Kenneth Wadd Glover
I was born in number 7 Council Houses in Ailesworth in January 1927 and just spent some time looking up relatives in the area earlier this month. (Note my spelling of Ailesworth. We used to be very protective of that "e".) My ex Londoner wife and I had a couple of lunches at the Fitzwilliam Arms. The building across the street from the pub used to be the village school for Castor, Ailesworth, Upton and Sutton. In 1938, I and another fellow from Sutton, John Fotheringale were the first kids from the village school to get a scholarship to Deacon's School in Peterborough. Thanks to a wonderful teacher who coached us, we were able to escape our village environment. I went on to Imperial College, London University where I got a Ph.D. I went to Canada and the States in 1954 and retired in Houston in 1992. Most of my career I was involved in industrial gases, mainly the production of liquid oxygen and nitrogen for the steel, chemical and space programmes.
We were thrilled to find the 2000 calendar and some recent articles from The Evening Telegraph concerning the old photos.The November photo shows Numbers 10, 9 and 8 Council Houses. My number 7 is just out of the picture. (and out of existence I found.) Number 10 was where Frank Taylor lives. He is featured on the March page with his fleet of lorries. The small cafe was also run by the Taylors. On the left is the Barley Mow which was run by Hilda Parker and the Wheatsheaf which was run but Jim Fox.
The July photo shows Tom Wadd, (he was never known as Tommy,) and Bob Poll in the motor bike and sidecar. Tom Wadd was my mother's father and came to Castor from Kettering and ran a successful bakery for many years. I have a photo of the shop with the first Ford van seen in the Peterborough area. The date is about 1917. Tom Wadd turned the shop over to his son, Wilf Wadd , the driver of the Ford truck. Tom then opened a petrol station and bicycle repair shop in Ailesworth where the motor bike photo was taken. In later years, my father, Reg Glover took over the petrol station until WW II when Frank Taylor bought it.
Incidentally, my father was the Chief Air Raid Warden for Ailesworth during the war. We did not have a siren for the numerous warnings we received. The warning consisted of me riding my bike up main street and down the back lane blowing short blasts on a whistle. The all-clear signal was the same thing only with long blasts on the whistle. I well remember the night Goering bombed Coventry. We had 13 total warnings and all-clears. You can imagine what those long blasts sounded like. We later got a siren which was mounted on the wall of my bedroom.
I have seen mentions of the V-1 doodlebug which had a near miss on Castor station. My father at that time was the station master and I was in London where we were totally accustomed to V-1s and later V-2s. After D-Day, our troops were pushing back into France and Belgium and the V-1 sites could no longer reach London. For a fairly short time the Germans were launching them into the Midlands and even into Scotland. The amazing fact that one such random V-1 arrived at the village station was never accepted by my father. He insisted that Castor station was an important military target and had been deliberately chosen.
My father died in 1949 and the job of Station master went to Walt Taylor who I noticed from your web site, was still there when the station closed. I must congratulate you on the web site and the efforts that you and others have put into researching our history. Keep up the good work. I have other stories from the village if you are interested.
Yours Sincerely, Kenneth Wadd Glover. 6231 Rolling Water Drive, Houston TX 77069, USA.E-mail address: gloworm01@msn.com.
Follow up from Kenneth:
I was flattered to see my comments on your Castor and Ailesworth web site and I thank you. It was of great interest to my own children since I had not told them much about my life in England. My oldest son, Nigel was born in London and was 12 months old when we emigrated. My second son, Nicholas was born in Montreal and my Yankee daughter, Melanie was born in Connecticut. She was one of the two American sponsors required when my wife, Doris and I became U. S. citizens in 1979.
On your web site you listed the Castor School teachers of 1935. The headmaster was Tom Salmon, who was always called " Salmon Trout" or "Trunky Trout." I am particularly interested in the two lady teachers you listed, Mabel Goulding and Lilian May Barnes. I owe a tremendous amount to one of those ladies. In 1937, when I was 10 years old, because of the extra coaching and help from the teacher, I won a scholarship to Deacon's School in Peterborough. Another boy from Sutton and I were the very first to "escape" the village environment and it was totally due to that dedicated teacher. I believe the Sutton boy was John Fartheringale or some similar name, but I do not know which of the teachers it was. I remember her as relatively young so I think she was the younger of the two. If you or anyone else can shed light on this I would be very grateful. Perhaps she or some of her relatives still live in the area. If so I would really like to be in contact with them.
Another part of the history of Castor and Ailesworth I remember well was the village policeman on his bicycle. With that mode of transport, P.C. Trundle and later, P.C. Maddox patrolled the two villages and Sutton and Upton. This was in all kinds of weather. During the WW II, when meat was rationed, it was not unusual to see the policeman cycling by with a brace of pheasants or a rabbit or two hanging from his bicycle. We always believed they had a few snares set somewhere on their route. I think P.C. Trundle may have retired during the War because I remember P.C. Maddox much better. He was promoted and moved to Peterborough. A good friend of mine at that time was Alan Francia who is a year older than me and lived in number 8 Council Houses while I lived in number 7. Later in life, I was Alan's best man and he was mine. He worked for Baker Perkins in Peterborough and in the States and is now retired in Leesburg, Florida with his wife Pamela. We are in regulate touch with them and I learn a lot about current events in the villages from Alan since he is related to the Longfoots and Sharpes in both villages.
Remembering Sergeant and later, Detective-Sergeant Maddox. brought to mind a request for Alan Francia and I to appear before him for causing a tree in the woods above Ailesworth to mysteriously catch fire and burn during the wartime "blackout". No-one successfully pinned that on Alan and me but I remember it was the same tree where we had been trying to smoke dry touch wood in clay pipes.
Keep up the good work with the web site. Best Regards, Ken Glover