the cross marked thecounty boundary between Middlesex andHertfordshire as well as the meeting of threeparishes. The nineteenth century Coal Taxmarker on the county boundary at the top ofShrubs Road is only a few yards away fromCrouch Cross.

Presumably the various markers have longsince been removed, but there is a special treeknown as the Gospel Oak still in existence inSwakeleys Road, opposite Woodstock Drive,marking the spot where Harefield andHillingdon parishes met. Probablyprocessions in earlier days had stoppedbeside it for a reading from the gospels.A stone plaque, set up in 1950, tells us that'Beneath this Holy Oak or Gospel Tree, came oncea year the Curate and people, to invoke DivineBlessing, Upon their forthcoming crops.'The present tree is a healthy young sapling.

Warren Farm

The Horton family came out to see us offalong the stream that marks the boundarynear Warren Farm. The farmhouse (rebuilt in1946 following a doodlebug explosion on 4October 1944)straddles the parish boundary.A Ruislip Terrier (land survey) of 18372refersto it as 'part house' for that reason.


Journal 2004

At that time it was fairly new. The fieldswhich seem to have been cleared from theNorth Riding portion of Mad Bess Wood areshown on Rocque's Map of Middlesex 1754and on the Ruislip Enclosure Map 1806,butthere was no house at those dates. The smallestate belonged to Peter Styles ofSyppenham, Burnham, Bucks, in the lateeighteenth century, but Joseph Spicer & Coowned it in 1837and William Brill was thenliving theres. A few years later it was boughtby [oseph Ashby Partridge of Breakspearsand was sold to Howard Stransom Button in19224 following the death of CommanderTarleton of Breakspears.

Mr Button lived at The Cedars at Hillingdonand was head of Howard Roberts, a well-known grocery chain based at Uxbridge. Aswe continued on our way we discovered thathe bought up much of the land betweenBreakspear Road and Ducks Hill in the early1920s to create a sporting estate, most of itpreviously having been part of Breakspears.

Selsaws and Hodgett Hill

We followed the stream up hill, noting partsof the hedgerow that seemed to have beenallowed to widen and develop into a springof woodland and at other places relics ofwhat had probably been a double boundaryhedge. We crawled through barbed wire intoSelsaws, a group of fields, mentioned inHarefield records from the early sixteenthcentury. Richard Webbe sold them toWilliam Heyden in 15125. They became partof Ashby Farm, which stands on the Ruislipside of the boundary, and were acquired byMr Partridge about 18406• Here we werejoined by seven or eight horses, all seeminglywith a penchant for historical knowledge, asthey poked their heads between us everytime we stopped to look at maps and discussthe view. The parish boundary runs alongthe eastern edge of Selsaws. Old maps showit as a lane joining Jackets Lane with theGreen Lane that runs through Mad BessWood and comes out by the Scout Camp intoBreakspear Road North.

The northern edge of Selsaws was anotherold lane, now barely discernible called ClayLane that ran down the hill from the site ofHodge at Hill (Hodgett Hill) to BreakspearRoad North near Bourne Farm. Hodge atHill was demolished sometime in thenineteenth century and the hollow where itstood is now in the shooting grounds ofHolland and Holland. It belonged to BeatrixCollins in 15187 and became part of theBreakspears estate in 1774 a couple of yearsafter John [oseph Partridge married ElizabethAshby. It was part of their marriagesettlements.

Youngwood and Ashby Farms

Through gaps and gateways. in the hedge wehad good views of Youngwood Farm inRuislip, named after the Youngwood portionof Mad Bess Wood. It is a sixteenth centurytimber-framed building with later additionsand mainly modem outbuildings. It is justwithin the boundary of St Catherine's Manorin Ruislip and is possibly the house that theLady Paget permitted her woodward,Thomas Gold, to build c1587. From 1873-83itwas part of Lawrence James Baker's HaydonHall estate and was then owned by the Coxfamily of Harefield Place and HillingdonHouse until the end of the First World War",Howard Stransom Button bought it from theCavendish Land Company in 1922 and itwent to the Middlesex County Council in1936. Consequently it passed through theGLC 1964-84to the Borough of Hillingdon.The Churchill family farmed there for muchof the nineteenth century.

Ashby Farm could also be seen and the topsof two cottages called Ashby Cottages.The farmhouse appears to have been rebuiltin the early nineteenth century, perhapswhen Peter Bonython owned and occupiedthe farmhouse according to the Ruislip RateBooks and 1837Terrier. He sold it to [osephAshby Partridge. However, a house hasstood on the site since at least the sixteenthcentury when John Living was given as theowner in a 1565Terrier.


Journal 200442

The cottages have a plaque giving their dateas 1911. They were part of CommanderTarleton' s improvements to the Breakspearestate. The Ive family was resident at AshbyFarm during most of Queen Victoria's reignand the Golding family during the twentiethcentury.

Because of some difficulty in getting acrosssome hedges we deviated from the parishboundary and went through two pieces ofwoodland with teasing names, Scarlet Springand Deadmans Grove. We could see, on thehill behind us, some of the buildings ofDucks Hill Farm and the Horse House andthe Guinness Trust Flats at the top of JacketsLane. At the top of a long field we joined apublic footpath running from Shepherd Hillto the corner of Jackets Lane, where werejoined the parish boundary.

Battlerswells

We completed the walk by walking upJackets Lane which is on the boundary, withFrench Grove on our right, until we reachedBattlerswells.

1 LMA: Acc1085 EM82 LMA: DRO 19 E3!23 !bid4 LMA: MDR 1922 23 7275 LMA: Ace 1085 M546 LMA: Ace 1085 M467 LMA: Ace 1085 M548 LMA: Ace 1085 579 Bowlt, Eileen M. The Goodliest Place in Middlesex, pp79.10 LMA: MDR 19222285


The old Battlerswells was part of Breakspearsfrom the seventeenth century and water froma well or spring was carried in pipes toBreakspears in Commander Tarleton's time.Battlerswells Farm was sold to CharlesHamilton Wickes in 192210 and he and hiswife employed a fashionable architect, PhilipTilden, to design a ne>y house. It wasdescribed in 'The Builder' in January 1926.When advertised for sale in January 1987 theestate included a country house, stud farm,two workers I cottages and 26 acres. Sevenyears later the house was bought by anIslamic community and was renamed Dar AlTableegh. A much more modem house at thefop of the lane is now called BattlerswellFarm. However, the horses have gone andsome of the outbuildings appear to be fallingdown. A firm, 'Rebus' is using otheroutbuildings.

We returned to Bayhurst Wood in ease andcomfort, thanks to a mini-coach thoughtfullyprovided by Robert Goodchild.

43 Journal 2004

44 Journal 2004

Fig. 1 The portion of the common boundary between Ruislip and Harefield,beaten on the 19 May 2004, based upon the 1866 OS six inch map


BOB BEDFORD 1916 - 2004

The Society suffered the loss of one of itsoldest and most active members with thedeath of Bob Bedford in March this year.Bob had been a prominent figure in manyaspects of local life, appropriately so as hisroots were in Middlesex. His family at onetime ran The Case is Altered in Eastcote, andhis father walked the beat in Harrow.

Bob was born in the county and lived here allhis life except for his time in the army.However there was nothing parochial abouthis interests, and he took every opportunityto travel. As a youngster he cycled a lot, andin his first job in shipping he used to board aboat to somewhere in the British Isles andthen cycle back. During his time in India inthe war he used his leaves to get away intothe Himalayas.

After the war he went into the new kind ofshipping with BEA, and virtually createdtheir cargo facilities, carrying on with BritishAirways - if he had still been in charge it'sdoubtful if the Brinksmat robbery wouldhave even been attempted.

His marriage to Jean at Ruislip was thebeginning of a happy and loving partnership.Together they made a home in ArlingtonDrive where they saw Liz and Paul launchedinto worthwhile careers, and set Sue on thepath to independence. Home and gardenwere of great importance - Bob said thatdigging the garden was one of his greatestpleasures.

However Bobstill found time for a multitudeof interests and activities, all with aspects ofservice to the community. Whatever hejoined he took an active role in. He and Jeanbegan the local branch of the National Trust.Bob was the leading figure on theConservation Panel. He was a strongsupporter of the Residents Association,becoming a Life Vice-President. He was aprime mover in the setting-up of


Neighbourhood Watch. At St. Mary's,Harefield Bob took a full and active role inchurch affairs including being a Sidesmanand member of the PCc.

Jean and he were both very active in theLocal History Society, Jean as Secretary andBob as a superb organiser of many splendidvisits, all impeccably planned, researchedand reconnoitred, and all having a bit ofarchaeology tucked in somewhere. He took alead in the archaeological digs at Manor Farmand the old Vicarage. He served on thecommittee where his down-to-earthpracticality was invaluable. For a long timehe regularly opened up the hall and broughtthe equipment to meetings. His considerableservices to the Society were recognised withHonorary Life Membership.

Jean's death hit him very hard, but he copedbravely and competently with the supportand the joy he had from his children andgrandchildren in whom he took great pride.He continued with his active roles in thevarious bodies, and joined the Widowed InMid Marriage organisation where he mademany good friends.

The stroke that he suffered and its aftereffects were particularly frustrating for Bob.He, who had always been on hand to do andto help, was himself now dependent onothers. The patience he developed did not, Ibelieve, come easily to him but he was deeplyappreciative of the support of the family andfriends.

His last few weeks were very hard despitethe good care he was having. He found itmore difficult to speak, and after the lateststroke was hardly able to communicate at all.However, he seemed determined to hold onlong enough for all the family and some ofhis closest friends to make their farewells.We hope that he is now at rest, and we canremember the Bobeach of us knew.

Kay Holmes

45 Journal 2004

EILEEN WATLING 1924 - 2003

It was with great sadness that members of theSociety heard of the death of Eileen Watlingin December 2003. She had played a largepart in the life of the Society for many yearsand served as secretary from 1989-99.Duringthat time Eileen participated in every aspectof the Society's activities.

Two of her major interests were history andarchaeology, so it is not surprising that shewent on nearly all the outings, but she alsohad a flare for organisation that was much inevidence when exhibitions at the Cow Byrewere being planned. She collected the keyeach day, locked up in the evenings, tookcare of the money from the sale ofpublications and arranged the rota of helpers.Her stint as secretary also covered the yearswhen we organised some of the LocalHistory Conferences at the Winston ChurchillHall. Again her help was invaluable. AtChristmas time she purchased festivetablecloths for the tables, helped with therather ambitious cooking that we went in forin those days and joined in the entertainment.She also typed the carol sheets that we usedto sing from. Who will ever forget theintricate seventeenth century dances thatwere a feature of the Pepys Evening withEileen's stately figure in the middle of theset? Her quiet manner belied her love ofdressing up and acting. In December 1990the theme of the Christmas meeting was'Christmas 1940'. Eileen, dressed in a schoolblazer and panama hat gave a lively accountof her experiences as an evacuee, thehighlight being the thrill experienced by thegirls when they did their Greek lessons in aGentlemen's Cloakroom!

Eileen Watling was born ill Walthamstowand attended Walthamstow Girls' High

School. On account of the heavy bombing inEast London, the family moved to Eastcoteduring the Second World War and she wentto Harrow County School for Girls. She wasevacuated to Wellington and much ofEileeri'spreparation for the School Certificateexaminations was done in shelters.

She trained as a teacher at Salisbury Churchof England Training College and laterstudied for a BA in history at BirkbeckCollege in the evenings, whilst workingduring the day. She enjoyed history andbeing keen to do some research, embarkedupon an MA under Professor R.R.Darlington. She did not complete it,however, because she married MauriceWatling, head of English at the Schoolwhereshe was teaching history, in 1957. They hadeight happy years together, indulging theircommon love of travel and gardening, beforehe died suddenly in their garden on aSunday morning in 1965.

This was a traumatic event in Eileen's life.She was then head of History at a school inChiswick. She later moved to Kingsbury asdeputy head of the Lower School, where hertact was needed and appreciated at a time ofsome difficulty in the educational world inBrent. She stayed there until her retirement.

It was at that point that Eileen beganvoluntary work as an archaeologicalvolunteer at the Museum of London andshortly afterwards she joined our Society.She continued to travel widely and to tendher garden. She was a member of the RoyalHorticultural Society. It was also duringthose years that she played her role in ourSociety. She is much missed.

Eileen M. Bowlt.

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Documents

RUISLIP, NORTHWOOD & EASTCOTE LOCAL …btckstorage.blob.core.windows.net/site8867/Journals/2009...Ruislip, Northwood and Eastcote Local History Society Registered Charity No. 289234