Reference
AU10/92/1
Title
Letter from Vivian martin in Chinley [Cheshire] to Andrew Underwood:
- heard AU's remarks about Ampthill in "Down Your Way" on Radio 4; the writer used to live in Ampthill and attend Bedford Modern School;
- his family moved from Bedford to Ampthill "for health reasons" when he was 12 and he left Ampthill for the Army when 19;
- they lived at Maydencroft in Dunstable Street, opposite the Crown, his father was a local councillor and Poor Law Union Guardian, on Christmas Day they would visit the Workhouse and help the master, [Charles] Wolveridge, waiting on the inmates;
- he was a chorister at Ampthill church and they had one lady singer, Mrs.Seabrook "who sang well but was tucked away in a rather inconspicuous spot";
- the cobbler was Charles Stanisford [sic Staniforth] who had a small shop in Dunstable Street opposite Stearns [Stearn & Son] the tailor and nearby was [Herbert John] Woods the hairdresser and tobacconist; "Charlie [Staniforth] used to listen to my prattle as I sat on his counter but he was deaf which was doubtless an advantage", Woods owned a motorcycle and sidecar;
- Miss Osborne lived behind the writer's family, a doctor lived next door and his house and grounds were later council property [Mid Bedfordshire District Council?]; another doctor, Ambler, had a son called Joe who owned a tame jackdaw;
- Ampthill Park had horse chestnuts which children used to collect whilst evading park staff and a small pond which offered illicit fishing [Westminster Pond?];
- he visited Ampthill Brewery after World war one with Customs & Excise officer "those visits were distinctly unofficial nevertheless we sampled the beer!";
- his brother's name appeared on the town's War Memorial [see AU10/92/5-6 - Guy Stanislaus Martin MM, Corporal in 5th Divisional Signals Company, Royal Engineers, died 25 Aug 1918 aged 23 and buried in Achiet-le-Grand Communal Cemetery Extension];
- Oliver Street was a dull place but led to [Alfred] Hetley's Iron Works which ceased operations just before the Great War, Septimus Hetley was about the writer's age and "had several very good looking sisters";
- he also remembered [William] Marks the butcher, Mrs.Crozier who owned Ampthill Steam Laundry, Mrs.Dunkerley who owned a small sweet shop, Edward Coleman & Sons, the drapers in the Market Square and Anthony Wingfield "whose llamas occasionally promenaded through the village as did Mr.Wingfield's agent [Rayment]. He appeared to be the best dressed man in the village and his figure was such that it was rumoured, no doubt falsely, that he wore a corset
Date free text
24 May 1976
Production date
From: 1911 To: 1976
Level of description
item