Compiled By
Mavis Kingdon and Sue Dibble
The idea for this book came after Gerald Wilton spoke of his memories of the people and events of St.Tudy at a Coffee Evening held in the Methodist Sunday Schoolroom in February 1997. His account was printed in the Parish Magazine in July 1997, afterwards followed each month by others willing to share their fascinating reminiscences.
The W.I happily agreed to support the production of these memories into a book as one of their projects for the Millennium. More contributions have been offered, specifically for the book, which is linked to the re-instatement of the Binding Stone – the village project to mark the Millennium.
The contributors vary in age from 89 to 5. The last few chapters have been written by the present generation of children attending the school, whose parents, grandparents and in one case, great grandparents, have made their unique contribution to this book. The forward is written by Vice Admiral Sir Louis and Lady Le Bailly and the very last page is a letter received from one of the village’s newest residents, Mr Eddie George, current Governor of the Bank of England and his wife Vanessa.
|
‘The binding stone was used by the blacksmith to fit an iron tyre or “bond” to wooden wheels. The hub of the wheel was centred on the binding stone and the bond, which had been heated in the forge, was dropped onto the wheel. Then it was cooled with water from the pump, causing it to shrink to a tight fit, thus bonding the wooden wheel together.’ Taken from Gerald Wilton’s memories. |
|
As the people of St.Tudy are the hub of the village, bonded together by the ordinary daily happenings over the past century, we felt the title ‘The Binding Stone’ was most appropriate. We believe that this village is very special in having such large numbers of families whose forebears lived here in the last century.
A large number of photographs were offered to illustrate the articles, and these have proved to be both fascinating and informative, showing the changes that have occurred over the years. There are over 150 in the book.
The stories told give us a very clear idea of what life was like before cars, electricity, mains water etc. became part of our everyday life. Cooking and laundry used to take all day and farm work was much more labour intensive than it is today. Childhood pleasures were so simple, homemade trollies and iron hoops were popular playthings and quite safe to use in streets uncluttered by cars. There are tales from the Second World War and a very amusing account written by Ernie Roff who was an evacuee to the village when he was only seven years old; he still keeps in touch with his surrogate ‘Mum’.
On the 12th May 2000 we had a book launch in the very schoolroom where this all started, attended by many of the contributors, other villagers, the local press and most welcome was the aforementioned Mr. Ernie Roff who made a special journey from his home in Hertfordshire. At this launch we were able to announce that we have received a grant of £1000, towards the £3000 printing costs, from the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Rural Development Programme
As the Queen is opening the Royal Cornwall Show in Wadebridge this year it was decided to send Her Majesty a copy of the book. This was done and we received an immediate reply from Buckingham Palace.
This book is not only informative and amusing, we think it is a piece of local history which would otherwise have been lost. The local school is going to use it as the basis of a promenade performance in the village in July of this year. The books are now for sale in St.Tudy Post Office & Stores, the Cornish Arms public house and Bricknells in Wadebridge and Bodmin, priced at a very reasonable £5.99.
The Binding Stone
One of the millennium projects in St. Tudy was to re-instate the binding stone which was used at the St. Tudy forge in the days when wooden cartwheels needed metal rims. On January 1st 2000 the stone and a slate plaque, describing how the wheels were ‘bonded’, were duly ‘unveiled’ outside the forge. The title of our book was chosen as the people of St. Tudy are the ‘hub’ of the village, ‘bonded’ together by the ordinary happenings of daily life.
