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Little Leighs
Little Leighs maps
Historic maps of Little Leighs and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Little Leighs maps
Little Leighs photos
We have no photos of Little Leighs, although we do have photos of these nearby places:
Great Leighs| Little Waltham| Great Waltham| Felsted| Terling| Black Notley| Rayne| White Notley| Pleshey| Little Dunmow| Braintree| Cressing| Panfield| Great Saling| Bocking| Springfield| Stebbing| Hatfield Peverel| High Easter| Witham| Baddow| Great Dunmow| Stisted| Little Baddow| Roxwell
Little Leighs area books
Displaying 1 of 18 books about Little Leighs and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Little Leighs
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Essex memories
LITTLE WALTHAM
I lived three miles from Little Waltham from 1956 till I moved out about 1965. I lived in a cottage near Domsey Lane and we had no buses, only to the village, so when we went out to Chelmsford we had to catch the last bus to the village and then we had a three mile walk in the dark to get home and it was scary as there were no lights. When I moved out, my mother moved down to the village to live. My memories of the village are Amos the bakers, he used to deliver lovely bread and cakes to us. The surgery with Dr Bassett,and the little wooden shop run by the sisters. I think they were called the Phylls.They used to sell sweets and general stores. Also the butchers at the top of the street. There was also a man who had a huge Great Dane, near us. I was scared of it. I loved the footpath that went to the church where horses were... Read more
Ennos Ancestors
Hi,
I have been researching my wife's family history. She was an Ennos, and I have found that there were a number of families with the name Ennos in Little Waltham during the 1800's. Are any of them still around? I'd love to make contact.
Ancestors were Ernest Ennos, William Ennos, James Ennos.
Thanks
John
Little Waltham
I used to live in Little Waltham when I was eight until 19. We lived in a thatched cottage without electric, and no central heating, only an open fire and kitchen range. The windows used have patterns on them in the winter. In 1962 it was a bad winter, we had to dig the snow so the grocery van could get through as we lived about three miles from the village and bus route. We had to walk so we could go into town, also we had to walk more than a mile to get the bus to school. Eventually my mother and father moved into the village, I also until I left home at nineteen. There was a long footpath where they kept a couple of horses I was frightened to go through, there was a large wolfhound there as well.
1966-1982
Ford End is now a shell of its former self, almost like the UK. When I was a child in the village, growing up, there was no better place to be. There was a shop, two pubs, the Spread Eagle at the top of the village and the Swan at the bottom of the hill, a dairy, post office, village hall, cricket pavilion and not forgetting the C of E primary school that I attended from 1970 to 1977 before going on to my secondary school in Great Dunmow. As children we used to race home-made go-karts down the hill in Back Lane, sometimes even down Brook Hill (the main road) without any injury or major incident. We had fields, streams, ponds, trees to climb and the River Chelmer was only a short walk for a bit of fishing or, in the summer, swimming. Happy days that I will never forget.
Village Policeman
In the late 1950's I was the village policeman at Great Waltham. The police house was the last two-storied house at the Barrack Land end of Cherry Garden Road with my 'office'being in the kitchen and the tsble there was my desk. Next door to us was a lovely old lady - Mrs Woods and on the other side the Hornsby family, daughter's name Jenny. My duties in those days were not very onerous consisting mainly of attending motor accidents, moving on camping gypsies and paying occasional visits to the local pubs in Great and Little Walthams, Howe Street and Mashbury. My means of getting around was on a bicycle although about one a month a police car from Chelmsford would come to Great Waltham and I would act as observer for a couple of hours. My immediate superior officer was Sergeant Leslie Pye from Broomfield who was always very keen for us village policemen (including the one at Ford End (Const.Tom Mitchell) and Great Leighs (Const. Les.... Read more
Born In Gt Waltham 1953
My father Eric Grubb was one of three sons and two daughters of George Grubb. (who lived until he was 100 years old). We lived in Six Bells Cottages until we were rehoused in Cherry Garden Road. My mum Gertrude worked in Snows the butchers, pictured above, making sausages! I remember Mr Butcher the policeman - Mr Moore the poacher was a family friend! I attended the village school and Broomfield Secondary. My father died aged 43 in 1966 and my mother remarried Eric Rickman whose family lived in Barrack Road. My husband and I married in Gt Waltham in 1973 - the Rev. Duke was still there.
THE HAWKES AND BRADLEY FAMILIES
Researching family history led me to Charlotte Bradley and Josiah Hawkes from Great Waltham.
They married in 1871. Charlotte was a servant to the Oddie family and Josiah was an agricultural labourer from a large family.
Addresses are hard to read on the census. Was there a house simply known as 28 Village ? and Chatham Green or Chatham View?
I hope to visit the area sometime soon. For some reason I feel I have to see where Charlotte and Josiah grew up!
Its probably unlikely but I wonder if any of their families still live in the area?
