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Post by merlin on Jun 22, 2011 8:43:28 GMT
Hi Cliff,
Nice to see you back here, I was getting kind of lonely !
Loved the poem and yes it's so true... So much gone and so much changed and not necessarily for the better.
I though you'd lost the plot by verse 5 or had a senior moment but I saw it was only the Google auto censor at it again !
I wonder if the good people of Tetbury have even notice they have a gold thingy on top of their church .
Merlin
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Post by merlin on Jun 17, 2011 14:44:05 GMT
Hi Cliff,
Welcome back.
the only 'T' word that springs to mind is Trite !
I have given up as perhaps most people have noticed.
Seems the site still gets visitors but they don't have anything to say or ask...
Perhaps they're too polite !
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Post by merlin on Jun 1, 2011 9:12:43 GMT
I agree it was a wonderful day, although I feel a little saddened by the weather.
Everybody involved works so hard for this one day to have it marred by the rain which stopped and gave way to evening sunshine as it was all over.
Although as you said there was lots of welcome support, be intesting how the funds compare with last year in that glorious sunshine.
This is the sort of thing we in Tetbury should do more often, at least three four times a year.
For starters we could re instate the Carnival to go with the flower show, bring back the floats and elect a Show Queen and Princesses from the local schools.
Wool sack Day should bring it home to the powers that be that we are a tourist town and tourists need entertaining.
Surely the traders of the town would welcome the business.
Comments Please !!!!
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Post by merlin on May 27, 2011 12:21:13 GMT
Hi Monica Mary,
In response to your message I have posted a list of all the Groves, Turners and Warners from the 1911 Census in the Geneaology section of the noticeboard for you and anyone else who may be interested.
I looked in the trade directory for the same period but no tailors in the name of Turner or Warner that I could see.
Merlin
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Post by merlin on May 27, 2011 12:16:46 GMT
Extract from 1911 Census Records for Tetbury.
There is only one John Groves listed (Not Jack) in the 1911 Census
John Groves Born 1873 38 Years old.
Other Groves listed: ( Looks like just one family ) Matilda Groves Born 1871 40 Winifred Groves Born 1897 14 William Groves Born 1901 10 Alfred Groves Born 1902 9 Arthur Groves Born 1904 7 Margaret Groves Born 1906 5 Victor Groves Born 1908 3 Phillis Groves Born 1911 0
Quite a few Turners: (None listed as a Tailor.) Eliza Turner Born 1836 75 years old Charlotte Turner Born 1839 72 John Turner Born 1847 64 Loisa Mary Turner Born 1875 36 Albert Henry Turner Born 1886 25 Edith Emily Turner Born 1889 22 Marjorie Aileen Turner Born 1893 18
Warners: (None listed as a Tailor.) William Warner Born 1848 63 William George Warner Born 1876 35 Ernest Edward Warner Born 1877 34 Janet Warner Born 1879 32 Samuel Backvell Warner Born 1879 32
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Post by merlin on May 22, 2011 8:54:45 GMT
Hi Monica Mary,
Please let me have as much information on your grandfather as possible, his full name, date of birth Etc.
You say he was a tailor, do you know did he have his own shop or did he work for someone else ? There are a few business directories for the 1900's that lists the shops and traders back then see what I can find out .
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Post by merlin on May 21, 2011 9:06:03 GMT
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Post by merlin on May 19, 2011 8:23:15 GMT
I'm sure many of us look forward to your arrival and will welcome you into the community.
Of course you are right about the apathy culture that has been created over the years. Like you I know that it's a national thing and not just localised here in Tetbury.
Will live in an era of "Somebody Should do Something ! " Shouted from the sidelines by the faceless majority.
What Tetbury lacks is true leadership, we have lots of committees and sub committees and little groups all chatting away and feeling good about it while not actually achieving a great deal.
I can't do it, I dislike committees with a passion, where every thing has to be a compromise which only ever leads to a poor substitute of what is actually required.
The Romans may not have been very nice people but at least they got things done around here !
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Post by merlin on May 18, 2011 11:02:37 GMT
As much as I agree with you that towns, like Tetbury need an anti apathy pill and need to do something to regenerate or die, in their defence I would like to say 40 years is a long time and much has changed.
Not just here in Tetbury but the whole country, and it also has to be said not all of it has been for the best, but that's in hindsight.
From a historical point of view what you're seeing is the tale end of something that started way back in the Industrial Revolution.
Before then towns like Tetbury were the central Hub of their local area, or if you like as far as you could drive cattle or sheep or to bring your goods to market.
With the demand for mass produced cloth Tetbury lost out to Stroud because they had water power we did not. With steam came the railways and so the need for places like Tetbury as a staging post for the Royal Mail and Stagecoaches vanished.
After the end of World War I the large surplus of motor transport and improving roads meant that logistical distances from source to customer increased and away went privately owned breweries and many other businesses.
Regular train and bus services led to the invention of commuters who could live in Tetbury but work anywhere along the route.
In the 60's again with improving road structures mass transit by car became possible and affordable and commuting distances increased even further by removing dependence on public transport.
Improvements in farm equipment led to many small farms disappearing in favour of bigger ones, more land, more efficiently run with far less people.
The countryside was no longer a way of life but a business, ans so places like Tetbury became mere dormitory towns.
Massive supermarkets and out of town retail markets became the norm and the small high street retailer gave up the one sided struggle and the street trade died.
As all this was going on villages and small towns ceased to be family orientated and the social communities they once were.
Now they are fragmented, if you're a Church goer you have the church, if you are a parent your life probably circulates around the school.
I was brought up in a small Cotswold village in the 50's so I think I know what it is you think is missing here and you're right. However what we miss many of those who live here now, especially incomers and the younger generation don't, neither do they have any idea of what we are talking about.
Hence the saying, "What you never had....Etc"
for what it's worth there are quite a few people in Tetbury who would like to see a regeneration of the town.
As it is we are more or less dependent upon tourism now however many of the talking heads around here haven't woken up to that fact yet. Or if they have are a loss as to know what to do about it, so like all committees before them ... they do nothing.
If I had my way I would remove the dolphins from around the town and replace them with the Three Brass Monkeys...
We could recreate many of the things lost but it would be as a means of attracting tourists and yes to a degree hopefully recreate more than a few jobs.
What is needed is an entrepreneurial spirit in some shopkeepers, stop fighting the Supermarkets and give us what the supermarkets cannot.
A first class Bakery would do for starters, we used to have one that was the pride of the area or a decent local home grown fruit and veg shop....
Of course, where do the skills required to set up such places come from ? Like hedging and ditching, dry stone walling and the like dying arts along with the apprenticeships that taught them.
So don't be too hard on poor old Tetbury, it's a victim of progress, if that's the right word, not sure that it is mind you, several generations have sold their souls to the world of IT and the only community spirit they recognise is within the Internet.
I have thought long and hard as to how Tetbury could regenerate and take its place in the County once more and the only way I can see it happening is if it were taken over and run as a business.
Become a theme park of its historic past, like Beamish, recreate a functioning Victorian High Street, lots of historical events and bring back the skills,crafts and foods once lost.
Now whether anyone would ever want that sort of future for the town is a matter for future debate.
What is clear is that if this web site is a measure of Tetbury's community spirit then Tetbury will continue to decline and become a town of care homes and antique dealers....!
Finally on the other point you make about Scouts and the youth of today, again much has changed in 40 years.
With the likes of Political Correctness, the madness of a Health and Safety Executive out of control, and the joke of so called Human Rights, I'm not overly surprised that few want the job.
Personally I have no children of my own and don't relate to well with the youth of today, However I would say any position involving them, such as teaching Etc. Is not something I would tackle without the use of a Whip and a Chair....!
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Post by merlin on May 14, 2011 8:24:05 GMT
Hi Cliff/ Monica Mary,
I think the smoke has cleared, not three crashes but two, the cow seems to be the clincher.
I had read a reference to a German fighter crashing near Tetbury but I now think this is a mistaken description of the crash you remember.
Firstly, I don't think German fighters had the range to reach this far west and secondly when I started to ask locally the cow story emerged over and over again.
The crashed German aircraft was most certainly a bomber, possibly after one of the many airfields in and around this area at the time. But more likely one trying to escape our own fighters after trying to attack Bristol or the Docks at Avonmouth.
Damaged it dropped it's bomb(s) to lighten the load hence the dead cow, but still crashed .
The spitfire you remember was a separate incident in Fog as detailed in an earlier reply.
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Post by merlin on May 7, 2011 17:11:53 GMT
Hi Daniel,
I'm sure many of us agree with you, have you written a letter of complaint to the Mayor and the town council about it ?
As it stands yes it is a bit of an eyesore and I'm sure it could be put to some use but that is up to Pegler's they are trying to sell the location. However with underground fuel tanks which will have to be removed I can't see anyone falling over themselves to take it off Pegler's hands can you ?
With the up coming Tetbury in Bloom perhaps one suggestion might be to do a temporary Landscape job, a few tons of gravel, a couple of bench seats, trees and a few flower planters it would make quite a pleasant little corner.
Why not suggest something like this to the Garage owners themselves, can't do any harm can it ?
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Post by merlin on May 7, 2011 17:02:17 GMT
Hi Emma,
Do you have the time, inclination and technical know how to set up a new site ? One with Va Va Voom ?
Sounds like you do so if you are up for the challenge name the pub and let's sit down for a chat.... but don't expect a lot of help, as you can see I've been trying to kick start this sad old site but there is a sad lack of interest. All of which cannot be blamed upon the site designer.
For what it's worth you're leaning on an open door with all your critisisms of Tetbury and many of us share your opininions but I get the feeling most are waiting for someone to come along and do it for them.
A new Web Site won't hurt for starters so if you have the smarts I don't mind helping.
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Post by merlin on May 5, 2011 19:54:27 GMT
Hi Cliff and Monica,
You guys have got me a bit confused about the plane crash, seems to me there has to be more than one so can you give me a little more detail please.
From what you've said so far this is what I have :
1) Cliff wrote: "What was the make of the plane that crashed in the fields just above Coronation Road ? I have always thought it was an Avro Anson. Another source says it was a Spitfire. "
I put Coronation Road off Hampton Street on the way to Avening Yes ?
One official record I have found confirms that a Spitfire did Crash close to Babdown Farm in October 1942.it was a training flight and the Norwegian pilot died in the crash in thick fog.
2) There is an online record of aplane crash of a German Fighter near the water works in 1943.
Question where exactly was the Water works back then ? Are they talking about the Sewage works ?
3) Monica remembers a plane crash off London Road.
That one sounds like a Bomber, so am I right in assuming we have three crashed aircraft, because the locations seem quite far apart to me.....
In the mean time I'll ask the local Historical Society for their input see if that helps !
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Post by merlin on May 4, 2011 14:47:14 GMT
Hi Cliff,
Thanks for the input on the shops, and yes I have the Black Horse Pub on my list. It stood at the top of Black Horse Hill and used to supply extra horses to help pull carts and coaches up the steep hill into the town.
When the Bath Bridge was built in 1775 to take away some of the gradient this bypassed the old hill and pub more or less killed off the pubs trade.
You can still go down Black Horse Hill and under the arches and see the original Packhorse Bridge and ford and walk up the old Bath Road out of Tetbury.
It's on my historic tour !
Not 100% sure but the only WWII plane crash I know of was a German Fighter crash lande near the water works in 1943 is that the one you remember ?
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Post by merlin on Apr 29, 2011 9:47:47 GMT
Flattery will get you nowhere round here Gal ! Bribery on the other hand.... Is the cake home made...? To be honest Tetbury is not that big and I think perhaps a well written flier may get the job done quickest as far as the shops are concerned. I’d miss out the Antique shops can’t see them being much use to you, that’ll save you a hike up Long Street for a start. How about if it had a questionnaire on the reverse side to be handed back to you in the market hall on your next visit ? As for B&B I found these two sites that seem to give a fairly comprehensive list. www.cotswolds.info/accommodation/tetbury-lodgings.shtmlwww.bedandbreakfast-directory.co.uk/results.asp?town=Tetbury&county=gloucestershireHope this helps ‘cos I do enjoy a bit of cake....!
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