One Hundred Days of History
Everything has a story to tell...
Wednesday 13 June 2018
Amidst Cheers, They Marched to War
During the research for my last book, Preston on Stour: A Two Thousand Year History, I came across dozens of stories of people who had served on the frontline in many conflicts, and many more of people who had done sterling work on the home front. This became the subject of my new book.
Amidst Cheers, They Marched to War tells the stories of the Warwickshire villages of Preston on Stour, Atherstone on Stour, Whitchurch and Alderminster, and the impact of a hundred years of warfare on their communities.
Their men lie in graves in France, India, Iraq, Burma, South Africa and many other places besides. Some are remembered in perpetuity. Others are not.
None of those touched by war returned home the same. Physically and emotionally, their lives were changed forever, for better or for worse.
RAF Atherstone on Stour was built as a bomber training airfield during the Second World War. Several thousand aircrews were trained on this site. Many were just eighteen or nineteen, away from home for the first time. For many, their home was Canada. They had volunteered to aid Britain in their fight against the Nazis.
44% of bomber crews didn't survive the war. Training accidents and the endless gauntlet of missions over occupied Europe claimed endless lives. This book is a testimonial of those who served at RAF Atherstone.
This book is a tribute to all those who have served in the armed forces and all those whose lives have been touched by war.
Available online Here
Or contact Hannah on lightonecandle339@gmail.com
Friday 7 October 2016
Day 100. Bare Bones
These bone fragments have all been found associated with the
Romano-British community discussed over the past few days. They probably came
from livestock reared and slaughtered by
this community.
Two thousand years ago, these people gathered around a fire
and feasted on the fruits of their year's toil. Late autumn was the traditional
time for slaughtering all livestock too weak to last the winter. And a final feast
was held before the struggles of winter began.
Our long-ago forebears laughed and chatted over a drink and
roasted meat, and reinforced the bonds that would enable them to survive
through the winter months. Friendship and community spirit epitomised this
early culture. Life was hard, and without these bonds the settlement would
crumble.
The discarded bones lay in the soil for hundreds of years.
Above them, the descendants of that early community continued to plough and
reap and sow as the seasons passed. And so they reached today.
The bones were brought to the surface by people from the
village they helped forge, two thousand years earlier. And in that time, human
nature hasn't changed. Community and friendship are valued as much today as
they were in the distant past. We share a common bond with those first
inhabitants, formed by more than the village we have all shared. The past has
forged the present in more ways than one.
And this concludes these hundred days of history. If you've
enjoyed reading these pages, Preston on Stour: A Two Thousand Year History,
is available to order from bookshops or online,
or contact me on lightonecandle339@gmail.com
Thursday 6 October 2016
Day 99. The Mill Stone
This mill stone stands by the church gate on the village green. How it came to be there is a mystery, but it has been in this location for at least a hundred years. Local historian and vicar Harvey Bloom wrote in the early 20th century that it was part of a cider mill. The stones were used to crush apples and the juice was collected and fermented into cider.
It may have belonged to a communal mill or large scale enterprise rather than a single farmstead, considering its size. Documentary evidence of a cider house in Preston exists from the 18th century. Perhaps when this fell into disuse, the stone was moved to the church gate, and it has remained ever since.
Wednesday 5 October 2016
Day 98. The Church Bells
Preston's bells.
The church tower, showing the door and windows for the bell
chamber.
Preston church has three bells. The bell chamber is reached
via the steps on the outside of the tower, and then by a spiral staircase. Each
of the bells has its own inscription:
Prosperity to this place. A.R.
[Anna Regina, the Queen] 1713
Cum iuncundissima voce
prosequor [I proceed with a most pleasing voice] Henry Bagley 1635.
Henry Baglee made mee 1653.
Bell-ringing has attracted a long succession of loyal
followers. In the late 19th century, the bell-ringers, along with
the village choir (see Day 97), were entertained to supper every Boxing Day in
the servants' hall of Alscot Park.
Bell-ringing was a gruelling job. There were often three
Sunday services as well as weddings, christenings and funerals. In the 1940s,
Denis Maton, Tony Ashfield and Tom Walton
were the regular ringers. Then Bob Stredder, a skilled bell-ringer who
had recently moved to the village, began to teach more young men to ring the
bells. John Horseman, Derrick Ashfield and George Nason began to 'learn the
ropes'. George remained a regular ringer
for nearly fifty years. The bells still have a regular following of ringers
today.
Tuesday 4 October 2016
Day 97. The Organ
Music was once a key part of
religious worship, and organs commonly found in early churches.
Following the Civil War (1642-49)
England was governed by a Puritan parliament. The Puritans believed that music
was a distraction from divine worship and all organs were removed, often with
great violence.
When the monarchy was restored in
1660, religious ideals were altered again. Music was again permitted. To
replace the long-desecrated organs, choirs were set up to lead the singing.
They were often accompanied with home-fashioned musical instruments such as
fiddles. The choir stalls in the chancel of Preston church date to the mid 18th century.
Preston had a thriving church choir
in the late 19th century, and this continued well into the mid 20th
century. Mrs Olive West of Alscot Park
was a trained singer and led the choir in the early 20th century.
In 1895, James Roberts-West
installed a new organ in the church at his own expense. Organs had been growing
in popularity from the mid 19th century, as communities or
landowners gained the capital to purchase them. They were considered more
respectable than the rustic choirs they were replacing. They were often
unfavourably met by the local communities who loved their home-spun music, but
the thoughts of Preston's community went undocumented.
The organ needed a supply of pumped
air in order to produce a good sound. It was a boy's job to work the bellows
during the service. The more enthusiastic the player, the more frantically he
had to pump. The bellows were eventually replaced by an automatic system which
is still used today.
Monday 3 October 2016
Day 96. The Railing Stumps
Several tombs in Preston's churchyard, generally those belonging to wealthier landowners, were once surrounded with iron railings.
Preston School was also once
fronted with railings.
This is another relic of the Second
World War. Britain was in desperate need of metal to make tanks, bullets and
other armaments, and a nationwide
collection of all ironwork deemed unnecessary was instigated. This was all
melted down for the war effort. A similar drive had taken place during the
First World War – the tracks of the
obsolete tramway (see Day 17) were removed around 1914 – and now
the government officials returned with a more critical eye.
No scrap of metal was deemed too
small. All the railings surrounding the graves in the churchyard were
appropriated for the war effort, as were those outside the village school. They
were never replaced. Just the forlorn stumps remain embedded in the stonework
today.
Sunday 2 October 2016
Day 95. The Water Tower
By 1938, war considered inevitable.
The Aerodromes Board began searching Britain for suitable sites to be used as
military airfields. One of the 400 sites chosen was in Preston on Stour and
Atherstone on Stour, and was eventually known as RAF Stratford. It was intended
as a training base for the crews of Wellington bombers, and became operational
in 1941.
Around 1600 from the RAF, RCAF (Royal Canadian Airforce)
and WAAF (Women's Auxiliary Airforce) were stationed on the site.
Accommodation, medical facilities and amenities had to be installed as well as
the hangars, runways and defence systems.
Water was supplied to the site by
means of a lattice steel Braithwaite tower, 18 metres high. This fed water by
gravity to the entire airfield. The tower is still present although the water
tank on top has long since been removed.
The airfield was operational as a
military base until November 1945. The buildings and runways were gradually
demolished and the land returned to agriculture. A few buildings remain; other
features are betrayed by crop marks. But the water tower, visible for several
miles around, remains a distinctive feature of the landscape.
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