The Diary of JOSEPH BURGESS
Miss Ethel Brooks
1900 to 1904
[The maternal grandparents of Sheila Ann Anderson - nee Cornish]
These pages document a holiday spent at Winsham
From
Saturday the 21st
July to Monday 6th August
1900
Wednesday 17th. July 1900
We have decided to start a diary, this being the first day of our
engagement.
Friday 20th. July 1900
It was decided that I should go home to tea and Ethel should come
on afterwards to supper arriving about 8-30pm, so my mother and Nell could
say
“Good life”
How often now my thoughts do fly
To that oft repeated sigh,
Heard by me on Friday night,
When Ethel did not come in sight.
What could have caused this long delay?
Had the bus horse run away!
or had the tram slipped off the rail?
Such things are mentioned in the Mail.
The ham and peas they colder grew
But his heart no comfort knew;
At last his hopes rise with a bound
As the knocker gave a sound
He runs upstairs and to his glee,
Finds her, whom he had hoped to see.
After this we spent a most enjoyable evening, then I escorted
Ethel home, where we both spent another enjoyable time - I then returned
home by an “All night tram”.
Saturday 21st. July 1900
Saturday 21st. July 1900
We commenced our holidays today. I having been invited by mums to
visit
Sunday 22nd. July 1900
We paid our first visit to the orchard this morning, but were
troubled by the insects, which seemed to abound in great numbers. After
dinner we started to post some letters at Chard, it being four miles away,
we took our bicycles but after we had ridden two and a half miles we saw a
precipitous hill to go down, and another one that would have to be
climbed, so we returned home and sent telegrams instead of the letters
which we had taken to post.
Monday 23rd. July 1900
It was arranged that Ethel and I should have a whole day by
ourselves at Seaton, whilst Mums and stayed with Aunt - we accordingly
started and bicycled to Chard Junction, we found the road much better than
we expected, there only being one hill that we had to dismount for, and we
did the distance of four miles in
Tuesday 24th July 1900
We started for our bicycle ride before dinner, we alighted at the
Post Office about one hundred yards from Aunts’ cottage, and commenced to
push our bicycles up a hill. After a mile of this enjoyment, we climbed
over a gate with our bicycles and went down some very steep grass hills to
a roadway that looked beautifully level from a distance but we found on
arriving to be impossible for cyclists, we continued our tramp and after a
mile came to a roadway - if we went to the right or left it was uphill,
thank goodness we chose the left, for after climbing that hill we had only
to put our feet up and we were in Winsham once more, having walked four
out of the five mile bicycle ride. Ethel now showed Mums and myself some
exhibition in water drinking, which astounded us both, after this her arms
became very sore and painful, we put it down to the exhibition that she
had just treated us to, but it turned out to be caused by the sun while
bathing at Seaton yesterday.
Wednesday 25th. July 1900
Mums, Aunt, Ethel
and
I drove to Lyme Regis through beautiful country - a distance of twelve
miles, we then had a bathe, leaving aunt to mind the jewellery, afterwards
we sat on the Cobb, it being superb weather, then Ethel and I
Thursday 26th. July 1900
Spent most of the day in the orchard, but after tea we arranged
that Ethel and I should bicycle to the pond in Cricket Park, Chard, while
Mums and Aunt walked there, and that we should wait for them. Aunt
informed us that the park formally
Friday 27th. July 1900
Another day at Seaton, only Mums joined us this time, the weather
was not as
Saturday 28th. July 1900
Mostly a lazy day, in the evening Ethel and I bicycled around
Cricket Park, and met Mums then walked home. We both agree that Cricket
Park is the best place for miles around to do any bicycling in. Yesterday
we could get no meat, but that often occurred so did not take any notice,
but when Aunt came back with the news that bread was unobtainable, we
began to think that the famine in India had settled in Winsham for its
headquarters, this bread famine was got over by Mums making some, then
came fresh surprises in the shape of “no eggs” although it was a country
village, “no butter” although there were plenty of farm houses, and last
but not least “no stout” although there were three public houses in the
village.
Sunday 29th. July 1900
Mums, Ethel and myself attended the morning service at
Winsham Church,
we were rather surprised to find that the dogs of the
village also attended, it certainly must have been a good Christian
village in the old days, for they have erected a cross at the entrance to
Winsham, which used to “nearly” make Ethel and I say bad words when we
were bicycling, as it nearly always seemed right in the way
- the oldest inhabitants being dead according to Aunt Stower’s
account - so we could not find out who erected it, but we presume that it
was Oliver Cromwell.
Monday 30th. July 1900
In the morning Mums, Ethel and I went for a walk --- we did plenty
of resting by the wayside - one resting place in particular was very
comfortable - on a bank with hedges all round - afterwards Ethel gave Mums
and myself an exhibition in tree climbing - her screams when I approached
was heart rending. We got her down safely!!!
We told Tom to drive us to a good place for tea, his idea of a
good place was certainly a bit off, it was a sort of third class coffee
house. Large mug of tea 1d and one eyed steaks in the window also 1d each.
We appealed to Aunt and she gave instructions to Tom, and we soon pulled
up at the best tea shop in Crewkerne. After that we visited St
Bartholomew’s Church, which was a fine old piece of masonry, which will be
like a cathedral, when they get all their stained windows in. We then
strolled round the town, and well we knew it, for we were stared at with
critical eyes, and some of the towns people were positively rude, taking
quite half an hour to examine us. Ethel asked me if her hair was straight,
or her dress wrong etc. I asked Ethel if all my things were correct. We
could not make out why we were different from other people, and received
so much attention. We got some papers and were sorry to see that the king
of Italy had been assassinated the day previously at Monza, and that the
Duke of Sake Colung-fatha, the second son of the Queen was dead.
We drove home by a different way, only pulling up at the half way
house.
Tuesday 31st July 1900
In the morning I mended and cleaned up my bicycle while Ethel did
some knitting. In the afternoon we sat in the orchard and were very amused
with the cat and kitten. We were informed that the cat had just lost her
only kitten about one day old, and she seemed to think that this kitten
who was quite six months old was her new one, the way she dragged him down
from the tree and the nervous state she was in when he was more than a
yard away, indicated this and within two days this kitten had gone back to
his old habits of existence which quite satisfied the cat - and for the
rest of our stay at Winsham. They were always seen together and on the
best friendship, previous to this they always fought on the slightest
provocation.
In the evening Mums, Ethel and I went for a walk across “Five
Fields” and
Wednesday 1st. August 1900
Thursday
2nd August 1900
Friday 3rd August 1900
Had an early dinner, and then Mums, Ethel and I were driven to
Chard, it is a fine old town, we saw Judge Jefferies Old Court
House, and the church was also a grand one in good condition. We could not
go over it as there was a service in progress. We also called at the Dure(?)
Inn where Mr. George Morley had headed his letter from. The woman in
attendance gave us some interesting details about George, the principal
one being that she considered
he had ‘Too much tongue juice’. On our way home
we were caught in a storm, but succeeded in not getting wet, Ethel and I
made a sort of tent out of our macs.
[photo Fore Street Chard]
Saturday 4th August 1900
Mums, Ethel and I spent another splendid day at Seaton. The
weather keeping fine although it looked very doubtful at the start. First
of all we walked to Chard Junction, then on arriving at Seaton we walked
to Beer, a quaint little fishing
village between the high cliffs, the place looked clean enough,
but the salt water seemed to smell very strong, or something else and we
were glad to hire a rowing boat, and so got back to Seaton. On the way
round we passed the ‘white cliff’ which looked imposing from our small
rowing boat. It certainly is a very fine cliff and wants a bit of climbing
at places, but the view one gets at the top is well worth all the
exertion. We were landed from the boat, just by the bathing tents, - so we
had an enjoyable swim, then came dinner, and afterwards a walk to Axmouth
Village over the toll bridge. This village was quite a
novelty, as a small stream ran down the principal (and only street that we
could see)
street and when we had walked to the end of it we had a
rest in the way side inn, and then a tramp to the station. Then came the
march home, we were all tired as we had been on the move all day, we
reckon we had done fourteen miles:-
Winsham to Chard Junction
3 miles
Seaton Railway Station to Beer
2 miles
Seaton (bathing place) to Axmouth
2½ miles
Axmouth to Seaton Railway Station
1½ miles
Chard Junction to Winsham
3
miles
Journeys through Seaton & Etc:
2
miles
14
miles
Besides this we had over half an hours swimming.
We had not time to visit the landslip, but secured a photo
instead:
[Photo ]
[Photo ]
[]
Sunday 5th August 1900
I arrived downstairs this morning in a sort of Scotsman’s dress,
and put Aunt Stowers in a ferment when I
went to the front door to answer the postman’s knock - It rained all the
morning and most of the afternoon
but in the evening it cleared up, and having
hired a trap we drove round Leigh Park, and eventually arrived at Chard
Junction - we dug up some fine ferns and we hope they will long live in
their new homes in London.
Rained
all the morning but it cleared up in time, so that we might catch our
train :-Mr. Brooks, Bert and Carrie met us at Waterloo, and so ended our
first summer holiday together, our best thanks to Mums.
_________________________________________________________________
With the aid of the 1901 census it has been possible to establish
the following information.
Note 1.
Aunt Stowers has been identified as Louisa
Stowers, a widow aged 42, living on her own means at 16, Church Street,
Winsham.
Note 2.
‘Tom’ was Tom Ackland, aged 23, the son of
Mrs Mary Swaffield, (54), the widow licensee of the Kings Arms.
Note 3.
Daniel Spencer-The incumbent was Daniel
Spencer aged 61, wife Jane 61, together with their family.
Note 4.
Albert HusseyAt
number 15 Church Street.
Albert Hussey
(56) Boot maker
Frank Hussey (24) son and Boot maker
Ernest Hussey
(22) son and Gardener - not domestic.
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