Village 1897, Totternhoe

Changing Schools And Houses

My earliest memory of Totternhoe was when we moved to the village from Dunstable after my grandfather died. We came to live at 35 Church Road next door to my father's cousin Winifred Heley who was the postmistress at the time, the Post Office was in the front room of the house. We did not have flush toilets, only a bucket at the end of the garden which Dad emptied once a week. The school was in the Memorial Hall in the middle of the village, there were 3 teachers, Mrs Jones was the head teacher, followed by Mr Carr, and Mrs French taught the infants. A new school was built in Church Road opposite Tom Turvey's farm and I went there until I passed the 11 plus and went to Dunstable Grammar School in 1952. There were two roadsweepers in the village although I cannot recall their names, all work was done with a shovel and broom, unlike today. The vicar was Mr Llewellyn Jones and I can remember... Read more