Meonstoke, Main Road c.1955

Photo ref: M304019

My uncle, Earnest Smith lived nearly opposite the Bucks Head with his sister Dora. He was a market gardener by profession and used to grow most of their needs. He also was a herbalist; often we'd visit and he'd say 'not feeling too well' and pop off own the garden and pick, I recall, dandelions to eat. He was the first person to own a motorcycle in the village. Catching stickleback in the stream was a childhood favorite. Many of my relatives are buried in St Andrews.

The 1841 census shows that my Great, Great Grandparents, Charles and Lucy Chick and their 6 children lived at Stock Farm Meonstoke. The article in the archives about Stock Farm in 1955 is very interesting. does anyone have anymore memories of this farm?

There are many people better qualified than I to write about Meonstoke, but this photo evokes memories of the Cooke's, who ran the village shop with cheerful kindness and where we shopped for essentials - and particularly for sweets which we took back to school in a biscuit tin (I have written about it here http://lawfordherry.blogspot.com/2007/11/st-ronans.html/). Opposite were (and still ...see more

These are not really memories although I do remember my father talking a lot about Meonstoke with affection. I have 2 old postcards and 2 old photos. The photos are of the building (I understand it was a Post Office at some date) in the picture above but when it was a private house. According to family tradition it was called Hill House and was built by William Cooper one of my ancestors. I do not know if that ...see more