Felmersham Local History Book

Felmersham - The History of a Riverside Parish
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A very readable and well produced book.”

"a work of commendable scholarship written in plain English
with appropriate brevity"

"Thank you - I have greatly enjoyed it"

Page 75. Bell Carol
It was the Rev Sidebottom and not Freddie Stevens, who arranged the music for Mrs Levett's Felmersham Bell Carol.

Page 79. Figure 37. St Mary’s church choir
Photograph was taken in 1981, as part of Rev Sidebottom’s retirement gift from the choir. In the back row it is Evan Sidebottom and not Mark Sidebottom. The lady on the right is not Joan Fensom but probably Bridget Batty Pierson (now Bridget Pierson Davis), the daughter of Joe & Brenda Batty Pierson formerly of East Grange.

Page 90. Figure 42. Nativity play in the Methodist Chapel, circa 1950
The photo was taken in 1959. Sandra Hawes is the first king on the left of the photo, just below Freda Northwood, and Sandra's sister is dressed as the donkey, back row - second on the right.
Mr Northwood was in charge of the boys for part of the service and Kathleen and Freda were in charge of the girls.
Sandra’s mother was Connie Rust referred to in the chapter Felmersham at War and her grandfather was Ernest Rust referred to in the same chapter.

Page 117. Figure 51. Felmersham school, May 1967
The missing girls are Pauline and Elizabeth Wilson from Bailey's Villas. Also Paul Lovell should read Pearl Lovell.

Page 190. Figure 100. Ground Plan of St Mary's church, Felmersham
North and South Aisle labelling has been transposed.

Page 54. Relatively few medieval churches were built with a central tower. A central tower gave the church status and therefore suggests that St Mary's was not primarily built for parish use. This adds weight to the proposition that the monks of Lenton Priory built the church with the intention of it forming part of a monastic community.

Ernest "Strike" Rust c. 1950-55. Standing outside St Mary's church with his catch, possibly a pike.
Photo: Sandra Hawes

Felmersham Souvenir Trade

On Page 153 I state:
Souvenirs were also sold in the village and at least one parishioner owns a china mug, made in Germany, with an illustration of Felmersham and inscribed “Best Wishes from Felmersham”.
Above is a "Victorian" dish made in Bavaria for the Felmersham souvenir trade. It is inscribed A PRESENT FROM FELMERSHAM.

Felmersham - the last May Day celebration, 1952
Back Row: Unknown, Diane Boness, Unknown, Dorothy Constance,
Edna Marsh (May Queen), Phyllis Norman, Unknown, Unknown, Unknown.

Front Row: Patsy Boyle, Sandra Leeson*, Tony Constance, Sandra Podd,
John Summerlin, David Boyle.

Photograph provided by *Sandra Hawes nee Leeson

Arrow Head Found in Radwell
Whilst creating a pond in the back garden a Radwell resident discovered what is believed to be an arrow head. (See picture on the right.) We know from the archaeological dig in Radwell gravel pits that early man settle in the parish during the Bronze Age (2000 BC to circa 700 BC). So it is likely that the arrow head is from this period.
If however it is earlier than Bronze Age, then this is the first evidence of Stone Age occupation in the parish.

Sharnbrook Old Viaduct completed in 1856

See page 160.
Having unsuccessfully tried to find a photograph of the old Sharnbrook viaduct, I came across this one published in Bedford to Wellingborough - Midland Main Lines by Geoff Goslin.
This photograph was taken in 1881 after it had been shorn up and taken out of service. The replacement viaduct can just be seen behind the two leading arches. The old viaduct was dismantled and replaced by a second one. Both viaducts are still in use.

Radwell 10¼ inch Miniature Railway in the 1930's

	The railway was owned by Mr H W Franklin and installed at Stanilands at the top of Moor End Road. Unfortunately these two photos became available after the book had been printed so the miniature railway has only a passing reference.

Parish water Taps
	Unfortunately my researched details on the parish water taps were not included in the book due to the failure of my filing system! So here they are: There are five water taps (or stand pipes) in Felmersham and two in Radwell. They were manufactured in Kilmarnock, Scotland and installed circa 1935-6 as part of the Bedford Rural District Council's scheme to provide water to all rural parishes not connected to the mains supply.
The taps can be seen in Felmersham: 1. Outside Bridge Cottage in The High Road. 2. Near the phone box in Grange Road. 3. Outside The Old Farmhouse in Grange Road. 4. Town Lot Lane. 5. Entrance to The Slip in Pavenham Road. and in Radwell: 1. Outside Apple Tree Cottage at the top of Moor End Road 2. Outside The Cottage at the bottom of Moor End Road

First World War Certificate of Exemption

The photos show Reginald Joseph Rootham's Exemption Certificate. The certificate exempted him from military service on the grounds that he was a farmer. The grounds for exemption was Conditional......... for as long as [he was] in Certified occupation. The certificate was lent to me by Janet Barbour. Reg Rootham was her Great Uncle. A great pity that it did not come to light until after the book was published!