Page 7 - Frank Day's memories and Day Family article

used to come out to the White Horse pub, and over the crossing to Easthampstead Road and

through Southlands. On the corner of Southlands and Gypsy Lane lived a Colonel and Mrs
Foreaeth. She was big woman, a very bullying type. Then I went through Gypsy Lane to the

back of Langborough Recreation Group to Longborough Road. Mrs Fox had a sweet shop
there and her son Cyril was a good friend.

Next was Mr Hutings who had a building business and then I went out to Denmark Street.
There were two rows of old cottages there, and all those people were well known in town as

the 'old salt of the area'. Molly Millar's Lane was a little old road and half way down there
was Lawrence's Brick Yard, and the gypsies were always out there in the fields catching

rabbits, which they sold locally for four-pence each. The London Meat Company used to buy

four-hundred/five-hundred every Monday; we had to skin the lot and then they were sold for
six-pence each and the skins were sold to skin merchants for two-pence each, so there was a

fair bit of profit in it.

From Molly Millar's into Barkham Road there was the Tan House and a Mr Wicks lived
there. He had a horse and wagon and sold fruit and veg locally. Woosehill Lane was just a

mud track with only four or five houses, then further on at the top of Woosehill was

Smallman Farm. She was a lovely lady about seventy years old, and she would always give
me a bowl of soup and a cup of tea, and sixpence at Christmas. One could also follow this

lane through to Chestnut Avenue and there was Scott's Farm, where as cubs we used to have
our annual camping outing for a week which we always enjoyed. Mrs Spooner also kept her

aircraft there in a barn. One night there was a big fire in one of the barns and a lot of horses

were killed.

Continuing on my round, I came out of Chestnut Avenue onto the Reading Road and it was
mostly country then. Mrs Thompson had a garage there a little further back than the present

one. I went up through Emmbrook Road, with Mrs Coomes on the left, and Mrs White on

the right just before the bridge then up past the thatched cottage to Common Road with only
about four houses there.

Mrs Barker used to live in the last one and Mrs Jewell in the bungalow. I cycled down to the
Dog and Duck pub and a Mr & Mrs Aldridge, who were lovely people. She ran the pub, but

he had a little pony and trap and cart and was always seen all over the place selling his wares.
I used to love going there. On I went up Matthews Green Road to Knapp's Farm. George,