Thursday, 18 June 2020

OLD PHOTOS OF OLD MERROW STREET



It's always fun finding old photos. This is of the house next door to us Pound Cottage in Old Merrow Street, Merrow. It was used as a laundry for many years and here are the laundry women with a group of children.
The front porch of our house 1 Orange Cottages can be seen to the right of pound Cottage.



This is another photo of Pound Cottage. Note the Pound has a porch built out at the front. You can just see the roof tops of our house next door. How things have changed, these days the field opposite is built up and the land behind the big tree on the right and the land beyond the houses is now woodland. 



This is the side view of Pound Cottage. This predates the previous photo it hasn't got the front Porch or the larger rear extension.
In the garden about where the photographer was standing was the local pound, where animals found on the common would be impounded.



This is small scale copy of an old map that used to belong to Lesley Carne of Gateside cottage it was given to him and was one of a pair of maps belonging to the Thrupp Estate.
The Thrupp estate owned most of the houses farms and land along Merrow Street .
The map is dated 1878 and was before the railway was built across the top of where the map stops.






Thirty years ago I borrowed the two maps and made a tracing of one that had names of occupants of some of the houses, it had been a sort of working map of the estate.
The above is a small part of my copy showing the Day family lived in our house 1 Orange Cottages. Next door at Pound Cottage known then as the Laundry was Mrs Clare. This was confirmed by elderly neighbours.

It looks like Sampsons Gardeners lived at 2 Gateside Cottages, Mrs Papitos at 1 Gateside Cottages, and Ernie - who works on the roads at possibly 2 Orange Cottages. This is not verified and the writing was faded on the original as well as my copy.

These two lovely maps were given to Guildford museum where they are held in their archives. The small copy of the maps shown above was purchased from the museum.


From information on Ancestry.

Benjamin Ernest Day born 21 mar 1866 Merrow married Annie Reffold 14 Jan 1888 died 2 Sep 1905 buried St John Merrow 7 Sep 1905 cause of death TB & Nepgritis

 

Annie born 9 Aug 1867 Hambledon Witley Surrey married 1888 died 23 Mar 1951 Merrow buried St Johns Merrow

 

They had 11 children 







Benjamin Ernest Day


From Left Gladys Edith Day Clarke, Sarah CarneSpong, Cecely Day, Annie Reffold Day.






From 1901 census 



From 1911 census



Above is from 1939 when Lesley Carne having married Dorothy Day lived in our house. He then moved to 2 Gateside cottages and had a daughter Sarah.

It was my privileged to have know Lesley over his last few years. His wife Dorothy had died and not long before we moved to 1 Orange Cottages he married again to Christina.  They were such lovely neighbours.

How lovely to get to know a little bit more about the history of the family who shared our house before us.




An earlier post of houses in Merrow Street and Old Merrow street can be found
https://joanne-orangecottages.blogspot.com/2009/10/merrow.html

This is an earlier post down the track on the left just beyond this group of houses 


And a further post showing the same houses in the snow as well as a walk down the track through the woods.
https://joanne-orangecottages.blogspot.com/2009/02/snow.html 

Saturday, 13 June 2020

OVER THE GARDEN WALL



The front garden is being very much admired by the numerous walkers out on their daily walks during lockdown. The Cornus Kousa Chinensis by the gate has caused many questions so Mike  added a name card to the tree.



I can't count the number of people I see bending over the wall to smell the roses. In the centre is Gertrude Jekyll which is such a lovely rose replacing one I lost during a drought Charles Rennie Mackintosh. On the right is Jayne Austin




This was Charles Rennie Mackintosh a few years ago so Gertrude Jekyll has a lot to live up to.



A close up of Jayne Austin.




Years ago I grew Sanders White rose along this fence in the back garden, it was amazing for several years until I lost it to drought.




This was the other side of the fence. I had taken cuttings successfully as you can often do with ramblers so all was not lost




This is one of those cuttings today.




This is the area today where I grew the Sanders White the other side of the fence has another rambling rose Crimson Shower which isn't in flower just yet this year.




On another wall we grew Veilchenblau a lovely rambler very distinctive for it's mauve and white flecked flowers always commented on by visitors to my garden. Sadly this also succumbed to drought although my daughter has a wonderful specimen grown from a cutting so I could always start it off again. But I decided to have a change and planted several other roses one a cutting my granddaughter grew from a large shrub rose in their garden and David Austin Albrighton.




Today a cutting of Sanders White given to my neighbour grows from over the garden wall and I enjoy this lovely view. Albrighton is hidden a little on the left of the photo behind a hebe.



This is Blush Rambler a foil to the vegetable garden or is it the rose garden?

I am so lucky to have some lovely walls and fences to grow my 18 ramblers and climbers along which make such special gardens within the garden. A big thank you to Mike who added trellis to the low walls and fencing between the different levels of the garden, not for the roses I might add, but to contain the dogs who have shared their lives with us. 

Wednesday, 10 June 2020

JUNE JOYS AND SAVING BOX


Glorious June in the vegetable rose garden.


Delphiniums flowering nicely. All grown from seed and doing well over many years.


Up close and personal.


Joined by a clematis


Vying for space with a rose the story of my garden.


My love for Delphiniums started when I had an allotment in Merrow over 30 years ago. Next to my plot was Mr Hancock who grew prize Delphiniums on half a plot and Pinks on the other half.
Delphinium spires of delight made me think of reaching to heaven as I toiled my heavy clay plot of vegetables. One year when a late frost wiped out many delphinium plants at Wisley Mr Hancock was approached to help re stock so the story goes.
In my garden I save this small bed for growing Delphiniums all started from seed years ago. I have grown more and put in the beds but it is so difficult to tend them and they soon disappear. They are better in their own bed for ease of tending them as well as a better visual display and without the rose but I haven't the heart to sacrifice the rose Sanders White.


This is blush rambler with Rosa Mundi below and Carnaby clematis to the left.


Rambling Rector pink Cornelia and Pink Fantasy Clematis


Cornelia with cat mint Six Hills which is lovely in these box beds.


A better photo of Rosa Mundi a cutting from Dad's garden years ago. Dad died last week at aged 99. He encouraged my love of gardening by example as a young person and we enjoyed a friendly competition of our rose and clematis collections .


Charles de Mills another cutting from Dad's garden.


Sweet Juliet doing well this year with the most delightful perfume.


Mayor of Casterbridge

Thanks to Twitter I came a cross a post below, I have just bought some and fingers crossed I am able to save my lovely box - so far I have lost several potted bushes so it is just a matter of time before it works through the garden, if I can't stop it.

Replying to
,
and
Try this in your new garden box: TOPBUXUS XenTari - Against Boxwood Moth Caterpillar - Professional Dosage - Biological - Safe for Bees and Birds - Effective Against Oak Processionary ... I've used it for the first time this year, and so far so good!