LenButler

DO YOU REMEMBER SEEING A FIELD OF GIANT MANGEL WURZELS IN FINEDON ?

When I was still a lad, Finedon farmers were still following a fifteenth century practice of growing the huge white and yellow beetroots for cattle food. I remember seeing several fields of them down Harrowden Lane. As a seven-year old, I had a very intimate acquaintance with them. We lived in Plackett's Yard which abutted the Wallis farm, and I used to go over and "help" the men. One task that gave them great amusment, was asking me to get out three mangels for cow feed. Since each mangel was two and a half to three feet long, and weighed about forty pounds, it was quite a task for a little boy. I put my arms around it and wriggled it across the floor to the turnip chopper. The men took a spade and cut the mangel into several pieces which they tossed into the hopper. The chopper had a cylinder with four knives set into it, a handle to turn, and two big flywheels. Once it got going you could toss chunks into the hopper, and a steady stream of tastey chunks would come out the bottom. Once in awhile the chunks would jam in the hopper. Patience was required because you had to wait for the wheels to stop before you rearanged the chunks. People got impatient, reached into the hopper and lost an arm. Mr.Stairs, was one such victim. In the middle ages people carved lanterns and faces on werzels, as they now do on pumpkins. Another sport was to use them as ammunition for the giant catapelts used to assult castle walls. It is interesting to see that this sport has been revived in Canada using pumpkins, of which we have a surplus.

Len Butler.

CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

Hi Peter. After watching the parents sheparding the children to and from school here in Canada, I think our ways in l920 Finedon, must have been very lax. At that time the mining of ironstone was still active in both the open pits and the underground mines. We children from Plackett's Yard and vicinity, played in the open pit at the Tainty. A quick way to get from the Tainty to Knight's field, a nother play area, was to walk the planks. These planks were laid accross the pit at three different heights to move the overburden from the north to the south. The navvies would fill a wheelbarrow and push it accross to the Tainty side to dump. Sometimes, if they thought we were watching they would run across on the plank. We kids thought there was nothing to walking the plank until we got halfway across. Then we would look down, and many of us would finish the plank by crawling on our knees to the jeers of our playmates. We rarely ventured into the underground mines with our candle lantens. Are there people alive who worked those mines ? Les Mason tells me his father and brother Bob did. His brother Bob, wrote poems about the work and here is a sample about a fall in.

The air was now dense, the silence intense ,

As a myriad of stars came cascading.

Then they all disappeared leaving darkness so weird,

As he lay there his consciousness fading.

A moment before he'd been shovelling ore Contented his mind free of trouble,

Then a rumble was heard, and disaster occurred

And burried him under the rubble.

All through the years, he had shown by his sneers

That religion was beyond his belief

But now in despair he murmured a prayer

That the good lord would grant him relief

As he frantically raved, his rescuers slaved.

A path through the fall they were clearing

Their voices were hushed, for they feared he was crushed

"Neath the boulders of rock they were nearing

Then hearing a groan, sound from under the stone

Their efforts they knew wern't in vain

The speed was increased,and the miner released,

And he managed to smile once again.

Two rocks they all said had locked overhead

To shield hm from most of the weight.

It was luck said a few, but one miner knew,

That his prayer had not been too late. ""

Are there any more plank walkers and poets left in Finedon.? Len Butler.

Finedon's little steam railway

Did you ever see Finedon's little steam railway?

Whenever I came home from Canada, Bert Munns would say

"Len do you remember? So I ask my readers "Do you remember the little steam train that ran from the iron pit by the cemetery to Mill

Lane? When it was running at full speed puffing out clouds of steam and smoke, with the windmill in the background, it made an unforgetful picture. (Has anyone got a snapshot of this ?) About twice a week the engine would come out of its' shed in Mill Lane, hitch on to a dozen empty wagons, anbd make the trip to the two pits. The first trip was across the fields to the west of Station Road to Debdale, then it turned and went under the road and into the pit by the cricket field. Here it would uncouple the wagons and hitch onto the loaded ones. The wagons were of little interest to we boys as there was no place to hang on to hitch a ride. The wagons were small and made completely of steel with a side dumping arrangement. They had been parked alongside the exposed iron ore, and navvies had loaded chunks into the wagons. The engine then made the return trip to Mill Lane where the last piece of track was elevated and parallel to the main line siding. Here the contents of our narrow gauge railway were dumped into standard wagons. The little engine then repeated the process by going under Station Road into the pit that ran up to the Volta Tower.

Sometimes on our fishing trips down Mill Lane we would see the shunting engine from the furnace siding come to pick up

the loaded wagons. We explored this piece of track and found that it cut across Day's field to the top of the mill pond. It had its own

bridge over the Ise Brook which was not made for pedestrians. (Enough said !!) The west berm of the mill pond had a lovely

treed walk from the railbridge to the bridge at the mill.

LAMPLIGHTERS & FARTHINGS

Does anyone in Finedon own a lamplighter's staff ? If so, will they tell me what fueled the little lamp with the slow wick at the top? When I was a boy the nightly rounds of the lamplighter changed the nature of our games. There were street lamps on Orchard Road at Plackett's Yard, Tite's Yard, and Knight's Farm, and this was the stretch of road we used for our games. We would start playing at dusk, and when the lamplighter came on his nightly rounds we would change from hide-and-go-seek to ball and dickie games. When the street lights were changed from naked flames to mantled gas the lights were brighter and some excellent hiding places were exposed. I often wondered how many lamplighters there were. Does anyone know? It would be quite a walk to go around and light them at dusk, and then turn them off again at sunrise.

Another thing I wonder is when did farthings cease to be legal tender. I remember about 1918 when we found a farthing we would acquire another by hunting or trading and then go down to Parker's drapery shop with the two farthings and trade them for a ha'penny. This shop was glad to get farthings as all there goods were priced to the eleven pence three farthings. So they gave a farthing or a paper of pins in change. We took the ha'penny across the road to the sweet shop on the corner and bought two aniseed balls.

How about other stories of those days. Len Butler.

One has to remember that the houses in Plackett's yard were built when there was no running water or electricity. There was coal gas from a plant on Orchard Road. This was piped around town and into houses. At the plant the gas was stored in huge floating tanks, and as kids we would often look at the height of these tanks to see how much gas was available. The gas lamps on the streets were turned on and lit by the lamplighter at night and turn off in the morning. In later years, a preset clock did this. In houses there was usually a ring burner on the hearth, and an outlet in the middle of the ceilin of the kitchen/living room. This room was illuminated by a hanging mantle lamp. Other rooms were lit by candles.

The water for all purposes was obtained from the pump in front of York's the middle house in the long row. So there were no flush toilets or bath tubs. For

washing clothes, a row of washhouses were provided. These were small brick buildings used to store tools and coal. In one corner was a built-in boiler with

fireplace and chimney. The lead boiler was filled with water which had been carried across the yard from the pump. A wood and coal fire was lit and the

clothes boiled. They were aggitated with a washstick, or taken out and rubbed on a washboard. The rare hot water was used for washing ourselves,or carried

across the yard to scrub floors.

The washhouses were also used for playhouses on rainy days. We would pack as many as ten children on improvised seating, and have a magic lantern show. The lantern was illuminated by a candle which threw the circle of light onto a white sheet. A favourite game was to throw shadows of butterflies,rabbits, etc.

made by contorted hands. A lot was left to our imagination, but all seemed to get pleasure from it.

Len's memories of Finedon Feast

Here is a recollection from old times.

The amusements for Finedon feast were transported from town to town by road on waggons pulled by

two small steam engines, and one large steam engine which also made the electricity for the carnival.

One or more engines often arrived at noon when we were out of school. We would watch them turn

into Knight's paddock, and move their loads to the assigned places in the field. If the ground was soft

the little engines would get bogged down, and then they would unwind tbnhe cable from the big engine

and winch the little one out. On days like that, many of us were late for school ,and got a reprimand.

We would hang around the paddock while the rousters set up the round-a-bouts,coconut shies,

hoop-la, swings and other amusements. We gave lots of free advice which was not always appreciated.

After the three day fair the field was a mess. On the otherhand, the annual hospital parade ended in

Knight's upper field for the sports events, and water had to be brought in for the mud of the obstacle

Star Hall Memories

Perhaps some of your octogenarians may remember Rev Marsden (1925) as he put on a number of Miracle plays in the Star Hall. I had small parts in three or four. I d'not know why this experience made me think I was a playwrite and producer, but when the scouts needed money I suggested that they put on three plays in April 1928, which we did to a full house for two nights. All thirty scouts were given parts, and their names may be of interest to some Finedonians. Will send the program as soon as my elder daughter returns to her nest. An offshoot of these plays was that my best friend, Bert Munns, decided that he could do better and began the annual pantomine series.

winter of 1922

Here is another note for oldtimers. One day in the winter of 1922 I started for school and found that there was five inches of snow on the ground and that branches had been broken off trees, and wires were down. No traffic was moving. When I reached Mulso school I found it was closed for the day, but there was exciting news. An iionstone mine had put his wet blasting powder in the oven to dry it out, and it had exploded. The house was in Birdcage row, and we speculated that it might have damaged Jacques leaning store which was at the end of the row. We trudged through Bobbies'entry and the jittyt , expecting devastation. Much to our disapointment the only damage was that it blew the door off the stove and the windows out of the house.

Best wishes. Len Butler.

Prior to 1930, most of the houses in rows and yards did not have gas cookers but used the oven built into the fireplace. When no coal fire was in use, the oven could not be used. On Sundays many people took their roast or Yorkshire pudding to the bakehouse to be cooked.. So on our way to church we would take the pudding or roast in our own baking dish to Warner's or Yate's bakehouse. I don't know what determined which, I know that one Sunday I had to carry it down to Benson's on Affleck Bridge. Having deposited the dish suitably marked with a name, we went on to church. We paid attention to the sound of the bells which were saying "Come to church you lazy beggar", and when the five minute bell started we would put on a spurt, because in those days people came to church on time. After chuch we would go back to the bakehouse and wait for the oven to be openned. It was a high-spirited gossippy crowd who passed lots of comments as the baker took them out of the oven, one at a time, and placed them on the bread table. The baking dishes were of various sizes and shapes, and the meats ranged from frozen mutton to good English beef. I never heared of any one taking home the wrong dish, although sometimes we would like to have done. For this service we paid the baker a penny or three halfpence according to the size of the dish.

On the left is copy of the Scout Program initialed by the three patrol leaders.

(LB} Len Butler

{BE} Bernard Ellson

{HWM} Bert Munns.

The inside pages are printed below. Len goes on to say

Page 4 was blank and we used a rubber stamp for the price of admissaion. (1/6,1/9 and two bob] .

. The program accomplished its two objectives.

1.Raise money for the troop.

2. Give all scout a chance to appear on stage.

All the best Len.

1 Opening Number by the Troop

2 "The Fish Shop a sketck by Con Holmes

A Coster .... L.Butler

A Business Man..F.Coles

A Flapper .... W.Partridge

An Old Lady E.Boddington

3.A Musical Interlude

4."My Friend the Devil" a play by L.Butler

Two betters H.Coles,E.Boddington

Act 1 a room in John Bond's House

Sling the flowing bowl, Billie Boy, Rolling Home

6. "A Darkie Troop in Bongoland" by M.M.Pakington.

Cheerio a scoutmaster F.H.Coles

Curley .. C.Pearson Jumbo E.Partridge

Jock E.Stanley Pingo W.Partridge

Ginger H.Warner Pongo C.Williams

Purley E.Frisby Nogo F.Drage

Helpo G.Huilos Hogo A.Mason

Benny B.Tompkins Jingo F.Doddington

Tipppy T.Buce Ringo T.Coles

Tiger R.Bailey Stingo R.Flord

Fusay R.Rilean Tango G.Wells

I well remember going to Pat Talbuts on a Sunday morning with George Stairs after I had helped him deliver milk. We carried a covered two gallon pail of milk, and dipped the gill or half pint measure into the milk, and then poured it into the customer's milk jug.

As an expatriot I thought you would like a message. I was born in Finedon in 1912, and left for Canada in 1928. I lived in Placketts Yard and Ivy Lane. Attended the infants school at Lime Tree end, and then the boys school on Church Hill, and graduated to Mulso School on Wellingboro Road with Capt.J.F.Sutton as head master. I per formed in the Miracle plays that Rev Marsden produced at the Star Hall. The Rev G Tavener was our scout master and Bert Munns,Bernie Ellson and I were patrol leaders. We met at the Gatehouse on Station Road and put on displays in the Vicars padock. I have many memmories of those years if anyone is interested. Len Butler Back to top>>
DO YOU REMEMBER SEEING A FIELD OF GIANT MANGEL WURZELS IN FINEDON ? When I was still a lad, Finedon farmers were still following a fifteenth century practice of growing the huge white and yellow beetroots for cattle food. I remember seeing several fields of them down Harrowden Lane. As a seven-year old, I had a very intimate acquaintance with them. We lived in Plackett's Yard which abutted the Wallis farm, and I used to go over and "help" the men. One task that gave them great amusment, was asking me to get out three mangels for cow feed. Since each mangel was two and a half to three feet long, and weighed about forty pounds, it was quite a task for a little boy. I put my arms around it and wriggled it across the floor to the turnip chopper. The men took a spade and cut the mangel into several pieces which they tossed into the hopper. The chopper had a cylinder with four knives set into it, a handle to turn, and two big flywheels. Once it got going you could toss chunks into the hopper, and a steady stream of tastey chunks would come out the bottom. Once in awhile the chunks would jam in the hopper. Patience was required because you had to wait for the wheels to stop before you rearanged the chunks. People got impatient, reached into the hopper and lost an arm. Mr.Stairs, was one such victim. In the middle ages people carved lanterns and faces on werzels, as they now do on pumpkins. Another sport was to use them as ammunition for the giant catapelts used to assult castle walls. It is interesting to see that this sport has been revived in Canada using pumpkins, of which we have a surplus. Len Butler. Back to top>>
CHILDHOOD MEMORIES Hi Peter. After watching the parents sheparding the children to and from school here in Canada, I think our ways in l920 Finedon, must have been very lax. At that time the mining of ironstone was still active in both the open pits and the underground mines. We children from Plackett's Yard and vicinity, played in the open pit at the Tainty. A quick way to get from the Tainty to Knight's field, a nother play area, was to walk the planks. These planks were laid accross the pit at three different heights to move the overburden from the north to the south. The navvies would fill a wheelbarrow and push it accross to the Tainty side to dump. Sometimes, if they thought we were watching they would run across on the plank. We kids thought there was nothing to walking the plank until we got halfway across. Then we would look down, and many of us would finish the plank by crawling on our knees to the jeers of our playmates. We rarely ventured into the underground mines with our candle lantens. Are there people alive who worked those mines ? Les Mason tells me his father and brother Bob did. His brother Bob, wrote poems about the work and here is a sample about a fall in. The air was now dense, the silence intense , As a myriad of stars came cascading. Then they all disappeared leaving darkness so weird, As he lay there his consciousness fading. A moment before he'd been shovelling ore Contented his mind free of trouble, Then a rumble was heard, and disaster occurred And burried him under the rubble. All through the years, he had shown by his sneers That religion was beyond his belief But now in despair he murmured a prayer That the good lord would grant him relief As he frantically raved, his rescuers slaved. A path through the fall they were clearing Their voices were hushed, for they feared he was crushed "Neath the boulders of rock they were nearing Then hearing a groan, sound from under the stone Their efforts they knew wern't in vain The speed was increased,and the miner released, And he managed to smile once again. Two rocks they all said had locked overhead To shield hm from most of the weight. It was luck said a few, but one miner knew, That his prayer had not been too late. "" Are there any more plank walkers and poets left in Finedon.? Len Butler. Back to top>>
FAMILY REUNION NEWS FROM LEN BUTLER Hi Peter... Thought you might like to hear of one of the stories of the success of your Finedon website. When I came to Canada in 1928, I looked up the Tompkins who had come here in 1907. My grandmother was a Tomkins. In 1939 I moved to Winnipeg and lost track of them. I knew that some of the children I had met in the 1930's should still be alive but I did not know their married names. Recently I got an e-mail from Muriel Mark asking if the Len Butler on the Finedon Web was her cousin. So I am now re aquainted with Muriel and Isabel who I knew as little girls. They are coming to my 65 th wedding anniversary on Sunday. So chalk up one score to your website. Best wishes. Len. Back to top>>
Finedon's little steam railway Did you ever see Finedon's little steam railway? Whenever I came home from Canada, Bert Munns would say "Len do you remember? So I ask my readers "Do you remember the little steam train that ran from the iron pit by the cemetery to Mill Lane? When it was running at full speed puffing out clouds of steam and smoke, with the windmill in the background, it made an unforgetful picture. (Has anyone got a snapshot of this ?) About twice a week the engine would come out of its' shed in Mill Lane, hitch on to a dozen empty wagons, anbd make the trip to the two pits. The first trip was across the fields to the west of Station Road to Debdale, then it turned and went under the road and into the pit by the cricket field. Here it would uncouple the wagons and hitch onto the loaded ones. The wagons were of little interest to we boys as there was no place to hang on to hitch a ride. The wagons were small and made completely of steel with a side dumping arrangement. They had been parked alongside the exposed iron ore, and navvies had loaded chunks into the wagons. The engine then made the return trip to Mill Lane where the last piece of track was elevated and parallel to the main line siding. Here the contents of our narrow gauge railway were dumped into standard wagons. The little engine then repeated the process by going under Station Road into the pit that ran up to the Volta Tower. Sometimes on our fishing trips down Mill Lane we would see the shunting engine from the furnace siding come to pick up the loaded wagons. We explored this piece of track and found that it cut across Day's field to the top of the mill pond. It had its own bridge over the Ise Brook which was not made for pedestrians. (Enough said !!) The west berm of the mill pond had a lovely treed walk from the railbridge to the bridge at the mill. Back to top>>
LAMPLIGHTERS & FARTHINGS Does anyone in Finedon own a lamplighter's staff ? If so, will they tell me what fueled the little lamp with the slow wick at the top? When I was a boy the nightly rounds of the lamplighter changed the nature of our games. There were street lamps on Orchard Road at Plackett's Yard, Tite's Yard, and Knight's Farm, and this was the stretch of road we used for our games. We would start playing at dusk, and when the lamplighter came on his nightly rounds we would change from hide-and-go-seek to ball and dickie games. When the street lights were changed from naked flames to mantled gas the lights were brighter and some excellent hiding places were exposed. I often wondered how many lamplighters there were. Does anyone know? It would be quite a walk to go around and light them at dusk, and then turn them off again at sunrise. Another thing I wonder is when did farthings cease to be legal tender. I remember about 1918 when we found a farthing we would acquire another by hunting or trading and then go down to Parker's drapery shop with the two farthings and trade them for a ha'penny. This shop was glad to get farthings as all there goods were priced to the eleven pence three farthings. So they gave a farthing or a paper of pins in change. We took the ha'penny across the road to the sweet shop on the corner and bought two aniseed balls. How about other stories of those days. Len Butler. Back to top>>
Plackett's yard One has to remember that the houses in Plackett's yard were built when there was no running water or electricity. There was coal gas from a plant on Orchard Road. This was piped around town and into houses. At the plant the gas was stored in huge floating tanks, and as kids we would often look at the height of these tanks to see how much gas was available. The gas lamps on the streets were turned on and lit by the lamplighter at night and turn off in the morning. In later years, a preset clock did this. In houses there was usually a ring burner on the hearth, and an outlet in the middle of the ceilin of the kitchen/living room. This room was illuminated by a hanging mantle lamp. Other rooms were lit by candles. The water for all purposes was obtained from the pump in front of York's the middle house in the long row. So there were no flush toilets or bath tubs. For washing clothes, a row of washhouses were provided. These were small brick buildings used to store tools and coal. In one corner was a built-in boiler with fireplace and chimney. The lead boiler was filled with water which had been carried across the yard from the pump. A wood and coal fire was lit and the clothes boiled. They were aggitated with a washstick, or taken out and rubbed on a washboard. The rare hot water was used for washing ourselves,or carried across the yard to scrub floors. The washhouses were also used for playhouses on rainy days. We would pack as many as ten children on improvised seating, and have a magic lantern show. The lantern was illuminated by a candle which threw the circle of light onto a white sheet. A favourite game was to throw shadows of butterflies,rabbits, etc. made by contorted hands. A lot was left to our imagination, but all seemed to get pleasure from it. Back to top>>
FINEDON FARMS 1920 Finedon was laid out as a typical farming village with about 20 farms in the center of town. The farmhouses were on High Street, and the farmyard entrance on Orchard Road. Another set had the farmhouses on Well Street and Regent Street, and their farmyard entrances on Bell Hill Wellingborough Road, and Ivy Lane. Plackett's Yard overlooked the farm operated by Wallis in the typical method of the time. I spent my childhood days "helping" on the farm. The wheat was cut by a binder and stacked in the field. It was tough trying to get the sheaves to stand upright so that the heads would dry out. Later the sheaves were loaded onto a horse-drawn cart and taken from the field on Burton Road to the rick yard on Orchard Road and unloaded. Each sheaf was taken off and carefully stacked. The stack was shaped so that it could be thatched to shed the rain. On the trip through town the carts shed lots of straw. Later in the year the thrashing outfit consisting of the tractor, thrashing drum, and straw elevator, would be set up by the stack, and the men would toss a sheaf at a time onto the drum. The feeder would pick up the sheaf, cut the twine, and spread the straw over the revolving drum but retain the twines in his hand. Meanwhile we boys, armed with stakes would chase the mice that came out of the stack. Thrashing was a labour intensive and was soon abandoned with the advent of the combine, there were four teamsters on the farm at this time, and often they would take the horses to pasture in the field next to the Tainty. One night a teamster lifted me onto the back of one of the horses and told me to hang on to the mane, which I did, and we trotted down Orchard Road with me hanging on for dear life. I was thankful to be helped down at the gate.. Back to top>>
Len's memories of Finedon Feast Here is a recollection from old times. The amusements for Finedon feast were transported from town to town by road on waggons pulled by two small steam engines, and one large steam engine which also made the electricity for the carnival. One or more engines often arrived at noon when we were out of school. We would watch them turn into Knight's paddock, and move their loads to the assigned places in the field. If the ground was soft the little engines would get bogged down, and then they would unwind tbnhe cable from the big engine and winch the little one out. On days like that, many of us were late for school ,and got a reprimand. We would hang around the paddock while the rousters set up the round-a-bouts,coconut shies, hoop-la, swings and other amusements. We gave lots of free advice which was not always appreciated. After the three day fair the field was a mess. On the otherhand, the annual hospital parade ended in Knight's upper field for the sports events, and water had to be brought in for the mud of the obstacle race. Regards, Len. Back to top>>
Star Hall Memories Perhaps some of your octogenarians may remember Rev Marsden (1925) as he put on a number of Miracle plays in the Star Hall. I had small parts in three or four. I d'not know why this experience made me think I was a playwrite and producer, but when the scouts needed money I suggested that they put on three plays in April 1928, which we did to a full house for two nights. All thirty scouts were given parts, and their names may be of interest to some Finedonians. Will send the program as soon as my elder daughter returns to her nest. An offshoot of these plays was that my best friend, Bert Munns, decided that he could do better and began the annual pantomine series. Back to top>> winter of 1922 Here is another note for oldtimers. One day in the winter of 1922 I started for school and found that there was five inches of snow on the ground and that branches had been broken off trees, and wires were down. No traffic was moving. When I reached Mulso school I found it was closed for the day, but there was exciting news. An iionstone mine had put his wet blasting powder in the oven to dry it out, and it had exploded. The house was in Birdcage row, and we speculated that it might have damaged Jacques leaning store which was at the end of the row. We trudged through Bobbies'entry and the jittyt , expecting devastation. Much to our disapointment the only damage was that it blew the door off the stove and the windows out of the house. Best wishes. Len Butler. Back to top>> Sunday Dinners. Prior to 1930, most of the houses in rows and yards did not have gas cookers but used the oven built into the fireplace. When no coal fire was in use, the oven could not be used. On Sundays many people took their roast or Yorkshire pudding to the bakehouse to be cooked.. So on our way to church we would take the pudding or roast in our own baking dish to Warner's or Yate's bakehouse. I don't know what determined which, I know that one Sunday I had to carry it down to Benson's on Affleck Bridge. Having deposited the dish suitably marked with a name, we went on to church. We paid attention to the sound of the bells which were saying "Come to church you lazy beggar", and when the five minute bell started we would put on a spurt, because in those days people came to church on time. After chuch we would go back to the bakehouse and wait for the oven to be openned. It was a high-spirited gossippy crowd who passed lots of comments as the baker took them out of the oven, one at a time, and placed them on the bread table. The baking dishes were of various sizes and shapes, and the meats ranged from frozen mutton to good English beef. I never heared of any one taking home the wrong dish, although sometimes we would like to have done. For this service we paid the baker a penny or three halfpence according to the size of the dish. Best regards, Len. Back to top>>
SCOUT SHOW 1928
	On the left is copy of the Scout Program initialed by the three patrol leaders. (LB} Len Butler {BE} Bernard Ellson {HWM} Bert Munns. The inside pages are printed below. Len goes on to say Page 4 was blank and we used a rubber stamp for the price of admissaion. (1/6,1/9 and two bob] . . The program accomplished its two objectives. 1.Raise money for the troop. 2. Give all scout a chance to appear on stage. All the best Len.
1 Opening Number by the Troop 2 "The Fish Shop a sketck by Con Holmes A Coster .... L.Butler A Business Man..F.Coles A Flapper .... W.Partridge An Old Lady E.Boddington A Sportsman E.Ress 3.A Musical Interlude 4."My Friend the Devil" a play by L.Butler John Bond L.Butler James E.Branley Mary R.Bailey George W.Boddington Manager F.Coles The Devil H..Munns Two betters H.Coles,E.Boddington Mr.Brown G.Williams A Clerk C.Pearson	Act 1 a room in John Bond's House Act 2 theatre Steps Act 3 Same as act 1 5. Sea Shanties Sling the flowing bowl, Billie Boy, Rolling Home 6. "A Darkie Troop in Bongoland" by M.M.Pakington. Cheerio a scoutmaster F.H.Coles Curley .. C.Pearson Jumbo E.Partridge Jock E.Stanley Pingo W.Partridge Ginger H.Warner Pongo C.Williams Purley E.Frisby Nogo F.Drage Helpo G.Huilos Hogo A.Mason Benny B.Tompkins Jingo F.Doddington Tipppy T.Buce Ringo T.Coles Tiger R.Bailey Stingo R.Flord Fusay R.Rilean Tango G.Wells Stingo B.Underwood Pungo H.Cooper God Save The King Back to top>>
MILK DELIVERIES
I well remember going to Pat Talbuts on a Sunday morning with George Stairs after I had helped him deliver milk. We carried a covered two gallon pail of milk, and dipped the gill or half pint measure into the milk, and then poured it into the customer's milk jug. Back to top>>
HAND LASTERS
Does anyone remember seeing a hand laster at work? They often worked in wash houses or outbuildings in corners of the various yards. In the early 1900's Finedon was noted for the manufacture of boots and shoes and I as a small child visited several factories. I was in Knight's factory on Thrapston road many times because they outsourced the sewing together of the ten to fifteen pieces of cloth and leather that made up the top of a boot. The women would go to the factory and pick up the parts for a dozen boots and take them home. At home they would have a tredle-driven heavy sewing machine, and in their "spare" time they would sew the jigsaw of parts together. When they finished a batch they would take it back to the factory. On these visits to the factory I would watch how quickly the women would sew the parts together on the steam driven machines. Sometimes I went to Nutt's factory and watched Harry Knowels, who was a clicker, take a hide of tanned leather, and cut it into innersoles with as little waste as possible. The waste was cut up into leather bits which were burned in small stoves in wash houses. On a visit to Baillie's factory, I was very impressed by the lasting machines and watched them tugging the tops in place over the innersoles and assuming everything would fit. Then I thought of my step father Bill Boddington, who was one of the last of the real hand lasters. He would take a last of the appropiate size, modified to accomidate individual bunions etc, and pull the top into place inch by inch. He would tack each piece in place before releasing the pliers. To have the small tacks handy he would have them in his mouth, so you never expected that he would speak to you at such times. The other hand laster I knew had a tiny store next to Georgie Leach on High Street.
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You can contact len at l.butler@sympatico.ca
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