Stephen Mills There’s perhaps nothing more quintessentially British than the sound of church bells echoing across the rural landscape. It’s a sound that’s been an almost constant feature of village life for many, many centuries. In earlier times, smaller churches had perhaps just a single bell, but when practically no-one owned a clock of any […]
Stephen Mills The Covid pandemic had many of us isolating for protracted periods. Some (like me!) probably spent too much time in front of the television, although others used their time more productively, catching up with various things that had been put off for too long. Such was the case with former Eastington resident Dan […]
Stephen Mills For more than two centuries, the Stroudwater Canal was one of Eastington’s most important features. Opened in 1779, its arrival cut through the village, creating an important trade route to the ‘outside’ world. At the time, its impact must have been significant, perhaps as great as when the M5 sliced through the parish […]
Readers might recall that in the last edition of the ECN, we talked about how Charles Hooper’s company exhibited woolen cloth made in his Eastington mills at major events around the world. You might also recall a comment that in the late 1860s, on a personal level, things were not good, but we’ll come to […]
By Stephen Mills It’s easy to think that in earlier centuries, like so many others, our little workaday village had little to do with the outside world. It’s true that many villagers didn’t stray too far – it’s only a generation ago that a visit to the bright lights and shops of Gloucester was a […]
In the last article, in 2001 ESCA had folded. The task of keeping the Village Hall going alongside trying to repair/improve the pavilion was overwhelming and life goes on, people moved on for other reasons. Around 2002 a new Committee was formed. It was called the ECPWG. This stands for (I had to check and […]
By Stephen Mills Like every village, Eastington has had a church choir from time immemorial. Although its scale and makeup has inevitably changed with the passing years, it has always been an integral part of ecclesiastical and village life. As well as for regular services, the choir has been there for all occasions ranging from […]
By Stephen Mills We’ve talked about some of the mill’s long and interesting history in several previous articles, but this one harks back to an event that most villagers wouldn’t have known about. Briefly, after Millend Mill’s commercial life came to an end, it was eventually taken over by an antiques company who used it […]
A warm welcome is extended to everyone to come to our series of 2021 illustrated talks held in Frampton on Severn which we hope will be of interest to local people. The talks are on Friday evenings starting at 7.30pm in our Village Hall and are organised by Frampton on Severn Village Society. You need […]
Eastington Community Centre and Owen Harris Memorial Ground Following on from the two previous articles this one is about ‘fundraising’ and the decades of hard work that has gone in to creating the current facilities that we have at the Owen Harris Memorial Ground today. The first Committee, ESPFA (Eastington Sports and Playing field Association) […]
I recently came across an interesting news article published on the 20th October 1965 in The Sun newspaper concerning one of our long-departed residents – the wonderfully named Octavius T Hulbert. He was remembered in the late Fred Ireland’s memories of Eastington, recorded in 1992, where Fred recalled the celebrations at the end of the […]
A gilt livery button, 28 mm (1 inch!) in diameter, with a buck’s head and banner motto ‘TOUT EN BONHEUR’ (Figure 1) has been found in garden soil in Nupend. The back surface (Figure 2) has FIRMIN & Co. in the name field and STRAND LONDON in the address field. A search of the National […]
Another slice of history exposed by winter floods Steve Mills’ recent article about the field systems in the Meadows which can best be seen during heavy winter rains, reminded me of another industrial/agricultural system in the field between Millend and Cress Green. Much beloved by dog walkers, as well, many people will identify this as […]
By Stephen Mills Everyone has heard about the workhouse. It’s generally viewed as a place of hardship, misery, and absolutely the last resort for desperately poor people. And that was true for many workhouses, especially those in and around the major cities. But in some places, although life in the workhouse might be hard, it […]
The last article in ECN told how the land at the Owen Harris Memorial Ground, then known as the ‘Pies and Packers’ field, was bequeathed to the people of Eastington by Shirley Harris, Owen’s widow. It explained the purpose of the bequest, and how the Pavilion was obtained. However, if we go back a little […]
Eastington Community Centre and Owen Harris Memorial Ground We are very lucky in the Eastington Community to have the great facilities at the Owen Harris Memorial Ground with the Community Centre, wonderful public field and play park areas. All thanks are due to many, many local people who over decades have worked tirelessly as volunteers […]
There are many reminders of our ancestors lives and activities that remain in the countryside around us. This might be the pattern of lanes and footpaths still in use, or field boundaries unchanged for centuries. However, there are also more subtle hints that only become visible under certain conditions – one such example is known […]
Last time we learnt about Charles Alexander Hooper, born in Eastington in 1869 who went on to become a leading character the world of rugby in the 1890s. His name recently came to light again via an amazing chance discovery…. The Middlesex team of 1895-96, with Hooper as captain in the middle. The photograph formed […]
Some of the older residents of the village will doubtless remember the late Mrs Louisa Cowley. Along with her husband Maurice, she lived in Eastington for most of her long and interesting life, a life than spanned three centuries! Louisa was born in 1898 in the village of Berry Hill, a mile or so from […]
By Stephen Mills For a sleepy little village, we have had our share of well known connections from farther afield. For example, Henry Hicks (Lord of the Manor and mill owner) built Eastington Park and was a close friend of Edward Jenner of smallpox fame, and the De Lyle Bush family were pals with the […]
Edwin Budding was born in Eastington late in 1795, the illegitimate son of a farmer. He began to work for a carpenter, but moved into the iron foundries, and became a freelance engineer because he was good at solving engineering problems. Between 1825 and 1830 he developed a pistol that was allegedly better than Sam […]
This shop will be remembered by many as ‘Hunt’s Shop’, and later as the newsagents ‘Eastington Mews’.
When archaeologists start to investigate a site, often, one of the first things they do is ‘field walking’. Put simply, this involves walking methodically across a location whilst scanning the surface of the ground for anything that might give a clue to what’s buried beneath. Broken bits of pottery, coins, etc. can often give an […]
Whalebone arches are one of those odd things that pop up in various parts of the world. They usually consist of a whale’s jawbones. Examples in the UK include Whitby, the Isle of Lewis, and Edinburgh. Farther afield they can be found at Isafjordour in Iceland and even a double one in the Falklands Islands. […]
by Stephen Mills Readers will recall the article about the two ‘lost’ cottages in the previous edition of the ECN. One was identified as the long-demolished Vernal Cottage at Millend. However, the other was a bit of a puzzle and would have remained so without the help of Derek Greenaway, the cottage’s present owner. It […]
by Stephen Mills I know, you’re probably wondering what on Earth is a Godcake? I wondered the same thing after I heard the term in the recently televised revamped version of Worzel Gummidge. It was aired just before Christmas and starred Mackenzie Crook who also wrote and directed the two-part series. It turns out that […]
Everything eventually wears out or falls to bits, and houses are no exception. Even when they are meticulously maintained, there comes a time when their upkeep simply becomes too much or they no longer fulfil a need. But a bit of background to the two cottages pictured here. Well-known postcard collector Howard Beards from Stroud, […]
We all know who Billy Connolly is and I’m sure many of us are watching his latest 3-part series on ITV of his travels round America – ‘Billy Connolly’s Great American Trail’. The latest episode saw him in the fishing port of Gloucester, Massachusetts, where some of the discussion centred on the history of the […]
By Steve Mills We’ve talked about the impact of the Second World War on Eastington in several previous articles, but given the recent events recalling the 75th anniversary of D-Day, it seemed timely to look at a very local but largely forgotten piece of military history that survives within the village. This takes the form […]
Ring any Bells? I think this is the old ‘Eastington Mews’ shop in Alkerton Road. It is an old photo that I found on a facebook group called ‘The Golden Days of The Great British Independent Shopkeeper’ – a group which now seems to have ‘shut up shop’ as it were, so I can get […]
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