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Village Places in 1950s Alan Payne Photographs courtesy Ken and Maureen Boulton September 2019 We often say how little Box has changed over the years. This may be true of many (not all) buildings but isn't true of the culture and social life in the village. This fabulous photo of the Bingham Hall taken from the back garden of The Parade is a sight that has disappeared. So too has the culture of public bathing in the hall, Monday washdays and the regularity of the domestic drudgery of married women's lives. This article looks at the similarity and differences between life in Box after the war and now. |
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Some places are instantly recognisable like the Blind House outside the Queen's Head in March 1950 and a car at Box Hill (going 50 miles per hour) in March 1949.
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The winter of 1946-47 experienced severe frosting of vegetables in the ground. Potatoes in store were totally ruined and potato rationing was introduced that year. A transport and dock strike in the summer of 1947 resulted in the destruction of imported meat which had been left rotting on the docks.
Box Valley seen from Box Hill in December 1950
It was a fore-runner to the 1950-51 snow reputed to be the Snowiest winter of the century at high levels.[1] It was very cold and Ken took a number of photos of the weather in Box. Below left is Rudloe Manor and Lower Rudloe and below right Box Hill in December 1950.
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Below left: Beryl Boulton and Right Beryl and David in December 1950
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Life in the Village
Railways in Britain were nationalised in 1948, amalgamating the Big Four companies under the name British Rail and the service managed to break even financially for a short while. But political decisions were to ultimately prove very costly. To support the coal mining workforce, steam engines were preferred to diesel with 1,487 new steam trains built in a five year period 1948-53. Very soon afterwards the lack of modernisation proved the failure of the rail service.
None of this was evident in Ken's photos, reflecting the same fascination for steam trains that had lasted for over a century and for whom Ken's father worked.
Railways in Britain were nationalised in 1948, amalgamating the Big Four companies under the name British Rail and the service managed to break even financially for a short while. But political decisions were to ultimately prove very costly. To support the coal mining workforce, steam engines were preferred to diesel with 1,487 new steam trains built in a five year period 1948-53. Very soon afterwards the lack of modernisation proved the failure of the rail service.
None of this was evident in Ken's photos, reflecting the same fascination for steam trains that had lasted for over a century and for whom Ken's father worked.
Seen below: Left and centre: Looking both ways from Wharf Bridge and Right: Box Station from Middlehill Tunnel - all 1949.
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Left: Box Station in June 1951 and Right: Staff at Box Station in 1963, with Arthur Boulton on left.
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We welcome your photos of Box if you wish to share them with us like Ken and Maureen Boulton. Ken sadly passed away earlier this year and we are grateful to Maureen for allowing permission to use the photos in these circumstances.
References
[1] http://www.neforum2.co.uk/ferryhillweather/bonacina.html
[1] http://www.neforum2.co.uk/ferryhillweather/bonacina.html