Charles Henry Godfrey

Ian Cherry writes (in respect of the item on the former village shop, see below):

My father* came for lunch last Sunday and I sat him down with my tablet so he could view the pictures of the old shop, he has lots of memories, before he had seen the picture of Queens House he said I wonder if there is a picture of ‘Great Gran Godfrey’ in her long outfits and sure enough he saw the picture of her on her bike, he couldn’t quite remember her full name but it is on the grave stone to the right hand side of the belfry door of the church. As he said, my mother would have been able to name all in the photographs. Godfrey & Walton had 3 shops, the other two were at Helmdon and Bredwardene in Herefordshire, Walton became a partner with Charles Henry Godfrey, they were related. The business was sold in 1918 and C H Godfrey bought The Retreat(now called The Old Stocks) for £130, later selling it for £1000 in 1939 to a man who wanted to get out of London when the war started, he said it was the best deal he had ever done. C H Godfrey owned Stutchbury Manor Farm and bought the land adjoining known as Painters, he sold the lot to the college(Oxford)and bought a farm at Aston Cantlow near Stratford upon Avon and set his son up, also known as Charles Henry Godfrey but called Ron. Today his son Charles owns the farm who we keep in touch with. When the business was sold in 1918 (Uncle) Cecil Walton as father calls him set up his motor bike business at Wisteria Cottage. The man with the moustache in the first picture father has identified as his Gramp or Great Gramp Godfrey, he says they all had big moustaches in those days. Gramp Godfrey gave the the Church Clock, that was commissioned by Smiths of Derby, along with a bequest to maintain it, this sadly eroded over time and became part of the church funds. I called in to see Charles Godfrey at Aston Cantlow a few years ago and he gave me his Grandfathers parish map of Sulgrave, dated 1885(surveyed in 1883) it shows every house in Sulgrave at that time, each map is 1/2500 approx 1.0m x 0.7m, there are 8 maps in total and show every field, tree, hovel, pond, in the parish at that time. Also enclosed are some pages to a ledger of around the late 1800’s listing the names of landowners/tenants in the parish: Seckington, Gulliver, Wootton, Linnell, Killbey, Hawkes, Wills and Pack to name a few. All interesting reading.

*Roger Cherry of Dial Farm House, Magpie Road.

Photograph by S.W.A.Newton, reproduced by permission of Historic England Archive

Colin Wootton writes:

Victorian photographer S.W.A.Newton, of Leicester, made a comprehensive photographic record of the construction of the Great Central Railway between 1896 and 1900. The railway has long gone but fortunately his photographic record remains. Travelling by train and bicycle he also visited and photographed street scenes in villages near to the new railway. The glass plate negatives he produced would have required a large camera and a sturdy tripod and the plates would have needed careful transportation back to his father’s photographic business in Leicester for processing. He produced almost 1000 photographs and the whole undertaking must have indeed been a labour of love! A high resolution digital scan of a second of these photographs, of the former Village Shop, Queen’s House and the School House has now been acquired and reveals the then scene in quite astonishing detail. From this scan it has been possible to make some very interesting enlargements of people and objects, which can be seen on the next page.

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Photograph: Colin Wootton

Donald Taylor has made another journey down memory lane to the time of strict food rationing during and just after World War 2, when most villagers kept at least one pig in a sty in the garden. Donald’s father, George, a trained butcher, was much sought after at that time for the efficient slaughter and jointing of the pig, ensuring that the meat was safely “cured” for long time home storage.

Read Donald’s account of this process on the next page.

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Bruce Benyon, Hook Norton Brewery’s Operations Director, pulls a half pint
Photograph: Chris Behan

Chris Behan writes:

The launch of Hook Norton Brewery’s Easter ale at the Star Inn on Thursday evening, 2 March 2017 attracted a full house of real ale lovers from far and wide. Well, as far as Lois Weedon.

Bruce Benyon, the Operations Director of Hooky, pulled the pints, actually only half pints, but you could go back for seconds. Dreams do come true as it was all on the house, Hooky’s house I hope not Chris and Tom’s.

For a fleeting two hours the Star was a “free house”.

That appalling one-liner was inspired by Hooky’s own marketing department, whose promotional flyer for the Easter ale is full of corn, coining such dreadful expressions as “hop to it” and “we know you’ll all be eggscited”.

The conversations at the bar were, as ever, sports related, for instance, the Italian rugby team’s better knowledge of the rules of the game than most of the English players. We could have sought a professional opinion on the subject as we were in the presence of one visitor, David Grashoff, a TMO (television match official, for those of you who are not versed in rugby TV acronyms), but respectfully declined.

Well done Chris and Tom for a very enjoyable evening and, before I forget, the cheeses were great.

In the words of David Grashoff , “you can award a try”.

More photos on next page.

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Villagers will remember the wedding of Peter and Pat Thomas’ daughter Debbie to Orlando Gomes at Sulgrave Church in June last year:

Debbie will be running in the London Marathon on Sunday 23rd April, in aid of Katharine House Hospice. Please support Debbie by making a donation to this worthy cause, either as set out in the flyer above or in the Village Shop.

Please contact the Parish Clerk, Christine Coles, for further information, on 01295 276229 or [email protected]

Click here for: Composition of present Parish Council; Details of the Powers of Parish Councils; the Roles and Responsibilities of Parish Councillors: Good Councillor Guide: Minutes of previous meetings; on the Sulgrave Village Website.

Poppies off Magpie Road, Sulgrave

Donald Taylor writes:

Once again Sulgrave has demonstrated that wonderful generosity so often shown to exist. Everyone was so kind and friendly to me personally on my rounds, the progression round the village was a joy. Considering that the remembrance service was at six pm there was a good congregation – many of us find turning out at night difficult. Between my house to house collection, the contribution at the church plus boxes at the shop and the Star Inn you contributed an amazing £852.28.

The current total for the district covered by Wappenham Branch stands at £4668.73. In congratulating everyone, may I comment that the Legion is always seeking new members – you do not have to be ex-service. Anyone can join – we have outings, coffee mornings, annual lunch etc and great camaraderie.

The prospect of door to door collecting can seem daunting. I can tell you it is not. On the contrary, the poppy appeal is a most enjoyable and rewarding experience. Anyone fancying helping out next year will be most welcome. I’m not getting any younger, though I do not intend giving up.

Very many thanks for your generosity and on a personal level for your response to my call. You made me so welcome it was almost another holiday! For two years running Sulgrave has contributed nearly £1000 to this worthy cause – with a little help perhaps we can reach the magic figure in 2017 – the 100^th anniversary of the Third Battle of Ypres – “Passchendaele”!

Donald Tayor

See next page for Donald’s account of his return to the scenes of his army career in the Intelligence Corps in Austria just after the end of the Second World War.

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