Ladies' Guild Meeting - April 2011
Memories came flooding back as Ken Burton talked of growing up in the 1930’s and 1940’s. He started by telling us a little of his family background from 1870 and how he became a ‘Burton’.
Ken was born in Pirton in 1929; sadly his mother died when he was 3 weeks old. His aunt, Ruth Pearce (nee Handscombe), who had lived in the USA and Vancouver, had returned in 1927 to care for John Handscombe, who had been blinded when he got lime in his eyes. She was now to bring Ken and his siblings up. We saw a beautiful photo of a lovely babe with a mass of curly hair. This was Ken; many ‘ahs’ were to be heard in the room.
At 3 years of age, he met his future bride, who was 3 years his senior; young love! Each day, he had to take the ducks and goslings down to the village pond and fetch them back each evening. All the villagers did this to keep the pond free from algae. The water supply was from the well, which also acted as a fridge. If the rope broke, which it often did, they would have to delve in and retrieve it, often bringing up dead animals which they threw on the dung heap at the rear of the house. Piped water arrived in 1937. Also emptied on the dung heap were the outside toilet pail and the gazunders. They used the Daily Mirror as toilet paper.
On Monday, he had to light the copper and shred the carbolic soap for the washing. There was also a small tin bath to wash clothes in, using Reckitts blue. When washed, it was put through the mangle and hung in the orchard to dry. This tin bath was also used to wash the children in, in front of the ‘range’. Ken, being the youngest, always went first. I and I’m sure many others remembered this weekly event well. How would today’s generation cope? They are now so used to having a daily shower.
The range had to be black leaded daily. The toasting fork always hung in a prominent place. Today, crumpets certainly do not taste the same! How much easier it is to pop them and your bread into the toaster.
They had no electricity until after the Second World War. The house was lit with oil lamps and the children carried their candles up to bed. There was a very large oil lantern in the front room which was only used on Sunday’s and for funerals.
The family had a radio and every Saturday evening gathered round to listen to the Football Results, followed by ‘In Town Tonight’. On Sunday, it was the church service. Other things they listened to included ‘Children’s Hour’, ‘Larry the Lamb’ and ‘Uncle Mac’. To get the Accumulator charged up for the radio, you had to go and see Ted Titmuss (Darkie), who was also the village hairdresser. He charged 3d (1p) for a basin cut and 6d (2½p) for a proper cut.
In Ken’s bedroom was a drawer full of reading glasses. When anybody came who couldn’t see well, they would go through the drawer to find a pair and so these spectacles were shared between many family members.
In Pirton, there were 2 village stores. One was run by Miss Bunyan, the other by Miss Burling, who would only serve you if you had lived in the village for at least 30 years. The blacksmith was Freddie Bell, who used to let the children blow his bellows to keep the fire going. Freddie built a bike for Jack Lawrence the cobbler, who only had one leg. Jack had a contract with the police to repair their boots and every week cycled into Hitchin to return those he had repaired and to pick up the next ones.
There was a small village bus, the Pirton Belle, which went to Hitchin on Tuesday and Saturday. The last bus would not leave until all were on it and children were sent round to the various pubs to round up the stragglers.
The milkman was Tom Lake. He went round with his horse and cart to fill up the churns. Four bakers served the village. Frank Ashton got up by 3:00 am every morning and delivered to Shillington, Pegsdon, Hexton and Higham Gobion. However, Bob and Bert Walker didn’t get out until two or three o’clock in the afternoon. Frank Redman from Gravenhurst delivered seasonal vegetables in his van. Willie Gillett, the Doctor, wasn’t really very interested in his patients. He was much more concerned about whether there were any eggs! However, he must have prescribed some cures as Martha Weedon (a distant relative of our churchwarden John) was known as Medicine Woman and went to Hitchin to collect the prescriptions.
There was great excitement twice a year when the Fair came. They loved the manually operated swing boats and the roundabout. The Walls Ice Cream man came occasionally and you could buy a briquette and 2 wafers for 2d (1p). You’d be lucky to get it for £1 today.
Aged between 7 and 8 he started ‘beating’ for one of the local farmers, who gave him cigarettes as part of his payment, which he and his friend Sam used to smoke behind the hedge. Ken became more involved in farming and used to walk his Uncle Harry’s horse around the field to make sure it kept to the right tracks. He would then go and pick up sheaves.
Each year a threshing machine would come to the village to be shared by four or five farmers and Ken would get a week off school to go chaffing and caving. He kept this up until 1939.
Between the ages of 10 and 11, he worked
for Bert Weedon who led him into a field and said “there’s a tractor; you
had better learn to drive it” and he did, much to the displeasure of the
local policeman. He would also mix up cattle food for the week; this
consisted of mangles dipped in black treacle. There was also chocolate for
the cattle which was dipped in a blue substance. The boys managed to scrap
this off and the cows never saw much of this treat.
In 1940, he started Secondary School at Old Hal’s Way but was always in
trouble, getting the cane most days. A year later, thanks to Rands’
Charity, he obtained a place at the Grammar School where he stayed until
the end of 1945, although he left with no qualifications. That same year,
he was shot at by the Germans when he was in the field. He managed to
avoid them by hiding in a furrow.
A doodlebug was dropped on some cottages in the village and the stable behind trapping the horse, which was rescued by the local fire brigade. Another was dropped on the very strict Baptist church which was only used by two families; the Postman’s and the Castle family. This pleased the children greatly as they no longer had to attend.
On 1st January 1946, he started work at Olivers, Wandon End, earning 1 shilling an hour (5p). To get to work, he brought a motorised bike which cost him 2s and 9d to run each week (about 14p).
Ken finally married his childhood sweetheart on 26th August 1950. They honeymooned in Brighton and began married life in Pirton in a caravan that Ken had purchased for £120.
They were certainly the days and brought back many memories to all those of us mature enough to remember. A most enjoyable talk.