Wyddial, Hertfordshire

85 High Street and Mark Doel Butchers

The house on the right was and still is (2009) a butchers shop. My dad Mark Doel bought it from the Ward Lewises who had bought from Sid Howlett in the 1970s. I can remember there used to be stalls and stables behind the shop where animals were kept, as it was also a slaughter house. On one of my first... [more]

Looking after Mungo Walker at Wyddial Hall

My mother - Peggy Barker - looked after Mungo Walker, the grandson of the Heaton-Ellises when he returned from Kenya as a 7 year old in the late 1930s. This was only for a few months until he went to boarding school. She was supposed to be teaching him Maths but I think from the sound of it, they just had... [more]

My Great Grand Parents Wedding

My great-grand parents - Charles and Sarah Roblett - married at Layston. Their daughter Dorothy Roblett married Christopher McHugh, of Archers in Buntingford. The wedding here took place some time between 1920-1940, the church was open air and they married on Christmas Eve. Chris and Dorothy had three children, Christopher, Bernadette (my mother) and John. They passed away over 20 years... [more]

The Bell Hotel, Hare Street, Buntingford

I have recently discovered that my Great Grandfather John Main originally from Devon (a shoe maker) and then in Brixton, London as a Dairy Manager owned the Bell Hotel in Hare Street around 1905.
My Grandmother lived there as a little girl and would often tell us stories as children about how it was haunted and about secret panels etc and... [more]

Memories of the Bentley family

This photo, along with the other 4, attracted my attention because the thatched cottage on the left is where my father, Arthur Sidney Bentley, was born in 1926. He lived all his life in Barkway until his death in 2005. Married to Pamela Mary Sharp of nearby Therfield, he had 3 children, one of them myself, Jeffrey born in 1952. Linda... [more]

The Welch family

My great great grandparents were born and married in Barkway before coming to the US in 1854. I am wondering if there are any relatives of John and Sarah (Butler) Welch in Barkway. I will definitely have to visit some day.

Royston 1967-9

I worked for Airwork Services in the late 1960s and there were people from Royston who worked there, there was a girl called Linda who worked on the camp hairdressers and a couple of others, I can't recall the names but I still have photos taken outside the shop alongside the lady who was next door in the NAAFIshop. If anyone... [more]