Then and Now
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the 12 Apostles cottagesround 1850. They are also called Merry Arse Row. Jane Males owned 4 cottages which she rented to the rest of the family.
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the 12 Apostles in 2016
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1947 In the foreground, the Red Lion on Crabtree Lane with Bunyan’s shop next door. Ted and Trixie Burton were the last landlords; the pub closed in 1952.
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The red lion in 2020
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1929 Rachel Burling’s shop at the end of Cromwell Terrace, High Street. She sold “things you could not buy in other shops” including drapery, ladies’ vests, men’s socks, shampoo, cold creams, threads and papers of pins. Much to the children’s delight, she also made ice cream in a churn and sold gobstoppers, vinegar flats and liquorice root. Later the shop was run by Hilda Cheshire followed by Lil Gazely. It closed in 1963.
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Cromwell Terrace in 2020
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1930s The Cash Stores on the corner of High Street and West Lane was the “downtown” shop and off licence. Although at the beginning of the 20th century there were nine pubs, there were none downtown. Perhaps this was because this was the teetotal, nonconformist area of the village.
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Walkers Bakery Holwell Rd. Bob Walker was known as the midnight baker as his son Bertie Bob was alway so so late delivering bread to Hitchin on his bike. 14 old bikes were found in the garden when it was renovated.
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The Fox public house with Colemans Close behind. All the pubs in the village except the Motte and Bailey began around 1830 as beerhouses. The abolition of licensing requirements for beerhouses at that point meant that anyone who paid the 2 Guineas excise payment could sell beer. Most beer retailers combined this activity with another job. John Walker, who took over the Fox in 1912, was also a higgler, a collector and seller of eggs. Pigs and horses were kept in the close to supplement his income.
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Three gables on the right circa 1900. The large thatched barn to the left of the house stretched down to 4-6 Bury End in the 19th century.
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Three Gables in 2020
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There was a row of cottages attached to the back of the Cat and Fiddle on Great Green
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The Cat and Fiddle is now a private house 2020
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1930 Harry Davis and a customer outside his butchers and grocery shop at 28 High Street, which closed in 1971. When his son Milner ran the shop in the 1940s, certain goods were rationed as supplies were scarce. There were rations for essential items – for example 2 ounces of butter and 4 ounces of marge per week. Customers registered with shops of their choice and their ration books were marked every week. Rationing was phased out in the 1950s.
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28 High St in 2020
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Orchard Cottage
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Pirton Wesleyan Methodist Church built in 1906.
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the Methodist Chapel in 2020
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This was the post office and cobblers run by John Thrussell
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Toot Hill before the elms got dutch elm disease. and were felled in the mid 70s.
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Toot Hill in 2020
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The post office was run by the Trussells
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6 Great Green in 2020
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The Baptist chapel was bombed in 1944
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This is the site of the baptist chapel in 2020
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1950s The Live and Let Live at 31 High Street was originally a thatched cottage, but was turned into a beerhouse. It is easy to see the extension of the 17th century building with a brick Victorian bakery, shop and new clubroom. Farm buildings such as the pig sties, granary and large barn show that the Throssels were typical “multi-tasking” landlords – bakers, smallholders and beer sellers.
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The Live and Live now a private house in 2020
