Email from Pat Wallace (edited) - Wartime Memories
Received after my letter to the Greenwood Tree was published in
November 2000. Some invaluable first-hand information here!
Thanks, Pat. Researchers please note: Pat has
since sadly passed away.
Hello Sue Osborne,
I was very interested to read your letter in the Greenwood Tree and to learn
of the work you have done with the Merriott records.
My interest arises from the fact that, although I was born in London, I was
brought up in Merriott and lived there from 1934 until 1949 and so the
village had a considerable impact on me throughout my formative years. My
grandparents, John and Selina Richards moved there in 1906 to take over the
Manor Farm so none of my Family names will appear in your researches.
I thought however, as you had never been to the village, that you might be
interested to hear a little about it. As an aside I would mention
that
last year I met up with an old friend whom I'd not seen for nigh on 50 years,
[Sue's note: this was Brian Tasker, brian@boozerpit.fsnet.co.uk
, who is now listed on the Researchers page]
and as we walked around the village and along the lanes we talked
incessantly about the years we had spent, before, during and after the War, and
hardly mentioned our lives, careers or families. That's old men for you !
Merriott is an unusual village in that it does not lie on a
street, nor at a cross-roads but is in the form of a circle or square about 1
mile around
with no fewer than 8 roads leading off it to other villages, hamlets and to one
market town, Crewkerne. Its existence almost certainly arises
from
the fact that it lies on the River Parrett and there appear to have been, at one
time, 3 water mills and a factory which for more than a century produced
sailcloth, including the sails for Nelson's 'Victory' !
More recently the factory has produced Bakelite products.
As a boy, before the War, the village was populated to a
considerable extent by people bearing the names to which you refer in your
letter. I understand that at the 1931 census there were no fewer than 73
Mrs. Lawrence's and certainly 75% bore one of the twelve most common names.
I recall a number of Osborne families, including one of the two village
butchers, a Mr. Ernie (Ernest ) Osborne, born c 1880 whose wife was
Dorcas.
He had two sisters, both unmarried (not unusual after the 1st World War). One,
Polly, was a great friend of my mother and grandmother.
Ernie had four sons, Henry who was killed in the last War, Abie (Abraham)
a smallholder and cattle dealer, Charlie who took over the business
and then
moved into farming, and Leslie. The eldest three certainly had
children but I don't know anything of them now.
The factory provided work for a number of the wives of the farm
workers so many of the families had two incomes and the children returning from
school had a grandmother near at hand to look after them so they were well cared
for. After the War, (sorry to keep on about it but it
did change the character of the village ) there was far less work for the
returning farm workers, the tractor having come on the scene, and in any event
many of them did not want to come back to agricultural work anyway !
There was, and still is a thriving Scotts' Nurseries, which used to be run by
people called Wallis (no relation) where significant employment exists.
Employment was mainly on the land with about ten or a dozen smallish farms,
from 100 to 200 acres. The soil is rich so
there were a lot of dairy cattle, sheep , pigs and poultry as well as corn of
all types, root crops
and hay.
At the higher side of the village (north) is, not surprisingly,
Higher Street, where lies the All Saints Church with its Norman Tower dating
from
14th or 15th century. The village school, now juniors
only, lies nearby. Also in Higher Street is the Kings Head public house.
At the lower side
of the village is Lower Street where there used to be two chapels and one Public
House, the Swan, where I enjoyed a nice lunch beside a roaring fire
earlier this year.
To the West, linking Higher and Lower Street is Broadway which
provides the main road for through traffic to or from Crewkerne and the circle
is
completed to the East by Shiremoor Hill. The centre of the village, which
until 1935 was entirely agricultural land, mainly grass fields, but there
has been some building in the past 50 years, but not too much to spoil the
open aspect. I must mention one road, known as Boozer's Pit
(leading from the top of Shiremore Hill towards Stoke-under-Ham 4 miles
away ) which as you might have guessed at one time contained a number of
ale houses, but there are none today.
Also a prominent feature is Knapp, the crossroads which links Broadway (or
Broady as the locals used to call it ) and Lower Street. I well
recall the
men of the village at the time of high unemployment in the 30's
standing there just yarning and watching the few cars pass through. There
were of course the usual village shops with the 'Co-op' Stores, the Post Office,
a barber's shop and a newsagents at Knapp corner as well as a number of other
small village shops spaced around the village. Most of these have
long since gone. There was, and still is, a garage and petrol filling
station but most of the residents travel away to work. There is a good
private 'bus service so that going to Crewkerne, 2 miles away, is not difficult.
Sadly most of the people I knew in the village have died or moved
away but I still have a couple of friends who lived there after I had left and
who
might be able to give me some information on the villagers if you have a
specific problem or enquiry. I hope you will find these few facts of interest so
that when you visit you will have some idea of what to
expect.. .
Patrick (Pat) Wallace
Click on the small photo to see a larger version.
