Here we meet families who found work in chair making, lace making and later as bead workers. We find out about the ups and downs of their home and working lives, where they shopped, gathered fruit, their family meals and much more.
Historian Chris Wedge uncovers stories from his own family history and shares them in ‘Hannah’s Tale’….
One of our CCC Woodlanders’ Lives project volunteers shares her experience.
Straw Plaiting in the Chilterns was an important industry for families but has now been almost forgotten.
Andy Dean, one of our Woodlanders volunteers, has found all kinds of treasures in his private archives, including this account of bodgers’ lives and work written by his grandmother, Alice Dean who became the family historian. Alice starts by describing watching her father-in-law, Richard Dean, working his pole lathe.
In the corner of an outhouse would be a copper. The washing was passed through a mangle, and on wet days, wet washing would hang everywhere around the cottage. The copper was also used to boil puddings, such as the local favourite, bacon badger.
