This early view of Northampton Road again shows just how narrow the road was prior to the 1948 road widening. The house on the left undergoing re-decoration belonged to Mr Fred Ingram who was a bootmaker and salesman. His workshop was the next single-storey building beyond the ladders. Above that is the ‘1690 House’ in which Fred Ingram’s mother lived. For a portrait of Fred Ingram, see the ‘Village Life’ web page.
on a Quiet Day
This scene shows the narrow state of Northampton Road as it existed, well before circa 1948 when road widening took place. On the immediate left is the former butcher’s shop that belonged to Thomas William Fielden at the time of the 1901 census, when he was then age 32. He had the shop at least until 1931 according to Kelly’s Trade Directory. Thomas, or Tommy as he was more popularly known, was an apprenticed butcher who came to Lavendon from Redcar in Yorkshire. By 1935 Edgar Lay had taken over the shop which he kept until the 1970s. This photo might well have been taken at the time of changeover in the mid-1930s given the somewhat desolate look about the shop.
The Harley family owned and ran a thriving ‘jack of all trades’ business in Lavendon. William Harley had this shop near the top of Northampton Road and the family also farmed at Rectory Farm where they kept horses, said to be well looked-after, which were used for ploughing. The horses were also hired out to assist with haulage and were used for example to erect electricity poles for the electricity company when power came to the village.
As well as their general store, the Harley family made and sold butter and meat, and they kept pigs in sties behind the house. They were very enterprising: for example, when a couple were getting married they could go and choose their furniture etc from shops in Northampton or Bedford and the Harleys would collect and pay for the items, in turn allowing the couple to pay them back on a weekly basis. The Harleys were also landlords within the village and left money in trust to the village church, still providing a modest annual income.
On 26th October 1936 towards the end of their journey to London, the marchers rested temporarily at Lavendon and a field kitchen was set up assisted by villagers.
There is a plaque set into the Church Yard wall of St Michael’s Church commemorating the march.
A few doors up from Fred Ingram’s house (see previous view) was Harley’s Shop visible in the far right of this view. The Harley family were listed as shopkeepers and farmers in the trade directories between 1887 and 1939, and they continued in business after WW2 as well.
