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Memories of Yoxford
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When I was a child, my great-aunt, Mrs Judith Pheby, lived in Bank House, Yoxford, and was its caretaker. The bank only visited the village once a week, I think, and the rest of the time the bank was closed. The house is on the corner, immediately opposite the Jubilee Seat, and I remember visiting there as a child. In those days, there was just one cold tap in the back kitchen, and the stairs were in a kind of cupboard. The beds had feather mattresses, and there were basins and ewers in each of the bedrooms, and a tin bath in the outside loo. The tiny garden was full of hollyhocks and other flowers, and the sun always seemed to be shining. Mrs Pheby's sister, Violet, also lived in Yoxford with her husband, John Bradbrook, and daughter, Connie. They initially lived in a tied house on one of the estates (I think it was Rookery Park, but am not yet certain) where John Bradbrook was chauffeur (one of the few people in those days who was qualified to break the seal on a Rolls Royce engine). On his death in 1932 when he was only 42 (due to having been gassed during the First World War), Violet and Connie had to leave the tied cottage, and went to live in The Old School House. Connie's first job was in Horner's shop in the village, and she played tennis at the vicarage, went to Dunwich and to Aldeburgh to swim, cycling everywhere, and she also sang in the church choir.Connie was the only village girl to join up in the Second World War, and she joined the WRAC (Royal Signals) and so travelled to Yorkshire, where she met her future husband, a Manchester lad. When he returned from his 3 year overseas posting in Burma, he and Connie married at St Peter's Church in Yoxford in 1948, and they had their wedding reception in the Village Club. The vicar's wife took a great interest in Connie, and helped with all the wedding preparations, so that (despite it being early post-war when rationing still prevailed) it was quite a 'do'. The couple then made their home up in Cheshire, but visited Suffolk whenever they could, taking my sister and I (when we came along) with them. We both have very fond memories of Yoxford. I have just started to research my family history, and will be re-visiting Yoxford in April 2010. when I am hoping to add detail to my memories and researches.
Shared on 03 January 2010
Yoxford, Jubilee Seat c1955
Ref: y16012
This shelter/seat was built by my grandfather, Ezra Dowsing Cotton, in I believe the 1930s to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of George V. At least I think so. As a child I thought it was in memory of those who fell in the First World War . Ezra Cotton was a carpenter, builder, and importantly the village undertaker, in the early years of the 20th century, and possibly the late 19th century. His daughters Cicely, Violet and Winifred were given the task of embroidering the pillows on which the heads of the deceased lay. He originally lived in Verandah House in the High Street, now an antiques shop (?), and subsequently in a cottage in Brook Street, not far from The King's Head. My cousin Jean and I were sent there on occasions, in his retirement, to bring him home at lunchtime. His son Ezra was also an undertaker in St Albans. His other son Douglas, a schoolmaster, died in Japanese captivity on the Burma Railway, and is commemorated on the War Memorial. My grandfather was always somewhat reticent about his other name, Dowsing, as it refers to a direct family link with William Dowsing, Cromwell's East Anglian church destroyer-in-chief!
Shared on 26 November 2009
Yoxford, the Village Club c1960
Ref: y16019
The village club, always known in my family (the Colletts and the Cottons) as 'The Hut', was where all the young people of that time, and probably earlier, met, since that particularly was the venue for village dances. Inevitably permanent relationships were made there. My mother Violet Cotton and her sister Winifred, daughters of Ezra Cotton, village carpenter and undertaker, met my father William Collett and his brother Charles, sons of William Collett, at one time Head Gardener at Cockfield Hall, at such dances. Their marriages in 1929 and 1928 respectively were at the village church. Charles had a haulage business on the site now covered by Cullcott Close, called that in memory of the firm 'Cullingford and Collett'.
Shared on 26 November 2009
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