Little Baddow, Essex

woodlands school

From 1961 to 1967 I attended Woodlands School in Oaklands Way, off Postmans Lane, Little Baddow. It was a tiny girls school run single handedly by the late Dorothy Bromley, the classrooms being two white wooden sheds in the garden. There was no playground but there was a grass tennis court that we the pupils had to maintain.

There... [more]

Elijah Mecklenburgh of the Old Rodney Pleasure Grounds

Not a memory, but a mention of my ancestor great great great uncle Elijah Mecklenburgh, born 1837 at Bradfield and died 1913 in Maldon. All I know about him was that he lived at Ravens Farmhouse in Woodham Walter in 1871, and that he had connections to the Old Rodney Pleasure grounds. I have no idea what the... [more]

Another ghostly experience on Grace's Walk

The year is approximate as I was in my teens, so it was somewhere between 1972 and 1974. I had a horse called Shamrock, that I kept in Sandon and I used to ride him through Danbury and Little Baddow all the time. I went down Grace's Walk one day, from the Little Baddow end, alone with the horse, and when... [more]

Growing Up 1950s

During the late 1950s my parents moved to live on Bremner's Farm - an apple farm at that time, in Little Baddow.

On getting my first bicycle - a black, woman's bike, I use to cycle all over this area - Riffam's lane, Graces Walk and around Coleman's lane. My brother married a girl from Coleman's lane.

I... [more]

Midnight ghost hunt

I was born in Little Baddow and was familiar with the story of Alice Mildmay and Jesse Berridge's book. One summer night three of us rode ponies down Riffhams Chase to Great Graces and down Grace's Walk, arriving at midnight. We crossed the bridge (the one in the photo) and all I can remember after that is that all three... [more]

Chelmsford Photographic Memories

Danbury sits at the top of a long uphill haul on the road from Chelmsford to Maldon. Before the Navigation was opened, this was the main thoroughfare between the two towns. The low wall on the extreme left had been a pound - an overnight stopping-point for animals being driven to Chelmsford's livestock market.

Chelmsford Photographic Memories

Riffhams Chase was, at this time, still a private road. It was barred from the outside world by a gate - seen here beside the Thatched Cottage. The fields at the rear of the cottage served as a parade ground for troops stationed in the village during the First World War. It was later a sports field.

Chelmsford Photographic Memories

This point - where Grace's Walk crosses Sandon Brook - has a ghost story attached to it: Lady Alice Mildmay (d1615), child-bride of Sir Henry, supposedly drowned herself in a pond here after he was unkind to her. It is likely the tale was invented - or at least embellished - by Jesse Berridge, who was rector of Little Baddow from 1915 to 1947.... [more]