In 1834 7/2d (approx. 35p) was paid by the Church Warden for picking 22 loads of stones for a wall and fence! The first car owned in the village belonged to MR PERCY COBB owner of Old Mill Stores, and was the village taxi. MR AUSTIN DOVEY also owned a vehicle which was used to take villagers to Winchester. Before that, it was the carriers’ cart, with old worn out horses – it would take two or three hours to get back from Winchester stopping at every house on the way. Many of us used to walk. AUSTIN DOVEY was the first to have a motor as a carrier. When the old horse died a collection was made around the village to buy another old horse, villagers couldn’t afford to buy a good horse, so they were worn out before they started. JACK KNIGHT, WILL LEE, BOB BUNNEY (carriers). WILL LEE lived at Pond Cottage; he was the Sexton and Gravedigger. I remember staying with MRS FROUD, whilst I went to visit our house. The house was in a shocking state, no one had been living in it, and the windows were full of holes, stones on the floors inside. The kitchen grate was covered in rust, stone floors, no back garden, the door opened onto a yard. (Old school house) Farm labourers earned about 14/- a week. They had a piece of land from the farmer, who ploughed the potatoes in for them, and most farm workers kept a pig. There was a pig club, a kind of pig club insurance, they paid 1/- per pig and if the pig died, they’d get the value of the pig out. When the pig club closed, we had an outing, some men had never been outside the village, and we took them to Portsmouth by boat via So’ton. We had lunch at Lowman’s and some of the men called the waiter “Sir”. We lost one man – he didn’t catch the boat back!
In 1834 7/2d (approx. 35p) was paid by the Church Warden for picking 22 loads of stones for a wall and fence! The first car owned in the village belonged to MR PERCY COBB owner of Old Mill Stores, and was the village taxi. MR AUSTIN DOVEY also owned a vehicle which was used to take villagers to Winchester. Before that, it was the carriers’ cart, with old worn out horses – it would take two or three hours to get back from Winchester stopping at every house on the way. Many of us used to walk. AUSTIN DOVEY was the first to have a motor as a carrier. When the old horse died a collection was made around the village to buy another old horse, villagers couldn’t afford to buy a good horse, so they were worn out before they started. JACK KNIGHT, WILL LEE, BOB BUNNEY (carriers). WILL LEE lived at Pond Cottage; he was the Sexton and Gravedigger. I remember staying with MRS FROUD, whilst I went to visit our house. The house was in a shocking state, no one had been living in it, and the windows were full of holes, stones on the floors inside. The kitchen grate was covered in rust, stone floors, no back garden, the door opened onto a yard. (Old school house) Farm labourers earned about 14/- a week. They had a piece of land from the farmer, who ploughed the potatoes in for them, and most farm workers kept a pig. There was a pig club, a kind of pig club insurance, they paid 1/- per pig and if the pig died, they’d get the value of the pig out. When the pig club closed, we had an outing, some men had never been outside the village, and we took them to Portsmouth by boat via So’ton. We had lunch at Lowman’s and some of the men called the waiter “Sir”. We lost one man – he didn’t catch the boat back!