Earith Was In Huntingdonshire And Still Is

A Memory of Earith.

I was born in St Ives in 1939 but lived in Earith at what is now number 43. Next door was my Grandad's grocer's shop - Bert Russell. I moved to Peterborough in 1958 where I still live in Werrington Village. Earith was a good place to live - we had a main road, a good river for fishing and lots of characters, like Bill Hinkins, the coalman; Mr Pledger the High Street Farmer and Stan Doe, the keeper of pigs in the High Street. Lou Barnes was a great character - he collected scrap - he had some ducks on the river. Mr Armes was the landlord of The Crown and Albert Maile had the garage and Riverview Hotel in the High Street. He had an old Lanchester car. Eric Hard had the farm near the Hermitage. Mr Cannell was the school’s headmaster and Mr Thoday ws the Sunday School Teacher. Our best teacher at Earith School, was Mrs Anderson. She was the daughter of our next door neighbours, Billy and Lena Wales. We had "The Seven Holes" the old bridge over the Old Bedford River near to the village. When that was dismantled as a new bridge had been built, the planks of wood in its base was dry and as good as the day it went down in 1824.

Then the was the large suspension bridge called "The High Bridge" and the river junction where the River Great Ouse split into the New Bedford River and The Old West River which carried on eastwards. We had Jewson's large wood yard, the pond on Colne Road, the Methodist Chapel (now a house) in Chapel Road, Earith British School along Colne Road, just down from the George & Dragon Public House. Mr Eric Parren had the dairy at Stud Farm and had a large milk round in Earith and surrounding villages. We had "The Hut" the village hall of its day, where during the wartime and after, there were concerts put on by the locals - and there was some talent too! We had Earith United our own local football team which played in the recreation ground at the east end of the village. We had of course, the Railway Station called Earith Bridge and the Station Master was Charlie Goddard who lived in the Station House. The railway locomotives were mainly of the LNER J17 class and shunted goods wagons at the station. Sometimes, you could "cab it" whilst the shunting was taking place.

Earith also had a Sand and Gravel Works, owner by Mr Edwards who lived in a large white house at the east end of the village. One of the drivers was Peter Mallett and I would get a ride in his lorry to wherever he ws taking the load of ballast - mainly east of Cambridge or that area. It was a way of seeing the countryside. I was a keen "train spotter" and would cycle to Somersham trainspotting. I would sometimes catch the train to March which was far more interesting. I once got a cab ride down to the Whitemoor Yards for the day - that was great. I also went to SDt Ives on my bike to see my cousin Terry Russell. We would cycle to St Ives Railway Station to see the trains but we were really not allowed on the Station to train spot; we were chased off by Joe James, the Porter. There was no chance in getting into the Signal Box at St Ives, however, I once spotted a long goods train which “had broken in half”. I ran into the signal box and reported it and the train was diverted into a siding. This was my passport for the future.

My Grand-dad Bert Russell had the village grocery shop and I lived next door. I use to delivery the boxes of groceries after people had left their orders at the shop. I also delivered and collected people's laundry which went off to the St.Ivo' Laundry at St.Ives. The causeway use to get flooded - that is the road between the Old and New Bedford Rivers. Vehicles would stop and ask us kids if they could get through. We had walked through in our boots and when the cars got stuck we would push them out for half a crown (2/6d in old money or twelve and a half pence today). We had out "mates" - remember Patrick Hinkins, Robert Harradine, Marlene Wilson, Maggie Read and her brothers, Dick Clements and his brother Rodney, Josephine Hudson, Janet Fishpool and her brother Clive, Paul Charters, David Enfield , Peter Thoday (he was killed whilst riding his bike home from Cambridge), Lance Smith and his family who lived in the Hernitage House on the Willingham Road. His Mum, Maud, open the railway crossing gates on that road near to their house.

The 107 'bus ran to Cambridge and to St Ives; but mainly the mode of transport was "on yer bike"..

As one of the village kids, we explored everywhere. The washes were no exception and besides playing by the River Great Ouse and the Old and New Bedford Rivers (couldn't swim) we wandered about seeing what we could find. We discovered The Bulwarks and further down, as we had heard about the crash between the Short Stirling and a Hurricane (we wanted to think that if was a Luftwaffe plane), we went further away from the village towards Rhee Lake. We found a site which we thought was the crash site and carried out, over many different days, a very careful examination of the field. We found bits of aluminium sticking out of the ground but were too tightly buried to pull out. There were some loose bits which I suppose we took away. No idea what happened to them. I know I was very concerned as a kid, that one of out own aircraft had crashed and that it was a Stirling, one of our "top" bombers. Over the years, I was so pleased to see the erection of the memorial near to the bridge on the Old Bedford River. I seem to photograph it every time I visit Earith. To me it is a part of my past of which I am very sensitive to and I value very much.

This is history which must not be lost.

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