Silver Cup Pond, Harpenden, Herts.
Having grown up in Harpenden I remember The Silver Cup Pond very well. Firstly, to answer the question posed, I'm sure that the pond was named after the pub that stands on the main road not far away, which in my time was the A6, in it's day the fore-runner of the M1. It is possible that the silver cup itself could have been a horse racing prize from the days when this sport could be seen taking place on the common. As well as the pond, there was also a sandpit nearby where we used to play. It was hexagonal, made of concrete, and had a short pillar in the middle, great for banging your head on! Having done the shopping, and after leaving Mary Ellen's tea rooms, where the ladies would sit drinking tea or coffee in their hats, our way home to Southdown took us not only past that pond, and the sandpit, but also the water regulating lagoons. These, our mothers assured, us were most dangerous, full of crocodiles they said, and we mustn't go near. We never did! The only use they had for us was that Miss Neil, our teacher at the school in Southdown, got tadpoles from there for us to look at. The Silver Cup Pond was great for sailing your boat in but I remember that during one of our 'sailing afternoons' my father once slipped over on the slimy bottom and got drenched. Great days, great memories.
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RE: RE: Silver Cup Pond, Harpenden, Herts.
Kevan,
Are you related to the Peters on the Stoplsey Memorial?
I am currently reseaching all the lads but have a dead end with Sidney G Peters..
Comment from Stewart Woolsey on Tuesday, 20th July 2010.
RE: RE: Silver Cup Pond, Harpenden, Herts.
I lived in Harpenden in the WW2 years (1939-1945), and used to spend a lot of time on the common, sailing yachts on the Silver Cup Pond, and playing in the sand pit. My father, who was in the RAF, and at one time was stationed at Luton Hoo. He once took me to the pond to try out a new wind up motor boat, but it got stuck, and he had to roll up his trousers and wade in to retrieve it . I remember the pond had sloping sides, but unlike the previous person's memory, he didn't slip in ! I used to help at the visiting fairgrounds on the common, and quite often we could watch the aerobatic fights between the British and German planes. And the Prickle Dells further up the common were great for riding your bike, long before Mountain Bikes were invented !
Comment from George (David) Rudram on Saturday, 4th December 2010.