Ken Bucknell Remembers
Title
Ken Bucknell Remembers
Description
Mr Ken Bucknell has many vivid memories as a young man living in Waterlane, below he remembers his Grandfathers years as sexton:
Frederick Halliday born - 1864, was the sexton at Oakridge Church for 46 years, although he had a full time job at Bliss Mills Chalford, where he walked morning and evening usually 6 am - 6 pm and carried on with his job as sexton on arrival home and sometimes before he went to work.
His job was digging graves when required, cutting the grass and pruning the trees, dealing with the paraffin lamps and lighting the coke boiler and being responsible for the continual running of the church, being available when the coke was delivered and stored correctly in the store under the vestry floor, also the ladder was kept in the store which Ken used to wind the church clock and to make sure the time was accurate.
Grave yard digging was a very hard job sometimes as he dug them they filled with water, upper seam rock had to be split with iron bar. Many a time Revd. De Freville called him to dig the grave late at night after walking home from a full days work at Chalford many a time helped by the light of a lantern.
The Halliday family were very religious, so much so that when I was 3 or 4 years old, I had to go to Sunday School at 10 0'clock in the morning, 2 0'clock in the afternoon but walked a mile from Waterlane to Oakridge each way.
Then after 7 to 8 years of age, grandfather was a great man in the Church got me into the choir, the choir was quite large in those days.
It was Sunday School in the morning, Matins at Oakridge Church, walk back to Waterlane, have your Sunday Lunch get back Oakridge for 2 0'clock back to Waterlane again and then back to Oakridge for 6 0'clock evensong.
When I left school I was so scared I did not get confirmed. I got confirm later in life. It was Grandfather's strict religious discipline that turned us off.
Grandfather died 1943, the graves of Grandfather and Grandmother Halliday are just inside the church, on the left clearly marked Frederick and Delia Halliday.
Frederick Halliday born - 1864, was the sexton at Oakridge Church for 46 years, although he had a full time job at Bliss Mills Chalford, where he walked morning and evening usually 6 am - 6 pm and carried on with his job as sexton on arrival home and sometimes before he went to work.
His job was digging graves when required, cutting the grass and pruning the trees, dealing with the paraffin lamps and lighting the coke boiler and being responsible for the continual running of the church, being available when the coke was delivered and stored correctly in the store under the vestry floor, also the ladder was kept in the store which Ken used to wind the church clock and to make sure the time was accurate.
Grave yard digging was a very hard job sometimes as he dug them they filled with water, upper seam rock had to be split with iron bar. Many a time Revd. De Freville called him to dig the grave late at night after walking home from a full days work at Chalford many a time helped by the light of a lantern.
The Halliday family were very religious, so much so that when I was 3 or 4 years old, I had to go to Sunday School at 10 0'clock in the morning, 2 0'clock in the afternoon but walked a mile from Waterlane to Oakridge each way.
Then after 7 to 8 years of age, grandfather was a great man in the Church got me into the choir, the choir was quite large in those days.
It was Sunday School in the morning, Matins at Oakridge Church, walk back to Waterlane, have your Sunday Lunch get back Oakridge for 2 0'clock back to Waterlane again and then back to Oakridge for 6 0'clock evensong.
When I left school I was so scared I did not get confirmed. I got confirm later in life. It was Grandfather's strict religious discipline that turned us off.
Grandfather died 1943, the graves of Grandfather and Grandmother Halliday are just inside the church, on the left clearly marked Frederick and Delia Halliday.
Source
Pat Carrick Collection
Files
Collection
Citation
“Ken Bucknell Remembers,” Oakridge Archives, accessed May 14, 2024, https://oakridgearchives.omeka.net/items/show/479.