Author Topic: The Clock at Bicknell  (Read 1605 times)

LORZ

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The Clock at Bicknell
« on: February 11, 2020, 03:50:36 PM »
I went to look at the Clock today for the first time in many years, its gone, I was also looking at Castle Hills Farm, where I used to keep my pony, seems its all gone and the old tuck shop near the clock and the bus stop, anyone got photos?
 :(
Also looking for an old friend Patricia McCarthy was her maiden name

RoyMcC

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Re: The Clock at Bicknell
« Reply #1 on: February 11, 2020, 05:34:51 PM »
Bickenhill. Swept away for the airport extension and A45 realignment, though others here will have better information.

Mixed feelings concerning the Clock. Hate to see any pub go, but I was refused service there the last time I went in - wearing jeans.

LORZ

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Re: The Clock at Bicknell
« Reply #2 on: February 11, 2020, 05:39:46 PM »
NO, That would have really p--d me off, here in Aus, Doctors/Dentist, chefs, everyone wears jeans, that is ridiculous!!

mike mancott

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Re: The Clock at Bicknell
« Reply #3 on: February 11, 2020, 06:04:23 PM »
Bickenhill. Swept away for the airport extension and A45 realignment, though others here will have better information.

Mixed feelings concerning the Clock. Hate to see any pub go, but I was refused service there the last time I went in - wearing jeans.


Shame on the management.
They didn`t realise what sterling worth was lurking beneath.




Edmund Fifield

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Re: The Clock at Bicknell
« Reply #4 on: February 11, 2020, 08:01:27 PM »
My Aunt & Uncle named Bradbury lived there.Were made Millionaires when they were bought out for the expansion of the airport.
Make every day a day to remember
Because this ain't no rehearsal
And you ain't coming back

JudithM

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Re: The Clock at Bicknell
« Reply #5 on: February 12, 2020, 01:46:40 PM »
I went to look at the Clock today for the first time in many years, its gone, I was also looking at Castle Hills Farm, where I used to keep my pony, seems its all gone and the old tuck shop near the clock and the bus stop, anyone got photos?
 :(
Also looking for an old friend Patricia McCarthy was her maiden name
When did you keep your pony at Castle Hills?  I had a horse on Ralph's land adjacent to Castle Hills back in the day.

"I know tomorrow's gonna taste like cake"

LORZ

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Re: The Clock at Bicknell
« Reply #6 on: February 12, 2020, 05:20:56 PM »
I think it was around 1965 can't be sure, near the clock was a little tuck shop and if you walked down Clock Lane the first field on the right had a blue shed on it.

JudithM

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Re: The Clock at Bicknell
« Reply #7 on: February 13, 2020, 01:08:45 PM »
I think it was around 1965 can't be sure, near the clock was a little tuck shop and if you walked down Clock Lane the first field on the right had a blue shed on it.
Ah, before my time  :)

I was born in '65 & started riding lessons when I was 4.  For many years I rode at Whar Hall Farm, which was Albert Hadley's brother Alan's farm, down the hill fronting on to Damson Lane.  We'd ride through Castle Hills on the route round (it was a good gallop up the hill).  Some of my friends rode at Castle Hills & sometimes I'd would go up there to ride - usually in the school holidays.

I had my own horse from '79 & kept her on the other brother, Ralph's, land for a few years.  Ralph lived on Clock Lane next to the pub, so we'd take a short cut through one of the fields & then through his garden if we were riding out to Bickenhill. It was a modernish house, so possibly on the land you mention with the blue shed on.  There were certainly plenty of sheds in his garden.  He had guard geese & his son used to breed guinea pigs  :)
"I know tomorrow's gonna taste like cake"

LORZ

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Re: The Clock at Bicknell
« Reply #8 on: February 14, 2020, 03:20:13 AM »
Hi Judith, lovely to talk to you, I remember Albert his farm was not too far from Castle Hills, didn't meet any other brothers or sisters, Mr Hadley Senior, let us keep our ponies on C. Hills,  there were a few of us girls, a guy with a Pinto and another older lady with a lovely bay called Lucy, Hey Ho, those were the days.  I googled the area and its all gone, sad really.

JudithM

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Re: The Clock at Bicknell
« Reply #9 on: February 14, 2020, 01:16:13 PM »
Hi Judith, lovely to talk to you, I remember Albert his farm was not too far from Castle Hills, didn't meet any other brothers or sisters, Mr Hadley Senior, let us keep our ponies on C. Hills,  there were a few of us girls, a guy with a Pinto and another older lady with a lovely bay called Lucy, Hey Ho, those were the days.  I googled the area and its all gone, sad really.
It is a shame.  I think Old Man Hadley had either passed on or retired by the time I was old enough to know who was who, he was talked about though!  Yes, it's sad that much of the fields around there have gone.  Whar Hall farm went when Damson Parkway was put through in the late '70's.  I was still riding there when Alan sold the land to be developed (he then took on Old Berry Hall Farm in Catherine de Barnes).  The grandparents of one of my neighbours bought one of the ponies I used to ride.

I moved to riding at Dunstan Farm a bit further along Damson Lane (that bit is classed as Old Damson Lane now).  The old Whar Hall farm site is now all housing.  One of the old barns is still there, I think it's been converted & is used for a play group.  I do wish I had photos of the area from back then.  I can see it in my mind's eye - all the stables & barns - but I can't find any photos.

Some of the land where I kept my horse was swallowed up when they extended the airport runway & re-directed the road, but I think a lot of what was Albert's (from which he ran Castle Hills farm) is still there, although the big house has been converted to flats.  It's a listed building -

https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101075950-castle-hills-farmhouse-bickenhill#.Xkab0NI3Y1I

If you look at Google maps & do a satellite view, a lot of the fields are still there.   The ones where my horse was kept (opposite the big house ) are still there, but the ones towards Coventry road have all gone.

"I know tomorrow's gonna taste like cake"

RoyMcC

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Re: The Clock at Bicknell
« Reply #10 on: February 14, 2020, 01:34:56 PM »
A shame there's so little photographic history of the area - it's a very ancient settlement and features in the Domesday Book. I guess no one thought fields and farms worth recording. At least, Judith & LORZ, you've recorded more details for posterity.

Here in Jersey, our airport development since 1937 has wiped out the community which was there before - homes, shops, churches, lanes.


 

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