Tag Archives: Eileen Smith

Joy Lawry: WWII 1939

WWII

In 1938, for Yarmouth, like other communities, life changed; we were preparing for war. Everyone was fitted with gas masks and volunteers were called for A.R.P. duties (Air Raid Precautions) and for the L.D.V. (Local Defence Volunteers), later known as the Home Guard.  Conscription for the forces began with what were known as the “Militia Boys” and they all did us proud.  Yarmouth at that time was a very close community, families and their forbears having lived here for a very long time.  Our young men found it hard being taken from working as butchers, bakers etc. to, after a short training, becoming a fighting force.

Town Hall sandbagged 1939

Town Hall sandbagged 1939 photo: Eileen Smith

The A.R.P. had their headquarters at the well- sandbagged Town Hall to begin with, but moved later to the Royal Solent Yacht Club where frequent blood-doning sessions were held.  The A.R.P. consisted of telephonists, wardens, First Aid and ambulance drivers.  The ambulance was a laundry van, from the laundry in Heytesbury Road which was the main employer of women in Yarmouth, with some male drivers. Rescue practices were held at the Mill.
Some men and women went to work in Aircraft factories at Freshwater and Cowes.  Several girls joined the forces, and women took over from the men by driving delivery vans.

 from an article by Joy  Lawry nee Cotton b 1922

Henry Cooper: Upper Lee, Thorley, 1900s – 1960s

Upper Lee

Henry (Harry) Martin Cooper (1877-1969) was born at Upper Lee Farm, Thorley, and lived there most of his life.  He had no formal education, but was self-taught having learned the basics from his mother. In 1902 his diary first mentions his bee-keeping activities, which provided additional income to supplement the income from the small family dairy farm.

Postcard of Upper lee

Postcard of Upper Lee

I remember my dad telling me the field names – Long Meadow, Goose Acres, Pyle Field.  I have a feeling that Grampy rented Vicarage Butts, but I couldn’t be sure.  He strongly objected to having to pay tithes for some land he had.  I wonder if that was for Vicarage Butts? Rosemary Cooper granddaughter of Henry



When it comes to fruit trees I can remember damsons, greengages and Victoria plums at Thorley, but I have no idea what the apples were, except plentiful. (There was a thorn apple that I was told by Mum to keep quiet about!)

I’ve a feeling there were apricots too? Grandma and Aunt May used to bottle lots of fruit but apart from plums I think it must have been mainly soft fruit. When they moved to Parkside my first memory was of the larder there with the shelves of jewel-like colours, the light shining through their store of bottled fruit brought from Thorley I think. At Upper Lee it must have been kept in the Dairy where there wasn’t so much light.  Stella Ridley, Grand daughter


Mum said they loved going over to the Coopers at Upper Lee to Sunday School and then go in to the hall in Newport.  It was a treat for them.  They used to go and collect the milk in a jug from them at the farm. Mary Henderson b 1954


May Cooper used to do the dairy work for her brother. She made butter pats in the shape of swans, and cooled them in Thorley Brook, just where a little spring rises. When she made jellies and jams she’d cool them by floating them in the stream. Eileen Smith nee Lansdowne b 1921


 


 


 


 

					

		
		
	


	

				

			
						

				Eileen and Peter Smith: Thorley foraging 1950s, 1960s
			

								


				

			
Living off the land


Joy Cotton used to come out from Yarmouth with me. There was a sort of a pond at the edge of Thorley Brook where we picked watercress.

One day when we’d just moved in here, I found some wild gooseberries in the hedge at the end of the houses. They weren’t very big but they tasted lovely. Eileen Smith nee Lansdowne b 1921


With a bit of effort it was possible to scramble up to pigeons’ nests and get their eggs, which were good to eat when boiled up in a tin can with potatoes on a campfire.

Near the old Wellow Brickyard (if you were lucky you could find some bricks with Wellow stamped on them) were some ponds where moorhens nested. They laid lots of eggs and were also good to eat. The secret was not to take all of the eggs, but take less than half, so that the moorhen would lay some more, and you could come back again in a few days time for a few more!


There were other good things to eat around Thorley if you knew where to look. Plenty of mushrooms in the autumn, masses of blackberries there for the picking, and delicious apples from Charlie Bryne’s garden just across the road from our house. It was always tricky getting these, as the tree was in full view of his house. You had to try and work out if he was in or not before you sneaked in. If he was in he’d come hollering and shouting at you, and he had a very loud voice so it was all a bit scary! Peter Smith b 1946

					

		
		
	


	

				

			
						

				Jean Smith marries Brian Saunders: Thorley May 1980
			

								


				

			
Jean Smith marries Brian Saunders, May, 1980
Jean Smith marries Brian Saunders, May, 1980: Photo Jean Saunders


When Jean and Brian were married at St. Swithin’s Church, Thorley, local village children came to watch. Jean invited them all  to join the occasion and be included in the photo. This is the result – a true village celebration.

Front left: Louise Cowley, Anna Vinycombe,

Back row from left: Thomas Cowley, unknown, Kim Weston, ?Roberts, (Brian and Jean), ? Roberts, Mandy Bruce,Zoe Weston, Lee Weston.


Jean’s parents both looked after church and churchyard for many years, Ralph taking care of the churchyard and maintaining its wild flowers, Eileen looking after the church itself as verger.


Eileen’s grandfather, Jean’s great grandfather, Robert May, was verger at St. James Church Yarmouth for over 40 years.

					

		
		
	


	

				

			
						

				Eileen Smith: Thorley, North View 1950s
			

								


				

			
Thorley from Broad Lane
Thorley from Broad Lane


The Smith family


Ralph and I had applied for a house in Yarmouth, but with no success. Then one of the chaps who was offered a house at Thorley, turned it down because it was too far from the shops. We didn’t mind!


The women in the cottages opposite North View, Elsie Squibb and Miss Drake, came out and said they didn’t want Council Houses in the village. We said, ‘Dont you think that people who have done their bit in the War, deserve somewhere decent to live?’

Eileen Smith nee Lansdowne b 1921

					

		
		
	


	

				

			
						

				Eileen and Peter Smith: Thorley, Blacksmith’s cottages
			

								


				

			
When Ralph came back from the war, he didn’t want an indoor job so he went to work at Wellow Farm, and we lived in one half of Blacksmith’s Cottages. That didn’t last long. Ralph had arranged to play cricket one Saturday when they’d been told they would have the afternoon off. The foreman changed his mind and told him he’d have to stay on, haymaking. Ralph told him the hay wasn’t fit, and he’d committed to play in the team. The foreman told him to collect his cards, and we had to move out of the tied cottage. We moved back to stay with my parents in Yarmouth, and applied for a Council House. Eileen Smith nee Lansdowne b 1921


Ralph Smith as a boy, with Mr. Kingswell of Wellow Farm in the rickyard with lurchers
Ralph Smith as a boy, with Mr. Kingswell of Wellow Farm in the rickyard with lurchers ready for hare coursing, 1920s


My earliest memory of Thorley is from when we lived at Blacksmiths Cottages, the one nearest the church. We didn’t have an inside toilet there, only an Elsan chemical toilet in the shed. As I write this I can smell it even though 63 years have gone by since I last used it!


Blacksmith's cottages 2013
Blacksmith’s cottages 2013


Peter Smith b 1946    

					

		
		
	


	

				

			
						

				Eileen Smith, Mike Smith: Thorley, Blacksmith’s Lane
			

								


				

			
Blacksmith’s Lane, that was the original bridle path, went right through the copse   down by the side of the two cottages, across the stream.  Hec Stone’s – it must have been his grandfather – said he used to drive a coach and horses up through the copse.  The bridlepath was still up through the copse… you’ve still got the dip. Eileen Smith nee Lansdowne b 1921

The bridleway went up through the copse and over across the railway line and right through to the other road.  Even when we were kids where they used to go across the stream, it was all hard gravel there.  You could always get across there because it was shallower. Mike Smith b 1951

					

		
		
	


	

				

			
						

				Eileen Smith: Thorley, St Swithin’s churchyard 1960s
			

								


				

			
St Swithin’s Church, Thorley


Thorley churchyard spring
Thorley churchyard spring


When Bert Welstead got too old to be able to look after the churchyard, Ralph took over from him and carried on the good job of looking after the wildflowers that make Thorley special. He was asked by visitors on one occasion why he didn’t keep the grass mown shorter;  it looked untidy. He didn’t think much of them; they wanted St Swithin’s churchyard to look like a garden lawn. Eileen Smith nee Lansdowne b 1921 ( Thorley’s churchyard is recognised for its wealth of wildflowers, and the care that has been taken to conserve these through the years.) 

					

		
		
	


	

				

			
						

				Pete Smith: Funeral 1951
			

								


				

			
Funeral in snow from Dog Kennel Cottage 1950
Funeral in snow from Dog Kennel Cottage 1950


I remember waiting with my Mum in the snow at the bus stop by Heal’s cart shed (on the corner of Broad Lane opposite Newclose Farm) and being very cold. No bus came along, but while we were waiting, a strange sight came into view; a tractor pulling a trailer with a coffin upon it preceded by my great grandfather Robert (Bob) May the undertaker, with his black funeral great coat and top hat. It was so cold that the tractor, from Tapnell Farm, had an old army coat thrown over the radiator to stop it freezing; a very strange sight indeed for a four year old lad to take in. The bus never did arrive due to the snow.


This was the funeral of Mrs Reader who lived at Dog Kennel Cottage up Broad Lane, on December 16th 1950. Peter Smith b 1946