Home The Road to Waddamana Waddamana Littlestoke The Women who made me More

Littlestoke

  

Here I will tell you about Littlestoke.

My story is in two parts. The first few years of my life spent at Clay Bottom Farm cottage. Then the second part my childhood and teenage years in 4 Farm Cottage, Little Stoke Lane.

These two houses we now know are in the area of old Little Stoke. Clay Bottom Cottage was an old farm house which was altered and made in to two homes for the farm workers. We lived in the first one by the lane. I was born in an upstairs bedroom in January 1949 to Elizabeth and William Wyatt (Betty and Jim). Also my maternal grandmother Elizabeth Guy lived with us.

I can remember being in my cot and sitting in my high chair. Then learning to walk, I toddled out of the door around the house to the garden. I then began to eat the raspberries from the garden, still my favourite fruit. Down stairs was just a kitchen then along a corridor was the front room (sitting room). We had a very nice brown sofa and out of the sideboard I took a packet of desiccated coconut and sprinkled it all over the sofa. Mum said I was a very naughty girl.

I was on my own and I suppose bored so one day I was delighted to see a Mum with two children pass our gate .I asked if I could play with them but was told I that I was too young. It was Mrs. Cook and her children Dorothy and Stanley who would later become my friends and playmates. Dad worked for Farmer Davis. The farm was up the hill from our house and every evening Dad would come walking down the lane, swinging a small can of fresh milk for us and I would toddle up to meet him, with Mum waiting at the gate. Gran worked in Bristol, so it was only Mum and I at home all day. One day Gran took me across the lane to the field where we had chickens. We had a cockerel and just as Gran began to feed them he attacked her by pecking her on the bottom .I can remember Gran saying that we had to get out of the field fast.

We had lots of family come to visit us and enjoy sitting in the garden or walks along the lanes to enjoy a drink at a local pub .The house was very old and the old lady next door had to get her water from the well. We had a pump in the kitchen. One day family came to visit and there was a boy. I do not remember his name but he threw a cat down the well. I was so upset for the drowned cat and could not understand why Mum was so worried about the water and not the cat. It was because the water became contaminated and we could not use the water for a week.

Then when I was about two and a half, me, Gran, Mum and Dad along with other family emigrated to Australia. On returning from Australia I was age three and a half and at first we stayed with my paternal grandparents Samuel and Frances Wyatt of West Harptree Somerset. Farmer Davis gave Dad his old job back. At first we lodged with Mr. and Mrs. Cutler at 3 Farm Cottages. Mr. Cutler rode a bike with his shirt open summer or winter. Mrs. Cutler was a thin busy woman with grey hair pulled back into a tight grey bun. The house next door became empty and we moved in. This was to be our family home for over forty years. The first time I entered the new house I did not like it very much. The first room you entered from the hall the walls were painted dark green and the woodwork dark brown. There was also a very large black range below a very tall mantelpiece. To the right was a door leading straight into the front room. To the left was a door leading to a very large pantry full of shelves from floor to ceiling. At the back of the room were the window and a door leading out to the yard. Between the two houses there was a very tall red brick wall which even a grown up could not look over. In the yard attached to the house were three doors, the first to the scullery which consisted of just an old brown sink and in the corner a huge brick boiler with a large wooden lid. The next door was a tool shed and the last was the toilet. Even though it was outside it was a flush toilet. Round the corner facing the very large garden was the coal shed. Up stairs were three very large bedrooms. Still we settled in and I had by then had my forth birthday.

A couple of months later my sister Janet was born in the front room downstairs. As at my home birth the local midwives attended and our doctor, Dr Brownridge I had been a spoilt only child until Janet’s birth and got fed up with a baby who cried and could not yet play. Still in our small hamlet of cottages were some children to play with. In Rosedene Cottage the Knapp family lived. The next cottage the Cook family lived and the cottage on the corner of the lane the Richen family. I usually played with Dorothy Cook who was two years older than me and Ann Richens who was four years older than me. We seemed to play out side all the time, in the garden, the lane or the fields.

It was a carefree childhood and our parents did not see much of us at all. Mum would stand at our front gate in the evenings when it was time for bed calling out our names to come in. Sometimes we were allowed to join the boys Stanley Cook and Christopher Knapp. Chris had older brothers and sister they did not bother with us. Of course being outside most of the time the changing seasons decided what we would do. Winter time we would wrap up warm and play in the snow. I can remember we had a lot of snow and so we made a big snowman in the garden and had snowball fights. My favourite outdoor clothes were my navy gabardine school rain coat and my wellington boots. My favourite winter flower is snowdrops and in the garden near the farm pond Mrs. Davis grew them. I would look over the stone wall and think how pretty they were Near the pond was the old disused farm cart. You could still make out the red and blue it was originally painted.

My Dad who worked for Farmer Davis was always up early in the morning and worked hard all day until it was time for our evening meal. I did not see much of him especially when it was haymaking time. Spring time I would love to jump in the puddles of rain wearing my wellington boots. We would wander over the fields as far as Savages Wood. As we walked along we gazed at the trees coming into bud. Sometimes I would go wooding with my Gran, she had a sack and we would fill it to the top then take it home for the fire .Wooding is just picking up sticks or wood from the ground .All around was the constant noise of birds. I loved to hear the Cuckoo and each year Swallows would nest in the eaves of our house. Rooks would make a lot of noise but when I heard the “cawing” noise they made in the evenings I knew it was time to go home for bed. The wild flowers grew so profusely we would pick huge bunches to take home for our Mums. Dad would pick wild mushrooms and I loved the taste of sorrel that grew in the fields. Later on we had a great time picking blackberries, we used to have huge baskets of them and I loved home made blackberry and apple pie. At 4 Farm Cottage we had a very large garden and had fruit trees and through out the year Dad grew lovely fresh vegetables. Within the hour the produce would be brought from the garden cooked and on the plates. It tasted delicious. Summer was wonderful especially in the long school holiday. It was the freedom to play and pass away the long hot summer days. I liked to wear my shorts and t-shirt and each day return looking very dirty but happy. I loved playing in the lane with my friends hopscotch or skipping. Then out for a ride on the bikes. We would take a bottle of water and jam sandwiches and stay out all day. We were surrounded by fields at the back and the side of our house. Making dens in the hedges was fun. Later on after the hay was stacked in the barn we would jump from the highest bales to the loose hay at the bottom.

When autumn arrived the leaves changed to orange or gold and fell to the ground. This was good as for the 5th of November we made a huge guy and stuffed the body with leaves. He was so big he had to be taken to the bonfire by wheelbarrow. All the children made a huge bonfire in the field opposite the farm. There was concrete flooring left from the war which we used to build the bonfire on and it was a great occasion. Mum looked after the fireworks safely in an old biscuit tin. Gran made toffee apples on sticks and sometimes we had baked potatoes in the fire. Everyone from our hamlet came and we had a wonderful evening. In that same field were two Nissan huts left from the war which we sometimes explored but they smelled a bit.

At the bottom of the hill from the farm was Station Road. We would turn right for Patchway or left for Patchway Station. A good walk was from the field with the Nissan huts over the Blue Bridge which went over the railway lines. From the bridge we would go down the banks to play in the streams and also the water tunnels under the railway lines. The station was GWR painted, chocolate and cream. It had an enclosed bridge over to the other platform. There was a ticket office and a waiting room, which had a nice coal fire in the grate on a cold day. My favourite outing from the station was to the seaside resort Severn Beach .A great day out for all the family in the 1950s.

I started school age five at Little Stoke junior and infant school. I enjoyed the infants and I loved to read. I was also in a school production and had to sing a song .I did not enjoy the juniors and after a few years my sister Janet and my self changed to another school. Patchway Church of England where we were very happy.

I can remember Farmer Davis and Mrs. Davis. They were always busy. Farmer Davis was tall and slim and always wore a cap. He walked very fast and dashed around the farm. He called his farm workers by their surnames. So my dad was called Wyatt. Mrs. Davis was lovely and had many interests’ .Gardening, photography and she was a Justice of the Peace. One day she asked Mum to bring me along to the farmhouse. We went up the front path. Mrs. Davis welcomed us at the front door we turned to the left into a sitting room in the old part of the farmhouse .Mrs. Davis took photographs of me looking down at a flower. Later Mrs. Davis informed Mum that she had won first prize at a photograph competition with the photograph of me .Mum was so delighted. Later on in the lane outside the farmhouse I had my photograph taken again by Mrs. Davis with Dorothy Cook and our dolls prams. I cannot remember too much about the animals on the farm. There were cows, Friesians and they all had names like Daisy or Buttercup. There were chickens and ducks roaming freely in the farmyard by the pond. In the field at the back of our house was a very large Shire horse. One day Dad took me to see a large white bull with a ring in his nose .He was in a farm building and not in the field. It was very sad when the farm and all its contents were sold. When it was Auction Day in the field just below the farmhouse all the farm implements were laid out on the grass. They each had a number on and were ready for the Auctioneer to start. I still have Dads auction catalogue.

The small hamlet which we lived in was approached by country lanes. The lane from Stoke Lodge had low hedges but as you drew nearer to our house they were tall and also some trees. On the right was the farm orchard with no access from the lane. On the left was a farm gate set in between the hedges which gave access to the field next to our house. Nearly opposite the house was a grass verge. Here the council kept for many years a huge green road steam roller. On occasions a worker would come along and drive it off rattling up the lane very slowly. At the front of the house was a large Elm tree. We also had several large Elm trees at the bottom of the back garden From Little Stoke ,after you left the houses was the lane which led up to the triangle of grass near the farmhouse where the lane split into three directions. Also on the right there was access to fields by two farm gates. On the left only the gate by the triangle gave access into the field with the Nissan huts. As you past the farmhouse the hedges opposite were low but going on down the hill to Clay Bottom cottage the trees and hedges were over hanging. Then as the cottage came into sight the lane went over a small bridge which crossed the stream. There were no more hedges just grey stone built walls. This made the Farm and the cottages seem miles away from Stoke Lodge, Little Stoke or Patchway.

We lived in a quiet backwater where a vehicle only travelled through very occasionally. In fact when ever we children played in the lanes you could here from a long distance a vehicle on its way. At night it was really dark, there were no street lights at all. To use the outside toilet we had to take a torch. I would often wake in the night to hear a hooting noise made by an Owl. Other animals also called out during their night time prowls. We had a black and white cat. When let out at night would some times return in the morning with a dead mouse or bird.

Mr. and Mrs. Cook used to keep pigs and chickens. Mrs. Cook would sell the eggs to make some extra money. Farm workers were not paid a great deal of money as we lived in tied cottages. They were owned by the Farmer. Dad was the youngest farm worker but Farmer Davis realized on many occasion that he could be relied upon. On one occasion Farmer and Mrs. Davis were both ill in bed with the flu. Dad was sent for by the housekeeper He was directed to go upstairs to their bedroom and with Mrs. Davis hiding under the bedclothes. Farmer Davis gave his instructions. Dad was to take his Jaguar car and drive it into Bristol. Go to the bank with the letter given and collect the money for the farm workers wages. Dad being only a young man thought it was great to have a chance to drive a wonderful car. On another occasion Farmer Davis went away for a whole month. I think due to a health matter. Dad was left in Charge. Even after Farmer and Mrs. Davis had moved away they asked Dad to stay at their new house for a weekend and do some jobs in the garden.

The Farmhouse and land were taken over by a tenant farmer a Farmer Gay and his sons. This was until the land was ready for the new houses to be built in the fields at the side and behind our house. The farmhouse and three old cottages were pulled down and all that was left are the two red brick cottages. Clay Bottom cottage was also pulled down.

After my sister Janet was born another sister arrived. Valerie was born just as the farm was sold and Dad was then out of work. Our house was safe as we became council tenants. Soon Dad found work in the local factory working on the Rolls Royce engines. Later on Susan was born and then Dawn. The house was now 4 The Cottages and we continued on with our very happy family life.

As the road had been built straight through where Mr. and Mrs. Cook’s cottage once stood the traffic increased and life was different. No more playing in the lane only the gardens. Hold the hands of the younger children as you walked along. Also not the soothing noise of bird song but the Rolls Royce test beds. Only people who have lived near the factory can have experienced how loud it was.

At the bottom of the hill where once stood Clay Bottom cottage, its large garden and the small field between the cottage and the stream, was built a caravan site .At the caravan site was built a small shop which was good and meant we did always not have to walk either to Little Stoke or Patchway. I can recall many people who used to call at our house. The usual like the milkman, postman and dustbin men but others. We had a lovely Gypsy lady who used to call selling her home made waxed paper flowers. There was a tramp that regularly came to the back door for something to eat and drink. He had long flowing hair and beard also a long dirty, ragged coat. He was always very polite and thanked us very much. A travelling salesman would call. With a large brown suitcase which he would open up on our table out would come everything a housewife could possible need. I was usually spellbound as to what this suitcase contained. Once a year a man riding a bicycle on which were strung loads of onions would call .He wore a black beret and was called ”Johnny Onion” all the way from France.

We had an upright piano and also once a year a blind piano tuner would call to retune our piano. I was amazed that he could find his way to our house from the bus. We also regularly had the Chimney Sweep. To keep us children amused he would send us outside to see if the brush had come out of the top of the chimney. There was also a man who rode a bicycle and had the means to grind the knives sharp again. We never locked the doors and windows were left open if we went out.

Later on at the age of eleven I went to Patchway Secondary Modern School. I enjoyed drama and appeared in two productions. The play called The Quiz Game of which I played the main female part. Unfortunately I did not make a good student and if others saw me pedaling furiously on my bike near the school gates, knew that they were late. I could not wait to leave and at the age of fifteen I left school and started work at Patchway Post Office as a junior counter clerk.

There were two youth clubs, one at Patchway and the other at Little Stoke. I joined the Patchway Youth Club. Every Saturday night they had a live group playing all the latest music. It was wonderful and I used to dance all night and walk home carrying my shoes also my ears ringing from the noise of the music. I also sometimes went into Bristol to the cinema or other dance clubs. I met my husband just a few months after I had started work. We became engaged and then I got married at the age of eighteen.

Shirley