Memories of Tithby
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Year: 1948
More on the Williamson of Tythby A memory of Huntworth, Somerset I was born in Tythby in 1948. Rose Cottage on the Cross Roads of Tythby. Church on one corner, Miss Cox's house on another and Bagleys's farm on the other. The youngest of the eight Williamsons. Ours was a full household but I have happy memories of it. Listen with Mother came on the radio at 1.45pm. Mum said I used to tell her to be quiet while washing up so that I could listen the the two nursery ryhmes and the story packed into the 15 minutes before Womans Hour started at 2.00pm. As well as the two pigs mention in brother Brians memories...by the way they had names...Curly and Shorty as far as I can remember named after the appearance of their tails. There was also a ferret...not sure if he had a name. Dad used him for catching rabbits. I can remember him because I got a smack for letting him out of his cage.Maureen the next sister up from me got a sweet because she put him back. I remember sitting in the Church looking at the boards that are still there. I can not have read them being so young but did recognise them on my trip to Tythby in 2005. I used to be fascinated by the different pews in the Church. The ones on the right of the aisle are high and have doors so that you cannot see the people in them. The pews on the left of the aisle are lower. I was told during my last visit this was because the Church was built for the two Parishes of Tythby and Cropwell Butler. Cropwell Butler was better off than Tythby so they were able to pay for the bigger doors. I used to think all the posh people went in those. Mum used to tell me the story of when Lady Graham went to the Church one Winters Day. Who was the little girl with no respect for the Gentry...Me...seems I threw a Snowball at her. Never did like class distinction. I am sure she was a very nice Lady. Tythby was a very small village and still is. Great place for children to have a happy uncomplicated life. I remember that one day Dad had to sack someone on the farm. I waited all day to see a man walking along the road with a sack on his head. Probably Brian told me that is what happened. It was Brian who used to tease me when I would sulk and stick out my bottom lip. " A fly will land on it" Used to make me cry more .....or laugh. Brian had a train set. He used to set it up, put the cat in the middle of the track and then turn it on and scare the cat. Cats name was Fluff. I don't remember many people from Tythby. The names of Mrs Cox and Mrs Arnsby I do remember. Arnsby's farm was on the corner of the road going out of Tythy towards Bingham. The cats used to sleep in the oven and I used to think she would cook them one day. Mrs Cox lived on the corner across from us. The house is still there just as it was. Brian remembers playing cricket against the Church wall, I remember playing Dead in the Church Yard. This involved laying on a grave, preferably the big ones. We used to go to Sunday School and the some Church Services. I cannot remember which ones. I do remember wearing a coat with a fur collar and someone ( I bet it was Brian) stroking the fur collar and going "Puss Puss" of course making me laugh during the sermon. Mr Evans the vicar used to ride my three wheel bike when we went past the vicarage on the way to and from school. I have been told that some days I refused to pedal my bike so it was either pulled by string tied to the handlebars or I got to ride on the crossbar of Johns bike. Much more fun than pedling yourself. Dad used to grow lots of vegetables for us to eat. We also had chickens. Milk we got from the farm. Not sure where Mum went shopping for other things as there was no shop in Tythby. We used to go to the doctor in Bingham so maybe she did her shopping there. There is no pub in Tythby only the Church a couple of farms and a few houses. You can see the whole of Tythby by standing in the middle of the crossroads and looking each way. What did we do to pass the time.....after doing any chores we had to....not sure if I was old enough at that time. Older ones got up to a few things but I will leave that for them to add. Maureen and I would dress up....make daisy chains.. go look at Bagleys farm..play with dolls..play in the fields..make jam pasties with left over pastry...cricket..Conkers and I am sure lots of other things I can't think of at the moment. At the Church Fete I was chosen to present the Bouquet to who ever opened the Fete. I had to learn how to curstsy. Sister Maureen got to dress up as the Queen. She got to wear a white dress, a crown and a purple cloak edged with cotton wool and fruit gums for jewels. Hope some others add their memories of Tythby. I spell it Tythby as that is the first word I learnt to spell by repeating it many times and I got the spelling from the signpost on the road into Tythby. I do have a photo of that taken in 2005 Gillian Williamson that was..... NSW Australia Last edited: 24/08/2008 02:42 by Gillian Emerton |
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Year: 1944
Tithby or Tythby. A memory of Huntworth, Somerset I used to live in the village of TYTHBY, spelled with a Y and not an I. I did not even know that there was another village close by with a similar name. But I have checked on the computer and there it is, not too far away in the general direction of Langar. But I do not think there ever was a village in that place during my time at Tythby, perhaps someone knows different. I remember the then vicar, Mr. Evans, telling us in Sunday School that the name came from the fact that at one time there was a barn there where taxes, or tythes, were collected and stored. Hence TYTHE BARN, or Tythby, maybe I have been under a misaprehension for all those years! My family was easily the largest in the village, eventually reaching a total of ten, Dad (Harry), Mum (Flo), and two sons and six daughters. In order of age John, Mary, Joan, Flo., Eileen, Brian, Maureen and Gillian, at the time of writing all eight of us kids are still alive and doing well, although scattered about the world a bit. Memories are many, life was safe and happy, we played cricket with a wicket chalked on the churchyard wall, interuptions for cars being almost non existant. We roamed far and wide in complete safety, returning home when we got hungry. It was wartime and the years following, lots of rationing of course but we suffered nothing as far as I remember. I do remember watching the hundreds of parachutists training at Newton RAF base, we could just see them from the lane leading to Mr. Prices stackyard. I remember the Shipman family who farmed with 3 farms between several brothers, used to let me ride on the horses which were in common use then for most farm tasks, tractors needed fuel and there wasn't too much of that available. There was a large American Army camp near Wyverton Hall with some coloured soldiers, we had never seen an actual coloured person before and at first were quite afraid, but soon were used to them, and to the chewing gum and bits of chocalate bars they gave us! One night I heard a lot of lorries going by our house and looked out of my bedroom window to see long lines of them going through the village, I told my dad next morning and he said I must have been dreaming. That day he came home from work and told us the army camp had gone! It must have been June 1944. I had piano lessons at Mrs. Price's house but no talent I am afraid. I remember Miss Cox who had one of the very few telephones in the village and we all had to go there in any emergency, it was a big thing on the wall and a handle had to be turned to make a call. We used to go to a Mr. Harpley on a Saturday to get some boiled sweets, rationing being on for many years of course. We went to school at Cropwell Butler and walked there sun or rain summer and winter. The village did not have a daily bus service but I think there was a bus on a Saturday to Nottingham, or you could walk to Cropwell Butler and get one from there. I remember we lived in a large house at the main crossroads in the village, but at one period we had to move out whilst it was modified to 2 houses so as to provide a place for some members of the Womens Land Army to move in, when we moved back we had only 4 bedrooms, but we did have an inside toilet now and even a bathroom with running water, hot and cold. Before that it was a tin bath in front of the fire, taking turns, smallest first. Water heated in a boiler attached to the coal fire and filled by bucket. Before then the toilet was a wooden seat with a hole, and again a larger bucket underneath, emptying was a matter of digging a very large and deep hole in the garden, we never seemed to suffer any ailments from this. After the war Field Marshall Montgomery came to a church service, I still have a photo of this. He stayed with a local, Sir Miles-Graham, who had been one of his close helpers during WW2. The whole village turned out. A giant tractor, a gyrotiller I think it was called, came and tore up hedges, trees, ponds etc. to make more land for growing food, rationing still being severe. We had two pigs in our shed who was fed until a good size and eventually some of it was hung from the pantry ceiling, big hams etc. Later some wooden houses were built, a gift from Sweden I think, in the village, first houses I had ever seen built. We had a radio and used to listen to Dick Barton Special Agent and Journey into Space. But we had to walk to Cropwell Bishop to have the accumalator recharged so it did not spend too much time on, at that time we had no electricity in the house. I remember many other names and events but room is limited so time to wait and see if anyone ever reads this. We lived in Tythby for about ten years, it was a good place to live and grow up. I would welcome contact from anyone with any further interest in these memories, especially anyone who remembers the Williamson Family. Brian Williamson (Murcia - Spain). Last edited: 11/08/2008 14:50 by Brian Williamson |
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