Wacky Box Anecdotes Various January 2023
John Tenniel, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Rabbits and Hares, John Brooke Flashman, December 2022
Today being the first of the month reminds me of the phrase my mother always used on such occasions, Rabbits and Hares.
I never heard anyone apart from my mother use this phrase so I assume it went back to her Kingsdown childhood. I know that the expression White Rabbits is used in various parts of the country, whilst in North Dorset where I grew up the saying was
A pinch and a punch, for the first day of the month.
Anybody else use this expression in Box? A 1922 work of fiction records that saying 'Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit' three times, just like that, first thing in the morning on the first of the month, even before you say your prayers, you'll get a present before the end of the month.[1] But the phrase possibly has much earlier origins going back to Celtic times and then passing into folklore,
The words ‘Hares, hares, hares’ are the matching words to be said as the last words at the end of the month. In 1935, the Nottingham Evening Post even recalled that President Roosevelt used the rabbit expression every month.
Today being the first of the month reminds me of the phrase my mother always used on such occasions, Rabbits and Hares.
I never heard anyone apart from my mother use this phrase so I assume it went back to her Kingsdown childhood. I know that the expression White Rabbits is used in various parts of the country, whilst in North Dorset where I grew up the saying was
A pinch and a punch, for the first day of the month.
Anybody else use this expression in Box? A 1922 work of fiction records that saying 'Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit' three times, just like that, first thing in the morning on the first of the month, even before you say your prayers, you'll get a present before the end of the month.[1] But the phrase possibly has much earlier origins going back to Celtic times and then passing into folklore,
The words ‘Hares, hares, hares’ are the matching words to be said as the last words at the end of the month. In 1935, the Nottingham Evening Post even recalled that President Roosevelt used the rabbit expression every month.
Where to Canoodle in 1950s Box, Bill Cooper, December 2022
Your photos of Mill Lane Halt prompted memories of those youthful romantic days long ago and the huts which provided much welcome as shelter for couples on cold winter nights. All proceedings however, had to comply with the GWR railway timetable because the guard on the last train, both up and down, bolted the door and one could become locked in for the night.
In the late nineteen forties, possibly the very early fifties, the Bingham Hall became converted into a Cinema. The promoters moved in for the evening and set out the chairs, bigger and more expensive at the back 12 rows. There were two showings, first around 6 o'clock skipping the little film, then the main showing at 8 o'clock. The films were all black and white and usually absolute rubbish, yet the shows were quite well attended. There were plenty of westerns and a series with a Canadian child star called Bobby Breen who was a boy soprano and child actor. The series was produced by RKO Radio Pictures in Hollywood in the 1930s. Bobby’s most famous song was La donna è mobile.
I know the promoters also did the same at Sherston on another night, perhaps elsewhere too. In a way it is surprising that the event came to Box because the bus route to Bath or Corsham and Chippenham was very good and regular and they had permanent cinemas.
Surprisingly, Bobby Breen was on of the faces on the album cover of “Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band” so more people than just Bill Cooper remember their misspent youth.
Your photos of Mill Lane Halt prompted memories of those youthful romantic days long ago and the huts which provided much welcome as shelter for couples on cold winter nights. All proceedings however, had to comply with the GWR railway timetable because the guard on the last train, both up and down, bolted the door and one could become locked in for the night.
In the late nineteen forties, possibly the very early fifties, the Bingham Hall became converted into a Cinema. The promoters moved in for the evening and set out the chairs, bigger and more expensive at the back 12 rows. There were two showings, first around 6 o'clock skipping the little film, then the main showing at 8 o'clock. The films were all black and white and usually absolute rubbish, yet the shows were quite well attended. There were plenty of westerns and a series with a Canadian child star called Bobby Breen who was a boy soprano and child actor. The series was produced by RKO Radio Pictures in Hollywood in the 1930s. Bobby’s most famous song was La donna è mobile.
I know the promoters also did the same at Sherston on another night, perhaps elsewhere too. In a way it is surprising that the event came to Box because the bus route to Bath or Corsham and Chippenham was very good and regular and they had permanent cinemas.
Surprisingly, Bobby Breen was on of the faces on the album cover of “Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band” so more people than just Bill Cooper remember their misspent youth.
The Devil in Box, John Flashman, January 2023
A story told me by my mother has recently come to mind. The event in question took place probably in the mid-1920s. Local legend apparently had it that if you ran around Box Church seven times, the Devil would appear. My mother and a group of friends decided to find out whether the legend was true, and arranged to run round the church accordingly. What none of them knew was that their plans had been overheard by a boy.
So, the intrepid band of Boxonians assembled at the agreed time, and commenced their run. On completion of the seventh circuit the boy in question emerged from his hiding place with a hideous roar, scaring the daylights out of the group who ran off in all directions. I do not know who the boy was but doubtless he derived much pleasure from his action. There is probably a moral here somewhere but at the moment I can't think what it is.
It's a good job that it wasn’t the vicar who came out of the church at the wrong moment. The vicar at that time was possibly Henry Darrell Sudell Sweetapple, the last of the Horlock vicars in Box and related to the Sudell family. It was a very difficult time for the vicar in the years running up to the Great Depression when the vicar was in the middle of a dispute with the clerical authorities over the vicar’s rights to hold the vicarage.
A story told me by my mother has recently come to mind. The event in question took place probably in the mid-1920s. Local legend apparently had it that if you ran around Box Church seven times, the Devil would appear. My mother and a group of friends decided to find out whether the legend was true, and arranged to run round the church accordingly. What none of them knew was that their plans had been overheard by a boy.
So, the intrepid band of Boxonians assembled at the agreed time, and commenced their run. On completion of the seventh circuit the boy in question emerged from his hiding place with a hideous roar, scaring the daylights out of the group who ran off in all directions. I do not know who the boy was but doubtless he derived much pleasure from his action. There is probably a moral here somewhere but at the moment I can't think what it is.
It's a good job that it wasn’t the vicar who came out of the church at the wrong moment. The vicar at that time was possibly Henry Darrell Sudell Sweetapple, the last of the Horlock vicars in Box and related to the Sudell family. It was a very difficult time for the vicar in the years running up to the Great Depression when the vicar was in the middle of a dispute with the clerical authorities over the vicar’s rights to hold the vicarage.
Reference
[1] Lynd, Robert, Solomon in all his glory, 1922, Grant Richards Ltd. p.49
[1] Lynd, Robert, Solomon in all his glory, 1922, Grant Richards Ltd. p.49