Growing Up In Bramley.

A Memory of Bramley.

I was born in 1941, we lived in an old Army hut, opposite 'Burraper' Mill. Strictly speaking this was in Sherborne St. John, being the other side of the Beau Brook and the Iron Bridge, but Bramley was a lot nearer.
Burraper Mill was still in occasional use, grinding Sugar Beet and other things. It was driven by a water turbine. A Mr. Steele was the miller. The Mill House was owned by Mrs. Roberts, who had a horse, Joey, who had a field to himself.
There was a lot of Army traffic between the Main Depot and another facility in Morgaston Lane, which had a Narrow-gauge railway through the woods.
The Iron Bridge took a few knocks from the trucks, and at one time was repaired by my Uncle, who was a welder at the Montgomery Reid factory in Cuffaude Lane. My mother was housekeeper to the Reid family, who lived at Bakers Farm, next to the works.
At the top of the hill, there were two shops. One was in the barn of Elm Tree Cottage, kept by Mrs. Miller. The other was in the Old Post Office. Harvey was one of the shopkeepers there.
The Post Office was then about half way between here and the station, Mr. Symonds was the Postmaster, and the mail was sent to Basingstoke in a sack which was chained to a rail on the local bus.. It cost a shilling (5p) into town on the Number 1 bus.
There was another bus which we used (35) which came up from Silchester and went via Sherborne, but this only ran on Wednesdays and Sarurdays (Market Days). They were operated by Venture Ltd.
I went to the old Bramley School, behind the Church. Teachers that I remember were Mrs. Harman, Mrs. Bridger, and Mrs. Murdoch. Dinners were cooked at Fairfields School in town and brought to us in insulated containers. Heating was by 'Tortoise' Coke stoves, there was no electric. The 'toilets' were primitive.
Later, I went to the grammar school in Basingstoke, going by train mostly, but for a while we had special buses, operated by Lovegroves of Silchester. They were second-hand Daimler double-deckers with Birmingham City timetables still inside.
Our house had no main services. Lighting was by paraffin lamps, water came from a well and there was an Earth Closet, which ensured a good vegetable crop. Coal for the fires was delivered by Toomers, who had a depot in the village, which later became the Honey Farm.
Mr. Greenstreet was the vicar and he had a smart pony and trap for doing his rounds. The church was also lit by magnificent brass paraffin lamps. No-one seems to know what happened to them after the 'lecky was put in.
The old Iron Bridge, built in 1831, recently had a 7 ton weight limit on it. I remember seeing a low-loader going over it carrying one of the steam locomotives from the Army Railway going for scrap. A bit more than 7 tons!
We could hear the Army trains clearly, squeeling round the sharp bends and panting up the gradients, hooters blowing.
After leaving school I worked for Lansing Bagnall, the fork truck makers, cycling through the lanes past the Vyne. I remember the lake at the Vyne being dredged by a pair of huge Fowler Steam Ploughing engines, one on each side of the lake. This was some time in the 1960s.
So much has changed since those days, the centre of the village has moved nearer to the Station, the school has moved, so has the Rectory and Post Office. The old village that I knew seems rather deserted.