Tough Assignment - Harry Cook

Harry, aged 4, in his Sunday best
showing his early love of cricket.

On September 30th, 1985, a brief story of his life was told by a man who has lived in the village of Eton Wick all his life, and has been associated with the chapel since his boyhood. This man is a very rare person and for those who know him and whom he has helped, (and there must be very many), and for those who have heard him pray at the Chapel Prayer Meetings at 6pm Sunday evenings, he seems to have a special 'closeness with God', and that relationship is reflected in his daily life.

He epitomises what the disciple Peter could well have been like - a very human person with a loving heart, far bigger than most. He truly walks with his God.

Harry Cook was born on May 14th, 1911 at the house where he still lives - 18, Inkerman Road. He recalled that when only a few months old, and in his mother's arms, the house called Busane, which stood on the site where Bryanston now stands, (and originally called Farm Belle), was burned down. His father lived at Busane while still a bachelor. He was a 'fly driver', or a registered horse drawn cab driver. His father was also a keen gardener and in the grounds of Busane he had 21 cold frames and 2 greenhouses. He was an artistic gardener and prepared hanging baskets and displays for boat houses and house parties etc. In the cold frames he grew many violets. When the Chapel was built his father collected £10 towards the costs - a large amount of money at that time.

Harry had one brother and one sister, the sister sadly dying when very young. He attended Eton Porny School and walked most days along the roughly made up Eton Wick Road which had no kerbs, and played football as he and his friends ran to school. There were very few cars at all, and when a horse drawn cab came along, they would get behind it to sit and ride on the axle. This was called 'whip-whip-behind', with the cab driver throwing the whip back behind him over the cab, to deter such naughty boys! Harry's father died when Harry was five.

Harry remained at school until he was 14. His first job was as an office boy for Harvey and Squelches. A year later when 15, he became apprenticed to Streets the builders. His apprenticeship lasted for 5 years with a further 2 years as an 'Improver'. A total of 7 years apprenticeship. As an Improver he earned 17s a week (85p) and before that 9s a week (45p), with increases of is a week each year. He would leave Eton Wick at 6.45 am each morning and walk to work at Slough to start at 8am. He finished at 5pm and walked home. On Saturdays he worked from 8am until 1pm. His neighbour then, and now, Mr Jack White, walked continously in this pattern for some 30 years while working, and still enjoys walking.

While very young Harry was taken to the chapel by his mother and passed through the Sunday School. He was eventually taken in as a Sunday School Teacher by Mrs Tough. Harry remembers her as a stern lady, but she had a lovely face. "I think she was a lovely lady". Harry's father would take her in his cab to meetings at Queen's Street and Cookham Dean and would wait to take her home to Eton Wick. This information was passed on by Harry's mother.

Harry's first preaching appointment was at Dedworth in Windsor Baptist Church when he was 22. Preachers were in short supply and often took six or seven services a quarter, travelling by bicycle as there were few cars.

In 1932 while working as a plumbers mate with a man called Calder, they decided to go into business on their own. Pay then was ls.5hd an hour, London rate, and ls.4hd an hour, local rate. Calder and Cook, plumbers and hot water fitters, were based in Alpha Street, Slough. After about 2 years they separated, because 'his wife wanted to run the firm, and I wasn't under no pettycoat government!'.

From 1934 Harry worked from Eton Wick, and, but for the war, continued active work for the next 50 years in and around the village.

When the school room (Tough Memorial Hall) was built in 1934, Harry was asked by Mr Chew to be clerk of works (unpaid). There were many problems during the building, with the builder not too particular with materials used. Harry insisted, for example, that the wood covering the lower walls around the schoolroom were of pine. It was Mr Chew who persuaded Harry to become self-employed.

At this time there was a small isolation hospital in Eton Wick which had belonged to the Eton Board of Health, and it was proposed to change the hospital into two bungalows. 'The hospital had lovely 18" brickwork'. The conversion was wanted to house a cowman for Bell Farm. Harry submitted a tender and was given the job. During this year of 1934 he saw Bobby Calvert of Eton and arranged for timber on monthly credit. 'You couldn't get loans from banks then'. Harry received a whole lorry load of timber for the conversion at a cost of £20. The two bungalows had to be reconverted into one bungalow as Mr Wright the cowman thought it too small.

Harry continued to preach until the outbreak of war. After the war, Tom Seymour, George Ives, and Harry, were invited onto the Plan as local preachers. Harry felt that he could not accept unless he completed the examinations.

Harry inherited a love of gardening and was an allotment holder from the age of 13. His first plot was on the area or 'slip" on the field to the left of the foothpath enroute to Cippenham. Harry served on the Eton Wick Allotment Committee between 1949 and 1984, as secretary; treasurer; and vice chairman. Over those years he organised 15 village horticultural shows on the Wheatbutts (which was then an old orchard), or in the Village Hall if wet. These generated much interest in horticulture.

Harry has always been interested in dogs, and during a 30 year period owned an alsation and two golden retrievers. Until recently he arranged all the plumbing for the annual Windsor Dog Show. He also had a great love for cricket, and before the war the village team played on the Warren at Saddocks Farm amongst the cow packs and all! - real village green stuff. 'We went round with barrow and shovels before play started. They don't know what it is today. Tailor made cricket. Tuesday's and Thursday's was pitchwork'. When you look at Harry's hands today they are still rough from manual labour with several fingers misshapen from injuries received as a wicket keeper. This, and some arthritis now prevent him from gripping as powerfully as before. If only those hands could tell all their work!

A love of flowers and flower arranging was passed on to Harry from his father. He never received any training, and simply 'chanced his arm' at shows. "I just seemed to have a natural gift". 'Chuck 'em into a vase and let them fall into place'. Harry's gift of flower arranging was a natural talent which led him to be acknowledged as a judge of this art form. During the period of 1956 and 1979 (23 years) Harry was almost solely responsible for the flower arrangements in the chapel - a service of love to the Lord which left the congregations sometimes gasping at their brilliance and innovative skill. It was a privilege to see the displays which were remarked upon by all the visiting preachers for their expression of colour and pattern. It is very doubtful if any church anywhere in the country had such regular displays of pure floral genius. 'It's because I love flowers and put them to best advantage, into the way the Lord arranges them. They seem to arrange themselves. If you go into it, it's amazing - a petal from a seed like a grain of dust'. Harry has always produced exceptional vegetables, particularly onions. At one Harvest Festival several years ago, the Rev. Leslie Groves glanced over the lectern looked at the display and retorted, 'Good heavens, those onions remind me of the Brighton Pavillion'.

Harry entered the Army in 1941 when called up. Until then he had been involved in the war effort building air-raid shelters. He joined the 66th Field Hygiene Section and was attached to a Battalion of the 7th Army in the Middle East. Malaria was a particular problem and part of his work was to investigate where the mosquitos were breeding and decide action to be taken, like the fitting of 'fly doors'. The Bedoins who lived in the area often left their dead animals unburied, and these were breeding grounds for the flies. These Bedoins would be given an ultimatum - either bury the animals or not receive any water from the Army. 'At night there would be so may mosquitoes on the walls that it was impossible to put a penny piece between them".

Harry spent four years in Egypt/Tel Aviv/Syria and Allepo on the Turkish border. When demobbed, he returned to his work and being much involved in and around the village. "I never went pubbing". Harry was then asked - what he considered to be the most important thing in life.

"Caring neighbourly for other people brings contentment. Doing the Lord's work. But he leaves you to do it. No other hand but mine. If you live just for self, can't be any happiness in it. Always pray that the Lord will use me each day. Caring for one another is the greatest thing you can do. Help whatever way you can. Cares. Show that caring. Lord Jesus come into my heart each day. I often prayed with Sylvia and Joyce, the three of us together. 'Use us today Lord'. Then later would say -'He hasn't half used me today - I've been in all sorts of trouble!'.

The Eton Wick History Group is most grateful for the kind permission given by the Eton Wick Methodist Chapel to republish this history, Tough Assignment on this website.

From the Parish Magazine - Eton Wick History Group Meeting - Local Entertainment Before the Age of the Telly.

The members of the Eton Wick History Group enjoyed illustrated talks from three speakers when they met on the 8th July, 1998. The topic was 'LOCAL FETES, FAIRS, CARNIVALS AND CONCERTS' and the group was entertained by John Denham, Joan Ballhatchet and Frank Bond. 

Frank was the first to take the floor; he described the various 'big' days in Eton Wick going back 200 years to when, for the 100 people who then lived along Common Road or in farm cottages, a 'big' day was simply having a day off from work. There would be traditional days of celebration; May Day for example, the day when cattle and horses were let out on to the Common; the 1st August (Lamas) which was at harvest time; there was Eton College's `Fourth of June' celebration when many of the inhabitants of Eton and Eton Wick would turn out to see the Procession of Boats. Another special day was the one reserved for `Beating the Bounds' - this was originally an ecclesiastical duty, with the civil authorities later becoming aware of the necessity to mark out the area's boundaries; the College used to provide a breakfast of ale and roast beef for those taking part. (Perhaps we could 'Beat the Bounds at the Millennium?) Less formal, but just as welcome, treats would be those such as Mr. Lovell's Concert Parties; Pelham's Funfair at Eton Wick; Sunday School and Boys' Club outings and pub outings; and the Horticultural Society's tradition of donating fruit and vegetable, taken by horse drawn cart, to King Edward VII Hospital. There was certainly no shortage of functions to prepare for, anticipate and enjoy. 

Mrs. Ballhatchet gave a vivid and fascinating description of the Horticultural Shows, which were among the highlights of the Summer. Trestle tables were laden with fruit, vegetables, flowers, needlework, and various types of craft work manufactured by men and boys; there was poultry and livestock; there was a beer tent; there were coconut shies, and races for children and adults, with prizes presented by a VIP.; and in the evening there would be dancing to a band which would have played all day. The earliest record of an Eton Wick Horticultural and Industrial Exhibition appears in the first Parish Magazine, and the event was to take place on the 21st August 1878 in the Wheatbutts orchard. Mrs. Ballhatchet read out various highlights from the Magazines' reports, which included subjects as diverse as the need for Eton Wick's Drum and Fife Band to have new uniforms (1887) to the fact that a 'Collection of English Snails' had received a special award, a swan in a lake scene was constructed entirely of fish scales; and on one occasion two live wasps' nests were displayed as exhibits. The last Horticultural Exhibition entry was in the Parish Magazine of September 1939; but after the Second World War, in the 1950s, the exhibitions recommenced under the title 'The Allotment Holders' Show and these continued until 1963 by which time there was a new entertainment in the form of the annual Wicko' Fair which, with its many star turns and celebrity attractions, eventually, grew to be so well known, popular and successful it became difficult to control, it had lost its 'Village flavour' and so was finally abandoned after 1982. 

A delight of the evening was the sight of so many photographs of Concert Parties and Pantomimes - originally these were held to raise money for the football team's kit - the team originally wore their own white shirts and black shorts made from the blackout material. The entertaining troupe was called The Unity Players' (after 'United'); and costumes for the shows were made from parachute material, crepe paper, 1/- worth of dirty muslin from Petticoat Lane and any other odd bits and pieces that came to hand; props and scenery were painted in the old mortuary; and a generator provided power from outside the building. 

John Denham was the expert on Scout Fetes, also their Gang Shows, raffles, jumble sales, whist drives, in fact anything which would bring in money. The first of the Village's Scout Fetes is recorded as being in 1952 and it was held in Wheatbutts, where the Scout Hut was then sited. This but was burnt down in 1961 - it had been hired out to a skiffle group who had suspect wiring. The fetes and gang shows (which were in true Ralph Reader tradition) were held over a period of about 45 years; there were exhibitions, and the displays were always of a very high standard. Mr. Moss of Eton Wick School introduced the boys to the game of 'Shinty' and this soon became Eton Wick's adopted sport; the Shinty finals were always played out at the Scout Fete, including men against women - it eventually became so rough that Mr. Moss pulled out! Other entertainments at the fetes ranged from Penny Rigden's dancing troupe to Guards' weapon displays and American Air Force drill exhibitions. These fetes continued until interest waned in 1973. 

Earlier in the evening Frank Bond had pointed out that this was the end of the 7th year of the Group; and he thanked Mary Gyngell who had provided cakes for every meeting over that period; and thanks, were also given to the Committee, particularly Joan Neighbour, Zena Redhunt, Rene Thompson, Mrs. Jean Tyler and Brenda Irvine. The programme for 1999 was issued in September, suggestions for subjects welcome. 

During the 1990's the Parish Magazine of Eton, Eton Wick and Boveney reported on the meetings of the Eton Wick History Group. A member of the audience took shorthand notes in the darkened hall. This article was published in the August edition of 1998.

Edward Littleton Vaughan - Village Benefactor

Edward L Vaughan

An outstanding benefactor to Eton Wick village, Edward Littleton Vaughan known to everyone as 'Toddy' but not to his face, was an Eton College Classics master. He lived 89 years from 1852 to 1870 and was unmarried until he was 70 years old. He spent most of his life living at Eton, but it was to Eton Wick that he spent his money and constant support.

He was an Eton College boy in Oscar Browning's house between 1865 and 1870 before going to Balliol College, Oxford for 4 years. From there he went to Leipzig University, returning to Eton as a master after 2 years, the year was 1876 and apart from a small break he remained at Eton College until 1919, a spell of 43 years.

Long before this he had become involved with Eton Wick, but for the moment we will stay with `Toddy' at College. After 8 years as an Eton College master, when he was 33 years old, he became a House Master for 29 years, until 1913. In fact, he did not marry until 1921, two years after his retirement at 68 years. His Irish Bride was Miss Dorothea Waller and when he went on his honeymoon to France, he found time to bring back unusual little gifts to all the Eton Wick school children. My sister had a pen or pencil, through which it was possible to see an image of the Eiffel Tower when held to the light, certainly a novelty in 1921.

Willowbrook (off the Slough Road); Eton was his home for the latter years of his life, and it was built for him. From Willowbrook he served as Secretary to the Old Etonian Association; and after the Great War (WWI) he worked with immense industry to compile a record of Old Etonians killed in that war. You may think that is not a big deal; but when we recall that 5,610 Etonians served in the forces in 1914-18, that 1,124 lost their lives (20%) another 1,068 were wounded. 13 gained Victoria crosses; 554 Military Crosses, 407 DSO besides many other awards, we should perhaps pause to acknowledge the work that Toddy undertook in himself acknowledging the price the College paid in human life.

I am sure this is enough of the background of 'Toddy' except to speculate that as is generally believed, the College Masters make their money by being Housemaster; then perhaps Mr Vaughan was particularly blessed with having been a housemaster for 29 years.

His generosity to the village is certainly on record back into the 1880's when he was still quite young and only recently a housemaster. There is no evidence that he lived in the village house so long associated with him – Wheatbutts Cottage. He did however live in Boveney. This was reputably either 'Brookside' or 'Boveney Cottage', probably one and the same.

The year that Edward Littleton Vaughan became housemaster (1884) and was 33 years old, coincided with the immense change at Eton Wick. Until this time Eton Wick ended at and before this, only the Shepherds' Hut public house and two farm cottages in Bell Lane which in fact straddled the village boundary, i.e. in Boveney/Burnham

About this time Mr Vaughan acquired Wheatbutts Cottage and Paddock/Orchard on leasehold and in the following year used the property to benefit the village. It was suggested that he consider himself the Squire of the Wick. This was in 'Etoniana'. It is not really my view, but he earned the title. From 1894-1934 the village had its own Rural Council, and for the first 20 years he was its Chairman. Mostly meetings were held at the Wheatbutts, yet he never lived in the house, Special meetings were held at the new school, when the old ceased to serve as an Institute in 1903 due to redevelopment. The village rifle club met at the Wheatbutts regularly. The District Nurse lived in a Thatched Bungalow at the Wheatbutts field. Tenants of cottage included Teddy Watson, farmer and during WWII (after Toddy's death) David Niven.

In 1919 the owners—Eton Poor Estate—put the property up for sale"– Toddy then bought it.

When young we think everybody aged 50 is very old and cannot ever imagine them ever to have been young (or perhaps less miserable. I am sure that all who remember Mr Vaughan suffer from this; and my memory is of a shortish, smartly dressed man, lame with a stick and perhaps a little bit frightening.

What a terrible pity, because I now know that this short man stood taller than most of us . I was once told that a riding accident had caused the lameness, and although this is generally accepted, there was more to my informants’ story than I have proof of. As a young man, perhaps after his return to College in 1876, he liked to ride his horse over private jumps in the water meadow below Eton Wick Recreation ground of today. This land belonged to Boveney Court Farm and Mr Vaughan was told not to trespass. Being the determined character he always was, he ignored the cautions. One day both Mr Vaughan and his horse were brought down by chains suspended across the jumps. The year and the confirmation of this event I have not been able to prove.

The first mention of his help to the village that I have yet found is 1884, the year he became a housemaster. In March 1884 we read in the Parish Magazine; on Sunday Schools 2 Classes for children of trades people at 2.15 at the Eton Vicarage. At 2pm for young men under the Reverend Norris and at 3pm. For lads by Miss Vaughan ,4pm. For girls over 14 years by Miss Vaughan both held at Mr Vaughan's house in Eton College. Was there a connection here between the Vaughan’s?

 In 1888 the Old School was closed (on the site of Chantlers' Stores at the top of the Walk) after 48 years and a new school was opened in Sheepcote Road. The old building was made available as an Institute and Working Mens' Club the following year for £10 a year rent. It was opened with membership fee of one shilling and two pence or three pence a week charged. There were 46 members at the outset. Mr Vaughan gave a large wall map to the club. It is believed that Mr Vaughan was resolved to see Eton Wick and the Boveney (new one village in

Queen Victoria Jubilee Oak Tree
image courtesy of Google maps

all things. In 1898 he planted the oak tree on The Common to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. In 1904 the old school was purchased with intent to build a purpose shop on the site for Pratt of Eton for his son. Of course, this disrupted the successful Institute and a committee explored means of building a new premise. Mr Vaughan generously offered to take a long lease on Wheatbutts where an Institute could be built or give a site on his property in the N.E. corner. In October 1905 a meeting held in the school room agreed to the loss of Lammas Rights on the proposed plat next to the allotments. By this time (1905) he was giving annual treats at the school, with pupil entertainment, tea, cakes, crackers and presents all round, at the end Buns, oranges and chocolates.

He gave the land and the very fine Institute to the village, and being on the border of the two villages it was fittingly named Eton Wick and Boveney Institute — now of course , The Village Hall.

The things that he gave were ongoing — every year a Christmas tree; school treats etc. He once claimed to know all the school childrens' names. He was President of three football club and a vice-president of the cricket club. He provided the site for the Scouts but and took a major role in the formation of the scouts and wolf cubs. On occasions he motored the Cubs and Guides to camp and would pay for the poor to go. When the football club won a cup, he gave them all a dinner in the Three Horseshoes pub.

The Horticultural show was always held in his orchard (Wheatbutts) and he usually attended, made a speech, and presented the prizes. The creation of Eton Wick and Boveney Womens Institute and the Library were due to his efforts. Not once, but several times he created a Boy's Club here.

In the mid-1930's, despite being over 80 years he urged a Les Moreley and a Guards sergeant to form another Boy's Club. He often visited himself until in 1937 Les Moreley left to work at the newly built Slough Centre in the Farnham Road.

Dorothea Vaughan

Unfortunately, most youngsters of this era were a bit intimidated by 'Toddy' and tried to avoid playing him at Shove-a‘ penny, Lexicon or draughts. He attended the village church services and always read the lessons. The services came to a halt while he hobbled back to his seat. Eton Wick and Eton College were his two loves until he married and then Dorothea was added to them. We owe him much, the village hall, the magnificent tree on the common, his many kindnesses throughout his adult life and above all his influence on the community.

Dorothea was herself an equally determine lady, and she played an important role in the village. After the war I wrote to her on behalf of the Youth Club — she was President — for permission to sell a vaulting horse and box and other gym items that were no longer used in the hall. Back came a strong letter saying "No" My husband equipped the hall for boys to use, I should see they use it, no excuses, and while I was at it I should use my influence with members to go home and educate younger brothers and sisters not to break fences (Wheatbutts) not to throw rubbish in the stream etc..

On one occasion she attended a meeting of the club (She was terribly deaf in old age) and I reported that I had been asked to represent the club at a National Boys Club meeting to be held at Aylesbury. I could not possibly attend; it was an afternoon in mid-week, and I was working on the Slough Trading estate. She made no indication of having heard a word but imagine my surprise a few weeks later when I was asked who was the frail old lady who found her way to the Aylesbury meeting and gave them all a dressing down for calling an inter club meeting at a time unsuitable for working representatives. She once said to me, I decided to buy all new chairs for the Hall, I told my husband and he replied, "Good I will tell you where to get them". She then said, "No you will not, I am paying, I am Irish and I will have them sent here from Ireland" Those two small examples give some indication of her strong nature. She was president of the Womens Institute at one time. Wheatbutts was left to Dorothea and eventually purchased by Eton College in 1953. Since then, Wheatbutts was occupied by a college master. The field was later sold as a building site around the early 1980's.

An article by Frank Bond

World War 2 Eighty Years On - April 1940

APRIL 9th. 1940 - German forces invade Norway and Denmark. 

Salvage Drive Poster
Courtesy of the Imperial War Museum

Royal Navy, RAF and an Army Expeditionary Force were sent to help the Norwegians only to be evacuated at the end of April with heavy losses. Increasing air activity by the German Luftwaffe over southern England. prompted the Bucks A.R.P. service to make arrangements for a better equipped wardens post in the village.  Application was made to use the uninhabited No.1 Bell Cottage, the ARP undertaking the re-enforcement of the building together with the removal of the protection and all equipment after the war. 

No 2 Bell Cottage had already been lent to the Waste Utilization Committee as a wastepaper and the scrap metal dump. Paper, cardboard, household aluminum and scrap iron, all had salvage value to the war effort.  With the help of the Scouts and Cubs, Guides and Brownies, the Schools, Women’s Institute and others the village collection of salvage, managed by Councilor Mr. A. Chew, became a profitable operation. To make the collection more efficient a local farmer lent a horse and cart. If it was not screwed down on to the cart it went such was the enthusiasm of the collectors. 

A government order of 1941 allowed for the requisition of iron gates and railings from public and private property. Palmers Place, Hardings Cottages along with other village properties lost their garden wall decorative rails.

A photograph Eton Wick Road from 1910 showing railings.

Blackout problems at the Village Hall

With no blackout arrangements available and used by the L.C.C. School during the day the village hall was not available for recreational purposes. Obtaining material from Bruce and Lumb of Slough the village hall working party made the requisite curtains, but these when finished were inadequate for the purpose due to the poor quality of the material, therefore no dances or other evening activities took place during the winter months. This curtailment on the use of the hall, also the decline in club registers as members volunteered or were conscripted to the forces or other war work reduced the hall finances. The flower show committee had every confidence and they continued making arrangements for the 58th Horticultural Show on August Bank holiday held at the Wheatbutts. The possibility of air activity over the area was to be no deterrent to Major Dabson, committee chairman with committee members Mr Kemp and Mr Laverty,    

Where censorship allowed the Windsor and Eton Express reported all aspects of local happenings, some serious others humorous. This incident between the village policeman and local farmer has both ingredients.

Following a report of straying horses and the non-burial of dead animals, P.C Raynor visited Manor Farm, Eton Wick, then tenanted by Farmer Urquart. Farmer and policeman did not meet on friendly terms and the outcome was not peaceful, Farmer Urquart when approached took an aggressive attitude with P.C. Raynor. With much argument the meeting ended abruptly with P.C. Raynor suffering the indignity of having a bucket of milk poured over him. For his outburst the farmer was prosecuted and fined £4-10s.

Similar view of Eton Wick Road July 2019 courtesy of Google Maps.
In the intervening 109 years the road has been realigned,
cars and street lighting have arrived and the commercial
heart of the village has moved further west.

This is an extract from Round and About Eton Wick: 1939 - 1945. The book was researched, written and published in 2001 by John Denham. 

The Story of a Village - A Changing Community

In past centuries the village expanded several times, but never quite so overwhelmingly as in the post war period. In 1931 the population was just over a thousand, it had risen to 1,640 by 1951, to 2,505 ten years later and now must be nearly three thousand.

With the influx of so many people into the village its inhabitants could no longer feel that each family was related to most others in the Wick. Probably this had never been strictly true; but by marriage and by recognising second cousins and the like, most families had indeed been related. The character of the village was changing in other ways. No longer was the College the most important source of income and employment for the majority of families, and less and less did College people take an interest and control of village affairs. The old gulf between gentry, epitomised in the Wick by College masters, and villagers gradually disappeared. Today new residents may be unaware of the old ties between Eton and Eton Wick. When Mr Vaughan died in 1940 his place as unofficial squire was taken by Bob Bond. Their backgrounds were very different, but both men were intensely interested in the village. It was Bob Bond who was reappointed bailiff at the 1948 Manor Court; he was instrumental in restarting the Boy Scouts after the war, he helped organise gymkhanas, dances and the annual Scout Fete ( which took the place of the old Horticultural Show). He also became the first president of the PTA.

The horse had virtually disappeared from the agricultural scene; though not entirely for George Pagett set up as a smallholder soon after the war and continued to use horses until the 1970s. The car and the lorry replaced the horse and cart, and garages became a necessity. Mr Sibley opened his filling station in 1958 and Ellis Motors were established in Victoria Road. People travelled more and taking holidays became the normal and not the exceptional way of life. Whereas in pre-war days people walked, cycled or used the bus to go to school, work or shopping, the use of the car became more and more the accepted practice. This transport revolution has brought in its wake other changes, such as the loss of the old road which ran from Haywards Mead to Meadow Lane in Eton and which is now only a bridle path. The Windsor Bridge has been closed to vehicle traffic and bus services have been cut, accentuating the hardship of those without a car. The roads are all macadamized and edged with pavements, and there is a profusion of street furniture road signs, electric streetlamps, bus shelters, pillar boxes, telephone kiosks and seats. Most of these have been provided by the statutory authorities, but the seat by Albert Place was the gift of the Women's Institute and the one in the churchyard in memory of Bob Bond.

Soon after the war, in line with national educational changes, Eton Wick School became a primary school, catering for both boys and girls from the ages of five to eleven; while older children were expected to attend secondary schools outside the village. However, it was still a church school, though the diocese was now responsible only for the fabric of the building and not the salaries of the teaching staff or the education of the children. To cater for the needs of the growing population the school was enlarged in 1953 and again in the sixties, but on that occasion the cost was such that a change of management became inevitable and the school was taken over by the County Council. In 1973 national policy brought about another change and the school became the combined infants and middle school with children being required to stay an extra year. But, though its title, appearance and teaching methods have changed over the years, because now almost all 'the children from Eton Wick are taught there, it has become even more the village school than in the years before the war when the older boys attended Porny School.

In spite of the addition of twelve new shops since the war there are now proportionately fewer shops per head than before the war. Several of the older shops have indeed closed and there is only one, Sibley's, in the area of New Town. The village has lost its priest-in-charge and Rev Christopher Johnson is now the only Church of England clergyman serving the parish of Eton, a sharp contrast to the situation a hundred years ago, when the parish was desperately trying to afford to employ two curates to assist the Vicar. Instead the village now has three churches, the Roman Catholic St Gilbert's having been built at the same time as Haywards Mead. The Village Hall stands close by and is still used for a baby clinic and library, but the role of the Hall has substantially diminished.  No longer is there a Village Hall Club; the Management Committee is concerned only with the maintenance of the building and the hiring of Its rooms. It has been overshadowed by its offshoot, the Football and Social Club, whose club rooms stand just behind the Hall. Some organizations still meet in the Hall, but others now use the rival establishment, and the whole of the ground floor is let to the County Council. Even the Village Fete, first organized by the Management Committee in 1962 and then the Youth Club, has now been taken over by the Football and Social Club, and since the mid-sixties it has been known as the Wicko Carnival.  The loss to the village of Wheatbutts Field when it was sold by the College brought about the end of the Scout Fete.

The list of changes seems inexhaustible, but it must suffice to mention only a few more and perhaps it is fitting that these should concentrate on the part of the parish first known as 'le Wyk'. The streams are now much shallower, the ponds filled in and the westernmost part of the common has recently been landscaped. Trees have  always been part of the village landscape, but unfortunately several beautiful elms had to be cut down in the 1950s. Hedges and trees have been grubbed up and in the last few years more elms have been lost through disease so that the area around Little Common has a rather open, desolated look.  It has been one more step in the succession of changes that has taken place since the first cluster of buildings established a wick in a clearing in the woods of Eton. Thankfully Eton Wick is still a village which will continue to evolve and, it is hoped, will remain surrounded and protected by commons and lammas lands.

This is an extract from The Story of a Village: Eton Wick 1217 to 1977 by Judith Hunter.

This is the final part of the serialisation of The Story of a Village - Eton Wick - 1217 - 1977. The Eton Wick History Group is most grateful for the kind permission of Judith Hunter's husband to publish her book on its website.

The village and community has continued to change and evolve since Judith completed her history more than 40 years ago and some of this change is reflected in The Eton Wick Newsletter - Our Village and the Photographic History of Eton Wick and Eton.

World War 2 Eighty Years On - March 1940

March 1940

The construction of a new sewer system by Lemon and Blizzard started in 1938 had made good progress with Bell Lane complete and Tilstone Lane almost finished. The contractors confidently informed the Eton U.D.C. that after the testing of the system homes could be connected. Unfortunately for the contractors the arrival of summer thunder storms found serious leaks in the pipe work and the council had to apply pressure to the contractors to rectify the faults. Complaints were also received from village residents about the state of repair in which Bell Lane had been left. Replying to the criticism the contractor claimed difficulties with the weather and the shortage of supplies due to war priorities had delayed the re-instatement of the road.

Re-arrangement of the A.R.P. within the village made the wardens post at the Post Office redundant enabling the protection works to be removed much to the relief of Mr and Mrs Chantler. The wardens post at Burfoots remained until other arrangements were made. To test the efficiency of various ARP organizations based around Slough a large scale practice was held. As the ambulances, fire pumps, rescue units, police, St. Johns and the Red Cross personnel with other essential services gathered on Agars Plough, Eton four hundred Eton College boys prepared to act as casualties. Emergency incidents were staged with the college boys giving a realistic touch to a most successful exercise.

Thursday March 11th

Meat rationing began. The ration was assessed not by weight but price, with a weekly ration for adults of 1/10d per week and for children 11d. Later into the war the adult ration was reduced to six ounces per week for any cut of meat. Rationing encouraged a black market which gave rise to a little wheeling and dealing for various commodities.  Favouring customers with a little extra than the official ration allowed could lead to prosecution of the shop keeper. Through village gossip it became known to the Ministry of Food Inspectors that George Mumford, the village butcher, had occasionally let customers purchase more meat than their entitlement. With indications of prosecution and thoughts of imprisonment, George made arrangements for a manager to run his business. No prosecution followed, but George was not let off the butchers hook as the following relates. At the end of the war a coach party from the village, including George, went to the Victoria Palace, London, to see the show starring the Crazy Gang.  Before the opening of the show one wag from the village party went back stage and tipped off the two comedians, Bud Flanagan and Chesney Allen, about the affair.  Later during the performance Bud Flanagan said to Chesney Allen "Ches, Do you know where I can get a little extra meat under the counter?" "Yes Bud, a little village near Windsor called Eton Wick. "The Butcher there will see you alright". Poor George had to take the ribbing as the story got round. 

(Meat rationing together with some other food commodities continued until July 1954.)

Easter Sunday 24th March

Apprehension of what may lie ahead and the desire to pray for peace brought increased attendance at Sunday church services during the war years. To mark certain wartime events special church services were held attended by the military and council dignitaries. A large congregation at the traditional Easter service taken by the Reverent David Wingate in St. John's church, Eton Wick, heard the Eton church choir, conducted by the organist Kenneth Weller, give a recital of ‘Passion music for Easter’.  He was assisted by ladies from Eton Wick and Boveney in a reverent rendering of the Messiah and exerts from John Stanier's "Crucifixion". Duets were also sung by the brothers, Albert and Harry Prior.

The Easter Monday five - a - side annual football competition open to boys under fifteen years, is for the Juvenile Challenge Cup presented by Boveney, Eton Wick and Dorney Discharged Soldiers and Sailors in 1921. Two competitions only (1940 & 41) took place during the war years which were played on the recreation ground. The entry for 1940 being fifty five boys. Eight eliminating games were played in the morning followed by the semi-final and final in the afternoon. The final, between the team of R. Wilson (Capt);    J. Butt; G. Budd; P. Mitchener and H.A. Prior who pitted their skills against R. Lunnun (Capt); E. Steptoe; K. Sibley; F. Wells and H. Lawrence brought a win to R. Wilsons team with a final result of 3- 2 goals. All the games were refereed by Mr W. F. Pardoe. Mrs Pardoe had the honour of presenting the cups and medals to the Winners and Runners Up. The competitors ended the exciting day on a high note as 432 cakes, 45 lb. of toffee and a box of oranges was shared out amongst them'.  

With no blackout arrangements available and used by the L.C.C. School during the day the village hall was not available for recreational purposes. Obtaining material from Bruce and Lumb of Slough the village hall working party made the requisite curtains, but these when finished were inadequate for the purpose due to the poor quality of the material, therefore no dances or other evening activities took place during the winter months. This curtailment on the use of the hall, also the decline in club registers as members volunteered or were conscripted to the forces or other war work reduced the hall finances. The flower show committee had every confidence and they continued making arrangements for the 58th Horticultural Show on August Bank Holiday held at the Wheatbutts. The possibility of air activity over the area was to be no deterrent to Major Dabson, committee chairman with committee members Mr Kemp and Mr Laverty,    

       

The first six months of hostilities, labelled the "Phoney War", had brought no air attacks on London thus encouraging a number of evacuees to return home. Great efforts were made by the civil authorities to deter their return to London but many parents thought it safe to have their children home. A small number returned home from Eton and Eton Wick.

This is an extract from Round and About Eton Wick: 1939 - 1945. The book was researched, written and published in 2001 by John Denham. 

The Eton Wick Newsletter - August 2015 - `Our Village' Magazine

Our village - 85 years back

2014 was the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the Great War, and a year later, in 2015, we celebrated the end of the Second World War; seventy years before. There were many functions of remembrance in 2014 but of course no living person could truly remember events of so long ago. By the nature of all things, in the passing of a very few years there will be nobody to remember WW2. Hearsay and history is often far from factual. Those who experienced the worst horrors of war rarely spoke of them, while others more fortunate readily related what they had seen and done. When I was growing up in the 1920s and 30s I noticed people dated events with the prefix 'Before the war' or 'After the war' meaning of course The Great War of 1914 — 1918. Years later my generation use the same terminology, but meaning WW2 1939 — 1945. War being a datum line in our memories; so I will now 'tap' my memory and record a little of my 'Before the war' (1939 — 1945) years in a very rural Eton Wick in Buckinghamshire. It only became part of Berkshire in 1974. 

Eton Wick was only ever a working class community with no 'big houses' and gentry. In fact I only know of one titled resident, Lady Julia Hulbert, the mother of the village priest 1924 — 1931. Incidentally the lectern in St. John the Baptist Church is appropriately inscribed to her memory. The old village of Eton Wick had about 500 residents at that time, and Boveney Newtown 550. Both had their own rural councils. In 1934 they were merged and became part of Eton Urban District Council. 

As youngsters — please not kids, as in those years only goats had kids, most of our free time was spent out of doors, with boys 'mooching' the commons, ditches, fields and hedgerows. To 'mooch' covered a multitude of activities, often dictated by the season. Perhaps collecting tadpoles; blackberrying; fishing; bird nesting; getting rubbish and wood for the autumn bonfires; tree climbing; making tree camps; gathering cowslips; cornflowers and making catapults; bows and arrows; and crude little boats to sail along the stream. Seasonally there was an abundance of tadpoles, frogs and tiddler fish. During the summer we gathered many different grasses for competitions in the annual Horticultural Show. Usually we collected about seventy varieties, which were displayed on a sheet of white card. In this and other ways we really got a better understanding of the seasons, and our local natural world. Many local areas had names rarely used today. There were the 'Withies'; Tip; 'Hillies'; Gudgeon Pool; Athens; Chinese Bridge; Iron Bridge; Slads; Butts; Blind Alley; Plantation; Jungle; Slipes: Spackmans; Boveney Hole and Dump. The most obscure being Gudgeon Fool. which is the field east of the track from the main road (B 3026) to Crown Farm. This was certainly a floodable area, so was there ever a fish in the flood; or perhaps attributable to a family name at some distant time. Not so fanciful when we have had Eton Wick names of Codd; Crabbe; Dace and Whiting in the last eighty years. 

The 'Slads' and Folly Bridge Pound are better known. The Slads, or Water Slads, being the first place to flood, is said to mean a hollow. The Pound is where stray or unauthorised cattle were impounded, and I presume Folly Bridge is in fact just that - not a bridge but a culvert under the road, hence 'Folly'. 

From the Slads, and heading south for 200 metres, and turning west toward Eton Wick from the rail viaduct, the land is a little undulating and this was known as the 'Hillies', much frequented by the Eton Church Lads Brigade during the 1930s, and here, with the Old Highway on our left, was an ever smouldering large rubbish tip. This was a great attraction for school boys, and at a time of little or no rubbish collections, very necessary. Here then was the 'Tip'. Todays' walkers west of the old tip site may be struck by the hundreds of small china shards scattered over acres of farmland. Not an ancient civilization, but the levelling effect of that old pre WW2 tip. Nearby is Chinese Bridge spanning the 500 metre backwater we know as Cuckoo Weir. Several times this bridge has been rebuilt but always retaining the familiar appearance. Maps show Chinese Bridge as Long Bridge, Long Bray Bridge and Upper Hope Bridge. Cuckoo Weir is now used as a Swan Sanctuary. Until mid-20th century it was used by the Royal Humane Society as a safe swimming place for local residents, and separately by the College for juniors and non-swimmers. Cuckoo Weir flows on until it re-joins the Thames close to the rail viaduct. The bridges at this junction are Lower Hope and Bargeman's Bridges. Why the name 'Cuckoo Weir'? I can only guess that like the play 'One flew over the cuckoo's nest' it suggests a non-existence; either the nest or the weir. I have however seen an older book that names the water as Cuckow Ware! A little upriver of the bridge is a substantial area of untidy saplings and willows, once an osiery of 'withies'. In times much past 'withies' were invaluable for eel and fish traps; baskets; furniture and wattle and daub walls. In the 1930s Eton College fenced this off, and used it as a bird sanctuary for their young ornithologists. No longer is it being well used. Here then was the "Withies"! 

A little over 100 metres west of Chinese Bridge was 'Athens', an earth mound at the river bank, originally surrounded by water, and a swimming place for Eton College. The mound has now been levelled, and the site is marked by a seat which has a large stone block beneath that bears two metal tablets. One quotes the College rules for swimmers as pertained in 1921, the other states that 'Athens' was given to the College by parents of a particularly talented College boy swimmer who was killed in a flying accident in 1917. Here then was 'Athens', which with the post WW2 emphasis on a modern swimming pool, made this and other places obsolete. 

Three to four kilometres upstream is Oakley Court Hotel; on the south bank of the Thames. Reputedly built to resemble a French chateau, to ease homesickness of a young French bride, it much later was used by Bray Film Studios for their Hammer House of Horror films before becoming a hotel. Very probably the original owner had a large copse of trees planted on the north bank which to this day obscures much of the Boveney farmland beyond (now of course a rowing lake). This copse was the 'Plantation' of my youth. 'Boveney Hole' I always thought a derogatory term for Boveney village. Not so! The term 'Hole' can mean a bathing place, or a place of slack water. There is such a place approximately 150 metres upriver of Boveney Church where the 'slack' water is caused by a sharp bend in the Thames. It frequently needs the dredging of a reed bed. Again looking across the river there is a fine building, now flats, that before WW2 was a home of a very wealthy Indian and his large entourage - Dunji Bois Bomanji (probably mis-spelt). An employee told me that money was cleaned on a regular basis before the gent would handle it. 

The pathway from Eton Wick to Cippenham was formerly a rough and seasonally muddy track through open fields; we knew this as the 'Slipes', becoming Wood Lane half way to the Cippenham road. During the 1930s to 50s this was a regular busy route to the work places of perhaps the majority of Eton Wick's working residents employed on the so called 'Dump', otherwise the Slough Trading Estate. It was known as the 'Dump' because after the Great War of 1914 - 1918 the large area was used as a scrap yard for many of the wars' vehicles. Only later did the site become developed with many different industrial factories. Where the 'Slipes' becomes Wood Lane there is to the left an overgrown spinney. This we knew as the 'Jungle'. A little further on and to the right we now have an estate of dwellings and Asda store. Around this area was 'Spackman's' private air strip and hangar. Mr. Spackman, with his brother, reputedly flew their small biplane to Brighton for an early morning 'splash' after which they returned to base for breakfast. The windows of that small hangar were a big attraction where we would peer through at the plane. All is gone now, but nostalgically there is a Spackmans Way on today's nearby estate, thereby ensuring that what is gone is not necessarily forgotten. 

Then we had 'Blind Alley', not far away, but usually we went there from Little Common. This dark, overgrown and muddy cow track is off the North East corner of Little Common and leads to the Chalvey stream where we occasionally found Newts. To the east was the 'Butts' where Eton College cadets had a long distance rifle range. The post WW2 building of the M4 motorway resulted in a shorter and much diminished range. In times of use, red flags warned pedestrians not to use the Eton Wick to Chalvey footpath. The route was much used in my youth as it could lead to Chalvey and Slough's Adelphi cinema. Now of course we all have cars and there are no big cinemas. I guess we cannot have everything. 

Submitted by Frank Bond 

Click here to read Our Village August 2015.

This article was originally published in the Eton Wick Newsletter - Our Village and is republished with the kind permission of the Eton Wick Village Hall Committee. Click here to go to the Collection page.

Eton Wick Horticultural Society 1939

Wednesday,  August 16th 1939.

           

A beautiful summer’s day heralded the annual Eton Wick Horticultural Society show held at the Wheat Butts by kind permission of Mr E.L. Vaughan.  This, the fifty seventh show of the society was well supported with exhibits of vegetables, flowers, poultry and rabbits. Entries were received from Dorney, Boveney and Eton Wick which did great credit to the members, not least the amazing display of 121 grasses collected by one child. Before the opening of the show, Major R.T. Dabson, Chairman of the Society, presided over the luncheon held in the marquee for the Committee and invited guests.  Replying to the Chairman's opening speech, Mr Vaughan addressing the Society, spoke of the pleasure the show gave him and expressed the hope that the Wheatbutts would never be built on. For the following forty years the Wheatbutts remained as such until sold for housing by the landlord Eton College.  Sideshows and Competitions added to the enjoyment of the day together with a very level putting green that had been made. This attracted a steady flow of players and spectators.  Field sports and dancing during the evening ended the show.

As the likelihood of war drew ever closer the requirement for war weapons increased and to meet their manufacturing targets of war weapons, engineering companies on the Trading Estate needed more labour. Offers of high rates of pay with overtime and bonus payments attracted men and women away from non-essential service jobs.  Frank Bond, having spent

Courtesy of Grace's Guide to
British Industrial Heritage.

three years learning boot and shoe repairing in Windsor, joined the Tipsy Aircraft Company on the Trading Estate. His wage as a shoe repairer was eighteen shillings a week, but his first pay packet as a war worker amounted to two pounds and fifteen shillings.  Increasing production of military equipment at High Duty Alloys engaged in forging and casting parts for Merlin aero engines, G.D. Peters of Slough producing various military equipment and Hawker Aircraft at Langley where Hurricane fighter planes were being produced required seven day round-the-clock shift working. The growing force of skilled, semi-skilled and trainee workers came from a wide area putting lodging accommodation at a premium.  Many travelled daily by rail to Slough and via the branch line to the rail platform within the Trading Estate. Wartime workers found lodgings in Eton Wick, Dorney and surrounding villages. The numerous factories on the Trading Estate employed a wartime workforce of more than 40,000, added to the civilian workforce were the specialist service personnel seconded from the navy, army and air force to factories. At the edge of the Estate Canadian troops set up a camp and repair workshops for their tanks and vehicles whilst at the farther end of the estate there was an MT Vehicle park and a Royal Ordnance camp.

This is an extract from Round and About Eton Wick: 1939 - 1945. The book was researched, written and published in 2001 by John Denham. 

Eton Wick: A Changing Village Before 1934

This part of the village has almost always been mainly residential, but elsewhere there 

Clifton House

were new shops and businesses being set up. One of the first additions in the twentieth century was probably the shop at Clifton House, now the post office. It has the distinction of being the first purpose-built shop in the village, and the cause of much open-eyed wonder to at least one small boy, who about 1902 watched they high sky-light going into place, and large marble slabs for counters being carried in. Before this he had only seen marble as tomb stones! The shop was 'built as a wedding present to young Mr Pratt from his father of Pratt & Sons, family grocers of Eton High Street. Unfortunately romance and business did not mix: tradition has it that the young couple were too kind-hearted so that within a few years the shop had to be sold. The next shopkeepers after this were the Harman's, after them Anderson, then Wiggington; until in 1931 the shop became Chantler's and remained so for the next forty years.

About 1907 Edward Woolhouse set up in business at 58 Eton Wick Road as a cyclemaker and repairer, though there was far more to his business than that. He hired out cycles, particularly to Eton College boys for this was the era of the bicycle. He also made and mended perambulators and many other household items. There is no doubt of his importance in Eton Wick nor his prestige when he became one of the first villagers to own a car, a De Dion. For many years the present Baron's Stores (no 62 Eton Wick Road) was occupied by William Hearn, boot and shoe repairer, saddler and even umbrella maker. Thomas Henry of Inkerman Road, on the other hand was a bespoke shoemaker. Like several other shoemakers in the village, though their names were not recorded in the trade directories, Mr Henry worked for Ganes of Eton and his customers were mainly from the College. About this period in the years before the First World War, Thomas Bond was first advertised as greengrocer of Alma Road; Albert Bond was following the same trade from his home at Ye Olde Cottage. Bert had begun his interest in business long before - while he was still at school - by selling fish to the workmen building the new lock at Boveney. When he left school he took to selling fruit and vegetables from a donkey and cart, promoting himself to a horse and cart as soon as he was able, and selling fish and rabbits as well. He was a familiar figure in the village for well over half a century, and his cart, piled high with clean and polished produce, annually took part in the Windsor Hospital Parade. North of New Town the land not built upon was a market garden known as Home Close and owned by Harry Prior. Albert Borret was a cowkeeper though he lived at Vine Cottage in the Eton Wick Road until he moved to Eton Cottage. Like the farmers he sold milk from a churn, measuring out the quantities into the customers' own jugs.

The Fly-paper Man

The long established shops continued through this forty year period, though the shopkeepers and the types of goods they sold changed. At one time there was a fish and chip shop, a fishmonger's, a confectioner's and Uneedus the draper's. All of these were advertised in the directories; but there were several small businesses that were not. Tinker' Palmer mended pots and pans, and boots and shoes at his home in Prospect Place. Mr Bolton attempted to establish a butcher's shop in Alma Road, but it was not a success. Meat could be bought from one of the grocer's shops when a carcass had been bought from Windsor market, or from one of the travelling horse-drawn shops that came into the village each week. Hendley's high-box type van was a familiar sight each Thursday until the Second World War. It carried all manner of household goods, pots, pans, baskets, tin baths, oil for lamps which were hung outside and inside of the van and piled high on top as it was so laden. Mappin's from Slough delivered cakes; the muffin man and the winkle man came in their seasons and in the summer the fly-paper man, complete with his top hat adorned with a sticky paper ribbon decorated with dead flies. How far he travelled is not known, but his song is remembered in Slough, Chalvey and Windsor: - 'Flies! Flies! Catch 'em alive! His appearance fascinated one small boy in Slough who captured his likeness on a page in his school history book.

After 1895 the launderies were rarely advertised either, though until the end of the 1920s they continued to play an important part in the working life of the village. Before the First World War there were at least five launderies operating. These were cottage launderies employing at the most about eight women as at Mrs Langridge's of Thatch Cottage. Even so not all the workers came from the village. At least a few lived in Dorney. Gradually much of the work done by these launderies was taken over by the College Laundry until there were only those of Mrs Cox and Mrs Miles left. All seem to have ceased by 1930. Many women, however, still took in washing, specialising in the items of clothing that were better hand washed such as jerseys and woollen socks.

In the village two other businesses still in existence, made their beginnings in the first decade of this century. From his home in Inkerman Road Albert Sibley, a shoemaker by trade, began his newspaper agency. It was a part time family affair, the sons collecting the local newspapers from the printer's in Windsor, and carrying them home in a home-made box on wheels. They would then distribute them if it were not too late at night. It became a full-time business when Bill Sibley set up at the corner of Alma Road in the 1940s. Rolley Bond was a smallholder, but he supplemented his income by running a cab service from his home at Palmer Place. He took College boys to the station, sick people to hospital, and regularly each holiday Miss Stearn, the village schoolmistress, to the station. Even before he left school Bob Bond, with his brothers, was helping his father with the horse and trap. Through the 1920s the business expanded to cover road haulage, becoming motorised at the end of the decade; the first advertisement is in the 1931 directory: - R. Bond & Sons, motor haulage and cartage, contractor, sand and ballast merchant. The firm was to flourish in the council building boom of the post war years, and Bob was to become one of the important members of the community. About 1935 he bought Dairy Farm and renovated the old farmhouse, and when Bell Farm no longer served as sewage farm he took over much of the land.

Other names are to be read in the directories of the 1930s - Jack Newall had taken over from Arthur Gregory as blacksmith, Miles & Sons were carpenters and undertakers in The Walk, and Scotty Hood was a coal merchant with premises in Sheepcote Road until the terrible night when his stables caught fire. There was now a chimney sweep, William Neal, and Mr Mumford had opened his butcher's shop at 31 Eton Wick Road (now Kelly's). The 1931 directory listed seven farmers and dairymen in Eton Wick; three of them were Tarrents - Alfred, George and Arthur, tenants of Little Common, Manor and Crown, and Saddocks Farms.

Perseverance House in Alma Road was the depot of the Uxbridge Gas Company. Gas had come to the village lust before the First World War; oil lamps were exchanged for gas mantles in the main rooms, and open fires and cottage ranges could be replaced by gas cookers - though this happened only very slowly. Two - or was it three - gas lamps lit the Eton Wick Road through the village. Electricity did not arrive in the village until the end of the 1930s; like gas, water and main drainage, it was brought into Eton Wick long after it was installed in Eton. Even so not all the houses were converted, several still had only gas in the 1950s, and at least one cottage in Albert Place was still without electricity when it was demolished in 1969. The only artificial light in the bedrooms was candlelight. Piped water did not come to the Boveney part of the village until the late 1920s, and only then after a campaign because the water had become contaminated.

About this time the first bus service reached Eton Wick. That was the Blue Bus which at first was no more than a converted Model H Ford van, seating six passengers and entered by steps at the back. A few years later there was competition from the yellow and brown Marguerite buses to take people to Windsor. This was the era of small bus companies and one man operations with much com-petition between rivals. The Blue Bus van was replaced by a proper bus and for several years in the late twenties and thirties Eton Wick had two bus services . Fares were only 1d and 1½d and the conductor-cum-driver would obligingly set down passengers anywhere along the Eton Wick Road. The Marguerite ceased operating before the end of the thirties, but the Blue Bus driven by Mr Cole continued well into the 1960s when his personal service was replaced by that offered by the national bus companies.

Edward Littleton Vaughan

These forty years while Eton Wick was a separate parish saw many innovations, but perhaps the most lasting has been the Village Hall. It was built by Burfoot and Son in 1906, but the land was the gift of Edward Littleton Vaughan. Known at first as the Eton Wick and Boveney Institute it was opened a year later on 22nd January 'under auspicious circumstances' according to the parish magazine. The opening ceremony was brief but impressive. The large room up-stairs was filled long before the appointed hour with parishioners and visitors'. The Institute, however, was more than just a building, it was a club replacing the old Working Men's Club which had been meeting at Wheatbutts. The new Institute, so it was explained in the speeches and reports of 1907, had been founded 'primarily for men and boys to promote fellowship and to provide whole-some recreation among these. The billiard room, a reading room and a large room suitable for concerts, the boys' room and a bar selling light refreshments and non-alcoholic drinks, all contributed to give the right atmosphere for a successful beginning to the Institute. Before the year was out, however, one note at least of dissension was being heard in the village - the women and girls were expressing their indignation and disappointment at being excluded. By December this had been altered, and the parish magazine was 'pleased to announce the formation of a Women's and Girls' Club, who thanks to the kindness of Mr Vaughan (were) now able to share in the recreation of the Institute'. Girls over thirteen years of age were eligible to become members at the cost of a 1d per week or a 1s per quarter. As well as the weekly social club there were a library, sewing class, fancy work class, gymnastics, dancing and table games.

Mr Vaughan became president of the institute and remained keenly interested in all its 

The Village Hall - 1907

activities; it was not in his character to be merely a figurehead. In 1934 he conveyed the Hall to Trustees for the use of the inhabitants of Eton Wick and Boveney. The first three trustees were all from the College and even today the Bursar by virtue of his office is always a trustee. The day to day running, however, has always been in the hands of a Village Hall Committee and various subcommittees. Over the years the range of activities and rules of the Institute have changed, and even its name as well, to the less formal 'Village Hall and Vaughan Club' , and the Boys' and Girls' Clubs have at times had no leader and had to be closed. Yet throughout the period the Hall seems to have been the social centre of the village. Dances, whist drives, concerts and debates were held there, many of them organised by the Institutes' own clubs and committees. Billiards, table tennis, darts and table games were available to its members; a billiard championship was organised in the 1930s ; Mr Vaughan presented a cup. Toddy' Vaughan, as he was affectionately known was associated with the Wick for over half a century - as president of the Village Hall, as chairman of the Parish Council and as father figure and benefactor. He took a personal interest in many of the sorrows and joys of the village, and many people still remember the help he gave them and the fun they had at his hay teas and cherry parties. It was he who bought Wheatbutts and restored it in the 1920s and who allowed Wheatbutts Field to be used each year for the Horticultural Show. He died in 1940 and the village did honour to his memory with a plaque in the Village Hall. After Mrs Vaughan's death in 1951 a stained glass window was placed in the church; it was her bequest in memory of her late husband

At last Eton Wick had become a real village and not merely a hamlet of Eton. Although it still had many connections with the town and College it had its own church and priest, a chapel, school, village hall, its own nurse and policeman, its own clubs and social life and most of the shops and services for everyday living. It seems a strange paradox then, that at this time when Eton Wick could offer its residents so much more than in any earlier period, that it should be reunited with Eton. In 1934, however, the life of the Eton Wick and Boveney Parish Councils came to an end, and all parts of the village were taken in to the Eton Urban District, while the remainder of Boveney was merged with Dorney Parish. Today Eton Wick is still part of Eton Town Council within the much larger Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.

This is an extract from The Story of a Village: Eton Wick 1217 to 1977 by Judith Hunter.