Holton memories
Here are memories of Holton and the local area. You can start now: Add your own Memory of Holton or a Holton photo.
Living in A Train
My mother lived for a time in an old railway carriage close to the post office store - it later became used by a tailor for his business.
MY grandad Charles Webster in the 60's helped to forge and erect the old swings and seesaw which stood on the rise just beside the edge of Orchard Valley prefab housing towards the post office end. Close by was the old Rifle Hall where my grandparents ran the weekly Bingo. Nan worked as a cook for years at Unigate Dairies close by.
My cousin Grace and I used to wander over to the airfield in 60's then derelict and hide in the bunkers which were covered with wild strawberries.
Nan and Grandad are both laid to rest in the graveyard of Holton St Peter.
My best memory when visiting there as a child was the church and local hospital fetes. My dad was an amateur artist and he used to sit with me in a blanket... Read more
Memories of Suffolk
A Long Time Ago
In memory land way back in the mists of time, two small boys left these shores and sailed away across the seas to New Zealand, the land of the All Blacks rugby team. They left behind many fond memories and have never really forgotten their roots. Also, close family ties remain still in the village beavering away at their remaining places on this earth. The family name is Bishop (mother). I have a cousin Glenn who is a resident.
Chapter 2 next.
The Thoroughfare.
My great auntie and uncle (The Ransbys) lived at the Bungalow in the Thoroughfare,can anyone remember them ?
I'd be interested to know.
Thankyou
Rod
Wenhaston Grange
My father always said that the Whites should have stayed at Wenhaston Grange rather than moving to Boulge Hall - it was a far more manageable and charming house. I don't know when the Whites had Wenhaston, or for how long. Nor do I know if there is a house called Wenhaston Grange. Maybe there was only ever Wenhaston Hall which has been demolished, I understand. Are there any photos of these places? The Francis Frith Collection has none. I would love to see them, if there are.
I am Christopher White, my great grandfather was a certain Robert Holmes White and he was the one who bought the Boulge Estate - was he ever a resident at Wenhaston Grange, or Hall?
The Seat That Ezra Built
This shelter/seat was built by my grandfather, Ezra Dowsing Cotton, in I believe the 1930s to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of George V. At least I think so. As a child I thought it was in memory of those who fell in the First World War . Ezra Cotton was a carpenter, builder, and importantly the village undertaker, in the early years of the 20th century, and possibly the late 19th century. His daughters Cicely, Violet and Winifred were given the task of embroidering the pillows on which the heads of the deceased lay. He originally lived in Verandah House in the High Street, now an antiques shop (?), and subsequently in a cottage in Brook Street, not far from The King's Head. My cousin Jean and I were sent there on occasions, in his retirement, to bring him home at lunchtime. His son Ezra was also an undertaker in St Albans. His other son Douglas, a schoolmaster, died in Japanese captivity on the Burma Railway, and is commemorated on the... Read more
The Hut
The village club, always known in my family (the Colletts and the Cottons) as 'The Hut', was where all the young people of that time, and probably earlier, met, since that particularly was the venue for village dances. Inevitably permanent relationships were made there. My mother Violet Cotton and her sister Winifred, daughters of Ezra Cotton, village carpenter and undertaker, met my father William Collett and his brother Charles, sons of William Collett, at one time Head Gardener at Cockfield Hall, at such dances. Their marriages in 1929 and 1928 respectively were at the village church. Charles had a haulage business on the site now covered by Cullcott Close, called that in memory of the firm 'Cullingford and Collett'.
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I Remember When...
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