The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise — with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country. Abraham Lincoln |
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Crack this one, percipient reader ..
A tribal chief in the good ol' days had three sons, of whom he was very proud. He also had 17 beautiful ponies, of which he was also very proud. Sadly, he died (Aaaaah!).
In his dying breath he let it be known that he wished his 17 ponies to be divided among his three sons -- half of them to the oldest, one third of them to the second, and one ninth of them to the youngest. None of the ponies must be mutilated or otherwise harmed in any way. ( OK -- must have been a pretty long dying breath ... )
His tribe were in a quandary, as they knew that to play fast & loose with the old chief's wishes would bring ruin & everlasting misery to the tribe. Try as they would, with much cudgelling of their brains and beating of their breasts, they could find no way of dividing the ponies as laid down by old chief's word (or breath).
Wartime Crashed Aircraft
I was trying to remember the number of crashed aircraft, I had seen, and in another life, dealt with. Despite the closeness of many wartime airfields, Church Broughton being the closest, if you ignore the Marchington airstrip, I could only remember one, during my school days.
This was an Airspeed Oxford, it crashed in Hollington Lane, Stramshall, behind a house, which was lived in by the Arnold's.
Cannock Chase (Forest) Memorial Triangle
Cannock Chase, in Staffordshire, was once a Royal hunting-forest, hence its name. In Tudor times, its trees became a source of fuel for the Tudor iron industry. It was formerly owned by the Earls of Lichfield, whose Shugborough Hall seat is nearby.
In 1964. the German Government, decided to create the Deutcher Soldaten Friedhof. 2143 soldiers from the Great War and 2786 from the Second World War were moved and placed in this beautiful place. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission now maintains this place.
Over here - WW2 American Troops
The first American troops to arrive in our part of the world arrived in 1942. They came to what became known as Sudbury Camp (nearly in Marchington).
A hospital was built at the present site of HMP Prison. A great marshalling yard was built outside Sudbury Railway Station.
The first American troops were transportation types, not infantrymen. Firstly, they were all white, then black soldiers arrived.
Henry Fenwick Pickering - Doveridge
I am trying find detail about the career of Henry Fenwick Pickering who is buried under the yew at St. Cuthbert's and whose obituary records a rather large funeral for a man who had been in Doveridge only 3 years as manager of the cooperative. He had formerly taught school for some 10 years in Silverdale in Staffordshire and was known there as "Poet of the Village." The obituary is from the Uttoxeter paper. I would like to find the reasons for his popularity, his place in the social world of Doveridge, anything he wrote.
Wallace Kaufman, 34251 Mt. Tom Dr. Harrisburg, OR 97446 USA
Email : This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Web : www.sicvita.com
Victoria Jubilee Committee - Bramshall - 1897
I have a copies of the attached photos taken in 1897 of a group that is made up of the Bramshall 'Jubilee Committee' and a second one including the ladies.
I have the identity of the gentlemen but would like to have the names of the ladies in this photo.
Uttoxeter - Hamlet to Town
The main areas of Anglo-Saxon settlements were already established by the late 6th century. The manors of pre conquest land owners were substantial and, with the inclusion of numerous appendages, lay mostly along river valleys and fertile plains. The smaller manors were settled later and, in general, held by lesser men.
To the north of the county the large areas of waste land and moorland supported a sparse population and even as the land became more forgiving as it reached the lower reaches of the Dove and the Churnet the population was no more than 1.6 people per acre.
The conclusions drawn from the Domesday survey indicate the gathering of groups in hamlets and villages that supported a basic system of agriculture. Areas between villages were largely unoccupied except where practical demands necessitated such things as the removal of timber or the operation of a water mill.
The shortage of arable land and meadows restricted the ambition of villager and serf alike, the lord of the manor generally controlling both labour and expansion.
Journeys into Staffordshire
A new book about Staffordshire, which is written, edited, printed and published in the Uttoxeter area, is now available from the Uttoxeter Online Magazine Book Club at £14.99 + £3.50 P&P ( see below ).
"Journeys into Staffordshire" - by bus, bicycle and boat, by road, rail and long distance footpath, Michael Pearson explores the sometimes underestimated County of Staffordshire in such a way as to entertain and inform in equal measure.
This is the sort of book which will appeal as a gift or a souvenir to locals and visitors alike, and once read is likely to be treasured for years to come.
Gluten & Wheat Free Food in Uttoxeter
"Tastes of Staffordshire", the local, regional food store, located in 'The Maltings', Uttoxeter, has announced that, due to popular demand, it will be increasing its range of food products to include Gluten and Wheat Free Food Products from Mid December 2009.
Unsolved wartime murder
Ruth Schemler, an Austrian Jewish refugee, fleeing NAZI persecution, was found raped and murdered in a disused quarry at Counslow Pot, Freehay, Cheadle, Staffordshire in 1943
Wartime investigation was sparse. Lorry tracks in quarry showed that a WD Bedford lorry had been near to the body. This would seem to indicate service personnel. The whole investigation closed down in a few weeks. There are no records at Stafford Police HQ. A promise to contact central records in London not kept.
Despite the time element. someone knows something ... Where are you ?
Hermitage Residential Home Re-development
A quick note on the progress with our Residential Home Re-development
As you can see from the photos below, the site here is very muddy at the moment, and the builders are hoping for some better weather. Completion of the 24-bedded extension is still on course for early August 2010, despite so much rain.
Bombs on Uttoxeter during the war
Uttoxeter did not suffer that much during the war. The first stick of bombs fell in a field at Loxley, and a further stick followed later. The only 'blitz' was on the Bailey and Mellor families, in New Road ( parish of Stramshall ) - exact date forgotten, 1941/2. I was at home at 57 Park Avenue. My father was on Home Guard duties (he was too old for military service) at Bamfords Ltd, ( not JCB ! ). The Fauld Explosion - 1944
In 1937. as a precaution against the growth of Nazi Germany, the Government purchased, from the Duchy of Lancaster, part of a gypsum mine near Fauld in Staffordshire. The mine was to be used as a bomb storage dump. The entrance to the mine was housed within the RAF camp at Fauld, and about a mile away from the more substantial village of Hanbury. Early in the War an adjacent mine belonging to Peter Ford was also purchased. The workings of the two mines were separated below ground by around 120 yards of rock and earth and, perched high above was Upper Castle Hayes Farm, the home of tenant farmer Maurice Goodwin and his wife Mary. Were the Goodwins fully aware of the danger that lay beneath them? That the storage dump existed was an open secret. What was not so well known was the huge amount of bombs stored within the chambers and passages of the former mine. In all some 14.975 tons of bombs, including giant American 4,000 pound blockbusters, were being held on a fateful day in 1944. The Goodwins, and no doubt other locals, would have been extremely worried had they been aware of the disastrous history of similar dumps in other parts of the country. To put it in short, explosions were not uncommon. |
Tastes of Staffordshire - Regional Food
On Saturday 7th November 2009, a new concept in food shopping opened in Uttoxeter. A regional food store combined with a deli, ‘Tastes of Staffordshire’ is located in "The Maltings Shopping Area" and offers an exciting range of local and regional foods to tempt your taste buds. Knowing where food has come from is becoming increasingly important and at Tastes of Staffordshire customers are not only able to see exactly how many food miles have been travelled from producer to shelf, but also find information on each producer. The Spider and the Fly - Mary Howitt
A Poem by Mary Howitt "Will you walk into my parlour" said the Spider to the Fly. Married in Uttoxeter in 1821, to William Howitt, a druggist working in Hanley, Mary ( nee Botham ) is probably our best known 19th century local poet. As William and Mary Howitt they were to gain worldwide fame as authors and poets. They were prolific writers and an important part of the literary scene at the time, helping and working with many famous names like Charles Dickens, Mary Gaskell and Hans Anderson. They later travelled greatly and William and two of his sons became important names in the exploration of Australia and New Zealand. "Mary Howitt's House" can still be seen in Balance Street, Uttoxeter.
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