Covenham

A Memory of Covenham St Mary.

These are not my memories but those of my grandma, Beatrice May Fell. She was born in 1899 in Covenham St. Bartholomew in a small two up two down semi near todays Mill House Restaurant. Her family later moved within Covenham to what we believed to be The Goat, which now I think she may have been talking about the area called the Gout on Ings Lane. There was a deep pond near the home. The family consisted of five boys and seven girls. They had a small holding that was owned by a local farmer who employed my great, great grandpa. The house had a yard, outbuildings and a large vegetable patch. Inside were two bedrooms, the parlour and a living room, scullery and pantry. The scullery was used as a laundry, bathroom and kitchen. When the pig was killed for Xmas all the pig cheer was also prepared in the scullery and salted meat was hung in the scullery and parlour from big meat hooks. The girls had a bedroom, the boys the other bedroom and her parents slept in the parlour. Water came from a hand pump just outside the back door.
In the yard were hens, geese, muscovy ducks and guinea fowl. The pig lived in a sty in the corner of the field, it was well fed from scraps and bottoms and tops from the veg patch.
Most food was provided from what they grew, other food that had to be bought was delivered by carrier cart from Louth. Each week a list was made and my grandma took it two fields away to give to the driver and she collected the order, which was packed into a wooden box, with a brother or sister later that day.
There were two small shops in the village but more expensive. There was a cobblers and a bakers, also a dress maker.
A postman came around the village each month selling clothes and boots in a tub trap calling at all the houses. A fish monger also came and a man with a musical box with a monkey sitting on top,
Sometimes my grandma's mother would take a few of the children into Louth. This meant getting the carrier cart that cost 6p or 1 shilling if you had a tarpaulin cover, or walking to the train at Utterby Halt.
School served about five villages and there were about 200 or more children. It was an unhappy time for my grandma, she left aged twelve. They walked to school about one and a half miles, the day was 9 to 4. Mr Forshaw was the schoolmaster, a hard, cruel man who would thrash the boys. They all sat on benches with no backs, they were not to slouch.
In the winter and in the dark walking home over the fields could be very frightening.
My grandma's father was very religious, a free Methodist. He went to church twice on Sunday, taught Sunday school, he also kept the communion wine and was secretary of the Free Methodist chapel. The children were not allowed to play, knit or sew on Sundays. The Bible was given pride of place, covered with an embroidered cloth and placed at the top of the sideboard with some hymns books.They all had special Sunday clothes and we all had to attend church and Sunday school.

There are more memories she recorded so I will post them again at a later date.
I hope someone found these memories interesting.