High Street

Looking Eastward up the High Street with Lacey's Farm on the right

Lavendon School

Kelly’s Directory of 1899 tells us that the school was built in 1875 in two parts. The Infants school was built for 64 children, but had an average attendance of 48; Miss Annie L Kitchener was then the Mistress. The other Mixed school was for 112 children with an average attendance of 62; Samuel Freestone was the Master. On 29^th September 1894 a School Board was formed with the Rev George Pochin Soames acting as the Clerk to the Board. By 1907 Miss Stevenson and William Barnard were the Mistress and Master with an average school attendance of 46 and 95 respectively.

Lacey’s Farm is shown on the right hand side of this view looking eastwards along the High Street and Bedford Road. The farmstead was opposite the Bell House property and the Green Man public house on the left. The sign board for the latter is just visible, together with the narrow public entranceway. There is a noticeable absence, or indeed need for, the public car park with which we are familiar today and which has replaced the area behind the stone walling on the left.

Lacey’s Farm was a casualty of the Council road widening scheme which took place in the late 1950s. The ivy clad building was a brick-built extension to the much earlier timber and thatched farmhouse, the eaves of which are just visible by the roadside beyond the extension. In the distance are the so-called railway cottages near the turn into the Harrold Road.

Hit or Miss

An early view of the Green Man, probably around the 1890s when it was then known as the “Hit or Miss” public house.

School Master
Samuel Freestone

In 1891 Sam Freestone

(affectionately known as Daddy Freestone), Master of Lavendon School, was then aged 35 and living in ‘Rose Villa’, Castle Road, together with his wife Annie and six children. By 1901 they had another daughter and were all living at ‘Fairview’ in Northampton Road.

The Green Man Public House

The Green Man is currently Grade II listed and dates from the 17^th century. There is a doorway with a lintel bearing the inscription "IF WR 1678." The Green Man has not always been known by that name: in 1851 Thomas Watts is shown in the census records as being the Victualler at the Green Man. However, by 1876 when John Covington was the publican, Harrods directory tells us that the public house was known as “The Sportsman”. Presumably this name did not find much favour amongst the customers because a few years later, the 1881 census shows John Covington to be once more the Brewer/Publican of the Green Man. Interestingly, by the time of the next census of 1891 the name had changed yet again, this time to be the “Hit or Miss Inn” with William T Elliott shown as the Licensed Victualler and Brewer. By 1901 the name had reverted once again to be the Green Man, with Albert Jeyes shown as the Publican.

An Early View of Harrold Road Junction This view looks towards the Harrold Road junction from the Bedford Road and is very different from the present day scene. The dwellings on the left were known as Brooke’s Cottages. They were positioned in front of the modern-day cottages that are opposite the Harrold Road entrance. These dwellings and the stone walling on the left were demolished in the 1930s, one of the earliest casualties of progressive village road widening schemes. They were originally owned by the Davis family. Frank Lay agreed to do the demolition work provided he could retain all the resulting materials.

Cottages Opposite Harrold Road

These cottages are a familiar sight facing those travelling from the Harrold Road opposite its junction with the High Street. However before the High Street widening in the 1930s they would have been partly obscured by Brooke’s Cottages that protruded nearer to the roadside before their demolition, see notes above. There were originally three cottages and it is believed that they formerly belonged to the Farrar Estate. John Panter’s father was born in one of these cottages in 1901.

The Pump House and Railway Cottages (+ reverse of card)

The cottages shown in this view are to be found at the top of the High Street just before the junction with Harrold Road. Interestingly, the reverse of the postcard also shown here was published by Cotton & Bamford of Lavendon, as were several other picture postcards of the time. Elizabeth Bamford was the Lavendon Post Mistress and a Shopkeeper at the time of the 1901 census. Elizabeth lived with her family in Olney Road where the Post Office was formerly located. Reuben Cotton, a Boot Salesman, and his family lived in what today is known as the Pump House which is pictured in the foreground of the postcard.

At one time the Pump House used to be a modest shoe factory operated by Reuben and his three sons, including Bernard and Joe Cotton. It was one cottage originally but an additional extension was built on the end in which a Mrs Woods used to live; she kept the nearby Green Man public house. In more recent years the cottage belonged to Mr Bowyer who sold off some of the adjoining ground for about £12,000, and this became the present Lavendon playing field.

Looking Westward down the High Street with Lacey's Farmhouse on the left

The original farmhouse associated with Lacey’s Farm is clearly visible on the left hand side of this view. The 1801 Enclosure map for the village shows the adjoining land to belong to the Assignees of one Charles Lacey. The farmhouse, together with the extension immediately beyond, was demolished in the late 1950s as part of a road-widening scheme.

John Panter recalls that as a youngster he used to go to the farmhouse on a Sunday morning and buy cracked eggs there because they were cheaper than perfect eggs! He also remembers that when the farmhouse was demolished, the rotten thatch was collected and removed to the allotments near Langlands. He had the long and unenviable task of digging in the thatch to help make good the ground.

The Green Man public House frontage is visible on the opposite side of the road. In this later view the walling that formerly fronted the Green Man (see the alternative view of Lacey Farm looking east) has been removed, perhaps to allow for the new fashion of public car parking.

This photograph of the Horseshoe Public House is believed to have been taken in the 1920s and comes from the Charles Wells collection in the Bedford Archives. The Licensee at the time was George Hall who can just be seen peering out of the cellar opening, waist upwards, in the centre of the view. George looked after the Horseshoe from at least 1901 when he is shown in the census as the Licensee living together with his wife Harriet and daughter Mabel Alice, then aged 5 years. George appears in all trade directories 1903 through to 1931. His successor, George Towns, appears in the 1935 trade directory.