Sunday School Outings

Many thanks to the reader who sent us this delightful picture and told us about St Mary’s Sunday School outing in 1951. “The biggest treat was the outing. The destination was Wicksteed Park. We travelled by Patch’s bus service assembling in St George’s Square. Once there we could do as we pleased, but were to meet by the tea-rooms promptly at 3.30pm. If we had some money, we could embark on the train ride, which went all round the park. Mostly we went on the swings and the slides.” Fifty years earlier, South Luffenham Sunday School travelled by train to Yarmouth and outings went on for 24hrs! “Rev’d Shaw used to start out with men, women and children at 4a.m. from the railway station, spend a day at the seaside and return at 4a.m. the next day. They sang songs all the way there and back, bathed, paddled and went on the switchback or in row boats the whole day long.”

Local Olympic Athlete

There has been at least one other local Olympic medal winner besides the Marquis of Exeter. Frederick Newton Hibbins, born March 12th 1890 was a member of the local family of stonemasons. He worked for Ernest Ireson, also a keen runner, and they trained together. Hibbins competed in the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm and with Ernest Glover and Thomas Humphries won a bronze medal in the Cross Country Team Race.

One of my ancestors attended Mr Parr’s School in Stamford. Can you tel me anything about it?

Stamford was well served by private schools in the 19th century. Pigot & Co’s Directory of 1828-9 lists 4 Day Schools and 7 Boarding Schools, 3 of which were for ‘ladies’. In addition there were a number of teachers of music, singing, dancing and drawing. Mr Parr’s School was a boarding and day school for boys based at No 13 St Paul’s Street. According to later advertisements it was founded in 1821. At the time of the 1841 census John Parr was in his forties, married with 5 daughters and 2 sons aged between 10 months and 16 years. There were 40 boys aged between 7 and 15 years boarding at the school and four young teachers aged 18 to 20 years. Sixty years later Arthur Houldsworth was running the school and only had 11 boarders, most of them from surrounding counties but one of whom was born in Australia. He probably had day pupils as well. In the early years of the 20th century he moved the school to 32 & 33 High Street. (Going Places)

Stamford Characters - Blondin the Watercress Seller

EM has sent this wonderful account. “In the 1930s Blondin cycled round the town with bunches of watercress tied to his handlebars and crossbar. His cry of ‘Watercress - two pence a bunch’ could be heard long before he appeared. Many people were cautious buyers as it was said that the watercress came from King’s Mill Dyke where Blondin gathered it, ignoring Roberts’ cows drinking upstream. Once he called at our house and congratulated my mother on her fine show of Michaelmas daisies. He said that they were his late wife’s favourite flower and could he have a small bunch to lie on her grave. Told to help himself and left in the garden, within a few minutes he had picked two large armfuls, which he tied to his bike. A few minutes later he could be heard calling out. ‘Watercress-Michaelmas Daisies’.”

Did All Saints’ Brewery have its own bottles?

Stamford’s Bakers: thanks for all your memories, this article will appear soon.

Book tokens: to BN for the Sunday School picture and EM for Blondin.