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Butleigh
Butleigh maps
Historic maps of Butleigh and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Butleigh maps
Butleigh area books
Displaying 1 of 11 books about Butleigh and the local area. View all books for this area
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Memories of Butleigh
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An Important Place!
We lived in Sparkford, but 4 of us were born at this hospital (the last one was born at home in 1956). I am not sure how Dad managed to visit Mum as he certainly did not have a car!
We visit Somerset annually but this year we stayed at Barton St David. The small villages with narrow streets were quiet and picturesque, it reminded me of when we lived here in the 1950s. I remember the bread van coming round almost daily, and before milk deliveries my mum used to walk into the village with her sister-in-law to collect mild in a small churn. We only went to Sunday School in good weather because then we could take a short cut of about a mile across the field and railway line to church.
Somerset memories
My Sister's Village
My sister moved from Manchester in 1990 to Keinton as her husband was working in Shepton Mallet. We have been visiting the village at least 3 times a year, Easter, Summer and usually Christmas. Our children say they can smell Somerset - they mean fresh air, fires burning etc. Keinton has shown us a different way of life, we love to go to the local church on Christmas Eve and a walk on Christmas Day. We love the quiet and the peaceful streets and the smell of people's fires burning. We would love to move to Keinton and hope one day we will. We are really thankful that it has become such a big part of our lives. I love Keinton.
School
As a 13-year old lad freshly returned from the United States (to which my Dad had been posted for oil shipment duties), I found myself one September day a little teary-eyed at the doors of Edgarley Hall. I did not know then that I was about to start the most wonderful experience of all my school days. The Hall was then the junior school for Millfield in Street. It was also a mini-heaven for boys who were as ready to learn as much as they wanted to scramble up and down the Tor, fish in the Brue, go to the flicks in Glastonbury, play cricket and soccer throughout Somerset, and just generally wake up to a world of woods, wildlife, and a kind of singular wonderment.
The Roman Way
We moved to Glastonbury in 1994 and left in 2000.
We loved our time there and have wonderful memories of walking our dogs along Wearyall Hill and across the fields at the back of our house then along the banks of the River Brue. We were able to sit up in bed with a cup of tea in the morning and look at the sunrise over Glastonbury Tor. A very special place that we go back and visit often.
I Used to Live Here
I grew up living in a cottage on West Street (just out of shot on the left) Next door to Mr and Mrs Vincent. Mr Vincent had the garage over the road... I remember that he had a penny farthing bike in the window.
The Cooper's had a fish shop in the Triangle there was a marble slab in the middle of the shop and they also sold fruit and vegetables. I think Mr Cooper (Ron) also had a van and delivered fish to the surrounding villages.
One the left you can see Leonard Hughes Shop - my friend Phillip Mitchell lived there. They were next door to Mr and Mrs (Bill and Joyce) Chapman who were farmers.
Next door to the Vincent's on the left was Mr Law's shop - he was a Cobbler and also sold shoes. Mum used to buy our school daps there.
Next to that was Mr and... Read more
Gran And Grandpa Lazenby's Shop
Gran and Grandpa Lazenby had a grocery shop here. I believe they also had a café next door but I can’t remember that. I do remember looking through the window in the back of the shop and seeing my Mum slicing bacon on a big red machine.
Mum tells me her worst job was to turn the handle of the coffee roasting machine – she hated the smell of roasting coffee and to this day only ever drinks tea.
My other memory is having my lunch in the garden at the back… I used to sit in Grandpa’s lovely garden on a little flower pot and use a bigger one as a table.
I’m told Mum used to cycle out to all the farms to collect the grocery orders and then Grandpa Lazenby used to deliver them in his grey van. I can remember looking through the windows in the shop door and watching them leaving –... Read more
Post Office And Boy's School
The Red Lion Building used to be a Post Office run by Mr and Mrs Salter. Next door to was the Boy's School. The boys and girls went to separate schools in those days – the girls were taught by Miss Bibby at Monteclefe and the boys by Miss Lacy at the Boy’s School. I think I’d been at Monteclefe for a year when they moved us all up to the Boys School. We were crammed in together while they modernised Monteclefe. When we eventually moved back Monteclefe became co-ed and we were taught by Mr Davis and Miss Swain – Miss Lacy was our head mistress. Miss Lacy was very creative and I loved our art classes. I loved going to school but my worst memory is of school milk. We used to be given 1/3 pint every day. In winter the frozen milk was brought in and placed near the big stoves in the class rooms to thaw out. I... Read more
