These recollections have been supplied by villagers who have lived or worked in the village during the past. Some of them are are still living here. The earliest recollection is from a Mr. V.A. Dibble, who was the son of the first schoolmaster of Baddesley School and he was born in 1889.
We believe they provide a fascinating glimpse of what village life was really like in the past and I hope you will find them to be as interesting a read as I most certainly did.
Click on the links below to access each recollection.
Please Note: As some of the recollections are quite long you will need to scroll the bar on the right hand side to access all the content.
| V. A. Dibble | E. Marsh | D. Peckham | B. Myall | M. Gradidge |
| P. Farmer | J. Hibberd | E. Cosier | J. Fowler | D. Biggs |
| P. Haws | E. Gardner | J. MacKenzie | M. Watts | R. Cobern |
High Summer in 1937 saw the Biggs family on the move from the small community of Ratlake to North Baddesley. Ratlake lies midway between the villages of Ampfield and Hursley.
The day we moved was very hot and even I, as not yet five years old, can remember the heat of that day as my Mother, pushing a pram loaded with our belongings, and me walking; setting off for our new home in Nutburn Road. I think I did manage a lift on the pram from time to time.
My first memories of our new home was the overgrown garden, the smell of the grass and weeds when they were cut on those hot summer days which is a smell that I remember to this day. It was important to clear the garden and get what crops that could be grown at that time of year under way as the cottage garden was all important to the way of life in those days. Our next door neighbour, Mr. Taylor, was at the gate to greet us when we arrived. Grandad Taylor was sometimes known as Jiggory Jack because if things were not going quite right it was Jigger this or Jigger that. That was about the strongest language I ever heard him use. He seemed a very old man to me, and a man that knew the countryside and how to reap the benefits from it. He often took me or my brother with him to walk the fields and he would always say "I think I will try a root of them potatoes," or "I will try one of those swedes or turnips," or whatever happened to be in season at the time, but he had a way of saying it so that it seemed like he only had it on loan. I did enjoy my outings with him, as he would point all sorts of things out to us boys. I think I must have learnt a lot from him about the countryside, a love of which has stayed with me until this day.
It was almost time for me to do some serious learning as I was five years old during the summer holidays of 1937. After the holidays were over (only four weeks long in those days) I would be going to Baddesley School. I do not think I was very keen to start school, or for that matter, very keen at any time during my whole time at school. It was not that I hated it, it was a case of my mind drifting back to the countryside and farming with the heavy horses, and all the things connected with the country. How was a young lad like me supposed to concentrate on schooling with so much going on around me? At that time I could not see much use for education, as I knew where I was going into farming.
My first teacher at Baddesley School was Mrs. Dowding or 'Miss' as she was known and she was a very kindly person. I think she was liked by all and did her very best for us while we were in her infants class. My next teacher was Miss Mitchell and she was also very good. We really thought we were on our way up when we reached her class, even if it was only to get away from the malted sweets that we were given in the infants class for ability. I hated malted things then but love them now. However, I was now in a higher class, probably standard I or II as it was then, and that at least gave us a right to go further afield in the playground. The infants could only use the small play area outside of the classroom window so that Mrs. Dowding could keep an eye on her charges.
It must have been whilst I was in Miss Mitchell's class that the war broke out in September 1939. 'It did not seem to have any affect on us at first and we just carried on as normal, until things started to run short and in some cases were impossible to get, like white paint to mark the playground with is just to name but one item. Then there were the blackouts for the windows and a kind of mesh that was stuck on the glass to stop it flying about, in case of a bomb blast. Saving stamps were being sold in the school to help the war effort. As time went by, areas were set up for the collection of glass jars, paper and cardboard and all of the children were expected to help in some way with this. Much later on, an area was set up in the village to collect just about everything that could be used in the war effort. The air raid shelters at the school were built in the early 1940's and later on were to spend many long hours in these. It always seemed to be cold and damp in the steel and earth shelters and not much help it you did not like the dark. There was many a frightened child who would start to cry when we were in them. A teacher was always posted by the door when an air raid was on and we always sang ten green bottles, or anything that was current at the time. I think it was so that we could not hear the German bombers circling overhead after doing their worst over Southampton. It was hard for us to hear the all-clear siren after a raid as we did not have a siren in Baddesley and had to rely on hearing one from Romsey, Eastleigh or Southampton, it depended on which way the wind was blowing which one you heard, if at all. The local ARP man would let the school know about the warnings and all-clears, if he knew. I think it depended on who was on duty. These wardens all had their own jobs to do and there were not many telephones in those days so it was very difficult. My Grandfather (on my Father's side) was employed building the first shelters at the school. I met him for the first time that I remember at the school and only met him once or twice after that. He died while the, war was still on. The brick shelter was built later on during the war, as it was found that after the evacuees from Portsmouth, Gosport and Southampton settled in Baddesley there was not enough room in the school shelters. It was about this time that we started attending school for half days only because of the overcrowding and we were down to three half days a week at one time. This suited me fine as by then I was able to help on the farms, there being no restriction on age at that time. Later on, when things started to go back to a five day week at school, a scheme came out whereby the boys would get half day releases from school, amounting to twenty half days during the Harvest time. The farmer signed a card to prove that you were employed each half day. I had two cards one year because the harvest was long and late due to bad weather. No one seemed concerned about whether you received an education or not, such were the pressures of the War and the time spent in the shelters, the three half day week at school and the time spent working on the farm, education was bound to suffer, but even so, I still ended my education at Baddesley School doing 'Fair.'
I was working on the farm during the summer of 1945, just after the war ended in Europe when I was informed to report to North End School at Eastleigh to do my last year at school. Those affected by the move had to meet the bus daily at the old Rest Centre. We joined the already crowded classes and those that had only a short time before leaving were not given much of a chance to improve themselves. This last year of my schooling was the least interesting and I finally left in July 1946, three weeks before my 14th birthday, finishing on the Friday and starting work on the Monday.
I was at last doing my beloved farm work full time and working with heavy horses. There were three heavies, one Shire and two Shire-Crosses. My first job in the morning after the general farm work was leading the horse while horse hoeing root crops every day. I had this job continuously for two weeks before the main cereal harvest began. I must have walked hundreds of miles in those two weeks, but I soon got used to it and nothing seemed quite so hard after that. The harvest was always a very busy time on the farms in those days. Casual labour was hired as well as having prisoners of war - German, Austrian, Italian, but not all three nationalities at the same time as this would have started World War Three, as it seemed that they could just not get on together. The cereal harvest was over by mid-September as harvest's were later in those days and we saw a quiet time until the sugar beet and then the potatoes were ready for harvesting. Only a Land Army girl and myself were permanent hands at that time; the full-time men left at the beginning of August. That left me in sole charge of the horses, which was a dream come true - not bad for a fourteen year old.
The winter of 1946-47 was to be the worst in living memory and I do not think there has been one quite so bad since then either. It was bitterly cold for weeks on end with snow on the ground for at least eight weeks. Times were very hard on the farms at this time, but somehow I did survive my first winter at work. My boss said that if I could survive that winter I would stick with farming. That was not to be for either of us, but that is quite a different story.
The bad winter was followed by a glorious summer. This made life all very worthwhile living on the farm and I enjoyed every minute of it. I had been at work for almost a year and it was my turn now to do the horse hoeing and someone else to lead the horse. This was not easy a task as it looked to me a year before, and a few plants did get knocked out and my arms ached trying to keep the hoe steady, but with most things I soon got used to it. Later that same year another lad was hired permanently. The harvest was good, but after the long hot summer it was difficult to do the autumn cultivating and the sowing of seed for the following year.
It was the following year that things started to change as far as the horse-power on our farm was concerned. The youngest horse was sold and a new tractor was bought. Horses were being sold from the farms in increasing numbers at this time and there was enough work for the remaining two but the days of the horse-power were drawing to an end. It would only be about another ten years and the four heavy breeds of horse in this country would be extinct. Fortunately, they all did survive and in recent years there has been a revival beyond any ones imagination. Another two years saw the end of our horses. It also saw two new farmers on our farm and it was a time of great change in farming, none more so than on our local farms. It seemed to be all-change for everyone. My own farming career came to an end in 1951. It was my own choice. Since then I have always kept an interest in farming and am still a member of The Shire Horse Society and it gives me a great pleasure to see the revival of interest in the heavy breeds.