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Articles

Monthly articles for the parish magazine, "The Diary"

The parish magazine is part of village life and an important way of communicating news and events. This is a collection of some of the articles that have appeared in the publication.

  • Beer, Beds and Stabling by Jon Mein
    Beer, Beds and Stabling by Jon Mein

    A history of Barkway's inns and pubs, c.1750-1920

    The main road from London to Cambridge through Barkway has always been busy – and noisy. In the 1750-1850 period, as now, all sorts of people used it. The wealthy travelled...
    Read article Beer, Beds and Stabling by Jon Mein
  • The Reading Room and the Barkway Local History Museum
    The Reading Room and the Barkway Local History Museum
    In the 19th Century there was a national movement involving the building of reading rooms. There are still fine examples of these buildings, in different architectural styles, existing in villages throughout...
    Read article The Reading Room and the Barkway Local History Museum
  • In Conversation with Angela Louch (née Bailey)
    In Conversation with Angela Louch (née Bailey)
    BLHG recently had the pleasure of hosting Angela Louch (née Bailey) for our monthly “In Conversation With…” session at Barkway Social Club. These talks, held on Tuesday afternoons, offer a wonderful...
    Read article In Conversation with Angela Louch (née Bailey)
  • Further recorded memories of Bill Nottage, taken from a 2006 interview
    Further recorded memories of Bill Nottage, taken from a 2006 interview
    As a boy I lived with my parents at number 97 High Street, right opposite Ash Grove. I remember going to the well with my Dad, which was next door in...
    Read article Further recorded memories of Bill Nottage, taken from a 2006 interview
  • Some recorded memories of Bill Nottage, taken from a 2006 interview
    Some recorded memories of Bill Nottage, taken from a 2006 interview
    My mother used to work in the laundry at Newsells House for the de Traffords. After she retired Sir Humphrey used to like to bring washing up to mother’s at number...
    Read article Some recorded memories of Bill Nottage, taken from a 2006 interview
  • Barkway Manors
    Barkway Manors
    The Domesday Book of 1086 mentions Barkway, Newsells, and Cokenach. Later on, 8 separate administrative manors were defined for Barkway. Probably the most important of these were Newsells, Cokenach, Rokey, and...
    Read article Barkway Manors
  • From an interview with Sid I. Brown in 2007
    From an interview with Sid I. Brown in 2007
    I was born in 1920, opposite the Trust House down there. I lived on the right-hand side when you went down Barkway. The long row of cottages before the almshouses is...
    Read article From an interview with Sid I. Brown in 2007
  • Stallibrass Almshouses, Barkway
    Stallibrass Almshouses, Barkway
    The first recorded instance of the surname Stallibrass in Barkway was in 1539, when the baptism of Katherine Stallibrass was registered in the church. The name is chiefly found in the...
    Read article Stallibrass Almshouses, Barkway
  • Biggin Manor
    Biggin Manor
    Just off the B1368, at the southern end of Barkway, sits a collection of farm buildings known these days as Biggin Farm. An old description of it is as the ancient...
    Read article Biggin Manor
  • The church in the late Georgian period
    The church in the late Georgian period
    The following is taken from a contemporary written description of church life by a Barkway resident. As in everything else, the gentry made themselves as comfortable as possible in Church,...
    Read article The church in the late Georgian period
  • Extract from an interview with Chris Byatt in 2007
    Extract from an interview with Chris Byatt in 2007
    I was born at King’s Buildings in Barkway in 1922. I had an elder brother, Stanley, then myself, and then Ernie. Stanley went into the Air Force and the youngest went...
    Read article Extract from an interview with Chris Byatt in 2007
  • Cecil Dickerson 5/10/1924 – 6/8/2022
    Cecil Dickerson 5/10/1924 – 6/8/2022
    These memories are excerpts from a CD made in 2006 with Graham Penning. I was born in Wooden Cottage. It was two cottages in one, opposite the Three Tuns called Barkway...
    Read article Cecil Dickerson 5/10/1924 – 6/8/2022
  • Changing scenes in Barkway
    Changing scenes in Barkway
    A regular publication existed in Barkway from its founding in 1972 up to the late 1980s. This was entitled the Barkway Society Newsletter. The following contribution from Dorothy Bond (nee Thrussell)...
    Read article Changing scenes in Barkway
  • HIGHWAYS and BYWAYS
    HIGHWAYS and BYWAYS
    Some of the roads and tracks within the parish are essentially unchanged over many centuries. However some tracks have disappeared, and some emerged in recent times. We have local maps which...
    Read article HIGHWAYS and BYWAYS
  • HIGHWAYS and BYWAYS II
    HIGHWAYS and BYWAYS II
    An important footpath going westwards from the High Street by Ashgrove, was at one time known as Crouch's Passage. Mrs Crouch ran a sweet shop from her cottage behind the wall....
    Read article HIGHWAYS and BYWAYS II
  • Oral history archives: Peggy Turpin (1924–2014).
    Oral history archives: Peggy Turpin (1924–2014).
    Excerpts from oral history archives – memories of Barkway residents from 1920s and 30s. Peggy Turpin (1924 – 2014) recorded in 2007. On the subject of surfaces to walk on, all...
    Read article Oral history archives: Peggy Turpin (1924–2014).
  • Barkway Excelsior Society
    Barkway Excelsior Society
    This society was founded in 1876 as the Prince Arthur Court of the Ancient Order of Foresters (A.O.F.) with initially 23 members. The main objects of the Society were to insure...
    Read article Barkway Excelsior Society
  • Well Yard and Townsend Close
    Well Yard and Townsend Close
    The name Well Yard as an address occurs often in census returns for Barkway, and also as late as the 1960s electoral registers. It now no longer exists. In 1911 Townsend...
    Read article Well Yard and Townsend Close
  • Further Reminiscences with Robert Dimsdale
    Further Reminiscences with Robert Dimsdale
    I was sports mad, and the top lawn here at Barkway House soon became a scene of cricket, especially in summer time and a party of us would play our own...
    Read article Further Reminiscences with Robert Dimsdale
  • Newsells Memories
    Newsells Memories
    BLHG has in it's Newsells estate archive, handwritten notes made by Sir Humphrey de Trafford, transcribed below. He purchased the estate in 1926. Alexander Crossman bought Cokenach estate about June 1896,...
    Read article Newsells Memories
  • Post Chaises in Barkway
    Post Chaises in Barkway
    The era of the stagecoach lasted from the early 1600s through to the advent of the railways from around 1830 onwards. What is possibly not so well known as part of...
    Read article Post Chaises in Barkway
  • Small Change for 1660s Barkway
    Small Change for 1660s Barkway
    The Barkway History Group has recently acquired a farthing trade token issued in Barkway probably from sometime around 1660. The widespread use of such tokens and their production by local businesses...
    Read article Small Change for 1660s Barkway
  • Barkway Carriage Wash
    Barkway Carriage Wash
    The wagon wash in Church Lane has recently been awarded a protective grade 2 listing by Historic England. As such it has now been correctly described as a carriage wash. Wagon...
    Read article Barkway Carriage Wash
  • The Barkway Reading Room
    The Barkway Reading Room
    This article describes the development of Reading Rooms, from their introduction in the 19th century. In the 19th century there was a national movement involving the building of countless reading rooms....
    Read article The Barkway Reading Room
  • Transportation from Barkway
    Transportation from Barkway
    Transportation of convicted criminals started in 1597 with a parliamentary bill. Initially they were sent to America but following American independence in 1783 a new destination was required. From 1786 convicts...
    Read article Transportation from Barkway
  • The Balding Family
    The Balding Family
    The Balding Family The late Georgian house on the corner of Royston Road and the High Street in Barkway is known as the Flint House, but for most of its life...
    Read article The Balding Family
  • Dorothy Bond nee Thrussell
    Dorothy Bond nee Thrussell
    Barkway memories from the time of the First World War from an interview with Dorothy Bond nee Thrussell in 2002. Born 1911, died 2006. Spelling and arithmetic were the...
    Read article Dorothy Bond nee Thrussell
  • Robert Dimsdale Part I Boyhood Memories
    Robert Dimsdale Part I Boyhood Memories
    Robert Dimsdale Part I – Boyhood Memories Notes from an interview with Robert Dimsdale, recorded in 2007. I was born in Barkway House, and I was baptised in the sink. I...
    Read article Robert Dimsdale Part I Boyhood Memories
  • Robert Dimsdale Part II Boyhood Memories
    Robert Dimsdale Part II Boyhood Memories
    Robert Dimsdale Part II Boyhood Memories Notes from an interview with Robert Dimsdale, recorded in 2007. The garden at Barkway House seemed to have a lot of people involved, most important...
    Read article Robert Dimsdale Part II Boyhood Memories
  • Robert Dimsdale part III Boyhood Memories
    Robert Dimsdale part III Boyhood Memories
    Robert Dimsdale III Further memories of life in Barkway House from Robert Dimsdale's oral history Another feature of living in Barkway House is that it backs onto Church lane or it...
    Read article Robert Dimsdale part III Boyhood Memories
  • Archaeological Dig
    Archaeological Dig
    Our First Archaeological Dig Saturday the 16th of July saw our group carry out our first archaeological dig. With the kind permission of Nicholas and Meriel Tufton, we dug two test...
    Read article Archaeological Dig
  • The Clinton Vault
    The Clinton Vault
    In the graveyard of Barkway church next to the boundary hedge to the east, by the Barkway House boundary, lies the Clinton vault. It is surmounted by an enormous stone slab...
    Read article The Clinton Vault
  • The Barkway Roman Hoard
    The Barkway Roman Hoard
    A hoard of Roman articles were found by a worker digging in a quarry in 1743 about 300 metres to the north east of Periwinkle Hill. The items clearly originated in...
    Read article The Barkway Roman Hoard
  • Dr Thomas Dimsdale of Hertford
    Dr Thomas Dimsdale of Hertford
    The Diary recorded the death of Robert Dimsdale who was born in Barkway House. Robert was a direct descendant of Dr Thomas Dimsdale of Hertford (1712-1800) and had been working on...
    Read article Dr Thomas Dimsdale of Hertford
  • Barkway Farms and Working Yards
    Barkway Farms and Working Yards
    Since time immemorial farms have formed a key part of village life. The 1891 census for Barkway, shows that 25% of the working male population listed their occupation as agricultural labourers....
    Read article Barkway Farms and Working Yards
  • Newsells Estate in Barkway - PART l
    Newsells Estate in Barkway - PART l
    Newsells was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 and has been a major manor within Barkway over the centuries. The estate was in the possession of the Scales family for...
    Read article Newsells Estate in Barkway - PART l
  • Newsells Estate in Barkway - PART ll
    Newsells Estate in Barkway - PART ll
    The article in the January diary referred to the gift to the village in the 1630s of land for a school and meeting room. The owner of the manor of Newsells...
    Read article Newsells Estate in Barkway - PART ll
  • Barkway School Memories
    Barkway School Memories
    Barkway school memories from 1930s onwards; notes from an oral history interview with Geoff Whitby, recorded in 2007. Barkway School. In the Infants we had Miss Parker. We started at 5...
    Read article Barkway School Memories
  • Fire Insurance Marks
    Fire Insurance Marks
    Fire insurance marks are metal plaques marked with the emblem of the insurance company which were affixed to the front of insured buildings as a guide to the insurance company's fire...
    Read article Fire Insurance Marks
  • The Saltonstall Family
    The Saltonstall Family
    The Saltonstall family had an important association with Barkway in the 1600s. Richard Saltonstall came originally from landed estates in Yorkshire and was a key figure in London during Queen Elizabeth...
    Read article The Saltonstall Family
  • The Burrs of Barkway
    The Burrs of Barkway
    The Burrs of Barkway In the early 1800s Samuel Burr was baking bread in Widford. One of his sons, William Day Burr came to Barkway, and started a bakery business here....
    Read article The Burrs of Barkway
  • Royston Road Old Chapel Site
    Royston Road Old Chapel Site
    The small graveyard beside the Royston Road is the site of a mid-Georgian chapel built around 1770. On the Newsells estate maps of 1780 it is shown within the existing plot...
    Read article Royston Road Old Chapel Site
  • Barkway Ravaged by Fire
    Barkway Ravaged by Fire
    In the year 1748 on August 18th, part of Barkway was ravaged by a fire. A total of nineteen households submitted claims for lost household contents to local relevant charities. Existing...
    Read article Barkway Ravaged by Fire
  • Medieval Woodland in Barkway
    Medieval Woodland in Barkway
    Medieval Woodland in Barkway In this area we have a number of ancient woods. They are usually characterised by having within their precincts plants such as bluebells, dog mercury, and wild...
    Read article Medieval Woodland in Barkway
  • Memories of 1920 Barkway
    Memories of 1920 Barkway
    Memories of 1920s Barkway From an Old Resident The High Street in the 1920s was more busy with farm carts than motorised traffic and my memories of pre-school days was of...
    Read article Memories of 1920 Barkway
  • Windmills in Barkway
    Windmills in Barkway
    Hertfordshire as a county is relatively rich in river systems, so that water mills are common. However, Barkway was one of those places in the higher north of the county which...
    Read article Windmills in Barkway
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