Mrs Ann Hornby (nee Sadler) Remembers
Title
Mrs Ann Hornby (nee Sadler) Remembers
Description
We first knew Oakridge in 1922 when my parents rented what is now known as Lyday Close from Dr. Percy Dearmer, as a holiday cottage.
I was seven years old at the time, and my two brothers were five and six. It was a wonderful village for children as we were given unlimited freedom and soon got to know nearly everyone in the village.
Miss Ivy Wright still remembers us playing around on the walls outside and Post Office where her mother, Mrs. Wright, reigned supreme, with a large cat always sitting on the Post Office counter.
Our pocket money — two pence a week — was spent on a special sort of toffee from Mrs. Lewis's shop. She was a very friendly and, to us, old lady who kept a shop in her front room, and we always enjoyed going to see her.
Another family we always felt very much at home with was that of Mr. Albert George Gardiner (Austin's father), and one of whose daughters was a nursery maid in London. I remember her as a very pretty girl who greatly enlivened our nursery life.
Another treat was visiting Miss Gamble at Penn House and being taught to make pots, which she would then fire in her kiln.
I remember being told off by Dr. Dill (who preceded Dr. Middleton), who did his rounds having talked from Chalford, and discovered my brothers and I, soon after having been treating us for Whooping Cough, damming the stream in Farm Lane and, no doubt, getting very wet indeed.
Going to Church was another treat, especially if un-accompanied by adults as we then sat in the front pew on the right, and Mr. de Freville always found our places for us. Even now I can see his elegant rather shaky hand tracing its way along a line of a psalm. We were also sometimes allowed to choose the hymns.
I vividly remember seeing Austin Gardiner singing in the choir, and also Fred Gardiner and a Lady called Verena, whose surname escapes me.
I also remember Mrs. Knight and Miss Butler whom Sir Louis refers to. Mrs. Knight seemed always dressed in black and Miss Butler in grey.
When my father had to return to London to work he travelled to Chalford Station in a motor cycle combination, hire from and driven by Mr. Jim Gardiner, We children were always very envious of our father's trip in this exciting vehicle.
We had a very pretty nurse to whom a baker in Chalford was much attracted, and who would turn up with his horse and cart at most opportune moments when we were on our walks. We children were then put into the back amongst the often warm and always unwrapped loaves, and nurse and baker would sit up front. Very occasionally we got taken to the bakery where we were given a lump of dough each and some currants and left to make loaves. Where nurse and the baker went we never enquired! Our well-kneaded, heavy and rather grey efforts would be delivered to us, duly baked, the next day!
My first connection with Iles Green was when Mr. and Mrs. Crundle lived there — they followed Sir William Rothenstein as the owners.
We used to walk over there for tea, and they had a tame badger called Bertie.
In 1936 my connexion with this lovely house became stronger when I married Mr. William Hornby's son, Miles.
Our gardener at Lyday Close was a Mr. Brinkworth who lived in Far Oakridge. He had been a London policeman and was said to have been hit on the head by a burglar which had left him with a perpetual tremor. We loved him dearly, and were occasionally invited to tea by his wife and were given banana sandwiches. Their cottage in Far Oakridge was called Beeworthy.
There was no hot water system in Lyday Close in those days, though there was a bathroom of sorts. Two large round black japanned containers were filled with hot water in the kitchen, and then these were placed in cylindrical wicker baskets, padded and lined with red cotton cloth. On top went a round red cushion, and then the lid was fastened down. These objects were always known as Early Christians and sat outside the bathroom door!
The cottage across from the front gate was just a stable when we had Lyday Close: Dr. and Mrs. Dearmer converted it to a cottage for Mr. and Mrs. Stuart French (Mrs. French was cousin to Miss Ivy Wright). They were followed by Mr. and Mrs. Neale and then, when Miss B Hornby bought the property, Mr. Fowles moved in. I am indebted to Miss Ivy Wright for this information.
Though my parents only rented the cottage for two or three years, my connexion with the affection for Oakridge covers a span of 60 years. My father, Michael Sadler, bought Lower Througham in 1928. All major alterations were carried out between that date and 1930. "Fanny by Gaslight was published in 1942. In No 16 My father, Michael Sadler, was a writer and publisher and his father, Sir Michael Sadler, was the Educationalist and Master of University College, Oxford.
NB To avoid confusion with his father when they were writing very different sorts of books, by father inserted an "I' into his name. My brothers and I always used the original spelling.
I was seven years old at the time, and my two brothers were five and six. It was a wonderful village for children as we were given unlimited freedom and soon got to know nearly everyone in the village.
Miss Ivy Wright still remembers us playing around on the walls outside and Post Office where her mother, Mrs. Wright, reigned supreme, with a large cat always sitting on the Post Office counter.
Our pocket money — two pence a week — was spent on a special sort of toffee from Mrs. Lewis's shop. She was a very friendly and, to us, old lady who kept a shop in her front room, and we always enjoyed going to see her.
Another family we always felt very much at home with was that of Mr. Albert George Gardiner (Austin's father), and one of whose daughters was a nursery maid in London. I remember her as a very pretty girl who greatly enlivened our nursery life.
Another treat was visiting Miss Gamble at Penn House and being taught to make pots, which she would then fire in her kiln.
I remember being told off by Dr. Dill (who preceded Dr. Middleton), who did his rounds having talked from Chalford, and discovered my brothers and I, soon after having been treating us for Whooping Cough, damming the stream in Farm Lane and, no doubt, getting very wet indeed.
Going to Church was another treat, especially if un-accompanied by adults as we then sat in the front pew on the right, and Mr. de Freville always found our places for us. Even now I can see his elegant rather shaky hand tracing its way along a line of a psalm. We were also sometimes allowed to choose the hymns.
I vividly remember seeing Austin Gardiner singing in the choir, and also Fred Gardiner and a Lady called Verena, whose surname escapes me.
I also remember Mrs. Knight and Miss Butler whom Sir Louis refers to. Mrs. Knight seemed always dressed in black and Miss Butler in grey.
When my father had to return to London to work he travelled to Chalford Station in a motor cycle combination, hire from and driven by Mr. Jim Gardiner, We children were always very envious of our father's trip in this exciting vehicle.
We had a very pretty nurse to whom a baker in Chalford was much attracted, and who would turn up with his horse and cart at most opportune moments when we were on our walks. We children were then put into the back amongst the often warm and always unwrapped loaves, and nurse and baker would sit up front. Very occasionally we got taken to the bakery where we were given a lump of dough each and some currants and left to make loaves. Where nurse and the baker went we never enquired! Our well-kneaded, heavy and rather grey efforts would be delivered to us, duly baked, the next day!
My first connection with Iles Green was when Mr. and Mrs. Crundle lived there — they followed Sir William Rothenstein as the owners.
We used to walk over there for tea, and they had a tame badger called Bertie.
In 1936 my connexion with this lovely house became stronger when I married Mr. William Hornby's son, Miles.
Our gardener at Lyday Close was a Mr. Brinkworth who lived in Far Oakridge. He had been a London policeman and was said to have been hit on the head by a burglar which had left him with a perpetual tremor. We loved him dearly, and were occasionally invited to tea by his wife and were given banana sandwiches. Their cottage in Far Oakridge was called Beeworthy.
There was no hot water system in Lyday Close in those days, though there was a bathroom of sorts. Two large round black japanned containers were filled with hot water in the kitchen, and then these were placed in cylindrical wicker baskets, padded and lined with red cotton cloth. On top went a round red cushion, and then the lid was fastened down. These objects were always known as Early Christians and sat outside the bathroom door!
The cottage across from the front gate was just a stable when we had Lyday Close: Dr. and Mrs. Dearmer converted it to a cottage for Mr. and Mrs. Stuart French (Mrs. French was cousin to Miss Ivy Wright). They were followed by Mr. and Mrs. Neale and then, when Miss B Hornby bought the property, Mr. Fowles moved in. I am indebted to Miss Ivy Wright for this information.
Though my parents only rented the cottage for two or three years, my connexion with the affection for Oakridge covers a span of 60 years. My father, Michael Sadler, bought Lower Througham in 1928. All major alterations were carried out between that date and 1930. "Fanny by Gaslight was published in 1942. In No 16 My father, Michael Sadler, was a writer and publisher and his father, Sir Michael Sadler, was the Educationalist and Master of University College, Oxford.
NB To avoid confusion with his father when they were writing very different sorts of books, by father inserted an "I' into his name. My brothers and I always used the original spelling.
Creator
Ann Hornby
Source
The Pat Carrick Collection
Files
Collection
Citation
Ann Hornby, “Mrs Ann Hornby (nee Sadler) Remembers,” Oakridge Archives, accessed April 28, 2024, https://oakridgearchives.omeka.net/items/show/475.