Orford Piece: My Orford

Charlie Underwood M.B.E.

1924 - 1997

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Preface

In writing this history of Orford I am endeavouring to convey to the reader my own views and feelings about the village and some of the characters I have known in my lifetime. Orford's history has been written in the past by historians much better qualified than me, for I am just an Orford man, son of a farm worker and proud of it. My education was gained at Orford School between 1929 and 1939 when I left at the age fifteen with no academic qualifications.

So I leave the earlier history of Orford to the more highly qualified historians like the late Mr R A Roberts, Barrister-at-Law,Hon VPR. Hist Soc. who, in 1931, wrote "The Borough Business of a Suffolk Town (1559-1660)", and in 1933 wrote "The Story of Orford Castle."

However, I have not lived in Orford all my life without discovering something of its history, which dates back to the 12th century when it was a bustling port trading with a wide variety of goods. Going through the old Borough records which are stored at the Suffolk Record Office at Gatacre Road, Ipswich, one comes across names no longer in use. In fact there are so many imponderables when researching the history of Orford that it would take a lifetime to find the answers.

I would like, however, to put on record some of the things I have found interesting. I hope the following pages will provide the reader with sufficient information to enable him or her to understand something of village life as it used to be when Orford was a self contained community and did not have to rely on the super-market for survival. Orford has a long and varied history. It has had its triumphs and its disasters in peacetime and in wartime and after each one it has emerged a stronger community. I hope that the community spirit will continue to gain in strength long after old natives like me are dead and gone.

Charlie Underwood M.B.E.

Chapter 1 - The Castle

Orford was once a small fishing village situated to the north of the castle. From the time when the Castle was built between 1165-72 and on into the 13th century Orford gradually grew into a town of importance. There were weekly markets in fish, wool and other merchandise, and merchants from the continent would visit the town.

The castle was built for Henry 2nd as a defence against local baronial interests wishing to usurp the crown in East Anglia. Only the keep remains in an exceptional state of preservation and gives a real sense of how life was lived in the 12th century. Recent research by Dr T A Hislop of the University of East Anglia has established it as one of the most remarkable English castles.

The total cost of building was £1407-9s-2d. This sum is recorded in documents known as the Pipe Rolls dating from Norman days. These were financial statements made yearly to the King's Exchequer in London by the Sheriffs of the various counties.

The keep is about 63 feet high from the floor of the basement to the floor of the battlements. Three turrets rise from there about another 20 feet. The walls are very thick and constructed of mainly London Clay (septaria) which was obtainable in the neighbourhood. In the basement is a well 4 feet 3 inches in diameter and 37 feet deep with holes in the masonry for lodging planks to enable the well to be cleaned.

In 1262 Henry 3rd granted the Castle to his first born, Edward, on his 23rd birthday. It subsequently changed hands many times until it passed with Sudbourne Hall to the Lord of the Manor of Sudbourne. One owner was Sir Michael Stanhope, Groom of the Chamber to Elizabeth and James 1st. Later owners were successive Marquesses of Hertford and Sir Richard Wallace founder of the Wallace Art Collection. By the generosity of Lord Woodbridge, then Sir Arthur Churchman, MP for the Woodbridge Division the castle was conveyed to "the Town Trustees of Orford for the Town and Nation to be a joy forever".

Eventually, after the Town Trustees had spent considerable sums of money on repairs and conservation, it was realised that the expenditure was beyond the towns means and it was assigned by deed of gift to the Ministry of Public Buildings and Works. In hindsight perhaps it would have been for the benefit of the village if it had been loaned rather than given away. It is now administered by English Heritage.

Chapter 2 - The Borough

The first Royal Charter was granted to Orford by Richard 1st and confirmed, together with increase in rights and privileges by subsequent monarchs. Many original Charters have been preserved and are deposited at the County Records Office at Ipswich. Also preserved at the Records Office are a series of maps of the village and Orford Ness drawn by the famous cartographer, John Norden in 1601, these show that the medieval street pattern is still retained.

In 1570 Queen Elizabeth 1st bestowed upon Orford the honour of a Royal Borough. This consisted of a Mayor, 8 Portmen and twelve Capital Burgesses.

The affairs of the town did not always run smoothly, from 1693 to 1701 there are two mayors recorded as being in office. A note states that, "During these years there was a chism in the Corporation, the illegal party broke into the Town Hall repeatedly, stole the Charters and Minute books, held unlawful assemblies and elected mayors for nine years. The legal party had to commence new minute books and elect their mayors contemporaneously. It terminated in proceedings in Chancery 1697".

Another note for the years 1683 to 1694 states, "During these twelve years the Town Clerk, Richard Porter, failed to enter the minutes for which he was afterwards dismissed, they appear to have been afterwards entered by someone else, four years are missing".

Two members of Parliament were returned until 1835 when Orford was deprived of its MPs.

In 1883 the Borough was dissolved by the Municipal Corporations Act and in 1889 the Orford Town Trust came into being for the "application of the property of the late Corporation of The Mayor and Commonalty of the Borough of Orford".

The regalia of the borough is still preserved and the valuable items are stored in a bank. The silver gilt mace bears the Royal Arms of the Borough and was presented to the Borough in 1700 by Sir Edward Turnour at that time owner of Orford Ness Lighthouse and one time MP for Orford. There are two small silver maces, two silver oars, the insignia of the Water Bailiff, three oyster legends, two silver punch bowls and ladles and a leather covered case for the punch bowls. This case is said to be very rare and valuable.

In addition there are a set of heavy brass dry measures from one bushel downwards, a brass yard measure and a set of brass bell weights which were used by the Weights and Measures Inspector, the original quills used by the Chamberlain, the Mayors robe, two blue cloth Sergeants coats and the Town Criers Bell which was used until the 1930s. The last Town Crier being Sam Smy.

In the Town Hall there are three pictures painted by a Frenchman, A C F Decaen, in 1870/1 for Sir Richard and Lady Wallace of a shooting party on the Sudbourne Hall Estate, many important personages were invited to these shooting parties, including the then Prince of Wales on 17th November 1879.

The last Mayor of Orford was William Toller and he carried on as a Town Trustee until his death in 1928. He must have been a truly remarkable man, at the meeting of the Town Trust on March 31st 1928 the chairman, Mr W Ross-Taylor had this to say. "We are met today in the shadow of a great loss. It is a loss which affects the whole community, but it affects us, the members of the Orford Town Trust to a very special degree. Mr William Toller, whose death we mourn, was associated with the Trust from its inception, and in joining it, was carrying on public work which he had undertaken many years before as a Portman and finally as Mayor of the Town.

He always brought to bear upon that work, as indeed he did upon all to which he set his hand, that energy, knowledge and tenacity of purpose which he possessed in such large measure.

Even at an age when most men would have sought well earned repose, he continued his public work in many directions, and in the case of this Trust, he literally died in harness, for as you all know, though he was seeking to be relieved of his duties as Chamberlain, he was willing, even though he felt the burden increasingly heavy, to carry on until a successor was found.

There are very few of the Trustees who have been associated with Mr Toller for more than a fraction of the time during which he worked for the benefit of the community but there is not one among us who does not realise the value of the work which he has done. It has been my privilege in recent months to work with him in Trust matters to a considerable extent, and I feel we have lost a tower of strength. To all our business he always gave freely of his wise counsel, his wide experience and his ripe judgement, and they were given with a complete absence of self seeking, and without any thought of reward.

Today the accumulated wisdom of many years is lost to us. Peacefully, painlessly, as we are all glad to know, and, despite his wonderful age , with all his faculties practically unimpaired, he has been taken from us, and we are left the poorer.

He leaves us, however, the memory of an honourable life well and usefully spent, and an example of devoted service to the place in which he lived so long and which he loved so well.

I know it will be your wish that we should record in the minutes of the Trust our sense of the great loss which we have sustained, and that we should convey to his relatives an expression of our sincere sympathy.

I feel also that you will agree with me in thinking that it would not be fitting for us to proceed with the ordinary business of the Trust today, and I therefore propose that we should adjourn this meeting for a fortnight." The Town Trust attended the funeral as a corporate body.

Thus did one of the great men of Orford pass into history.

Chapter 3 - The Church

The years circa 1155-72 must have been a period of feverish activity in the town, not only was the Castle under construction, but at the same time the Church was being built, two major projects at the same time. The ruined arches of the old Norman choir are still standing at the east end of the church. Wilmar the Chaplain became the first rector of the parish and a list of all subsequent rectors is on display in the church.

Inside the church there is an impressive screen stretching from North to South with Christ crucified and flanked by His mother and St John above it. Along the upper part is intricate wood carving. The screen was erected in memory of the Revd Edward Maude Scot who was rector from 1877-1901 and died in 1917.

Behind the screen are stalls for the Clergy and choir and behind them a paneled screen dated 1712 in which is set the Royal Arms of King William 3rd. There is part of the old Organ Gallery dated 1772 which was most uncommon at that time. The present organ was bought secondhand in 1903.

The 15th century font has a Latin inscription round the base which translated reads "Pray for the souls of John Cokerill and his wife Catherine who caused this font to be erected in Gods honour.

There are many other items of interest in the church including a comparatively recent addition which is a circular slate plaque set in the floor near the entrance to the belfry commemorating the premieres of three of Benjamin Brittens works which were performed here.

Chapter 4 - An Orford Miscellany

Over the years I have made notes of many happenings relating to the history of Orford and also many imponderables.

Where, I wonder, was the street called Southend, where was Garfish Lane, Catmers Lane, Buschops Chamber, Luskes Marsh and Chapel Street?

Gategrave was certainly Gedgrave and Cheselford would have been Chillesford.

There is mention of Thomas Rychman of Gedgrave in 1566, could this be how Richmond Farm got its name?

In 1995 a piece of land called the Harp which was the site of the windmill and kept separate for hundreds of years, was ploughed and included in the rest of the field known as Mill Field.

In the Corporation records there is a Notice of Bargain and Sale:-

Thomas Allyn of Orford, miller.
Mayor and Corporation of Orford.

For 42 pounds (1) to (2) windmill standing on piece of ground belonging to the town of Orford called the Harp with all appurtenances.

This was dated 7th July 1634 and so, after 361 years this piece of land has lost its individual identity.

There is an Article of Agreement dated 29th September 1677 between

Mayor and Corporation of Orford
Daniel Wayth of North Glemham

(1) to pay for timbers etc used.

(2) to erect a quay and wharf at Orford.

Although there were means for loading and unloading ships before this date it is possible that this was the first quay to be built as we know it today.

In a lease dated 11th January 1742 the Mayor, Portmen and Burgesses leased the quay, two granaries over the Town stable and two Warehouses on the S.W. side of a stable, except use of the stable and liberty of passage to and from the quay, to Benjamin Beart of Orford, merchant, for a period of 99 years for £6-6-0.

Benjamin Beart was not a very successful merchant. Five years later an Assignment of Lease dated 10th December 1747 stated he had been declared bankrupt and the lease of the quay reverted to the Mayor, Portmen and Burgesses for the sum of 5 shillings.

There are many wills in the records, a typical one being that of Richard Andrew of Orford in which he left 20 pence to the high alter of the church of St Batholomew; 20 pence to reparation of same; 6 marks to Friar John Geynysburgh to sing for him in the Friary and 20 pence to the Convent of Orford 20d to pray for him and his friends. They are also released from all debts on condition that they make him a brother of the Chapter House. He also made bequests to the Black Friars of Dunwich, the Grey Friars of Dunwich, the Chantries of Ipswich in Christchurch and St Margarets, Our Lady within the Chapel Wall of Orford and to repair the highway in Chapel Street. Finally to his wife he left a tenement for 12 months after his death, with all moveables not otherwise bequeathed with the stipulation that at the end of this period the property should sold. This will was dated 23rd November 1507.

Nearly every will left sums of money to the high alter of St Batholomews and also to the repair of the church.

Legal proceedings were taken by the Mayor and Corporation many times against fishermen, mainly from Brightlingsea, for illegally taking oysters from the river.

There were several writs taken out against Lord Willoughby of Parham and his bailiff Thomas Spicer, concerning alleged breaches of ancient liberties including the use of stalboats, fishing rights etc.

In one particular case things must have got out of hand when there was a legal complaint by Lord Willoughby against John Johnson, Walter Ely and William Beckell for assaulting Thomas Spicer, his bailiff.

Orford returned two Members of Parliament from the reign of Edward 1st until the Reform Act of 1835. Some of the prominent people returned as M.P.s included in 1559 Thomas Sackforde. Would he have had some connection to the Seckfords of Woodbridge? Other prominent M.P.s were Sir Edmund Bacon, Bart., Sir Edward Turnour, Knight, owner of Orford Ness lighthouse, Henry Bilson Legge, Chancellor of the Exchequer 1754. Lord Robert Seymour, Lord Henry Moore and the Hon Robert, Marquess of Londonderry.

Apprenticeship indentures include Thomas Symley, a poor child of Orford, to Robert Elliot of Orford, sackcloth weaver, and Anne Galley, a poor child of Orford, to Robert Tockley of Orford , alehouse keeper.

There were complaints by the parson of Orford Parish Church against the inhabitants of Orford regarding the payments of tithes of fish and herring.

A certificate was issued on 9th September 1844 by the minister, churchwardens and overseers of Orford stating that Elizabeth Fuller of the Jolly Sailor, Orford was a proper person to keep a Public House.

An agreement was drawn up in 1870 between Henry Whyard, inn keeper of the Jolly Sailor and the Mayor and Corporation for a flagstaff on land belonging to the Corporation opposite the Jolly Sailor for the sum of sixpence per annum.

The Parish of Orford had an area of 2933.115 acres made up as follows 2464.692 acres of land, 23.066 acres of roads, 8.690 acres of water, 205.598 acres of salt marsh and 231.069 acres of foreshore. In addition there were 317.355 acres of tidal water adjoining the parish. In 1880 the area was said to be 3156 acres with a rateable value of £3806.

In 1871 the population was 1022.

In 1880 Orford had two blacksmiths, three boot and shoe makers, three grocers & drapers, five butchers, three bakers and four farmers. In addition there was Edward Rope, listed as brewer, malster and corn, coal spirit and porter merchant, and agent for Trumans & Hanburys porter and stout, Bass & Cos Burton ales, Ind Coope & Cos Romford ales and Lawes patent manures. There was also a Ropes Wharf at Aldeburgh.

Robert Mills was the accoucheur (man-midwife).

Other occupations at that time were jobmaster, saddler & poultry dealer, oyster merchant, professor of music, plumber & painter, two master mariners and a wheelwright & carpenter.

Chapter 5 - School Days

I was born in 1924 in the house known as Three Chimneys also known as the Reading Room and presently called The Old School House. Shortly after I was born we moved into the cottage next door 82 Crown Lane and a few years later named it Well Cottage it was here that I spent my formative years.

It was not until some years later that I was to find out that my first recollection was when I was only two years old. I remember being taken by my mother in a push-chair, as they were then known, in company with some other mothers and children to the bottom of the first hill past Mill Field Cottages known as Megbeggar Hill to watch the arrival of a Royal Horse Artillery detachment as they entered Sudbourne Hall park through an entrance between the trees. I was later told that this happened in 1926 on the occasion of the General Strike when the Army were deployed to strategic positions around the country.

I started school in 1929, the infant teacher was Miss Crawford, the Head Master was Mr Petley, other teachers were Miss Alice Webb known as Ally Kate, Miss Hannah Whayman known as Wheezy Anna who later became Mrs Large. School hours were from 9am to midday and 1-30pm to 4pm with a ten minute break morning and afternoon.

During the winter months the school was heated by a fireplace in each classroom, the teachers desk was always nearest the fire and the pupils at the back of the class did not get much benefit from the fire and sometimes had to wear greatcoats and mittens to keep warm.

The 1930s saw great changes at the school, Mr Petley retired and Mr Overfield became Head Master, a new class room, two cloak rooms and a boiler house were built and central heating was installed in the school. Shortly after a big new multi purpose building was erected on part of the school gardens which was to serve as a school canteen and also for woodwork and cookery classes.

The introduction of a school canteen was necessary when the school became an area school, which meant that children over a certain age from Sudbourne, Iken, Chillesford and Butley were to attend Orford school. As a means of transport they were supplied with bicycles by the Education Authority and also waterproof clothing for use in wet weather. Bicycle sheds were erected in the playground.

With the necessity for increased staff came Miss Holmes later to become Mrs Thompson, Miss Worne, Miss Spratt the cookery teacher, whose named provoked a few ribald comments and Mr Newby the woodwork teacher.

Its amazing how some childhood memories remain forever, two which stand out for me were one, being taken outside into the playground to see the airship R101 fly over and the other was seeing a viper hanging in the school which had been killed by the caretakers husband, Jim Fell, in the playground after school hours.

With all the construction work, the new teachers and a new headmaster, this must have been a milestone in the history of the school, and we, the pupils, were unknowingly a part of it.

There was a need at about this time for a temporary teacher and this was filled by a Miss Fleming who would travel to school on horseback each morning, leave her horse on the meadow opposite the school, now the site of Toller Close and return to her home in Eyke after school each day.

Mr Overfield, the new headmaster, brought many new ideas to the school and looking back I realise he was years ahead of his time for a village school.

He started by dividing the school into houses named after great men of history, Shakespeare, Raleigh, Nelson and Drake. Points were awarded, not only for academic work but also on the sportsfield and the school gardens which were divided into four plots, one for each house. The house with the highest number of points at the end of the school years were awarded the challenge shield and had the house name inscribed on it.

It was an astute move on his part, it encouraged keen competition, not only in our own thirst for knowledge but also on the sports field and the gardens.

One of the smaller class rooms was turned into a science laboratory where our inquiring minds enjoyed carrying out practical experiments and writing them up in our science books.

A debating society was started where a subject for debate was chosen and one half of the class would speak in favour of the motion and the other half would speak against. A lifelong friend of mine, Fred Welham who now lives near Kings Lynn, still recalls one debate when we were on opposing sides which turned out to be one of the livelier ones.

With the opening of the new canteen, cookery classes for the girls, later extended to the boys were started, as were carpentry lessons for the boys. To convert from carpentry lessons to cookery lessons the carpentry benches were placed end to end and boards the width of the benches and the length of two benches, were placed on top thus forming a suitable surface to prepare food. I found the carpentry lessons very interesting and an oak stool which I made has stood the test of time and is still in my possession.

The headmaster was aware that after school hours there was very little recreation for the older boys in the evenings, particularly in winter time, he then came up with the idea of putting two of the cookery boards side by side on top of the carpentry benches, obtained table tennis nets, bats and balls and gave up his time to spend two or three evenings a week teaching us to play table tennis. It is surprising how skilful we became in avoiding the crack down the centre where the two boards joined.

Later he and the carpentry master decided to build a sailing dinghy. It was to be flat bottomed, about 14 feet long and again the older boys were invited to help Mr Overfield work on it in the evenings. So what with this and the table tennis we did have things to help pass the long winter evenings and at the same time got to know the headmaster as a person. By the time the boat was finished I had left school and so missed the launch of the Penguin, so named because of its flat bottom.

Having spoken recently with others who shared these times with Mr Overfield we are agreed that he had a large influence on our later life, many of his principles, logic and philosophy remains with us to this day. I am convinced that we received an education second to none for a village school.

From the age of about ten I started doing odd jobs on Saturdays, after school and during school holidays in order to earn a bit of pocket money. The jobs I did were many and varied, at dinner time I would do shopping for a neighbour or take cakes etc to the bake house to be cooked. I have said dinner time deliberately, we had breakfast then dinner at midday, the main meal of the day and then tea at about five o’clock. It was only in the big houses, where no manual work was done that lunch was at midday and dinner was eaten in the evening.

At this time there were no rubbish collections by the local authority, Mr H J Cordle of Chantry Farm had a cart specially adapted which would collect rubbish from householders willing to pay for the service. I disposed of our rubbish by emptying the dustbin into a hand cart and taking it to the far end of the castle green where there was a dump used by the whole village.

I extended this service to other people and charged them sixpence a load. Rubbish collected from the upper part of the village I took to the Castle Green dump and rubbish collected from the lower part went to a dump near the quay known as the Kell.

At another period I worked in the bakery in Bakers Lane owned by Frank Berrett. The baker was Herbert (Hubby) Hawes. This was a Saturday job. I would start work at about seven o,clock but Hubby started in the early hours putting the loaves into the oven.

He used a long handled flat shovel called a peel, which was thrust under four tins at a time, and withdrew the bread from the oven, depositing it on the bench where we would use pieces of sacking to remove the hot loaves from the tins and stack the tins ready for the next baking. After all the loaves and bread rolls had been removed I would fill my delivery basket with hot bread rolls, place the basket on the trade bicycle and deliver them to the large houses in the village where the "gentry" liked to have hot bread rolls with their breakfast. For the rest of the day I would go to and from the bakery delivering large tin, small tin, cottage and sandwich loaves, cakes and pastries, entering all sales in the order book, collecting the money and balancing the book at the end of the day.

After a time I left the bakery and went to work as an errand boy for Mr W Chapman who had a grocery and drapery shop on the corner of Mondays Lane and the Market square. The entrance was from the Market square. On the left hand side was the drapery counter with a brass yard measure inset into the top edge for measuring material, elastic etc. On the wall behind were many drawers containing haberdashery and other items and at one end the counter was piled high with different coloured wools. Upstairs was the millinery department and ladies fitting room.

The grocery counter was on the right hand side, upon which there were a set of scales with a set of brass weights for use on one side and the curved metal tray for the ingredients to be weighed on the other. Blue paper bags of 1lb and 2lb capacity were used to weigh sugar, currants, sultanas etc which were kept in large drawers below the counter. The wall behind the counter bore many drawers containing ingredients such as spices and rice.

The money was kept in the till drawer. Goods would be priced and listed individually on a bill with a piece of carbon paper underneath for the shop records. The addition was done manually and very few mistakes were made. There were no electronic tills and bar coding of items. There were also no queues. Mr Chapman went out each morning and collected orders. The orders were prepared and I would load them into my delivery basket and set out on my rounds on the trade bicycle.

At age fourteen I found that if I was going to work on a farm I could leave school, but because I was going to work in a shop I had to stay at school until I was fifteen.

Chapter 6 - Businesses

The area around the Market Square was the hub of the village, starting at the Kings Head where the landlord was Mr Bixby and later Mr Joe Thacker. Rowland Martins butchers shop was near the top of the hill, then known as Martins Hill, with his slaughter house at the rear. The cottage next to the Post Office was a ladies hairdressers run by Miss Nancy Abbs. The Post Office had Miss Varrant as postmistress and later Mr Tom Frost as postmaster. Frank Berrett owned a large and varied business consisting of the bakery in Bakers Lane and, fronting onto the Market Square, was a shop selling bread, cakes sweets, cigarettes home made ice-cream etc. A living room separated the sweet shop from the pork butchery business. In this part of the shop dog biscuits and corn and meal for chicken feed were also sold. At the rear, with the entrance from Bakers Lane, was a slaughter house where pigs were slaughtered once a week not only for Frank Berrett but for the other butchers too. Only pigs were slaughtered here. We always knew when the pigs were being slaughtered by their terrified squealing which could be heard all over the village. It is a sound I heard many times and which I have never forgotten. The sound of a pig squealing on the farm is one thing but the squeal of a pig nearing slaughter is very different.

Continuing along that side of the square past Mallets Lane and Crown Lane, at the crest of Crown Hill, is the Crown and Castle Hotel which had many owners before being bought by Trust Houses Ltd.

Chapman’s shop I have already mentioned. On the right hand corner of the Market Square and Pump Street stands the building which was once the White Hart public house, and at this time was a pork butchers shop owned by Mr Sanders. This was later a greengrocers owned by Mr Scarlet, and then a cafe. Part of this building was used as Barclays Bank, which opened on Friday of each week and was used mainly by local farmers and shopkeepers, the manager being brought from the Woodbridge branch by taxi.

The house on the corner of the Market Square and Front Street was a china shop owned by Mrs Tudor, whose daughter was cub mistress. In Pump Street was Pryke & Elliotts later to become Elliotts after Mr Pryke moved to Wickham Market Post Office. This was a grocers, pork butchers and bakery, the baker being Mr Oliver Burwood. The delivery van which delivered to neighbouring villages was driven by Sonny Bantoft and bread was delivered in the village by a bakery handcart pushed by Billy Smy. Across the alleyway was the sweetshop owned by Mrs Whayman whose husband Arthur owned yet another pork shop. Pork butchers each had their own jealously guarded recipe for sausages and I have never tasted any as good as Arthur Whaymans.

In Front Street at the end of the Kings Head was another butchers shop owned by Horace Whayman, no relation to Arthur, with a slaughter house a bit further on where cattle and sheep were slaughtered. In a terraced house opposite this butchers shop lived one of Orford’s well known characters, Mr Sam Smy, the last Town Crier, buyer of rabbit skins, seller of Sunday newspapers and smallholder. Sam lived well into his nineties and gained fame when he went to London in his capacity as Town Crier and took part in the BBC wireless programme "In Town Tonight". We listened to the broadcast on a Telson three valve wireless receiver with the separate loudspeaker sitting on top and powered by a 110volt dry battery in conjunction with an accumulator which had to be recharged at frequent intervals.

Whilst all these businesses were near the Square there were many others. On the corner of High Street and Church Street was the grocer and drapers of Mr Sidney Richold and further down Church Street the fruiterers and newsagent of Mr Draper.

Near the cross roads on the corner of Church Street and Daphne Road was the saddlery owned by Mr Alan Woolnough who also sold and repaired cycles and their accessories. In Daphne Road at the bottom of a driveway on the right was a wooden hut where Mr Smith who lived in Burnt Lane repaired boots and shoes.

Over the cross roads in the second house on the left in Quay street was a sweetshop and tobacconists run by Mrs Mary Brinkley whose husband was the harbour master. This was the only shop in the village which would accept farthings and at the age of about twelve three or four of us would would collect enough farthings (eight) to buy a tuppenny (2d) packet of Woodbine cigarettes. We also tried to get enough money to buy a packet of peppermints in the hope that the peppermints would remove the smell of the cigarettes.

Further on down Quay Street on the left hand side, in the first terraced cottage beyond Rose Cottage was another small sweetshop run by Miss Dora Tricker.

On the right hand side opposite this sweetshop is Old Brewery House, this house and grounds was once a brewery owned by Edward Rope and previously mentioned in chapter four. It was also the site of Orford’s Electricity Generating Station which brought the first electricity to the town. Run by the Reader family they also had plans to form a small water company to give a public water supply to the town and wanted to sub-lease part of the old garage site for this purpose. The Water Supply Company to be a subsidiary of The Orford Electric Light and Power Company, they advised the Parish Council of the advisability of taking fire precaution measures as it would be much cheaper to install hydrants whilst the mains were being laid. Nothing came of these grandiose plans in 1926 as both companies were made bankrupt shortly after.

The Jolly Sailor public house had Mr Steve Harper as its landlord, another of Orford's great characters, he was known for his loud check waistcoats and had his portrait painted by a local artist, Mr Dugdale of Iken which was later hung in the Royal Academy. He it was who started having oyster suppers at the Jolly Sailor and a new room was built at the back and is still known as the oyster room. In the yard of the Jolly Sailor a big garage was built to house the Eastern Counties bus overnight when the twice daily service was started between Orford and Ipswich.

The house now known as Saham Cottage was once the Customs House, and it is possible that Margaret Catchpole the smuggler could have been held there awaiting her journey back to Ipswich jail, I knew it as a fish and chip shop owned by Mr Billy Chambers, a large corrugated iron shed alongside the cottage housed a bus which ran a service to Ipswich and Woodbridge in competition to the Eastern Counties for a short time.

Beyond the next row of cottages was a builders yard owned by Mr Fred Johnson of Wickham Market who also owned the quay at this time, in a letter dated 26th March 1927 to the Orford Town Trust he offered the quay to the Town Trust for the sum of 250 pounds stating that he had recently spent 15 pounds replacing stones and battening the sides he also said that no other arrangement would be made and no other offer accepted until he had heard from the Town Trust. After further communications between the parties the quay was finally bought by the Town Trust for 200 pounds. The first floor of the builders yard later became a tea room run by Miss Nancy Roberts.

The warehouse on the quay and the large garage near Saham Cottage were later taken over by Mr Charles Friend, coal and coke merchant. Coal was delivered to the quay by a sailing barge named Lord Rosebury whose skipper was Mr Burchell from Grimsby. Being a time of high unemployment, when a barge was to be unloaded, the names of all those wanting a job were put into a hat and then drawn until the required number was reached. The coal was conveyed by lorry and horse & carts from the quayside to the storage sheds.

In Broad Street Mr Lew Anderson had his tailors shop and further along Broad Street opposite the end of the middle (Mallets) lane was Bob Barnard’s blacksmiths shop. Between the bottom of Mallets lane and the bottom of Crown lane Puffy Mallet had his house and builders yard.

At the end of Broad Street is Chantry Farm where milk and farm butter could be bought at the back door, at this time owned by Mr H J Cordle, milk was also delivered round the village every morning by horse and milk cart driven by my father. A large milk churn with a tap was strapped to a shelf at the front of the cart and the two gallon serving can was filled from this tap, hanging on a rail inside the serving can were the one pint and half pint measures. These were used to measure the required amount into the customers own receptacles which were usually left on the doorsteps. The horse pulling the cart got to know the round so well he would move along the road automatically as my father delivered to a row of houses.

Mr Cordle, being a religious man would not let his horses work on Sundays, this meant that my father had to deliver the milk on foot. When old enough I would help him, he would carry the two gallon serving can and another two gallon can and I would carry two 1 gallon cans, as his became empty I would empty mine into his and then return to the farm, have my cans refilled and meet him at another point on his round. The logic of Mr Cordle’s religion struck me as very strange which forbade working a horse on a Sunday but allowed working a human being twice as hard.

At Brundish Square in High Street another of Orford’s great characters lived, this was Mr W G Sharman, a very versatile businessman, he ran a carrier service in the form of a bus which went to Ipswich and Woodbridge conveying parcels, the driver would shop for the clients and deliver the goods to their homes upon its return in the evening, a small charge being made for the service. Mr Sharman ran a taxi service, was a photographer, sold petrol and oil and then started up as a coal and coke merchant which did not endear him to Mr Charlie Friend. The bus used for the carrier service was a solid tyred Albion.

Charlie Friends brother, Albert, erected a wooden shed on the old garage site left by the Royal Flying Corps after the first world war in Front Street, and started a business repairing and selling bicycles both second hand and new, he charged accumulators for wireless sets and any other odd jobs which came along, he gradually expanded the business to include petrol pumps, taxi service, bus hire and vehicle repairs. The business has changed hands many times but has retained the name of Friends Garage.

With all these businesses Orford was self contained, milk from the farm, bread from the two bakeries, the grocery shops always kept ample reserves in the storerooms, cattle, sheep and pigs could be slaughtered in the slaughter houses. When the village was cut off by snowdrifts the only things which became unavailable were newspapers and the post. Unlike today when the village is cut off by snow, the one and only grocery shop is inundated with customers because they cannot get out to the supermarket twelve miles away.

An offshoot of Chantry Farm was a group of buildings in Front Street known as Randalls Barn which consisted of a large barn and other outbuildings and cattle yards, just inside the entrance to Randalls Barn a wooden hut was erected to be used as a fish and chip shop owned by Mr Victor Last of Snape, a piece of fish cost tuppence (2d) and a portion of chips one penny (1d). When ordering one asked for two & one please!

Also in Front Street was yet another carrier, taxi and bus service owned by Mr Samuel Foreman whose son, Victor was the bus driver and he ran the taxi service with a very large Crossley car. He conveyed the school football team to compete in an inter schools tournament at Leiston. When refreshments were being served in the school afterwards, one of the boys pulled the stool away as Sam Foreman was going to sit on it causing him to fall heavily to the floor. On the return journey he got his own back, the bridge at Snape at that time was humpbacked and Sam drove over it at speed causing us to be thrown from the seats and hitting the roof before falling back in a jumbled heap on the seats and floor.

Chapter 7 - Recreation

On the opposite side of the road to Friends Garage was a triangular shaped meadow known as Bantoft’s Meadow. It was to this meadow that Bert Stocks funfair came each year on the occasion of Orford Regatta. The arrival of the fair was reason for great excitement, a crowd of children would gather near the gate to the meadow hours before the fair arrived and frequently lay down, putting their ears to the ground to detect a rumbling sound caused by the great steam traction engines which pulled the trucks containing the roundabouts, swinging boats and stalls. Also the caravans in which the fair people lived, the highly polished copper and brass water containers hanging from hooks and gleaming in the sunlight. the older boys could earn a few free rides by taking the water cans to the village pump and then struggling back to the fairground with them full of water.

They would watch in wonderment as the trucks were unloaded, the roundabouts being erected around the biggest steam engine, for not only did this engine turn the roundabouts, it also supplied electric power for the rest of the fair from the big dynamo mounted on its top. Here also was the fairground organ with its automatons clashing cymbals and hitting drums, the music sweeping out over the village and inviting the occupants to come and enjoy all the fun of the fair.

The fair would open a few days before Regatta day and people would come from the surrounding villages for a ride on the swinging boats, the roundabout and in later years the dodgems.

Regatta Day started with races for the sailing dinghies of the Dabchick Sailing Club, these were about twelve or fourteen feet long, competition was keen. Plain Jane, Mist, Dawn and Lady Sarah are some of the names which come to mind. Then would come the rowing races, four oared, pairs and singles. There was always a scramble for two particular boats named Ada and Adelaide which were the fastest. There were swimming races for adults and children, the competitors being taken out onto the river by motor boat and diving overboard at the starters pistol, the finish being opposite the quay where the judges stood. As the tide left the mud flats uncovered the river men, George, Tom and Victor Brinkley, Fred Chambers, Wally Green and many others took part in a mud race, flat pieces of wood were tied to their feet and they would race about a hundred yards and then finish by throwing mud at each other, much to the amusement of the onlookers. Then on to the Town meadow opposite the Jolly Sailor for a tug-of-war where contests for adults and boys were held, next stop was the fish and chip shop for a quick two and one and on to the fairground where at twilight the hundreds of coloured electric lamps around the fairground would light up transforming the whole place into a fairyland of light, colour, screams of delight, music and the strident hoot of the steam whistle announcing the end of another ride. Then when the public houses closed and the men and women, some being a little bit tipsy came to the fairground, it was time for the youngsters to go home, tired out but happy at the end of a long day.

Another yearly event was the flower show, the first ones I remember were held in the pleasure grounds of Sudbourne Hall. A large marquee erected on the lawn contained the exhibits with another marquee for serving teas. Running races, obstacle races etc were run and although it was a pleasurable occasion it did not generate the excitement attached to Regatta Day. The grounds of Sudbourne Hall were also used for a yearly bowls tournament, these events took place with the permission of the owner of Sudbourne Hall who at that time was Mr Lyons who had two sons who were county cricketers, B H Lyons and M D Lyons. They were the last family to live in the Hall. Mr Lyons was a very big man and one Christmas gave the children of Orford a big party in the Town Hall, it was a great occasion, there were not many parties at this time the only other one given by the British Legion when the children had meat paste sandwiches, cakes and scolding hot tea poured from large enamel jugs into the mug which each child had taken with them, at the end of the party the children were given an orange, some sweets and a bag of nuts.

The party given by Mr Lyons was very different, there was a large Christmas tree in the corner of the Town Hall laden with more presents than the children had seen in their lives, the sandwiches had real ham in them and cakes like they had never seen before. At the end of the party each child was given a present off the Christmas tree.

Once a week a cinema show was held in the Town Hall by Mr Sullings who visited a different village each night of the week. He conveyed his projector and equipment in a large covered van which also contained a generator for powering the projector. The sound of the generator running outside nearly drowned the soundtrack of the film. Having only one projector meant that when the roll of film finished End of Part One would appear on the screen accompanied by large groans from the audience, then Part Two would appear to a great cheer. Many of the great film stars of the time were seen, cowboy actors Tom Mix and Roy Rogers and others including James Cagney, Edward G Robinson, Merle Oberon, Mae West and many others.

Although not old enough to play for the village football team, we were very keen on football and on Saturdays we would finish any Saturday jobs as early as possible and make our way to the recreation ground for a kick about before the village team started a home match. We wore short trousers and socks which reached to just below the knees leaving the knees bare which meant that when wet and muddy our knees would chap and be very painful when we had our bath in a tin bath in front of the fire on a Saturday evening.

The village had a very good team in the late 1930s, and frequently had crowds of about two hundred, the Ross-Taylor Cup was always keenly contested being donated by Mr W Ross-Taylor who lived at Castle House and was for many years the local Member of Parliament. It was contested by teams in the Woodbridge and District League on a knock out basis. When Orford reached the final which was played on a football ground at Barrack Road Woodbridge three or four coaches were hired to take supporters, others made their own way, the team colours of blue and white were worn in the form of rosettes, wooden clappers, rattles, bells and anything else which would make a noise were used to support the team.

When the team won the cup the supporters returned to the village and gathered outside the police station on the outskirts to await the return of the victorious team. When they arrived in Sharman’s bus a rope was attached and pulled by many willing hands the team was towed round the village showing off the cup. That night the cup was taken round the three pubs and was filled and emptied many times by the team and the supporters, and if they had hangovers the next day, so what, they had won the Ross-Taylor Cup. The last football cup to be won by Orford had been the Suffolk Senior Cup in 1909-10 when my father was in the team. Referees came in for criticism, much as they do today, one whose name was Broome gave some bad decisions against Orford in one match and after the match when he was getting changed, the Orford supporters got some potatoes from a clamp near the ground and stuffed them into the exhaust pipe of his motorbike with which he had travelled to the ground. This could be classed as hooliganism I suppose but not the mindless violence carried out by the so called football fans of today.

There were other pass times which might be thought silly today, not for us the ready made enjoyment of television and computer games which seem to mesmerise the modern child. Sometimes we would go to the marshes to see who could jump the widest ditch we always found one we could not jump and finish in the ditch which meant that we went to the river wall and sat in the sun until we dried off. When harvest started our days were spent on the harvest field armed with a stick. As the binder went round and round and the piece of standing corn got smaller the rabbits would start running to their holes in the surrounding banks we would run after them and kill them with our sticks, putting a notch on the stick for each one killed. If this sounds cruel by today’s standards it must be realised that at that time the rabbit was a pest and in such large numbers that they would eat acres of corn when it was in the green state. I have known as many as two hundred to be caught on one harvest field. In addition rabbit baked in the oven with a piece of belly pork was a cheap and tasty meal. As indeed was a rabbit pie with a thick crust and always eaten cold when the pieces of rabbit would be set in a thick jelly.

In the spring and autumn mushrooms would grow profusely on the marshes, for at that time they were not ploughed but were used for grazing or kept for the grass to be cut and made into hay and stacked for use as winter fodder. My friend Bert Worne, and my self, would set off on Saturday mornings each with a sack and walk to the Gedgrave marshes nearest Inset Point, where we found the best mushrooms to be. These were not the little button things which are sold in the shops today, these were big mushrooms with pink undersides, or the even bigger ones, some a foot across which were black underneath. Filling our sacks we would then struggle home with them, some would be set aside for the next days breakfast and the rest boiled and the juice used to make mushroom ketchup. Over the years I have gathered hundredweight’s of mushrooms but I still don’t like the taste of them.

Another pass-time which would be frowned upon today was to go round the ditches looking for water hens eggs, the correct name is moorhen. We would take a dessert spoon tied to a bamboo or a broom stick and use it to reach the eggs in the nests which were out of reach, the first one taken from each nest was broken and if found to be "set on" (had a young bird in) the rest would be left. Otherwise the rest would be taken and carefully placed in a bag. We would collect, maybe, two or three dozen to be enjoyed for breakfast over the next few days. If we were lucky enough to locate a mallards nest, it was considered a bonus as their nests were hard to find and the eggs much bigger and tastier than the water hens.

There were a few cattle sheds on the marshes and on Sundays one of these was used by some men to gamble. They always kept one man as lookout so the local policeman could not get anywhere near without being seen. The game they played was three card brag. When we left school we started our own card game on the recreation ground playing a game called Banker. One Sunday afternoon I had lost my money and was leaving the "Rec" when I spotted the local policeman creeping along the track hoping to catch the rest of the lads red-handed. I returned and shouted a warning and they were able to grab the cards and money and run before the policeman (Wally Green) could get to them. The next time Wally saw me I received a telling off.

In the weeks leading up to November 5th fireworks were on sale and we would have great fun throwing them at each other or other people not realising the damage which could be caused. After letting off some fireworks in the Market Square one evening we were gathered outside Chapman’s shop. Someone must have phoned the local policeman, P.C. Ellis, he suddenly appeared round the corner from Mundys Lane and being the nearest, I received a terrific whack on the ear from his leather gloves which he held in one hand, before I ran off with others. Instant justice, if only it was allowed in today’s society there would be much less vandalism and more respect for the law.

After a heavy fall of snow, the snow plough which was kept at Raydon Hall, farmed by Mr Robert Grimsey, would be sent round the village. The pair of horses driven by the horseman, Mr Harry Smy and his son Harry jnr having had frost nailed fitted to avoid slipping pulled the V shaped wooden structure. The snow plough could be adjusted to varying widths and while not clearing the snow completely a reasonable amount of snow was pushed to the side of the road.

There were very few motor cars and none were parked in the Market Square, which was used extensively as a playground. When there was a snowfall a slide would be started opposite the top of Bakers Lane and following the slight incline would get longer and longer until it reached nearly to the top of the middle (Mallets) lane. After a few days it would be destroyed by Frank Berrett putting salt on it.

The Castle Green hills would have an invasion of children, some with sledges, some with trays or anything which would slide on snow, hurtle from top to bottom and then struggle back up the hill to hurtle down once more, sometimes being thrown off into the snow and rolling to the bottom. After a time returning home to a blazing fire, dry clothes and a hot meal giving us a warm glow after being out in the cold air.

In addition to the film shows in the Town Hall, touring concert parties would visit, performing for two or three nights. Mostly variety shows, there were sometimes plays performed, "Maria Marten and the Red Barn" was one of them. The Womens Institute also put on plays and an elaborate production was the story of the Willow Pattern Plate, produced and directed by Mrs Giles of Old Brewery House.

In Quay Street, on the right hand side past the coastguard cottages is a long hut clad with corrugated iron. This was the Y.M.C.A. known locally as "The Club." After leaving school we were able to join the club and therefore felt we were at last grown-up. We learnt to play snooker and billiards on a half sized table before being allowed to use the two full sized tables, one used for billiards and the other for snooker. Darts was also played and we were able to improve our skill at table tennis on a proper table-tennis table. A caretaker lived on the premises and looked after the tables, took bookings and sold tea and refreshments from behind a counter which separated the club from his living quarters. During the winter months the club was heated by two large Tortoise stoves fired by coke and when it was very cold outside they would be stoked up until the tops would glow red and chestnuts could be roasted.

The club also housed the County Library, shelves of books behind wire mesh doors, opened only on library evenings when the librarian, Mrs Redmond, was present. It was from here that I would borrow books and read mainly fiction, detective, western, mystery etc and sometimes the odd history book, depending on the mood I was in.

Then came the greatest advance in entertainment at that time, the wireless, my father acquired a crystal set with earphones and I well remember the excitement when we were first allowed to listen with the earphones and were amazed that we could hear someone talking in London. Shortly after the Telson three valve was purchased and, later a more up-to-date Marconi.

Whilst television gives many people enjoyment today, that enjoyment is nothing to the joy derived from the "wireless" of the 1930s. Instead of gramaphone records for music we could now listen to the big bands on the wireless. Henry Halls Guest Night, Billy Cotton, Roy Fox, Bert Ambrose, Harry Roy and Victor Sylvester.

There was children’s hour with "Uncle Mac" to whom children could write giving him the date of their birthday and he would then read out their name and wish them a happy birthday. Once a week Commander Stephen Kinghall explained in words that children could understand all about current affairs, what was going on in Parliament, in our own country and abroad. Thus did the wireless help to broaden young minds and make us realise there was a great big world out there.

When the Castle was bought by the Town Trust in the 1930s the building firm of W.C.Reade of Aldeburgh was engaged to carry out some repairs. Delivery of materials needed were made by a boarded walk way erected from the gate nearest the recreation ground to the Castle. The walk way being levelled by scaffolding erected in the hollows of the ground. Scaffolding was then erected at the Castle. Not for them the luxury of tubular steel and clips, this scaffolding was made of wooden poles about four inches in diameter lashed together by rope, the uprights overlapping by about a foot and the horizontal ones lashed to these. The lashings were a work of art in themselves.

The concrete blocks for the repairs were made in moulds on site with the facing side of the blocks being coloured to match the existing stone of the Castle. When the builders were not working we spent many happy hours climbing the scaffolding and gaining access to the Castle before being chased away by the local policeman or the Castle custodian, Lindsey Dennington who lived in the bungalow on the Castle Green. A later custodian was Mr Wheatley who lived at Newton bungalow.

Chapter 8 - Orford Ness

Orford Ness is a peninsular but is known locally as "the island" and was a local source of employment for many years. There were a number of men employed regularly and there were times when extra labour was needed and some of the unemployed would be engaged. There was a large number of unemployed in the village at this time, in fact the Post Office became the Labour Exchange and it was there the unemployed signed on and drew the unemployment benefit. It was there that employers went when they needed extra labour and engaged some of the unemployed, perhaps for only a few weeks, but then a few weeks work was better than none.

The Island was originally used for grazing cattle, the cattle being driven in from the Slaughden end over the Lantern marshes and down to the Kings marshes which lay between the river Ore and Stony Ditch. During the 1914-18 war the government took over the island to use for experimental work because of its remoteness and the Royal Flying Corps moved in.

The Kings Marshes were used as an air strip and many experiments were carried out, with aircraft in their infancy there was much pioneer work done at Orford Ness, it was here the first parachute, called the Guardian Angel, was tried, the man chosen as a guinea pig climbed out onto the bottom wing of the biplane hooked the line from the parachute to a hook on the wing and then jumped off between the wing and the tail plane. The first synchronised machine gun to fire through the planes air screw was invented here by a man called Continescue. Night photography was tried and also various bomb sights.

Two planes from Orford Ness helped to shoot down a German Zeppelin at Theberton after it had carried out a bombing raid and gained knowledge of aerial combat. I had the pleasure of taking one of the pilots; Captain, later Squadron Leader, Douglas Holder, back to the Island during the 1950s when I heard first hand what it was like during those early days of aviation. Due to lack of accommodation on the Island the Crown and Castle Hotel was used as an Officers Mess and the Town Hall boardroom as the Orderly Room.

In the years between the wars the Island was used for many experimental purposes, in 1928 a marine radio beacon was erected about half a mile west of the lighthouse. A wooden building covered by roofing felt housed the radio equipment and a brick building nearby housed the generator supplying the power needed. The building works were carried out by W.C.Reade of Aldeburgh employing local labour one of whom was Mr Charlie Ashley. The radio mechanics manning this beacon worked on shift work to enable the beacon to run twenty four hours a day.

The coast guard station situated only about one hundred and fifty yards west of the lighthouse was also manned on a shift work basis, the men living with their families in the coast guard cottages in Quay Street and crossing the river to go on duty at the lookout. There were two families living at the lighthouse and one family living in the marshman’s cottage until the 1930s when marshman, Jack Green, moved to the village and the lighthouse became a Rock station and the families of the lighthouse keepers were withdrawn to live at Harwich.

When these families lived on the Island their mail was delivered by the local postman, Mr Burwood who would take his cycle to the Island, being rowed over the river in a rowing boat.

Orfordness Lighthouse circa 1957

The Island was used as a bombing range, not only by day but also night bombing, I remember the Vickers Virginia, an open cockpit, biplane bomber taking off and lying in bed listening to the drone of its two engines as it circled to gain height, wondering and waiting for the bang, knowing it was coming, but nonetheless scared when it did come to rattle all the windows in the house. Of the many types of plane I saw at Orford Ness the most outstanding was a fighter, the Hawker Hart. I laid on my back on the grass in the garden in Crown Lane one day and watched as about eight of them fought a mock dogfight over the village, the pilots dived, banked, sideslipped and did many other manoeuvres I didn’t know the name of for maybe ten to fifteen minutes and I lay enthralled at the aerobatics by those pilots of the day. Tactics which I am sure were to be useful a few years later.

It was about this time that two wooden towers appeared on the Island and there was much speculation as to what they were for. One tale which was told was that it was an invisible death ray, another that it could stop the engines of cars. If anyone’s car broke down for no apparent reason the ray was blamed although there was no such thing. The towers were of course used by Robert, later Sir Robert Watson Watt when he was carrying out experiments into the use of radiolocation of aircraft now known as Radar for it was at Orford Ness that radar was first invented before being moved to the higher ground at Bawdsey Manor.

Martlesham Heath aerodrome was used for the testing and evaluation of aircraft and many of the prototypes landed on the Island for bombing and gunnery trials and so we saw many different kinds of aircraft, some went on to become world famous others were not seen again. We became quite skilled at recognising an aircraft by its sound before it could be seen, which proved to be beneficial in later years in distinguishing between our own and enemy aircraft.

At the outbreak of war the Island was again used as an experimental station, not as an airfield but for gunnery and ammunition trials and aircraft were brought through the village and taken to the Island to be fired at with various guns and ammunition. They were brought on sixty foot long articulated low loaders known as Queen Marys, the fuselage and wing stubs on one and the wings on another. When a Stirling bomber was brought in there was some difficulty in getting it past the Kings Head where the road was very narrow, there being a row of houses opposite at that time with a telegraph pole to complicate it further.

We always tried to get something off these planes as a souvenir and on this occasion my brother Jack acquired four large bolts, later he heard that enquiries were being made over the loss of the wing bolts and the police were being brought in. That night after dark, Jack quietly returned the bolts to the quay.

German planes were fitted with self sealing petrol tanks and some of the captured ones were taken to the Island and different types of ammunition were tried which would penetrate these tanks and would not allow them to reseal. After firing at one tank for most of one day one of the scientists stood on top of the tank with a 303 rifle and fired into the tank, it exploded and blew him to pieces. One can only hope that something was learned from this.

The planes and anything else that went to Orford Ness were loaded at the quay by the crane, which was hand operated, onto a large motor launch, taken to the jetty on the other side and off loaded by another hand operated crane.

After the withdrawal from Dunkirk all open land had obstructions placed on them to prevent enemy planes landing if there was an invasion and on the island concrete blocks were made and placed in rows all over the Kings marshes.

After the war the island was still used as an experimental station by the Air Ministry and the Ministry of Supply (MoS). Maintenance was carried out by the Ministry of Works and Buildings.

To make access and the transport of materials easier, two ex Royal Navy landing craft (LCTs) were obtained by the MoS, a concrete ramp was laid alongside the quay and another one on the island. For the first time vehicles and materials could be ferried across the river without the use of the crane.

Bombing trials were continued, radar and cameras being used to track the bombs, rocket firing by aircraft and many other experiments were carried out.

After the East Coast floods of 1953 came a major development on the island, a Bailey bridge was erected over Stony Ditch adjacent to the Trinity House lighthouse bridge, tar macadam roads were laid across the shingle to the old marine beacon where a single storey building was erected and became the telemetry building.

Further on the first laboratory with its separate remote control room was built for use by the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment (AWRE). The laboratory was made with six foot thick reinforced concrete walls, shingle banked on the outside and a roof of lightweight alloy, inside a pit, some ten feet deep, housed vibration machines. Trials were carried out by remote control from the control room, also made of reinforced concrete and shingle banked, about two hundred yards away.

Over a number of years the road network spread further along the shingle spit and other reinforced laboratories for different types of trials were erected, all for the environmental testing of the trigger mechanisms of the atomic bomb.

When this building was going on the MoS were still carrying out trials and also tracking the first Russian sputniks by Radar, but eventually the AWRE took over the whole island and built six laboratories in all, together with remote control rooms and two other bridges across Stony Ditch. A security fence with barbed wire atop enclosed the whole area, which was patrolled by security policemen, some with guard dogs and all of whom were armed during the hours of darkness.

Being an outstation of the AWRE headquarters at Aldermaston, Berkshire many of the key personnel were moved to the area, a housing estate being built at Through Duncans, Woodbridge for the scientists who were conveyed to and from the Establishment by bus and a number of houses built in Mundys Lane, Orford for the security police. Many local people obtained good jobs, myself included, at wages which exceeded by far the farm workers wage of the time.

The atomic bombs which were exploded in Australia and at Christmas Island contained components which had been environmentally tested at Orford Ness and for a number of years work was carried out over long hours including nights and weekends, but after about twenty years the work load became less and less.

In the early 1970s came another major development, Lantern marshes became the site for an American project called Cobra Mist.

Roads were made across the marshes using railway sleepers in their thousands which were brought through the village on lorries, sometimes queued the length of quay street waiting to be ferried across the river by a bigger landing craft which AWRE had built and yet a bigger one, Portree, which had been purchased for this project.

Eighteen masts, erected in a large semicircle, with an array of aerials sloping to one central point, the cables then returning to a large building which housed all the technical equipment made an impressive display completely at odds with the surrounding area.

Said at first to be an Anglo-American radio research station, it eventually turned out to be over-the-horizon radar. Reputed to cost fifty four million pounds to build it ran for only a short time before being shut down and most of it sold for scrap.

During the time Cobra Mist was being built, AWRE decided that Orford Ness was no longer needed by them and they moved all the equipment and any personnel who wished to go, back to Aldermaston in 1976.

When Cobra Mist was closed down the main building was taken over by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office who had the

radio transmitters for the overseas service of the BBC installed in the building and aerials erected on Lantern marshes.

In 1993 the National Trust purchased a large part of Orford Ness from the Ministry of Defence for the sum of 3.5 million pounds and the whole spit is now a Grade One site of Special Scientific Interest.

Chapter 9 - Wartime Orford

During the crisis of 1938 there was activity in the village to build air raid shelters. The biggest project was to provide one for the school children on the Recreation ground. Volunteers gathered and retired Major Wales was put in charge as he had experience from World War One. The trench dug was about six feet wide by six feet deep, the end nearest the school being sloped for easy access and egress. The trench took a zigzag course for about one hundred yards to end near the football dressing rooms. After Mr Chamberlains return from Munich promising peace in our time the trench was filled in and never dug again.

In 1939 by listening to the wireless and reading the newspapers it became clear that another crisis was looming between our country and Germany. We saw on the newsreels at the weekly picture show how fanatical the German people were in supporting their dictator, Adolf Hitler.

In our turn, Britain began a recruiting drive for men to join the territorial army and a number of Orford men joined and were transported to Woodbridge Drill Hall once a week for training in the Royal Artillery.

It was also necessary for some people to have knowledge of air raid precautions and a number of people became Air Raid Precaution Wardens (ARP Wardens). These and others who became special constables attended lectures at the school canteen. It was during one of these lectures that myself and two friends were making a noise outside which annoyed P.C. Ellis. He ran down the slope from the canteen to the road, there was a gully caused by heavy rain and filled with water from a recent shower, in the darkness he stepped into the gully, overbalanced and fell head first into the dirty water, to make it worse he was wearing his best uniform. We made our escape before he could recover but I felt that the whack on the ear he had given me with his gloves had been avenged.

The morning of Sunday September 3rd 1939 found a group of us on the Castle Green playing a crude game of golf, we had a driver, a putter and a few golf balls between us and would drive from one hill to another, having about three holes in all. Here it was that we were told by "Tags" Smy that war had been declared on Germany. We did not realise it at the time but it was on this day that one era of the history of Orford ended and another one began. Life in Orford was never to be the same again, our simplistic way of life was to disappear never to return.

That evening saw the members of the territorial army mobilised and congregated in the Market Square where Foreman’s bus waited to convey them to Ipswich, Fred Smy, recently married to my sister Thora, Ken Smy also recently married, Ted Hawes, Peter Ashley, Fred Tricker, "Ching" Tricker, Harry "Cabbage" Green are some who come to mind. Whilst they were trying to make light of their departure, there were tears among the loved ones left behind. Thus did the war commence in the village with the departure of many of its young men and nobody could guess it would be six long years before it was over.

With the outbreak of war came the fear of food rationing and through my work at Chapman’s shop I witnessed the panic buying of bulk supplies of sugar, butter and tinned goods by the wealthy people in the village. The majority of the population could not afford to do this although the financial situation had improved and there were fewer unemployed.

These supplies ran out long before the war ended and when this happened these people were worse off than the workers who were much better at improvising nourishing meals from practically nothing, having had to do it for so long because of the low wages.

Children were evacuated from London to country areas where it was thought they would be safe from air raids and Orford received its quota of evacuees. They arrived, a pitiful sight, each with their name tag, carrying their meagre belongings in battered suit case or paper bags and their gas mask in its square cardboard box and its piece of string encircling their neck. At the school they were allocated to homes with a spare room and were taken in and made as welcome and comfortable as possible under the circumstances. They were evacuated from Dagenham, Essex by way of paddle steamer down the Thames and then to Felixstowe and from Felixstowe to the surrounding villages by bus.

After the fall of Dunkirk the east coast became the front line and the evacuees were moved on to less dangerous areas.

With the fear of air raids a total blackout came into force which made it a punishable offence to show a light during the hours of darkness. To avoid showing a light when a door was opened, a curtain was hung inside and far enough away from the door to allow it to be opened without the light showing out. Car headlamps had special masks fitted with about four elongated slits set at an angle to deflect the light downwards a few yards ahead. Thick black material was produced for making blackout curtains. The ARP wardens and special constables spent their periods of duty touring the village to ensure no lights were showing. Strips of brown paper about an inch wide were stuck to windows in a criss-cross fashion to prevent the glass shattering into small pieces in an air raid.

There were two types of air raid warning sirens, the familiar one with the tone going up and down and another of short sharp blasts. Orford had one of short sharp blasts. Situated at Friends garage it was run by compressed air and the compressor was unable to supply the air quick enough so that the last few blasts would get fainter and fainter finishing as no more than a croak. It was affectionately known as Pip Emma. The message that an air raid was imminent was received at the police station and the local constable, PC Ellis and later PC Wally Green, cycled to the garage, pulled a wire concealed above the window to open the valve which sounded the siren.

The summer of 1940 was hot and sunny and although the Battle of Britain was fought mainly over Kent, our area had its share of intruders. While cycling home from Snape one day, an Army convoy of lorries were going in the opposite direction, I noticed the soldiers were looking up and when I turned it was to see a German Dornier flying towards Aldeburgh at about one thousand feet and at the same time heard the chatter of its machine-guns, I dived over the bank for cover until the machine-gunning stopped. There were other times when working in the fields, a lone German raider returning from a raid would open up with his machine-guns and we would dive for cover into the nearest furrow.

In August 1940 a concerted air-raid was made on the air field at Martlesham Heath, it was a high level attack and we watched the vapour trails of the German bombers keeping a straight course and the vapour trails of the fighters, twisting and turning as they defended the bombers from the Hurricanes and Spitfires which were trying to prevent them reaching their target, the machine-gun and 50mm cannon fire could be heard clearly throughout the raid.

On a Sunday morning a German Dornier bomber was shot down into the sea off Aldeburgh, one of the crew who bailed out landed at Ferry Farm Sudbourne. He was brought to Orford police station and detained there until a military escort took him to a prisoner-of-war camp. A number of people gathered outside the police station in the hope of seeing the German.

On November 11th 1940 eighteen Hurricanes were seen heading seawards. Shortly after the drone of aircraft and the chatter of machine-guns could be heard, upon looking up we witnessed the first air raid made by the Italian air force on this country. The weaving of the Hurricanes as they attacked the Italian fighters and bombers was reminiscent of the mock dogfight by the Hawker Harts I had witnessed a few years before. An Italian bomber was shot down into the sea, one crew member bailed out and was floating down into the sea when another bailed out, he deployed his parachute which failed to open and just streamed behind him, he plummeted past his fellow crew member into the sea. Another Italian bomber was forced down by three Hurricanes and crashed in the forest near Spratt Street, Eyke and an Italian Fiat fighter made a forced landing east of Orford Ness lighthouse and when its wheels sank into the shingle it tipped up onto its nose. The pilot was taken prisoner.

There were many other actions in the air around Orford and many bombs, dropped indiscriminately, exploded in the fields. Four exploded on the Recreation Ground, ironically just where the trench had been dug for the school children in 1938. A land mine dropped in the forest behind Sudbourne church making a huge crater. On another occasion a land mine exploded on Keepers Walk, Gedgrave not far from Broom Cottage and another mine from the same plane dropped into the river mud, approximately near the present sewage out fall, and did not explode. The bomb disposal squad attempted to recover it, but each time they neared it the mine sank deeper. They decided to leave it, filled in the hole and presumably its still there today.

Some of the bigger houses were commandeered for use by the Army, the Gables (now the Rectory), Green Doors in Church Str, Manor House and Mill House in Ferry Road. Mill House was painted by the Army with green and brown camouflage paint and was known for many years as Camouflage House. The Mission Hall at the bottom of Bakers Lane, venue for wedding receptions, whist drives and dances (sixpenny hops) was taken over by the Army who shortly afterwards caused a fire which burnt the building to the ground before the nearest fire brigade from Woodbridge arrived. The present Church Hut replaced the Mission Hall and is a very inferior building.

Sudbourne Hall was taken over and many different Army units moved in. One of the earlier units was a battalion of the Highland Light Infantry and on summer evenings when the skirl of the bagpipes could be heard approaching the village, a crowd would gather on the Market Square and the pipe and drum band would entertain the villagers for maybe an hour marching and counter marching up and down the square and then with the skirl of the bagpipes fading into distance they returned to Sudbourne Hall.

After the fall of Dunkirk and it was thought an invasion was imminent an appeal was made on the wireless for volunteers for a new defence force to be known as the Local Defence Volunteers (LDV) which later became the Home Guard. A unit was immediately formed in the village made up of veterans of the 1914-18 war down to 16 year olds our uniforms being a khaki armband imprinted with the letters LDV.

Trenches were dug at strategic points around the village, the sandbags being filled from the sandpit on the castle green. Men with shot guns were asked to use them if necessary and the rest of us had to make do with whatever we could get hold of.

In due course .303 rifles were issued but with .303 ammunition being scarce we had target practise using .22 rifles in the pit on the castle green. With the arrival of the .303 rifles we were then required to do rifle drill. Parading in Gedgrave Road near Chantry Farm we were taught to stand at ease, come to attention, slope arms, present arms and order arms under the instruction and watchful eyes of Sergeant Ted Smy, a veteran of the 1914-18 war. This rifle drill proved to be useful for me when I was called up into the RAF later on.

We all laugh at the antics of Captain Mainwaring and Dads Army on TV but the reality in the Home Guard was at times much worse.

Many ex-service men will know that after a rifle inspection the ammunition is held down in the magazine to prevent a round entering the breech, the bolt is closed and the trigger pulled before returning to the order arms position. On one occasion a certain Home Guard did not hold down the ammunition, he closed the bolt, pulled the trigger and fortunately he was holding the rifle in the high port position so the bullet went over the head of the person next to him.

We were on the castle green receiving instruction on priming and throwing live hand grenades. Each one of us entered the sandbagged emplacement with the Army instructor and primed and threw our grenades, then it was the turn of a Sudbourne Home Guard who was left handed. He kept hold of his grenade too long and it dropped on the ground in front of them. The instructor shouted for us to get down and then had the presence of mind to scoop the grenade out of the emplacement into the next valley where it exploded harmlessly. The army instructor was later mentioned in despatches for his action.

Instruction was being given on the Sten gun by an army instructor in the Town Hall when he banged the butt of the gun onto the table, there was a loud bang and a bullet was discharged into the ceiling narrowly missing a Home Guard who was recently married. He was heard to remark that he had no wish for his new wife to become a widow so soon after the wedding.

The Home Guard gradually became better equipped and were issued with a spigot mortar, this was taken onto the island for practise firing. Then a water cooled machine gun arrived and being a member of the three man team, we spent many hours of practise setting up the tripod, mounting the gun and connecting the water supply until we became quite proficient. It was a great day when we went to Bromeswell rifle range and were able to use live ammunition for the first time.

One weekend the Home Guard was mobilised and we did duty on a 2 hours on and four hours off basis. The school canteen was used as the cook house. The meals served up by our cook, "Jit" Smy were not very appetising. I have often wondered if this weekend coincided with the mysterious happenings at Shingle Street.

When the Town Hall was taken over by the Army, in addition to it being used for lectures it was also the entertainment centre for the Army. A false ceiling was installed to improve the acoustics and make it warmer. Cinema shows and ENSA concerts were performed and civilians were allowed to attend.

Food rationing became a way of life, as the war progressed more of our ships were being sunk and the rations became smaller and smaller, at one stage the meat ration was ten pence (10d) worth each per week. The heavy manual work done by farm workers entitled them to extra cheese rations.

Dig for victory became a slogan. A gardening club was formed and many people who had never done any gardening before banded together to cultivate allotments or any piece of spare land which could be dug up and the produce shared among the members or used to supply the British Restaurant which had been established at the school canteen to supply cheap and nourishing meals for the community.

A pig club was formed, each member contributed a weekly sum to buy the ration of pig meal which was mixed with the kitchen waste from the members. One pig could be killed after a certain number of weeks and the meat shared among the members. A welcome extra to the meagre meat ration.

Other ways were exploited to gain extra rations, not all of them legal. The army cooks made a bit of extra money selling surplus tinned food to the locals. A local gamekeeper supplied some of his friends with the occasional pair of rabbits or brace of pheasants and there was always a bit of poaching to be done. By wheeling and dealing with each other it was possible to supplement the rations and in so doing a close community was formed. Nobody went hungry.

The Government needed money to pay for weapons, munitions etc and instigated many ideas to encourage the public to put their money into National Savings. One of these was Spitfire Day when a Supermarine Spitfire was brought to the village on a RAF low-loader and erected in the Market Square where it stood for one day. In this way the public could see what their money was helping to buy with the added attraction of seeing a Spitfire close up.

"Tanks for Attack" was another scheme when the village put in a very great effort. A pageant was held in the grounds of Castle House comprising thirteen tableaux depicting the history of the village from the beginning of the fifth century to the time when Sir Arthur Churchman presented the deeds of the Castle to Orford Town Trust as a gift to the nation.

Scenes included Mr Ross-Taylor playing the part of James Coe, the first mayor, returning to Orford with the first charter from Queen Elizabeth the First in 1679. Ancient Britons lying in wait for Roman Legionnaires in 400AD. Building the Castle. The Orford Merman 1292. The final scene shown was of Mr Ross-Taylor, chairman of the Orford Town Trust handing the keys of the Castle to the safe keeping of the Claviger Mr W Roberts who, at 92 years of age was at the ceremony throughout.

The Tanks for Attack campaign target of £1,600 was nearly trebled and wound up with a Harvest Supper in the Town Hall which included pasties for which the Rabbit Club provided the meat.

War Weapons Week and Warship Week were other money raising efforts.

When the villages of Sudbourne and Iken were evacuated to make way for a battle area using live ammunition, Sudbourne Hall became the HQ for this operation. It was quite an upheaval for the inhabitants of these villages, many of the families had live there for generations, but all had to leave. Many of the older folk never returned.

A tank regiment and a unit of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) moved to Sudbourne Hall and tank workshops were erected near White Lodge, it was in these workshops that many inventions were perfected, one of which was the flail tanks. A replica of Hitlers Atlantic Wall was built and various ideas were tried out in an effort to surmount it with tanks.

One day when everyone was sitting at dinner a terrific artillery barrage began, being unexpected it was rather frightening. It was later revealed that it was for the benefit of Winston Churchill who was on a visit to the battle school.

Later in the war, on April 6th 1944, a naval warship laid off shore and should have fired into the battle area, one shell hit a house in Daphne Road and the next hit a house in Ferry Road before a message could be relayed to the Navy to stop firing.

I had left Chapman’s shop and was working at Chantry Farm on the morning of October 23rd 1942. It was a dull morning with low cloud and just before eight o’clock the unmistakable throb of an enemy aircraft was heard. It appeared out of the low cloud heading south west then suddenly turned and passed overhead at only a few hundred feet, a few seconds later came the terrific explosions and from the village a great cloud of smoke and brick dust appeared. I ran from the farm and on reaching the Crown and Castle Hotel was met with a most horrific scene, a sight forever imprinted on my memory. The first bomb had made a direct hit on Chapman’s shop which together with the house and the small cottage near Manor House had been demolished. Manor House was badly damaged and all the windows and roofs around the Square had been blown off and the Square was covered with brick rubble. Mrs Chapman had by some miracle escaped injury and was standing on top of the heap of rubble which a few minutes before had been her home.

After checking that my mother was all right I joined others in the task of finding the Ashley sisters, two of whom had a child each, in the ruins of the small cottage near Manor House. With no mechanical means of moving the rubble and having to be careful because of the buried victims we tore at the bricks and timber with our bare hands, it was a hard slog and first one body and then the others were found, one of the children was alive for a few hours and then he too died.

When this task was completed we went to Nightingale Piece where other bombs had dropped, another scene of devastation met us with two blocks of two houses completely destroyed and others badly damaged, we assisted others in recovering the remaining victims, the smell of brick dust catching the throat, the smell which when encountered in later years, brought back memories of that fateful day.

The final count was thirteen dead, thirteen out of a total population of a few hundred, a loss which was keenly felt by everyone, these were people we all knew, friends, relatives all suddenly gone. The thirteen dead were, Louise Gooding, 23, her son John, 15 months, Kate Smith, 25, her son Brian, 6, Hettie Ashley, 29, Douglas Smy, RN 20, Andrew Knight, RAF 23, Dorothy Smy, 32, Alice Hawes, 48, Jack Hawes, 14, Pauline Chambers, 11, Robin Chambers, 8, and Neville Chambers, 4.

It is difficult to describe the feeling in the village that first evening when the events of the day began to slowly sink in. Groups stood talking quietly about what they had seen and done, conversation in the pubs was subdued, the full horror of war had been brought home to us and left us greatly shocked, as it had been to the people of London, Coventry and other towns and cities, teenagers such as myself had seen sights which, I suppose made us grow up very quickly, sights which I hope will never be seen in the village again.

There emerged a greater determination to win the war against an enemy who killed at random, children, babies who were completely defenceless. Latter day historians have criticised the RAF bombing of German cities, but anyone who had experience of German bombs know it was the correct action to take at that time.

The thirteen victims were buried in a communal grave in the churchyard and gradually the village recovered from this awful disaster, roofs were replaced, windows repaired, the rubble cleared away, but nothing can erase the memories of that terrible day.

I left Chapman’s shop to work at Chantry farm and a short time later left Chantry farm to work at the sawmill at Sudbourne Hall which was owned by Sir Peter Greenwell. Sir Peter had been captured at Dunkirk and was a prisoner-of -war, the estate was run by an agent in his absence.

Timber was urgently needed for use by the forces both at home and overseas. Large beech trees were felled, using axes and crosscut saws, the trunks cut into six foot lengths and brought to the sawmill where they were fastened to a carriage which was electrically driven through the band saw and cut into five inch slabs. The slabs were then taken to Tibbenhams of Ipswich and cut up to make extra long tent pegs for use by the army in the Middle East deserts.

Many fir trees were felled and brought to the sawmill where they were cut into 4 inch by 2 inch baulks for the framework and 6 inch by 1 inch boards for the cladding of huts for use by the army.

Such was the demand for timber that on one occasion, fir trees which were standing in the woods when we started work at seven am were felled, brought to the sawmill, cut into various sizes and taken to Aldeburgh where they were made into an army cookhouse by the time we left work at 5pm.

Within a short time the Government stopped all indiscriminate felling and created a body called Timber Control whose job it was to regulate all felling and resulted in the sawmill being closed down and staff transferred to farms on the Greenwell estate.

The territorials who had been called up at the beginning of the war had served in various parts of England before being posted to the desert war in the Middle East. After the fall of Tobruk they were all reported missing and their wives and parents had a very worrying time until news arrived that they had all been taken prisoners-of-war. They were moved to Italy and then on to Germany where they remained until the end of the war.

I was called up into the RAF in 1943 and after initial training at Skegness I was eventually trained as a dispatch rider and posted to the HQ unit No 2 Group of the 2nd Tactical Air Force. After serving in England, France, Belgium and Germany I was demobbed in 1946 on a "B" class release to return to work on a farm.

During the years I was serving in the RAF the V1, rocket fuelled, pilot less bomb, known as the doodle-bug was used to attack England. Launched in France with enough fuel to reach London, when the fuel ran out the bomb would plunge to the ground and explode. The anti-aircraft (Ack-Ack) guns became very proficient in shooting them down. As the German armies retreated after D Day the launching sites for the doodle-bugs were moved back to Belgium and then Holland. This resulted in the doodle-bugs crossing the coast in the Orford Ness region.

Batteries of antiaircraft guns were moved into the area and gun sites were established at Gedgrave and Raydon. A pontoon bridge was built from the quay across the river to the island and a gun site established there. The winter was severe causing ice floes to pile up against the pontoons. To relieve the pressure on the bridge an officer of the Royal Engineers decided to break up the ice by throwing sticks of dynamite onto it. In so doing he managed to blow up part of the bridge, the remains of which are still on the river bed. The last doodle-bug to be launched against England was shot down into the sea off the lighthouse on 29th March 1945.

Chapter 10 - Post War Orford

At the end of the war, the prisoners-of-war were repatriated and demobbed, as were other servicemen over a period of time, they had all seen and done things which made them different persons to the ones they were before being called up into the services. All gained from the experience in some way or another, they had been beyond the narrow confines of the village and become more worldly.

Those first few years after the war ended were very austere, rationing continued, clothing coupons were still needed for certain items of clothing, not having enough coupons for a new suit I was married in the suit I had been given when demobbed from the RAF.

Upon my release from the RAF on 8th April 1946 I obtained a job on the farms at Gedgrave and Sudbourne Hall which were part of Sir Peter Greenwells estate. Sir Peter had by this time been repatriated from the prisoner-of-war camp.

On June 1st 1946 I married my wife Gwendoline and lived with her parents until we found a house to rent. Farm workers wages were not great and overtime and piecework were always welcome to help save for the furniture we would eventually need.

Piecework was obtained when hoeing sugar beet in the spring and pulling sugar beet in the autumn. The price being the weekly wage per acre. By working hard it was possible to hoe and pull in excess of an acre per week thus earning extra money, some of which was kept in reserve as we had to lose any wet time. I have no record of the price per acre in 1946 but in 1949 it was £5-0-0 per acre. One of the fields which was a ploughed up marsh had a yield of 21 tons per acre. The yield per acre was important to us as Sir Peter paid us a bonus of 2/6 per ton on all tonnage over 10 tons per acre both for hoeing and pulling. It was these bonuses which made Sir Peter a good employer, in addition to the sugar beet bonus we were also given a yearly bonus based on a percentage of our yearly wages and when I later worked in the corn drier I got a grain handling bonus.

The winter of 1946/47 was very severe and I worked with the shepherd, Arthur Sutton, during the lambing season in January and February 1947. The lambing yard, made of straw bales, formed a square and around the inside walls of the square were individual pens. When the sheep gave birth, the ewe and offspring were moved into a pen away from the rest of the flock. Outside the yard was the shepherds hut, a wooden structure on wheels with steps leading up to the door, a fire provided warmth and at least one of us were in attendance day and night as the ewes gave birth.

Sometimes an ewe would die or reject its offspring, when this happened the lamb or lambs if it was a multiple birth would be taken into the hut and kept alive by being fed warm milk from a feeding bottle.

With the heavy snowfalls and sub zero temperatures it was a struggle at times to reach the lambing yard, some lambs died and as the weeks went by some of the sheep and lambs were moved into yards at the farm in the need for fresh ground to combat the common sheep disease of foot rot.

When it was thought that the weather was improving, a disused gun site was enclosed with sheep netting and tarpaulins fixed to the netting to form a wind break. The sheep and lambs were then turned into this area. As we left for home Arthur said "May the Lord be kind to you". That night the bad weather returned with a vengeance, a terrible blizzard with freezing temperatures and when we arrived the next morning it was to find more than half the lambs and some of the weaker ewes dead. It is difficult to describe our feelings after nurturing the lambs for so long under extremely difficult conditions and then losing so many overnight, it was so very disappointing.

Farming at this time was still labour intensive, about ten of us were cycling to Gedgrave from the village and there was a further seven or eight who lived in the tied cottages. Some horses were still being used although the use of the tractor was increasing.

The corn was cut with a binder which cut and tied the corn into bundles called sheaves. We would then pick up the sheaves, tuck one under each arm and stand them up with the bottoms about a foot apart and the ears leaning together. Eight or ten pairs were stood together to form a stook, known locally as a shock. The air could then flow through the stook to dry the straw before it was taken on trailers to the stack yard.

In the stack yard the sheaves were built into stacks, the stacking was a skilled job and was traditionally carried out by the head horseman, there was keen competition between the various horsemen as to who had the best stacks. Ideally the stack was made to be slightly larger at the eaves than the bottom and then made smaller from the eaves to the top to form a sloping roof. When the roof was thatched the rain water would then drip from the eaves to the ground without running into the stack. The stacks would stand until winter before being threshed during a slack time in the farming calendar.

Threshing was one of the more unpleasant jobs on the farm, it entailed dirt, dust, rats, noise and cold. The threshing machine, or drum, would be placed between two stacks, after the thatch was removed the sheaves were fed into the top of the drum where the corn was beaten and separated to emerge down chutes into sacks, the straw emerged at the opposite end and was carried by an elevator to form a straw stack, the chaff emerged through another chute into sacks and other residue was discharged underneath the drum, a long wooden rake being used to keep the residue clear.

There was always a terrific noise from the threshing machine and the tractor which was driving it, dust and dirt irritated the eyes and collected around the mouth and nose. We had no masks or goggles. The worst thing about the operation was the rats, as the corn stack got lower and lower so the rats would retreat lower and lower until the stack bottom, made of bracken or similar material to keep the sheaves off the ground, was reached. Sometimes there were so many rats the bottom would be heaving with them. Pitch forks were used to pierce the stack bottom in an effort to impale the rats and rats which ran out were killed near the wire-netting surrounding the stack which was required by law. We always tied our trouser leg bottoms with string to prevent them running up our legs.

Farming methods started to change fairly quickly during the early post war years, acres of marshland, previously used for grazing and hay making, were ploughed up using crawler tractors to pull the plough through the heavy soil. Winter wheat was sown in the autumn and produced very good crops on the fertile soil. Sugar beet and potatoes were also successfully grown. Rain water gathered in the low areas and small gully’s were dug from these areas to the drainage ditch. Farming on this type of land was completely different to the methods used on the upper lighter land.

Combine harvesters were, in my opinion, one of the greatest advances in farming techniques. One machine went into a field and cut and threshed the corn in one operation with the straw being picked up and baled by another machine. Operations which are taken for granted today but then it meant that no longer did the farm worker have the obnoxious job of threshing in the winter cold.

Sugar beet seed which had been sown in clusters resulting in the plants having to be singled by hoeing was now sown as single seed but still needed hand hoeing. Later, sugar beet drills were invented to sow the seed at spaced intervals thus dispensing with the need to single the plants by hand hoeing.

Sugar beet were pulled by hand using an implement called a Topper. This consisted of a ten inch long sharp blade with a hook at one end and a handle at the other. The hook was used to pull the beet out of the ground and then the top, containing the leaves was cut off by the blade. Hard backbreaking work but a means of earning extra money on piece work.

Then along came another advance in farm mechanisation, the sugar beet harvester. These machines topped and pulled the beet, the tops being put in a row on the ground and the beet going up an elevator and dropping into a trailer being driven alongside.

With the increase in mechanisation advances were also being made on the chemical side of farming. As new artificial fertilisers were developed to suit individual crops , the farm became less dependant on livestock to produce the organic manure which had been used hitherto. Straw which had been used to produce this manure was burnt for a number of years until being stopped for a number of reasons including the damage being caused to the atmosphere and the damage caused when the burning operation got out of hand.

Then came the chemical sprays, selective weed killers which would kill the weeds but leave the plants. Over the years, with the increase in chemical farming, I believe came the increase in the disease of cancer. I am aware that it is said that there is no connection but I remain unconvinced.

Around 1950 the cattle disease, foot and mouth struck at Chantry Farm, owned by Mr Sam Cordle. Precautions were immediately put into effect to stop the spread of the disease as required by law. The entrances to the farm were strewn with straw which was soaked with disinfectant. Anyone entering and leaving the premises were required to wash their boots in a tub of disinfectant placed at the gate for this purpose. The local policeman was present to ensure these measures were carried out.

All the affected cattle were killed and placed in a huge pit which was dug for the purpose, the carcasses were then covered with quicklime and the pit filled in.

Cattle which were not infected but had been in contact with someone from the farm, this meant the cattle which were grazing on the island and the cattle at Randalls Barn, were all taken to Randalls Barn where a team of butchers slaughtered them, skinned and cut them up. They were then taken away for human consumption.

This operation took place over the Easter week-end and was very upsetting for passers-by and others who could not resist watching these young cattle being treated in this way.

Within a short space of time disaster struck Chantry Farm again when an employee was moving a metal ladder near a straw stack, the ladder touched an overhead electric cable and the resulting short circuit set fire to the stack which quickly spread to a Dutch Barn fall of hay. The employee moving the ladder was very lucky and escaped injury.

Chapter 11 - The East Coast Floods

On Saturday morning 31st January 1953 I was working, with others, on the low lying marshes at Gedgrave. A gale had been blowing for two days and the water had lapped over the top of the river bank at high tide.

That night came the worst disaster the country had known in peace time, it has gone down in history as the night of the East Coast Floods. A terrific gale held up the water in the North Sea, this, combined with a spring tide caused massive flooding from Lincolnshire to Kent. 307 people lost their lives, as did thousands of cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry. 32,000 people were evacuated from their homes and 1,000 miles of coastline were flooded. Orford did not have any casualties, but many homes were flooded.

At Gedgrave the river banks gave way under the weight of wind and water, breaches hundreds of yards long appeared. The water swept over the low lying land, flooding some houses at Gedgrave before reaching Quay Street where it entered houses causing flooding to a depth of over two feet. In the Jolly Sailor public house in Quay Street is a brass strip 2 feet 6 inches above the floor demonstrating the height of the flood water.

An American family living in Quay Street were marooned in their bungalow. Ralph Brinkley waded through the flood water taking each of the three children, one at a time, from their parents and handed them to helpers on the road. They slept happily on while this operation took place. Their father then carried his wife to safety.

Meanwhile, knowing there were two Air Ministry security policemen on the Island, Reg Partridge and Vic Brinkley mounted a rescue operation. Together with others they went down river in Reg’s motor boat and then up Stony Ditch. It was a hazardous journey in gale force wind with large pieces of debris floating everywhere. They eventually located the policemen, Harry Brown and Bill Riches on the roofs of two separate buildings. Reg took one rowing boat and Vic took the other and succeeded in bringing both policemen to the motor boat. They then retraced the hazardous journey back to the quay. For their heroic action Reg was awarded the BEM and Vic was awarded the Queens Commendation for Bravery..

The local fire brigade, of which I was a member, were called out at daybreak and our first job was to rescue a disabled man and his daughter by getting them out of a bedroom window. We then spent the rest of the day pumping the salt water from the homes in Quay street and going to Butley to pump out the grain pits at Butley Mill.

Hundreds of acres of low lying land from Iken to the Town Marsh (now the car park) in Quay street and from Gedgrave to Quay street were under water. Cattle at Gedgrave which had been grazing in the flooded area had been swept away, some were drowned but several were marooned on the river bank and were rescued by landing craft. Hundreds of sheep which had been grazing on the Island were drowned.

The task of plugging breaches in the river banks and getting rid of the flood water looked tremendous when we started work on the Monday morning. The first priority was to plug the breaches, appeals had gone out for sandbags and for help to fill them with mud from the saltings. The result of the appeal was amazing, volunteers were sent from far and wide, some from a brewery as far away as Norwich and the Army sent in troops, collapsible boats and outboard engines. A crude shelter made of straw bales was erected and the women who worked on the farm made tea continually throughout the very cold days.

Work started on removing the water from the vast area affected. Six of us led by our employer, Sir Peter Greenwell, worked throughout one night digging a trench and laying pipes through the river bank to make a sluice which at low tide allowed the water to flow, full bore, into the river and the sluice gate would close to prevent the water flowing the other way when the tide came in. Massive pumps were moved in and worked day and night pumping the flood water into the river.

At weekends a gang of us went to Havergate Island bird reserve and repaired the breaches in the river walls with sandbags filled with mud. After smoothing mud over the sandbags of one breach a member of the gang wrote in large letters "Welcome back Avocets 1953".

A Royal Air Force working party moved in to repair a huge breach in the river bank on the island side of the river. They filled sandbags with a mixture of dry sand and cement using a cement mixer on the quay. The filled sandbags were then taken across the river and thrown into the water at the breach, the sand and cement then set under water. It took many sandbags before they were above the water line. The RAF working party were billeted in the Town Hall during this operation.

All these activities took place during very cold and often wet conditions and went on for several weeks. When the flood water had been cleared the massive task of ridding the land of the salt which had been deposited began. It took years to get the land back to normal and hundreds of tons of gypsum was used to counteract the effects of the salt.

A firm of contractors (Nuttals) moved in with drag-lines and bulldozers and by making a wide ditch some distance from the river bank, they used the spoil from this ditch to, not only repair the breaches, but to raise the level of all the river banks by six feet in an effort to prevent a recurrence of the flooding.

It must be said that over the years the river walls have settled quite a lot, the concrete war time block house to the south of the quay was completely covered when the river walls were remade after the floods. It is now quite visible again and it is possible the river wall is back to its pre 1953 level.

Chapter 12 - The Fire Service

With the disbandment of the National Fire Service after the war the responsibility for fire cover was vested in the County Council and in the Fire Services Act certain provisions had to be carried out. One of these provisions was that a fire appliance should be able to reach a fire in a certain time. The fire engines at Woodbridge and Saxmundham could not reach Orford within that time so the County Council set up a fire station at Orford.

Men between the ages of 18 and 50 were invited to attend a meeting where Division Officer Hurrell explained how the system of part time retained firemen worked.

Each volunteer would be paid a quarterly retaining fee in return for which he was required to attend the fire station for two hours each week for training and drills. He was also expected to respond to a fire call at any time of the day or night, for which he would be paid extra on an hourly basis. In order to do this the fire service relied on the good will of the employers to let their men leave work to attend fires, as indeed they still do today.

I joined the service in 1951 about a year after it was established in an ex coal storage shed in Rectory road. Others who joined at the same time were Jim Smy, Ted Hawes and Jack Denny. The area covered in addition to Orford being Sudbourne, Iken, Chillesford, Butley and Boyton.

When a caller dialled 999 they were put through to the Fire Control Room at Ipswich, the control room then phoned the telephone exchange at Orford Post Office and told the post master the address of the fire, he would then activate a siren which sounded for thirty seconds during the daytime and a bell in each fireman’s house at night time. The firemen then attended the station as quickly as possible, the first to arrive picked up the phone and was told the address of the fire by the operator and when a crew of six were assembled they would proceed to the fire. On arrival at the fire the 400 gallons of water carried on the tender would be used first and then a supply from open water would have to be found. Meanwhile the officer in charge assessed the situation and would then find the nearest telephone to inform control if further engines were needed or to put a stop message in.

I resigned from the fire service after twenty years service in 1971 and received the Fire Brigade Long Service and Good Conduct Medal. During that twenty years I saw many changes, the first tender was a Fordson flat back lorry with a 400 gallon water tank on the back, a trailer pump towed behind and no cover for the crew. Then a Canadian Dodge with a front mounted Barton pump. The bells for these machines were outside the near side cab window and the window had to be wound down to allow the sub-officer to manually ring the bell when proceeding to a fire. Other machines came along until we got one with a proper crew cab, electric bell and then two-tone horns.

In 1971 during the building of the "Cobra Mist" project on the Island we were called out to a fire in which a range of contractors huts were well alight. Several large industrial size propane gas bottles became involved, in spite of our efforts to cool them some of them exploded. Onlookers on the mainland likened the explosions to giant fireworks, but for us it was a bit uncomfortable. The station received a Chief Fire Officers Commendation for the work carried out that night.

In the 1950s there were several shouts to fires at the Hollesley Bay Borstal institution. Some boys actually liked being there and if their time was nearly up they would set fire to a stack in order to receive an extended sentence.

During the twenty years of my service we were promised a new fire station but it did not materialise until some years after I retired. The foundation stone of the new fire station was laid in 1987 by Mr Fred Gales chairman of the fire authority at that time.

Today the firemen are called out by bleeper, the address of the fire comes in the form of a computer print out, radio is used to keep in touch with the control room and the whole area has fire hydrants.

Chapter 13 - Life After Farm Work

With the mechanisation taking place on the farm it was obvious that less labour would be required so when the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment advertised vacancies I was one of many who applied for a job.

Getting a job on a farm was fairly easy but with AWRE it was very different. I went to the labour exchange at Ipswich and appeared in front of a panel of four men who fired questions on all sorts of subjects, I was applying for a Plant Attendants job looking after steam boilers and air conditioning plant, a job I knew precisely nothing about. I was later offered the job subject to being security cleared by a process known as 77 positive vetting. A process necessary to ascertain I had no Communist connections because of the secret work which was to be carried out.

I started the new job on shift work initially working a twelve hour shift seven days a week. When I received my first pay packet, which was over double a farm workers wage, I felt like a millionaire. By starting this job with AWRE I realised it would alter by whole way of life.

It is also a fact that the AWRE had a great beneficial affect on the village, in addition to providing employment for many people, they spent thousands of pounds repairing the quay by having it completely reconstructed with steel piling, a stronger concrete ramp was laid alongside and a car park was constructed between the river wall and the delf ditch.

AWRE encouraged us to take courses, the first one was for a City and Guilds boiler operators certificate and was fairly easy. The second one for a City and Guilds certificate in Boiler House Practice was more difficult. A knowledge of logarithms was needed, something I had not been taught at Orford school. Fortunately, my eldest son Peter, who had passed the eleven plus and was attending Woodbridge Grammar School was able to give me instruction. I obtained both certificates with credit.

After a time more plant attendants were employed and our hours were cut down to five eight hour shifts per week which meant less money in our pay packets. With an ever increasing family this was a bit of a blow, I was still in the part time fire service and when the Orford Ness lighthouse was fully automated and a part time attendant was needed I applied for and obtained that job. I also started doing painting and decorating and doing small house repairs. On one occasion only I worked the 6am to 2pm shift, went to the lighthouse on my daily visit then continued painting a house I was working on when the fire siren sounded and I turned out to a fire, all four jobs in one day.


Harbourmaster Ralph Brinkley and Charlie Underwood M.B.E

The point of it all was to give our sons a decent upbringing, an improved way of life, better than we had had, I have been told by one of my sons that he would have liked to see more of me but he realises why I did all the work. Looking back in later years my wife and I sometimes wondered if it was worthwhile, the long hours I was working, the apple picking and other part time jobs she did in addition to bringing up six sons. Then we would look at the boys, each successful in his chosen career and know that we did the right thing.

Postscript:

The final paragraph above was the last words to be written by my father for his second book and the paragraph was subsequently read out at his funeral.

During my childhood I didn’t appreciate the sacrifices my parents had made whilst I and my brothers were growing up. I do now and always will.

Thanks Mum and Dad.

Adrian Underwood

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