Table Of Content

Advertising and Circulation The Newsletter Committee have included the advertisements from our sponsors as usual even though this edition of the Newsletter is being distributed on line via a link from the “Geddington.net” website. We recognise that some regular readers may not get to see the Newsletter and that some businesses are not currently operational due to lock down restrictions. The adverts are presented in good faith and this edition will not be taken into account in the annual renewal arrangements. Having taken on a new mode of distribution to circumvent the restrictions that face us, the Newsletter Committee would appreciate feedback from all our readers so that we can assess how acceptable this mode of communication is to villagers until we are able to resume a normal printed version. [email protected] 2 Geddington - The Newsletter Summer 2020 Geddington - The Newsletter Chair Remarks Contents Summer 2020 Edition: Jane Tysoe, Newsletter Chair. Cover - artwork by Justin Brice based on a style created by Welcome readers to this Summer edition of The Newsletter, which Richard Crouse 1 is in a different format. Chair Remarks 3 What a difference a few months The decision was made to go digital makes. At the time of the last issue, as while it would have been positive Features inc. Local History, 4-21 I don’t think any of us were thinking to deliver the newsletter in its usual Remembering..., Past-times, we might be in the situation we have format, it cannot be considered as Animal Tales, Hanger Games, now been in since March. essential. We hope as many of our Back to Nature Two issues ago I wrote about looking usual readers as possible will read it, If Only Our Local Pubs Could Talk (part 4), back to the start of the Millennium and we’d like to hear your feedback Northamptonshire Place Names, and how the world had changed on the accessibility of this issue. Geddington Ghosts, A Mystery… since then. Now, in a very short The Secret Aerodrome 1941-45, We recognise that some readers will space of time, it has changed again. I was a total fraud!, Charlie Johnson, not have access to it. So, if you are The COVID-19 virus has led to a Run of the mill!, New cat on the block, aware of anyone without access and lockdown in society with hardships Quantas Queries, I’ve got Worms, are able to assist them I’m sure that for many people and businesses. On The Bee-Fly would be most appreciated. behalf of the Newsletter Committee Democracy in Action 22 I’d like to thank all the key workers We hope that this edition provides Philip Hollobone MP that are keeping things going and some distraction from the current especially those on the front line, and difficulties. In this edition, Peter Hill A Celebration! 23 all of the people in the villages who regales more tales from local pubs V.E. Day 75th Anniversary are assisting others. I hope that all of in his final article of this series, Church and Chapel 24 our readers remain well and are Fudge is introduced as a new St Mary Magdalene and The Chapel managing to live well during these character in the village and we say challenging times. We’re lucky to live a sad goodbye to long time village Pre-School 25 in a beautiful area and have walks resident, Charlie Johnson. Udder Pre-school Day Nursery on our doorsteps which I hope many There are articles on a different kind Local Infrastructure Project 26 of you have enjoyed in the recent of farming, a secret on Cobley Lodge Gigaclear sunshine for your daily exercise. Farm, windmills and the bee fly, Amongst the Newsletter Committee, Clubs and Organisations 28-34 as well as amusing anecdotes from we had a full discussion, safely via Brickyard Garden, Knitting Club, Quantas airlines. There is poetry and emails, about how to produce this 1st Scouts, Support Group, GVFB, advice on lockdown exercise. Also, edition. Whilst it may have been Live Performances and the WI find out why Jackie Binley considers difficult but possible to go to print, Café and Pub Talk 35 herself a fraud?! it was felt that distribution of a hard Café Oak and The Star Inn copy would be against the current So, hopefully, something for every- advice of the government to stay at one. I hope we’re in a more positive Wellness 36-37 home except for essentials. situation by the next edition. Lockdown Exercise, Staying Young, Drifting Thoughts and Thoughts THE GEDDINGTON NEWSLETTER WELCOMES AND Village Life 38-39 APPRECIATES ALL READERS’ CONTRIBUTIONS Out and about… - your input makes our Newsletter relevant to all so please send in Puzzle Time 40-42 your articles (a hobby/interest, charity support, any local ‘goings on’), letters to the Editor, congratulations etc. Masthead and advertising rates 44 Contributions to The Newsletter can be submitted as emails to: Solutions 45 [email protected] or in hard copy to any of our Back cover 46 committee members, see Masthead for committee contact details. Summer 2020 Geddington - The Newsletter 3 Local History If Only Our Local Pubs Could Talk (part 4) - Peter Hill Many a scheme or plot have been At the subsequent inquest it was The diarist also recorded, with his hatched in local pubs, one of the stated the deceased had died from usual wit, a number of fights in the most spectacular being at the over-exertion! town’s pubs. One took place (aptly) Cleveland Arms (now Vane Arms) at The three offenders were tried at on Boxing Day, 1778: Sudborough in 1837 when a group of Northampton and found guilty, but ‘A Good Battle was fought twenty-five men planned a daring on account of having large families to tonight at the Dolphin between raid at Deene a few miles away support, together with good character John Henson, alias ‘Fow Tankard’ where rabbits were supposed be in references, their sentence was cut from and Sam Barnes, watchmaker. abundance. Unfortunately for them, transportation to a year’s hard labour. After some fairish knocks, victory a gamekeeper from that estate In the previous century the British was declared in favour of Henson, overheard them and informed the army and navy were frequently but his shirt was torn all to steward who subsequently arranged undermanned and had to find ways of pieces which caused him to get for fourteen workers to lie in wait for finding recruits aged between fifteen his Wife’s Blessing’. an ambush at the appointed time. and forty five. One way was to form Another form of humour can be As they walked across one of the a ‘press gang’ who would target found in the form of graffiti, such as fields, the would-be poachers pubs, a prime target for tipplers who that discovered by workmen during were pounced on. In the ensuing would be oblivious to the ‘King’s the demolition work in Corby village confrontation, many of them fled, shilling’ being dropped into their in 1960. The Black Horse in Church leaving behind three who were beer mugs – a sign of acceptance of Street was one of five original pubs taken into custody, and the volunteering. One incident, albeit in in the village and was said to be disembowelled corpse of another. jest by some friends, was recorded in patronised by the more ‘sporting’ the diary of John Clifton (see Spring types of local men. edition) at the Three Lasts and other pubs in Oundle in November 1776, in which they ‘dress’d themselves in the Masquerade task and set off as a press gang’. The Black Horse, Corby, c1950 4 Geddington - The Newsletter Summer 2020 Geddington - The Newsletter Whilst the workmen were As a result, Dingley referred to them In the south of the county at dismantling some of the furnishings as Sodom and Gomorrah! Paulerspury during the 1880s, ‘Perk’ they had a chuckle at some of the Much has been written about the Smith, the landlord of the Barley graffiti on the doors of the men’s Talbot in Oundle and its supposed Mow was a well-known character, toilets, including this one: association with Mary Queen of not averse to taking up dares like Rockingham on the Hill, Scots who was imprisoned locally at climbing the church battlements, Oakley in the Vale, Fotheringhay prior to her execution. or indulging in a session of brutal Kettering for silly B------s, Masonry and furnishings from the ‘kickshins’, a local ‘sport’. On one Corby for Ale! castle are said to have been brought occasion whilst brewing, he had just This colourful language either in to the inn after demolition of the put the wort in the copper, and as he graffiti or rhyme form was nothing former. Inevitably, legends sprang up added the hops (which needed time to new with our ancestors, when it came after this event, including ghostly sink) he heard of a prize fight about to local inter-town/village rivalry, phenomena, seen and heard by staff to take place in a nearby field, and asserting superiority on some way, and guests on many occasions. subsequently left the brewing some of which one might say is Despite this being far-fetched in temporarily. The problem was the still goes on today? If a village was most cases, one particular incident fight lasted longer than expected. ‘closed’ (with a resident lord of (which has been verified) cannot be When he returned, the copper had the manor to keep an eye on the explained: In the 1960s, four friends boiled dry and he saw his beer behaviour of its inhabitants) as sat down at a table in one of the running down the street. When one opposed to an ‘open’ village rooms with their drinks, awaiting of the onlookers asked how he felt (where the lord of the manor lived their meals, when one of them asked about what had happened, he smiled elsewhere) there could even be jokingly ‘Where’s Mary?’ whereupon saying he would not miss a good jealousy in some form. Such was the an old portrait of the queen fell from fight for anything! case with Dingley and its solitary the wall behind them! Coincidence? pub, the Horse and Jockey, looking enviously at nearby Wilbarston (with an amazing nine pubs at the time) and Stoke Albany (with three). Regency period engraving of The Talbot, Oundle Images sourced by Dr Peter Hill, FSA. Summer 2020 Geddington - The Newsletter 5 Local History Northamptonshire Place Names - Deborah Armitage Do you live in the enclosure of Gedda’s clan, the clearing of oaks, or the new homestead? Successive waves of invaders have stamped their linguistic footprint on the names of Northamptonshire’s towns and villages. Learning how to ‘read’ local place names opens a window into the past, giving us clues about which ancient people’s stomping ground we now occupy, and helping us understand Northamptonshire’s ‘frontier’ role, sitting along the dividing line between the Anglo-Saxon and Viking kingdoms. Let’s start with a few general principles about place names... 1. Place names are usually built from the following 2. B ut place names are unreliable guides to history: components: a. The people who named a settlement might not a. T he person or people who claimed ownership have been the same people who built the things over the land (Essex = East Saxons; the place is named after. For instance, if the King’s Cliffe; Paulerspury - a corruption of Anglo-Saxons named something -burh for a fort the Paveley name). (Orlingbury; Wellingborough; Desborough), The ‘person’ element often comes first. we don’t know if this was an Anglo-Saxon, b. Human-made additions (Castle Ashby; Roman, Celtic or British fort. And unless the Market Harborough; Achurch). archaeological or historical record can prove there had been a fort there, did someone simply c. T he natural features of the landscape add -burh to a place name because they thought (Rothwell; Bugbrooke; Kelmarsh; Woodford). it sounded cool? 6 Geddington - The Newsletter Summer 2020 Geddington - The Newsletter b. Words get recycled, often losing their original (Lancaster, Manchester, Leicester, to name a few), meaning in the process. The Romans used all are derived from castra, the Latin for ‘camp’. -castra to indicate a camp (Cirencester; In Northamptonshire, we find this ending attached Lancaster; Irchester) - but the later Anglo- to places with known Roman settlements, such as Saxons helped themselves to the word, adding Towcester and Irchester. The name of Chester Farm it to place names, regardless of whether there between Wellingborough and Rushden, now known to had been a Roman fort or camp there. be the site of an important Roman town, provided a c. T he languages spoken by the Anglo-Saxons rather large clue to archaeologists. and the Vikings shared the same linguistic roots, The ‘Week’ of Weekley could be an Anglo-Saxon making it harder to distinguish who might have personal name. But a more interesting theory is that named a place. The ‘Roth’ part of Rothwell could the ‘Week’ is a corruption of the Latin ‘vicus’ – a root have come from either the Viking for red (rauthr) also shared by places ending in -wich/wych/wick or the Anglo-Saxon for clearing (roth). (Norwich, Aldwych, Gatwick). Vicus seems to have d. The spelling of placenames varied, depending been adopted for settlements with a reputation for trade, on who did the writing. In the Domesday Book, hence it appearing often in the names of ports. the Germanic placenames were written down by Given we know there was a Roman settlement in Norman scribes, writing in Latin, who had the Weekley, we can speculate as to the nature of its trade – task of wrestling the local pronunciation into Iron? Dairy? The famous pottery of the Roman period Latin spelling conventions. Inconsistent spelling known as Nene Valley Ware? plagues our understanding of placenames right The comparative lack of Roman names in the up to the modern period. county is something of a mystery, not least given Northamptonshire’s position on Watling Street, Northamptonshire placenames the major Roman thoroughfare. Pre-history to c.500 AD 500 AD onwards - the Germanic tribes arrive For all their fine artistic heritage, the Celts left (Angles, Saxons, and Jutes), speaking a language remarkably little impact on the place names of England we know as Anglo-Saxon (or Old English). outside of Cornwall and Cumbria. The names of It’s from this period that the majority of our local English rivers are the main Celtic linguistic legacy - Northamptonshire place names derive, including all the Avon, Severn, Tees, Thames, Trent - as well as our own names of villages that this newsletter reaches. river Nene - although these names could have been coined by even more ancient occupiers of these islands. Starting with Geddington. Reading backwards, we have: There’s only one Northamptonshire settlement name -ton or -tun Anglo-Saxon for farmstead, settlement, routinely considered to be Celtic, Crick. or enclosure Celtic languages continued to live on in other parts of the ing / ingas Anglo-Saxon for ‘the people of’ or clan UK, particularly the fringes such as Wales and Scotland, Gedd Uncertain - but probably derived from although placenames starting ‘Pen’ (as in Pendle Hill in someone’s name Lancashire) are often Celtic in origin. From this, we can make a guess that Geddington 100AD - the Romans arrive, bringing Latin means something like the farmstead of Geit’s clan When the Romans arrived in the first century AD, (Geit being the name recorded in the Domesday Book), they had significantly more impact on our place names. accepting that the exact name of original patriarch or The Romans gave us the -coln of Lincoln, the -pont matriarch has been lost to time. What’s unusual about (bridge) of Pontefract, the -strat (street) of Stratford, Geddington’s name is that the village’s most prevalent and the -port of Stockport. natural feature - the ford - wasn’t worthy of inclusion It’s also thanks to the Romans that we have so many (compare Oxford, Chelmsford or Hereford). place names ending in -caster, -chester, -cester Summer 2020 Geddington - The Newsletter 7 Local History Northamptonshire Place Names (continued) - Deborah Armitage By reading backwards, you can see a similar pattern One of the most common Viking elements in placenames occur in other place names - Paddington, Washington is -thorpe (village or farmstead) – as in Scunthorpe. and, of course, Kettering, again working on the In our area, we boast Apethorpe, Deenesthorpe, Thorpe assumption that the first syllable is derived from an Malsor, Kingsthorpe, Althorp, and many more. ancient person’s name. The suffix -by (settlement, but later town) also indicates a The Anglo-Saxons also introduced the suffix -ham to Viking settlement – famously in places like Whitby and place names (Northampton), which also indicates a farm Grimsby. Again, locally, we are surrounded by these: or small settlement. From this, we can see that places like Corby, Wilby, Long Buckby, Catesby, and Kilby. Birmingham and Nottingham follow a similar pattern We also have plenty of hybrid placenames – combining to Geddington. Birmingham was the farm belonging to an Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse element. The many Beorma’s people, and Nottingham the farm belonging to villages with Ashby as part of their name (Cold Ashby, Snot’s people. (Later Norman scribes struggled with the Canon’s Ashby) are evidence of this: the ‘Ash’ element ‘Sn’ sound, so thankfully, Snot became Not). is Anglo-Saxon (ash tree), whereas the -by is Viking. If we understand -ton in Geddington, then the name And the Vikings also came first too: the Carlton in East Newton is straight-forward to understand - the new Carlton and Strixton both start with a Viking name farm or settlement. The same -ton also appears in (Karl and Strikr) and end with an Anglo-Saxon element. Grafton Underwood, with the ‘Graf’ meaning ‘grove’ 1066 AD and beyond – and Warkton, where the ‘Wark’ was most likely a personal name. Although the Normans stamped their authority on the country, they had minimal impact on our placenames. In Oakley, it was the natural features that merited Where we do find Norman placenames, the Norman recording in the placename. The ending -ley (or -leigh/ element tends to reflect the name of the local aristocrat – -lea) came to mean a pasture or clearing, so Oakley such as in Paulerspury, derived from the name was named for a glade of oak trees. The -ley also appears de Paveley. The ‘Bec’ element of Weedon Bec also in Weekley. points to the French monastery, Bec-Helloiun, granted Other Northamptonshire towns named during this ownership of the land. period include Daventry (name + treow ‘tree’), Finedon As we move forward in time to the later medieval period, (the valley (don) where assemblies (things) were held), placenames are adjusted to reflect new additions to their and Raunds (rand ‘border’), and Brackley (possibly landscape. From this time, we get the Chapel in Chapel the clearing of bracken). The roots of the name, Oundle, Brampton, and the Canon in Canon’s Ashby. however, remain a mystery. From this period, we also have more places incorporating A few local oddities from this period include all the the name of the local landowner – Barton Seagrave and ‘hoes’ - Cogenhoe, Wadenhoe, Aynho - with the ‘hoe’ Stoke Doyle being two local examples. thought to mean a ‘heel’ or ‘spur’. For reasons lost, the majority of these ‘hoe’ placenames occur in There’s also one village in Northamptonshire that has Northamptonshire – perhaps a trend started here? a special moniker, granted to only a handful of places in England, which received royal patronage. When 800 AD – the Vikings start to raid, and then settle, the village of Grafton passed into the possession of speaking a language we know as Old Norse Henry VIII in 1527, it became known as Grafton Regis, The frequency of Viking names in the county suggests meaning ‘Grafton of the king’. the Norse people settled here in large numbers. Yet head south, west or east of the county, and you’ll find Viking names few and far between. This is testament to Northamptonshire’s prime position along the ‘Danelaw’, the boundary dividing England between the Anglo-Saxons in the south and west, and the Vikings in the north and east. 8 Geddington - The Newsletter Summer 2020 Geddington - The Newsletter Geddington Ghosts - Steve Brown As a follow on from my request for local ghost stories that I could report on in the Newsletter, I was pleasantly surprised to have some pretty decent feedback, so much so that I might have to do more than one article! So here goes... My first foray into Geddington’s supernatural annals As they drove into the main car park, which is off Wood took me (and my intrepid and glamorous assistant, Street and at the front of the building where the main Leila Knight) to Castle Gardens on Wood Street. This entrance is, Cynthia, who was in the front passenger seat, building was erected back in the ’70s on land that once said to her companion, “Who’s that?” Both ladies could (allegedly) was occupied by part of the Royal Hunting then see a woman sitting in one of the chairs in the shared Lodge of mediaeval times, and adjacent to more recent lounge, by the big picture window that looks out over the cottages and a pub called ‘The Royal George’. They are car park. She appeared to be reading, and neither of them now no longer standing, and Castle Gardens now serves recognised who it was. as assisted living for some of our more mature residents, Cynthia then got out of the car while her friend reversed and it was to two of these, Cynthia Bishop and her friend, into a space to park. She went into the entrance hall and that I spoke with of their experiences here. directly into the lounge... and no-one was there! At no There have been unusual happenings around the place stage could anyone have left the room without being for several years, with residents being disturbed by seen and Cynthia, a redoubtable lady, was foxed. They knocking sounds from their particular flat door... compared notes, and described the woman as older, with on investigation the corridor outside is always found grey/blonde hair, average build and wearing reasonably to be empty, with no explanation forthcoming. On one modern non-descript clothing... and none of the current occasion a resident of many years heard her door open residents at that time matched the description! whilst she was elsewhere in the flat, but on immediately As a footnote, Cynthia had been warned some 15 years going to where her front door was, saw no one and the prior, when she first moved in, that the place was haunted. door was closed! There have also been reports of a Next time I will tell of another experience Cynthia had female figure seen in passing outside the door of flat 9, at one of her previous properties, which may strike a but only fleetingly so no full description was noted. chord with more recent occupants, but for now keep safe One autumn afternoon, not very long ago, Cynthia and and as they say in circles paranormal - ‘Don’t make a her friend were returning to Castle Gardens following a spectre of yourself!’. visit into Kettering. A Mystery... - Peter Goode Our house was originally owned by John Ambery, It weighs more than two men can pick up, we had to a Geddington builder. He was something of a collector edge it onto a sack barrow when we moved it into its of stone objects, probably from sites he worked on. current position. For example in our garden we have a stone font, stone If anyone is able to shed light as to it’s origins. I’d be mullions and the large sandstone tablet in the photos. intrigued to know peoples thoughts. I have tried the Facebook Secrets and Tales of Kettering and took photos of it into the heritage identification at Kettering Library but cannot identify where it might have come from or its significance. The slab is 41” wide, 35” tall and up to 6” thick (the tape measure in the photograph is set to 500mm). There are two loose 6” x 5” inserts at the bottom. The design is a forearm with an archer’s wrist guard (a bracer) holding Ideas or suggestions on this can be sent via email to a branch, laurel? [email protected] Summer 2020 Geddington - The Newsletter 9 Local History The Secret Aerodrome 1941-45 - Trevor Harker The actual Grafton Underwood airfield site. Runway 06/24. Looking south west from Geddington Road near the Memorial. Pic: Richard E Flagg (www.ukairfields.org.uk). One of the top secrets of World War II was the “dummy” Ron also told me that his brother Harry, who was a airfield next to Geddington Chase up at my farm in gunner at Brigstock Camp, played football with all of Little Oakley, Cobley Lodge. them, including Bill Shankly, the Liverpool manager. It covered three fields, about 82 acres of grass and was A unit of ten men were billeted to control the searchlight composed of angle-ironed building structures, runway and maintain the dummy aerodrome. This consisted of lights and miles of rubber-coated copper wire, all joined nine men with one NCO in charge. up to a petrol generator. They all obviously became friendly with my grandparents Its secret aim was to be lit up during a raid, whereby and my dad and his sister Peggy, who were living at the German planes would bomb my fields, thinking it Cobley, often helping out on the farm in exchange for was Grafton Aerodrome. some milk or eggs. Just in front of my house there were six huts in a row Many a night when my father was out with the Home and opposite a searchlight. Next to that was the Guard, my grandmother and Aunt Peggy (on the piano) “pill box” with six rifle openings built out of brick would ask the lads off duty in for a sing-song around with an 18inch reinforced concrete roof. The searchlight the fire. base and the pill box are still there and I remember as a I can see them now, mostly lads of only 19 years, child playing soldiers with my brother Jim shooting out huddled together in the farmhouse, hooks still in the of the windows with our home-made rifles – I still have ceiling for the paraffin lamps and in the dim, smoky haze, mine. We also played in and out of the wooden huts and them all singing along, eating Gran’s cakes and drinking pretended to light the old cast-iron stoves. Grandad’s beer. In 1940, the North and South Staffordshire regiments It really must have been a most welcome distraction were the first to be billeted in the huts and they were from the boredom, but extremely important work they followed later by the Warwickshires. were doing for the secret aerodrome and ultimately I was told by Ron Bellamy from Kettering that some of protecting the USAAF 384th Bomb Group B17’s the lads in the North and South Staffs were footballers, at Grafton Underwood. playing for Stoke City and Port Vale, two in particular Just some indication of the fun they all must have shared being Stanley Matthews and Jock Kirkton. is in the following song sheet I have just found: 10 Geddington - The Newsletter Summer 2020 Geddington - The Newsletter