An illustrated interview with Miss Annie George
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.
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.

Calvert 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
This 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
This 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.
Some
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.
|