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An illustrated interview with Miss Annie George

Sheep Shearing That's Mr Hickman standing and Mr Richard Holt shearing the sheep and that's taken just at the back here in my garden. They used clippers for shearing and a turning wheel for mechanical shears. Long job really. That hedge going down there is the hedge at the end of my garden going towards the road. 

Calvert Railway Station That is Calvert Station - it tells you that doesn't it? They used to take the milk in the churns by horse and cart and then up to Aylesbury Milk Factory for processing. Not yoghurt but cheese would be one of the things they would manufacture, carnation milk in tins, even chocolate although I'm not sure about it. The factory is still opposite Tesco. Nestle is still there. It was a very active station.  They want to open up the railway line again which would be useful. The little boy on the cart nearest side to us I think is Mr Sidney Jones and his son built the bungalow near the shop. Years ago they lived at Edgcott. They still bring rubbish trucks from Bristol and London into Calvert. 

WI Ladies visit Calvert Brick Works circa 1920'sCalvert was the brickworks with the chimneys. I spent most of my working life there, I went while the men were on duty. I worked in the office, I was the first lady in the office. I didn't make bricks.

 

A Saw Pit

Saw PitThis is not in Grendon but see how they did it all by hand with huge saws. I still have one of those in my shed because my grandfather was an undertaker so he did a lot of this and my dad took it on too. The man there was called the 'Under Dog' because he had the dirty job. He had all the sawdust going down on him. Is that where the saying comes from "Top Dog",  "Under Dog" comes from. You can see all the children there very interested in seeing what is going on. But to saw those huge tree trunks was a big job. The saws have handles on both ends and when one pulls and then the other pulls to get it back again.

The Smithy
The Old SmithyThis is a colour one. It is the left hand side of the Swan and it was the old smithy. In my day it was a Mr Perrin who kept it until he died and then I think it was very sad that it wasn't kept because the old forge was such an historical place. The forge is on the right hand side. The sign was the Greyhound or the cottages, I think you should watch out for it on the way back. 

Tools in the old smithy circa 1970Some of the old tools in the smithy. He has got a label for his tools. That would be in the 1960s because he died in the 70s.

Saws inside the smithyI don't know because the place was sold. It was a drill bit and that's what you hold still and what you turn round. These were for putting threads on something.

 

The bench in the smithy
I think its such a pity it all went, it would be good for a museum. Does it still exist?
  

The forge at the smithyI don't know how long it had been a smithy but it would have been a very long time.  We've got a blacksmith now. Of course, they came into their own again with so many horses around. There was a period when they were hardly needed.

The Smithy Bellows  
A close up of the bellows.

Mr Perrin Welding circa late 1940's, early 1950'sThat's Mr Perrin and he was the last blacksmith in the village and he's welding there so he's really come up to date. He looks as if he's in the army uniform (National Service I should imagine). Late 40s early 50s.

Mr & Mrs PerrinThat was John Perrins son who carried on the business and that was his father and Mrs Perrin.. Prior to him was a Charlie Hall and he was quite a clever man I think.

Money Box by C Hoole This next slide is a combination lock thing and so he must have been pretty clever. Well to get in you have to know the combination of its numbers. I'm not sure where it is now. My brother went up to Leicester to get a lot of these pictures and he found one of these which the family let him have.

Mr William Shafer This is another very clever man - Mr Shafer - and I said to him about the water cart and having the chicken farm and this was a nephew and he took this photograph of himself and he had this built next door. There was a long wooden shed next door and he did this iron work and the lanterns in the church were made by him and Marsh Gibbon lanterns made by him and various people in the village has door locks made by him. And he did some very clever work and one Sunday the whole place was burnt down the whole workshop and so they had the other one with the sloping roof built, but during the war he did quite a lot of war work. 
W. Shafers Workshop This was the wooden shed when they were converting it into the workshop. And next door was "the meal house" because that's where the poultry farm kept all their food and then they made one end into living quarters and the other end a meal house and since then it has been all revamped and it is all living quarters with an extension. You know the two we saw doing the sheep shearing, well here they are doing renovations. Jack of all trades!. Mr Hickman and Mr Richard Holt and they have come up on their bikes.  Mr Richard Holt is the son of the lady waiting for the water cart.
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