Church House Farm

A Memory of Shelsley Walsh.

Church House Farm was a large white building nestled neath the shadows of the great Yew trees that bordered the graveyard of All Saints Church, Shelsley Beauchamp, the other side of the River Teme from Shelsley Walsh. The gates to the farm opened onto the unofficially titled 'Bridge Road' that led from 'Church Corner' to the New Mill Bridge and the 400 year old building that was in my day known as "Cooks Store". My grandparents were Samual and Harriet Cook and it was my grandmother who ran the shop. The Moore family were the owners of Church House farm and the oldest Moore in my day was Lionel. A man who had bushy white hair and whiskers growing from his ears and nostrils. I was scared to death of him, but then I was only 6 at the time. His son John took over the farm and a very successful farm it was too. Every year the Reverend Chamberlain would bring a group of boys from his parish in Smethwick, Staffs, and they would camp in one of the fields close to Moores farmhouse. They would be there for the long school holiday and at the end of their stay would put on a concert for all the locals in a brick built machine shed at 'Church Corner'. This was always a great evening. Later when I made a trip back to the UK in 1992 I visited my old haunts and found that the former machine shed was now a very smart bungalow.
I wondered if they ever found the mark I had made on the outside wall when I had misjudged the speed of my bicycle when going round church corner on my way home from school. I mounted the bank and came to a sudden stop when the front wheel hit the wall. The handlebars left a long white gouge in the brickwork. I had a few bruises but was otherwise OK. One of my school friends was Jean Clements, the niece of the Moore family housekeeper. I understand that jean still lives in the second set of bungalows on Burche bank. My aunt Marjorie Anderson lived at number 2 bungalow, burch bank. If anyone can remember me from those wartime days I would love to hear from them. You can e-mail me at immilord@hotmail.com

---

---