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Wilstone memories

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Morris Dancing at The Half Moon Pub Wilstone


The Half Moon is a delightful traditional small old pub in the village high street. Bars either side of the central doorway and a small grass forecourt which provided welcome soft sitting on one hot summers day for the Whitethorn Morris dancers.

We spent a happy couple of hours making music on our accordians and drums for the morris dancers - accompanied of course by pints of real ale which we drank in our own pewter tankards! By early afternoon we had exhausted both our repertoire and our stamina so we formed a procession and danced our way up the high street to the village hall where we sat down to a splendid cold buffet and speeches surrounded by our music and dancing friends from other local morris dancing sides around the area.

Memories of Hertfordshire

WW1 Soldier in Long Marston

I have postcards of Long Marston circa 1914/15 sent by my grandfather while he was serving in the Northumberland Fusiliers (WW1) .On the back of one he has written "this is where we parade every morning, the road to the left is Puttenham Road it is the one that goes to Halton Park." One postcard is of the Baptist Chapel " I went there last night ,I think there were 14 with the preacher and the organist"

Entertaining The Tring Christmas Shoppers With Morris Dancing

St Peter And St Paul's Church c1960
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Tring hosts a lovely Christmas shopping evening each year when the High Street is decorated, the shop windows have illuminated Christmas displays and stay open late and the place is transformed into a fairyland of old-fashioned entertainment and street traders.  There are hot chestnut vendors, roundabouts, fairground organs, traction engines, musicians and dancers.

The lovely Whitethorn Morris dancers provided part of this entertainment along with their Whitethorn Band. The group is from Harrow but perform clog dances from the north-west of England to lively jigs and polkas played by the musicians.

The favourite spot to play and dance is the wide pavement in front of the church opposite the Rose and Crown. Handy for a traditional pint of beer while performing and also a lovely cup of coffee and mince pie provided by the welcoming vicar and helpers in the church afterwards. What lovely people! And its so nice to warm one's frozen fingers on a cold winter's night after I played my accordian for... Read more

MY GRANDMOTHER

St Peter And St Paul's Church c1960
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My grandmother was born in Tring in the late 1800s and was married in Tring Church on Christmas Day in 1909.  Her grandfather was a very peculiar character and had to be taken to the village pump for his weekly wash and he used to sit on the wall to jeer at  the churchgoers.  He was known as Grampy Rodwell.  Once a week free bread was given out and he always was the first in the queue and used to bag his loaf by poking the bread with his filthy hands.  I loved hearing stories about him.  My grandmother was in service and worked for The Roschilds as a cook.  She was, apparently, the first woman in Tring to ride a bike.  She came from a very large family and most of them married in Tring Church.  I have recently read "Lark Rise to Candleford" and it takes me back to sitting round my Aunt Em's table and hearing her daughters call her "Our Mum" and listening to them proudly... Read more

Childhood Memory

Marsworth Locks c1960
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I was 14 years old when I spent holidays with my cousins Tony and Ivy Webster, they have now both died and I remember them with much love.

Childhood Memories of my Aunt Claire And Uncle Jim Webster

High Street c1955
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I used to spend happy holidays with my aunt and uncle and cousin Barry who have all now sadly died. They used to own the bakers shop, and I can remember the delicious smell of baked bread and being able to have sweets and pop while watching the TV at night.

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