When I last wrote to you we were standing at the corner of Ring Street and Station Road, waiting to turn right into Station Road. We had just passed the wonderful fish-and-chip shop and were wondering what we were going to find down Station Road.
Let’s find out!
Starting at the top of Station Road, on the right-hand side there are two stone-built cottages, one of which was occupied by Mrs Parsons who owned the fish-and-chip shop. I do not remember who lived in the other cottage and wonder if any one of you can remind me?
Next is a narrow lane leading to the back gates of the cottages we passed in Ring Street, then came a piece of open ground followed by the Congregational Church.
Next to the Church were two semi-detached red brick houses with lovely bay windows, I think the houses were Edwardian, certainly the style was found all over the West Country. Their immediate neighbour was a small storage unit owned by Meaders which included a barn and yard, and this was followed by an old stone house attached to a long building known as ‘The Farmhouse’, and of course, the little ‘Well Cottage’. I believe all these houses were owned by the Town Council and leased to their tenants.
Then came a gap before we found ourselves viewing a number of fields at eye level behind a stone wall, fronted by a trough for thirsty horses. The trough is still there, filled with plants and tended lovingly by the Garden Club!
Next was, and still is, a detached bungalow, and we have now reached the corner of Station Road and the brand-new Jarvis Way where sits my house.
Opposite my house, was just an open area waiting to be developed. It was full of builders’ rubble, a static water tank and a food storage unit left over from its use in WW2: all very unsightly! But beyond were the level crossing gates and the railway station and beyond them again were open fields and farms. Rather different now, fifty-something years later!
When I write to you next, we will cross Station Road and begin to walk back up the road to the High Street.
With very best wishes,