Summer 2014
The December 2014 newsletter is here
Additions to the website since the last newsletter include
- Several contributions concerning the PoW camps and surrounding areas
- James has provided some more of those remarkable LIDAR images of both the Chobham Common camp and WW1 trenches.
- Fred Gilliam recalls rewiring the Chobham Common PoW camp, and asks if anyone remembers Miss Marlow Bran and her yellow Hudson.
- Groggy tells of his Canadian father's experiences encamped on Chobham Common in WW2, and of the Ascot PoW camp.
- I have been told of the diary of a French Forces veteran describing his training at Camberley and including a photo of the huts they lived in. www.gastoneve.org.uk/england.html
- Lionel Parr has provided several contributions including Waterers, the Duke of Connaught's car, the PoW camp at Ascot and Old Dean.
- Caroline has provided more information about the Tilbury family.
- Burrow Hill, Frimley, has been suggested as the location of the TB hospital that Brian had enquired about, and Lionel has suggested the use of the Brompton Sanitorium..
- Dauna tells of her ancestor Pauline Borel who worked as a lady's maid to the Duchess of Connaught, and John of his ancestor Jonathan Hutton who was a coachman.
- Roger tells of his grandparents being on the staff at Weston House
- Anne recounts her uncle who worked for Waterer's nursery
- Jonathan contributes to the page about the Papworth family.
- There are plans to do away with Bagshot's Broadmoor siren.
- Peter Bowers has contributed to the Bowers thread.
- The location of Montreal in the High Street has been identified.
New enquiries include
- Deborah wants to know where records from the old Nursing Home might have gone as she would like to find out exactly when she was born.
- Julie is seeking the maiden name of her ancestor Harriett, born Bagshot about 1821, whose married name was Boud or Bowd
- Andy has an 1897 painting of the Fighting Cocks by "MC" and wonders who this might be.
- Maureen is seeking information about William Chapman's carriage building business from the late 1800's
- Lauren wants to find out the history of 36 London Road from when it was used as a hotel.
- Bagshot Castle : this from Bill Arnebeck in the
USA intrigued me.
I had no idea at all. Then Bill got back to me again. Like all good researchers he had checked his references and found that original documents indicated that Thomas Conway was the keeper of Calshot Castle and therefore the author of the material he had been readings had made an inexplicable error. Calshot Castle guards the entrance to Southampton water.On British History On Line I found the following:
"1603: July 21st Grant to Thos. Conway, and Edward his son, of the office of Constable and Keeper of Bagshot Castle, co. Hants, for life. [Ind. Wt. Bk., p. 9.]"
Do you have any idea where the castle might be or might have been?.
WW1
As I write this we have just had the 100th anniversary of the start of WW1 - or the Great War, or the war to end all wars, as it was hoped it would be. Those planning events to mark this occasion have been very careful in their choice of words - 'commemorate' or 'remember', never celebrate.
In Bagshot we have had two events. St Anne's church organised a Commemorative Concert by the lake in the grounds of Beech House. On a gloriously hot day, Bagshot Concert Band, under their Director of Music, Roger Saunders, played a wide ranging selection of music to an audience of about 200. Tea and cakes were served in the interval during which we were also treated to a flypast by the RAF's Red Arrows (ok, it was Farnborough Air Show weekend) and in part two we had songs from the period with full audience participation.
Walking through Bagshot after 10pm on the evening of 4th August (the anniversary of Britain declaring war) the village was strangely dark and quiet as many households participated in the British Legion's "Lights Out" as a sign of remembrance. I was making my way to the village's War Memorial where about a hundred people gathered for a candle light vigil with words and music appropriate to the occasion.
Prompted by the anniversary several of us have been researching the lives of the people who are commemorated on the War Memorial and on the Roll of Honour. Brief details are relatively easy to find from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, these give the soldier's rank, regiment and date of death, and may briefly identify the next-of-kin. Delving into census and parish records reveals the place the person held in our community and helps give us a glimpse of the sacrifice made by the loved ones they left behind. This research, which is still work-in-progress, can be seen here. I would be pleased to hear from you if any of these people were your forebears, especially if you can contribute to this tribute.
Progress reports
In the last newsletter I wrote of several pending developments. Here is an update:
- There had been proposals to demolish Jack's Fish &
Chips and replace it with a Tesco store. It all came to nothing as
Tesco pulled out.
- There were also proposals to demolish Notcutts' Garden
Centre (ie what was left of the former Waterers Nursery after Notcutts
had pulled out from nursery activities on the site) and replace it with
a new building containing a Waitrose supermarket and a Notcutts retail
outlet.
These plans were approved and no sooner had demolition work started than we heard that Notcutts had pulled out leaving Waitrose without a partner. Whether the planning officials were suspicious that this might happen I do not know, but I understand that the planning consent expressly prevents the supermarket expanding into the whole development.
- Then there was the replacement of the water main along the
A30. The original plan was to work concurrently on two 100 yard
sections half a mile apart, each under traffic light control. In my
opinion this was a flawed plan as the queues would not clear and
traffic would just log-jam. Others must have agreed with me for the
implementation became a single section of single lane operation.
The first few days were a disaster - queues stretched huge distances and I am told that it took an hour to travel the few miles from Camberley.
The traffic lights were soon replaced by manually operated stop-go boards. Frequently a nightmare themselves, on this occasion credit must be given to the teams operating them in all weathers for they made as good a job of traffic management as was possible in the circumstances, clearing the queue each cycle. They even had observers with walkie-talkies posted half a mile away at the top of Jenkins Hill reporting on the situation.
Traffic was also eased by the fact that very many drivers chose to use a different route avoiding Bagshot. However, this had a down side. The High Street was quieter than on a Sunday morning with hardly a car parked, and no trade for the small shops who were not taking enough to cover their rent and rates let alone be able to pay wages.
The work was completed in the allotted time - but only by reducing the length of pipe that was replaced. If I start to say "can you guess what happened next?" I am sure you will get the right answer. A few days after the workers finally left, the A30 was totally closed as we had a burst water main no more than 10 yards beyond where they had stopped!
Flood relief
Earlier in the year the south east of England had suffered extensive and prolonged rain, saturating all the water courses and resulting in flood levels moving down rivers such as the Thames. Our stream, the Windle Brook, has a small catchment area and whilst it rose high it did not flood. However nearby communities in the Thames basin were not so fortunate and many houses suffered prolonged flooding. Bagshot was one of the communities who came to their aid. A collection centre was set up in a vacant shop and messages went out to our residents reporting the current needs of those affected. The response was overwhelming and numerous loads of food, bedding and cleaning materials were shipped off.
I will confess that this photo is best described as a staged photo opportunity when the Mayor visited Bagshot's collection centre towards the end of the appeal when the flood victims' needs were for cleaning materials.
'New' trains
We have some 'new' trains running on our line in green and silver livery. There is a notice on Ascot station extolling their virtues - but nothing on our station. They are second hand trains in need of refurbishment and the green and silver livery is that of their previous owners, Southern Railway, with their logo painted out. I hope the refurbishment provides seats that are more comfortable than they have at present. Apparently part of the plan is to be able to carry more passengers - less seats so that there is more room for standing!
Library
Our library continues to flourish with its volunteer staff. Their 'honeymoon' period, when a member of county staff was always there as backup, is over. The volunteers are not totally on their own though, county staff are available on a help line to deal with any issues that the volunteers are not able to resolve.
New Vicar of Bagshot
Our vicar left in January to take up an appointment in Canada.
I was anticipating that it might be some while before a new incumbent
was appointed, but no, Rev Andreas Sistig is moving to Bagshot from
Fleet where he was Associate Vicar. He takes up his post in September.
With best wishes to you and those you hold dear.
Neil
home
Previous newsletter | Next newsletter
221 prior to Easter 2006
854 prior to Christmas 2006
1261 prior to Spring 2007
1609 prior to Christmas 2007. Then reset/new counter
330 prior to Spring 2008.
358 prior to Summer 2008
387 before Christmas 2008
434 before May 2009
no record at Dec 2009
563 in Sept 2010
566 before Christmas 2010
503 before Easter 2011
495 before Sept 2011
510 before Christmas 2011
518 before Easter 2012
668 before Harvest 2012
554 before Christmas 2012
548 before Spring 2013
731 before Christmas 2013
686 before Summer 2014