Variety star Bertha Willmott sings "Just Like The Ivy" from "Millions Li...
Bertha Willmott was landlady at the Galleon at Old Wolverton after the war. In this clip she is shown singing in a morale-boosting film made in 1943, called "Millions like Us."
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Another 200th anniversary
2015 seems to be popular for centenaries. We have Agincourt and waterloo to start with, but 1815 was also of some importance to Wolverton, for it was the year that James Edward McConnell was born.He...
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The White Horse
The White Horse looks as if it has been in Stony Stratford for a long time, and at one level it has. The present building was built in the late 18th century and first licensed in 1773. The site was...
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Stony Stratford's Breweries
The 19th century was a period of transition in the practice of brewing and over this period in house brewing eventually ceased in favour of having barrels delivered weekly by specialised brewers. As...
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Libraries: a short history
We take public libraries for granted these days, even though they are somewhat under threat, and it is hard to imagine a society without them. Wolverton did not get its first public library until 1939,...
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North's Cottages
Here's an intriguing reference from Oliver Ratcliffe's book publish in 1900: The Newport Hundreds.On the site where stood, a little over half a century ago, North's Cottages, there is one of the finest...
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The first expansion of Wolverton
In 1860 the Radcliffe Trust finally backed off from their hard-line position of no further expansion in Wolverton. The railway industry was growing rapidly and the original 22 acres was insufficient to...
View Article"Hell's Kitchen" or was it "Ella's Kitchen"
The Radcliffe Arms, the first pub built after the railway, opening in 1839, acquired the nickname "Hell's Kitchen." It was assumed that this name came about through the pub's somewhat disreputable...
View ArticleLover's Lane
I have written before about Green Lane. it was originally part of an ancient medieval ridgeway that traced a line from brill, through steeple Claydon, Thornton and Calverton. The track crossed the...
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The Wolverton Balloon Event
After well over 20 years of planning the new Science and Art Institute was finally under construction and due to be completed. It did not actually open until 1864 by on June 21st 1863, to mark the...
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The Ox Roast
Although Wolverton was very much a new industrial town there were still strong ties to the country and country ways. In 1865 Wolverton Station was approximately 25 years old and a generation had grown...
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Markets in Wolverton
Up to 1838 Wolverton had a scattered population, extending from Stacey Bushes Farm beside Bradwell brook in the south to Manor Farm in the north. The eastern limit was Stonebridge House farm and on the...
View ArticleEarly Wolverton House Numbering
From time to time I get asked by people researching their families from the 19th century census to explain the baffling system of numbering houses. In the Little Streets they will encounter house...
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The "Boating Pond."
This seems hard to picture now but in 1917 quite a large expanse of water built up at the corner of Creed Street and the Stratford Road. The Market Hall was built on a slight rise and the ramp up to...
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Wolverton's War Memorial
On Saturday July 10th 1921 a huge crowd gathered in the Square to witness the unveiling of the permanent War Memorial. It was made of Portland stone and stood 28 feet 8 inches high. The cost was £500...
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The Story of the Empire Cinema
Those of us who grew up in Wolverton in the 1940s and 1950s and attended the Saturday morning matinees for children at 6d (later 9d) a session probably believed the cinema had been there forever. In...
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The Story of the Palace Cinema
The Palce Cinema still stands rather awkwardly on the Stratford Road in its original location. It ceased to function as a cinema over 50 years ago and it has had various uses since then.In my young and...
View ArticleShoot the Pianist!
In the 1960s there was a French film starring Charles Aznavour, called Tirez sur le Pianiste - Shoot the Pianist. I never thought I would come to write about an actual attempt. I discovered this story...
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1815
Within a few days of writing this we will be marking the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. It was a terrible battle with heavy casualties on both sides but at the end of a very long day...
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Newsagents
Newsagents were familiar enough in the 20th century, but when did they start up and who was the first in Wolverton?It may not be easy to answer that a question. Certainly newspapers were available from...
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