The group started to collect old photographs in 1976 and copies of many of these are deposited with Hitchin Museum in the Helen Hofton Collection. We are very grateful to all the people who have given these photos to enable viewers to see how the village has changed over the last hundred years.

Renovations 1927 .17 Shillington Rd. Fred Handscombe, a local builder, is putting in a damp course into this old timber-framed cottage. The tenants, George and Martha Handscombe, moved in 1927 to modern accommodation in Royal Oak Lane.

 

Built 1948 17 Shillington Rd. After 20 years, Hilda and Len Dawson had their thatched cottage knocked down to have a new house with all “mod cons” built in its place. Standards of living were rising and people expected more comfort in their home.

Built 2005 17 Shillington Rd. After the second house on the site was demolished, the third house was built in 2004-5. Representative of new-build, up-market houses for the new millennium, it includes a study, downstairs cloakrooms. Bedrooms have en-suite bathrooms, with shower, bath and bidet. This is a big change from the practice of “a tin bath in front of the fire once a week.”