BAALHS BOOK REVIEWS

Windmills and watermills are a ‘signature’ element in the rural landscape of southern England, celebrated by artists and travel writers alike. Think of Flatford Mill, or Ivinghoe Windmill set dramatically on the Chiltern scarp above Ivinghoe. They are more than picturesque relics – over a hundred watermills and windmills in over eight parishes once played a critical role in Bedfordshire’s rural economy. Many of those which existed before 1939 are long gone, but some do survive in a well-preserved state and can visited – Stevington Windmill and the watermills at Bromham and Stotfold. In The Windmills and Watermills of Bedfordshire – past, present and future, Hugh Howes celebrates those which have survived, and those ‘gone but not forgotten’.

This paperback volume is authoritative and well-researched, but written in a very accessible style, with many excellent photographs, as well as several delightful scale and sectional drawings of mills by the late Peter Dolman, O.B.M.

Hugh begins the story of flour milling in Bedfordshire, tracing the development of mills from their early history. He notes that the sites of Bedfordshire water mills are very ancient – he did not find one water mill which had not been mentioned in the Domesday Book. Between the river valleys, wind power was used – Bedfordshire was early in using the new technology of post mills. There was a windmill at Leighton Buzzard by 1212 and further ones elsewhere in the 1220’s and 1230’s. They were mostly light, simple structures that could easily be built, moved elsewhere or taken down. One post windmill at Sundon was moved to Toddington in 1847. There are records of at least 140 windmills in Bedfordshire, but only Stevington has survived complete.

The period 1750-1850 is often described as the “golden age of milling”, and most mills were rebuilt to accommodate the latest technology. The windmills at Bolnhurst, Keysoe, Riseley and Stevington date from this time, as do most of the Upper Ouse watermills, Hyde Mill on the Lea, and the Flit mills at Flitwick, Maulden and Clophill. Changing economic conditions, overseas imports, the development of highly efficient steam-driven mills and falling prices from the mid-19th century increasingly proved fatal for small mills. Some millers adapted successfully, upgrading equipment; success was more likely where – as on the River Ivel – there was a constant flow of water even in summer. Many of the water mills were rebuilt in the Victorian period on a more industrial scale – large, factory-like, mostly of four storeys, built in brick and slate. Stoke Mills is a typical example. Their decline was rapid, however, after 1945. Jordans at Holme Mills is now the only surviving set of roller mills in the county.

Having charted the history of Bedfordshire’s mills, Hugh Howes follows with a chapter on “The Miller at Work”, describing in some detail mill technology, milling processes and what it was like to work in a mill. This section has clearly been well-researched and is illustrated by archive photographs, but is probably more for the enthusiast.

Of more general appeal are likely to be Hugh’s guides to the three mills open to the public – Stevington Windmill, Bromham Watermill and Stotfold Watermill. These provide the best descriptions and guides to these mills I have seen. He sets out the history of each mill, what to see, and accompanies these with excellent black and white and colour illustrations. This chapter alone would be sufficient reason to buy the book, which could easily be fitted into a back pocket when going on a Spring or Summer visit.

Hugh concludes with two chapters recording those windmills and water mills which not open to the public, the remains of which survive (e.g. Sharnbrook, Stanbridge, Thurleigh, Dunstable, Upper Dean and Houghton Conquest windmills, and Turvey Watermill, Stoke Mills at Sharnbrook, Astwick Mill, Holme Mills, Langford Watermill, Ivel Mill at Biggleswade, Flitwick Watermill, Barton Mill, Hyde End Mill, and Doolittle Mill, Totternhoe); lastly, there is a roll-call of those mills “Gone but not forgotten” – again well-illustrated.

In short, this is probably one of the best provincial guides to wind and water mills to have been produced in recent years. It is well-written, well-researched and well-illustrated, and a bargain at Ł8.99. Well worth buying and browsing to plan trips next year to see an important part of Bedfordshire’s rural heritage.

An essential addition to any local historian's library. The Whitbreads have played a part in Bedfordshire life since the 13th century, starting as peasant farmers, then local and county officials, M.P.s, and major landowners and benefactors- funding roads, bridges and hospitals, and renovating local churches. There is an accompanying article by Sam Whitbread in the Spring 2007 issue of 'Bedfordshire Magazine' (pages 6,9 and 25).

The Whitbreads were small farmers in Gravenhurst until they moved to Cardington in 1639. They supported the Parliamentarians in the Civil War and Henry Whitbread was 'muster-master' during the siege of Newport Pagnell, raising money and mustering troops. Samuel Whitbread (born in 1720) laid the foundation of the family's fortune. He was apprenticed to a London brewer and then set up in business in his own right at the age of 22, establishing the renowned Chiswell Street brewery. In addition to expanding the brewery, he bought land extensively in Cardington, Hertfordshire and Essex, and in 1795 purchased the Southill estate from Viscount Torrington. When he died in 1796 his son inherited an estate of 12,300 acres (80% of which was in Bedfordshire) with annual rents of Ł22,000 (Ł700,000 at today's values) . He was also a Tory M.P. for 28 years, and instrumental in bringing down Lord North , who resigned as Prime Minister in 1781.

His son, also Samuel, was a well-connected, radical Whig politician, part of the 'Devonshire House set'. He was elected to Parliament in 1790, and identified himself with many of the great social issues of the time - slavery, civil rights, the extension of free education, agricultural wages. He was largely responsible for the impeachment of Lord Melville in 1805 for the misuse of public funds. Sam Whitbread the second was also very active locally. He engaged Henry Holland, the fashionable architect, to remodel Southill House in the neo-classical style, built and improved farms and cottages on the estate, and was a leading member of the Bedfordshire Agricultural Society. He was a Colonel of the Volunteer Battalion, and was instrumental in establishing the Oakley Hunt. Sheridan was a close friend and when the Drury Lane Theatre, managed by Sheridan, burnt down in 1809, Sam Whitbread headed the committee to rebuild the theatre.

The present Samuel Whitbread continues his family's history until the death of his father in 1985, but then finishes with a 'postscript' comprising the first seventy years of his own life. An engaging and informative insight into the personal, social, economic and political history of a major Bedfordshire family.

The author of this book, Violet Tompkins, is better known to our members as Mrs. Groocock, who has talked to us on Lady Anne Clifford and Castle Ashby. She is, however, a Bedford girl born and brought up in the Black Tom (Prime Ministers) area of the town. In her childhood the area was a mass of small shops and trades people, which were able to serve its residents 'from cradle to grave' and she describes them in great detail. Her father was one of the two coal merchants in Garfield Street (the one with a horse). The other coal merchant who did the farther flung deliveries had a motor cart. Living nearby were the grandparents and aunts of Ronnie Barker, remembered by Violet as a nice old-fashioned family.

She describes the games they played and the places she visited - the new Bedford School pool (which gave her verrucas) and the aviary in Bedford Park, as well as seaside holidays to Skegness. School for her was Clapham Road School and then the Harpur Central School where she learnt shorthand, bookkeeping and typing, leading to jobs at Meltis, Bennetts Clothing Factory and then at Unilever, where she met her husband.

One of the most interesting parts of the book is her account of the implications of the war on her life. Her father, being a sole trader, was not called up, but served in the Home Guard. She remembers how he kept his sten gun (unloaded, fortunately) on her mother's dressing table so that he could get it quickly when needed. Her school was shared with evacuees from London - they used in the afternoons when Violet and her schoolfellows went on long walks. Then a Jewish family came to live in Stanley Street and would pay Violet to do jobs for them which they could not do on the Sabbath (such as turning the water taps off).

She includes details of a visit to Holland in 1946, when the consequences of the wartime flooding of agricultural land affected her deeply, the Bedford floods of 1947, and a visit to the Festival of Britain in 1951. Her account finishes with her marriage in 1954, which is when she left her (fondly remembered) neck of the woods in Bedford for Northamptonshire.

The book is enhanced by many black and white photographs - of the author, her friends and Bedford events. Altogether an interesting, informative and enlivening read.

This is Dick Dawson’s second book about Bedfordshire. The first, "Scraunchings from Beneath the Dottle Tree", dealt with rural life in the county a hundred years ago. Dick is a local journalist who produces a weekly column on local history. Many of the excellent and evocative photographs in ‘Lost Villages’ were taken by Lynette Briggs. Born in Italy, she lives in Bedfordshire and is also a sculptor, artist and teacher.

The author sets out to tell the story of seventeen ‘lost villages’ in Bedfordshire. Some of these, for example, Stratton, conform to the type of ‘deserted villages’ chronicled by Maurice Beresford; others reflect more modern ‘clearances’ necessitated by war (Little Staughton, which lost one third of its houses to an airfield), or 19th century economic migration (Segenhoe).

A chapter is devoted to each community: Ruxox (near Flitwick), Segenhoe, Higham Gobion, (old) Linslade, the original village of Hockliffe (which was sited too far from Watling Street), Sheep Lane (on the B528 Woburn Road), Stratton (near Biggleswade – a genuine deserted medieval village), Thorn (near Houghton Regis), Potsgrove, Battlesden, Chellington, Lower Gravenhurst, Hulcot (near Cranfield), Edworth, Little Barford, Little Staughton and Chalgrave.

Each chapter provides a brief history, drawing on archaeological and printed sources, explaining the reasons for the settlement’s decline and fall, and providing interesting snippets of information (including important local families), as well as a useful guide to ‘what to see’. The chapter on Ruxox, for example, provides information on recent excavations, considerable detail on the Roman settlement there, the monastic house, the manor, and late-19th and early 20th century farming, as well as some oral social history. This is supplemented by excellent photographs of the moat, Joseph Chery (a ‘knacker man’), and single horse ploughing at Ruxox in the 1930’s. For Segenhoe, Dick provides a good introduction to the history of the ruined 11th century church of All Saints, a brief manorial history, and an account of Thomas McQueen’s Australian settlement (also called Segenhoe). Again, the chapter is accompanied by good photographs and illustrations – of the ruined church, the headstone of Segenhoe’s oldest inhabitant, and a reproduction of George Shepherd’s painting of All Saints Church in c.1830. A similar standard is maintained for the other ‘lost villages’. For reader with a particular interest in archaeology, the chapter on Stratton provides an accessible overview of the excavation evidence.

Dick Dawson’s highly personal and eclectic style should appeal to all bar the purist. The book’s usefulness to teachers and family historians could have been improved further by including sources and further reading, but it should still provide a valuable and accessible introduction to the past of these little-known villages and hamlets. Probably not a book to read in one session (except to skim through Lynette’s delightful photographs), but to dip into and perhaps take with you on walks or outings (it’s a small paperback which should fit easily into a coat pocket). I will certainly recommend the Committee to look at it when we’re considering trips.

The themes of Stephen Bunker’s book are likely to be familiar to many members: Bedfordshire’s substantial contribution to the ‘secret war’ against Nazi Germany and the work of Bletchley Park, the Political Warfare Executive and the Special Operations Executive.

The book, which is authoritatively researched and well-illustrated, is divided into four main sections: ‘Cast of Characters: Some Biographical Notes’ : brief notes on 51 key individuals involved in the ‘secret war’, ranging from Ian Fleming and Muriel Spark to Brendan Bracken, Hugh Gaitskell and Richard Crossman. I found that the inclusion of these notes at the start of the book disrupted the flow, and readers may want to start with ‘Part I’ and then refer back; ‘Part I. The Secret War Comes to Bedfordshire’ : I found this chapter fascinating, dealing with propaganda, the requisitioning of Woburn Abbey, and rumours and myths. These include, in 1942, the turmoil created by the ‘rumour’ that Luton’s hat trade was to be shifted to the north of England to free labour for war work; Glenn Miller’s last flight; and the suggestion that Rudolf Hess was brought to either Luton or Aspley Guise for holding/interrogation following his abortive peace mission.

‘Part II. Psychological Warfare’ : This chapter deals with the work of the black propaganda teams based at Woburn, with radio studios at Milton Bryan. They churned out interviews, leaflets and newspapers (‘Nachtricten’) aimed at spreading confusion and undermining morale in occupied Europe.

‘Part III. Covert Operations’ : This chapter focuses on the activities of the S.O.E. and its spin-offs, including ‘Tuck’s Japanese School’ (officially the Inter-Service Special Intelligence School), which was initially based in Ardor House, on the corner of Broadway, in Bedford, then 7 St. Andrew’s Road, and by 1943, 52 De Pary's Avenue. There are also excellent sections on the role of Chicksands, and Tempsford airfield, as well as interesting references to Howbury Hall, on the outskirts of Bedford.

The concluding chapter – ‘How Effective was the Secret War?’- provides a well-argued evaluation of the intensive clandestine networks of facilities spread across Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. The concluding paragraph states: “Bedfordshire can also be held up as a paradigm of Total War. No longer did this small, landlocked and largely rural county just provide its quota of recruits to the Army and Royal Navy. No longer was the impact of war manifested just in high taxes and disruptions to trade, employment and food supplies, with occasional unemployment and rioting as a consequence. Now, amongst its other contributions, Bedfordshire listened in to the enemy; it lied to the enemy; it dropped civilian men and women from the skies to spy upon and to fight that enemy. Its printers kept quiet, its landladies asked no questions, its aniseed balls went missing. … Bedfordshire successfully played host to a Secret War and claims the title of The Spy Capital of Britain!”

I can strongly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in wartime Bedfordshire, or who might be planning to visit Bletchley Park.