AMINE

O n A B i c y c l e

Hereford Lore Reminiscence Newsletter

T h i s edition of Age To Age is all about transport through thei years.

When I was a teenager before the last war I remembergetting hold of an old tandem bike frame and my pal and Iwent around the scrapyards (especially Davies Brothers atthe top of Bath Street) looking for spare cycle parts to makeour tandem rideable. After some weeks of searching, we

T he horse drawn wagon was a conventional form of transpor tfor gypsy fam i l i es year s ago. H er e a R om any pr i ncessposes for her wedding picture a t Blakemere w i th t he fam i l ywagon in the background

NOW ON TAPE

Vol. 3 Is s ue 5 S e p t e m b e r 1995 H e r e f or d Lore, 26 Quarry Road, Hereford HR1 1SS

M a d e F o r Tw ofinally rebuilt our form of transport and enjoyed every minuteof it. We went for rides around the countryside, taking it inturn to ride on the back seat. (The idea was to have a rest,but with a fixed wheel, you had to keep pedalling) I wonder ifyou have any memories like this?

Tom Woo/away

Our next issue of Age to Age will be out inNovember. Copies are available from City andBelmont Libraries, Hereford Tourist InformationCentre, The City Environment Directorate a tGarrick House, Age Concern Offices, BerrowsHouse, Bath Street and Hereford Town Hall,Good Old Days Shop, St Owens Street.Hereford Lore Editorial Group are Alf Evans,Edith Gammage, Roy Kennett, Jim Thomas, ViThomas, V i Woolaway, Tom Woolaway, Bil lMorris and Bill Laws. Thanks to The RuralMedia Company and Natalia Silver.

We are grateful for thesupport of :

H E R E F O R DCI T Y C O U N C I LSUPPO RT I NC T HEarts

Getting Around in HMiriam's Album

M ost of the snapshots on this pagehave been kindly loaned to us fromthe family album of Mir iam Penson ofBelmont. Vi Thomas visited her recentlyto t alk ov er o ld t imes . Mir iam's lat emother Doro t hy Jones, wa s born i n1899 a n d l iv ed i n West f ields f o r 6 0years. During the early years of the 1939

45, war Dorothy worked for Roberts atthe Caf e Roy al i n S t Peters Street .delivering bread f rom the cart drawn byBess, t he horse, s een i n t he pic turebelow

Their errand boy t hen was TommyButler who was serving his apprentice-ship a s a bak er n la t er y ears h ebecame a noted baker and confectioner

Later i n t h e w a r Do r o t h y w a semployed by Midland Red. She was theirfirst lady conductress!

She journeyed all around the countyalways cheerful and although she foundit very t iring s he was always willing tohelp t ravellers w i t h t h e i r s hoppingDorothy came into contact with severalRomany families during her travels andwas a regular t ea t ime gues t in theirbeautifully maintained caravans. O n efamily even inv ited her t o their familywedding (see t he picture on t he f rontpage)

When t h e w a r f i n i s hed , t h e

Burton's Bakery used to stand-in West Street ( now replacedby a row of shops). Bill Lewisis pictured here with some ofthe electric delivery vans. Butwho were the drivers? Anyone

you know?

conductresses were asked t o leave t ogive u p t he i r j obs t o t h e returningservicemen Dorothy did so, but by 1950was back as a Midland Red "c lippy"working for another three years.

First Woman Driver

K athy Nas h i s 9 5 and remembersbecoming Midland Red's f irs t ladybus driver in 1941 S h e drove for themfor 22 years.

One o f her abiding memories i s o fbeing interviewed by Richard Dimblebyfor t he radio programme "Down YourWay" As k ed for her favourite piece ofmusic, Kat hy had n o hesitat ion s h ewanted t o hear "Tales f rom the ViennaWoods" t h e tune she used t o s ing t oherself in the cab while driving

Galloping Doctor

A nd of course no-one could possiblytalk o f Hereford t ransport wit houtmentioning the redoubtable Doctor CyrilFrancis who rode around to his patientsin a horse and carriage. The horse, Tomwas driven at one t ime by a Mr Wes tand later by the good doctor himself And

when the t ime came for the old horse tomeet his maker Doc tor Francis had himstuffed and stood in the hall way of hissurgery

The First Train

O n Saturday October 29 1853, t hefirst t rain s t eamed int o Hereford.According to the Hereford Times of theday " The city was on its toes, the sunshone brilliantly and it was a gloriouslywarm mid-Autumn d a y " Barrs Cour tstation howev er wa s not ready f or atrain and a temporary plat form had t osuffice f or the 11.30 f rom Shrewsburywith two trains pulling no less than s ix1st c lass carriages, a saloon carriageand nine other carriages.

Among those who processed throughthe City for an "elegant lunch served byMr Smy t he o f t h e Ci t y Arms " wa sThomas Brassey a wealthy engineerwho with Stephen Ballard of Malvern andhis brother Robert from Colwall went onto build the Worcester to Hereford line,opened in 1859 One of Robert Ballard'sgreatest engineering feats was the cons-truction o f t h e Ledbury v iaduc t .Thebricks we r e ma d e o n s i t e a n d 3 0 0

ereford

Staffordshire girls employed to carry theclay on their heads to the brick kilns.

Hire Purchase

B lanche Clay t on f rom College Hi l lremembered being sent into serviceat t he age o f fourteen H e r father aminer died young leav ing her mother towork nights at t he ammunit ion factorywhile looking after her family by day

When s he turned nineteen s he wentto wo r k a t Tr e a g o Cas t l e i n S t .Weonards. "I used to go out there on abus. It used to be a shilling each way I nthe end I couldn't afford the bus fare andI got a bicycle on hire purchase, t h ink itwas half a crown a week. It was elevenand a half miles and u s e d to do it in anhour and a half

We used t o cycle in the dark in themorning Th e r e us ed t o b y gyps iesparked all along the side of the Callowcamping a n d cook ing t heir breakfast,and they all used to shout. d idn ' t like itat first, going off I cried bitterly but mymother made me stop there becausewouldn't come in at nights! That was apunishment. The excitement of the townwas flirting with the boys."

From the top: Es ther Morris , LenNicholls, Jackie Roberts and BertMaddy; Kat hy Nash, f i rs t o f t hewomen d r i v e rs ; a n d Ger t rude,Dorothy Strangwood and Grace.

n I ppetsWhere Did It Go?

N ews o f t he f igure o f Christ ,which o n c e s t ood a t op S tFrancis Xavier's Church in BroadStreet and which we featured inour las t issue o f Age To Age,comes from Jock Lockheed, thepopular corporal at the ConingsbyHospital a n d M u s e u m i nWidemarsh S t r e e t . H e h a scontacted u s t o s a y t hat t h e

- statue was removed for reasonsof safety i n 1949. H e k nowsbecause he helped t o do it. Hethinks the statue was broken upand the pieces dispersed.Does any one hav e a n y mo r einformation?

Many Thanks

H ereford L o r e h a s rec ent lybeen the grateful recipients oftwo h a n d s o me s pons ors hips ,namely BT (E500) and HerefordAmateur Operatic Society (-2600).Both donat ions a r e mos t we l -come and t o both organisat ionswe say a very big thank you.The Operat ic Society generouslydonated a night 's tak ings f romtheir s how "We' l l Mee t Again".The s h o w wa s a t remendoussuccess following s o closely onfrom the successful production of"The K ing a n d I ", a n d wa s atribute t o t h e c a s t a n d a l lconcerned. Many thanks too to allthose wh o gav e prizes f or ourHereford Lore draw. Als o a bigthankyou t o All Seasons DanceStudio f or their donation of E45.What would we do without you?

Shopmobility

A nd what would those o f uswith a disability do without thework o f Fra n k Wa rr M.B.E.,instrumental i n br inging Shop .mobility to Hereford?Frank was injured in an accidentat home in 1984 and is confinedto a wheelchair himself.Anyone ex perienc ing dif f ic ult ygetting around in Hereford shouldpick up a Shopmobility leaflet orring (01432 ) 342166 for details.

THE BARRON NIGHTSFriday 8 September

Hereford Theatre 8 . 0 0 b m & A

Tickets 9.50/E8.50 P s Centre senior citizensBox Office: 01432 359252

Hereford Photographic Festival

16 September 1 4 OctoberExhibitions, seminars and workshopsat different venues through Hereford.

For more information contactChris Smart 01432 344039

ew can fail t o have not iced t hewords 'Siege O f Hereford 1645'

spelt out i n marigolds on t he bankbeside the road near the new bridge.Here J o h n Newman cont inues h isstory of the fateful day when Herefordfell to the parliamentarians.On December 18, a t eight i n t hemorning, Hereford fell to Colonel JohnBirch, a 39 year old ex-merchant fromBristol. H e had wit h h im a Parlia-mentarian army of some 1,000 men.The events that led up to the fall of thecity are most interesting. Col Birch metwith t wo dissident officers, la t e o fScudamore's g a r r i s o n C a p t a i n sAlderne and Howarth. The meeting tookplace at the home of a Mr Sissels in

OT C OA Pi InConcert

In aid of the Ai r Ambulance ['toutTalgar th Male Voice Choir

andHerefordians Male Choir

with soloistsKilpeck Vil lage Hall

Friday 15th September 1995at 8.00pm

Tickets E5 including refreshments

City Seized By Farm LabourersLedbury Both officers were paid E100each a n d t hey gav e Birc h mu c hinformation on the City Garrison andthe custom of men from outside the citycoming in to break the ice on the CastleMoat.Birch first thought of putting soldiers intosix carts, covering them with wood andhay and driving them into the city like akind of Trojan horse. But heavy snowaxle deep, and a hard frost put a stop tohis plan. Plan B came into play Birchcollected six soldiers from the Garrisonat Canon Frome and dressed them asfarm labourers. Another soldier namedBerrow was dressed as a constable andgiven a warrant.At six in the morning, on December 18,

FRIENDS OF AGE To AGEFreestyle Graphics

Croydon House, 5 Eign Road, Hereford HR1 2RY Tel: (01432) 343188 Fax: 01432 358513

The Good Old DaysChandos House, 42 St. Owens Street, Hereford. HR1 2PR Tel : (01432) 357352

Abbotsfield Funeral DirectorsMonkmoor Street. Hereford. HR1 2DX Tel: (01432) 356445

British TelecomH.P Bulmer Limited

Hereford Amateur Operatic SocietyBarclays Bank PLC (Staff)

HEREFORD

Danny ha Ruein the

'Good Old Days'Friday 6thOctober7.30pm

Hereford Theatre& Arts CentreTickets E10.50senior citizens

Box Office:01432 359252

AMATEUR OPERATIC SOCIETYpresent

Cole Porter's 'ANYTHING GOES'November 6 1 1 1995

at Hereford Theatre & Arts CentreBox Office: 01432 359252

Guess Who?

THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN COLLECTED BY THE HEREFORD LORE EDITORIAL GROUP.

T -T-hese 38 ladies met up for a reunion oni March 10 1981 B u t just what were theycelebrating? It is giving no clues away to saythat you probably m et one i f you were i nHereford in those days.Answers p l e a s e t o H eref o rd L o r e ,26 Quarry Road, Hereford.

Birch's cavalry and a strong force offoot soldiers rendezvoused on the farside of Aylestone Hill. A short while laterBirch hid the main body of his force in ahollow on the City side of the hill and150 men with firelocks in the ruins of StGuthlac's Priory ( now the site of thebus stat ion) s ome 300 yards f romByster Gate.The gate used to stand in the centre ofwhat is now Commercial Square. A t8.00 o'clock the cart with its labourersand constable moved forward t o theGate, asking for entry to break the ice.On producing the warrant, they gainedentry to the City They quickly overcamethe guards on the Gate. The rest ofBirch's men now ran forward from theircover in the ruins, glad to be on themove after lying in the snow and frostso patiently since 6.00 o'clock. A shortskirmish ensued. Birch was triumphantand t he City of Hereford fell t o t heRoundheads. Barnabas Sc udamoreand 50 others, including Henry Lingen,escaped over the frozen River Wye andtried to make their way to LudlowColonel Birch was made Governor andgiven a grant of E6,000 by Parliament.After this the city took no further part inthe Civil War