Buckden - a Huntingdonshire Village

66 probably on Perry Road itself. The farm was sold for £3,000 in 1887. Shooters Hollow Farm , Perry Road , lies to the west of Shooters Hill Farm, and was at one time known as Darlow’s Farm, after its occupier. shops. The row of shops at Hunts End (q.v.) is a rather neglected example of the architecture of the 1960s. It was built on the site of a farmstead and barns, including a tithe barn. The fire hooks from the latter are now kept in the shop - once a barn - between the George Hotel and the Vine. Although architecturally unexciting, the usefulness of the four shops and flats cannot be denied. Starting from the left-hand side, it is understood that the first shop has always been a grocers and general store, though the whole- saler to which the owners have adhered has changed from time to time. Londis, Spar, DayToday, and Premier, are four. From the spring 0f 2006 until 2009, the Premier mini-market incorporated a pharmacy, Buckden’s first apart from dispensaries in doctor’s surgeries. The second shop has been taken by a number of traders including a hairdresser, a haberdasher and a kitchen installer. In 1992 it became a greengrocery, Top Banana, which was declared best independent retailer in the Huntingdonshire Food and Drink Awards 2008. The third is run as a Chinese takeaway, Sunflower House. The fourth, Knit-Knax, was a newspaper, sweets and stationery store until late in 2009 when it was replaced by the pharmacy. Short Lane connects Taylors Lane and Hardwick Lane; the name is not often used today, and the road is officially regarded as part of Hardwick Lane. Silver Street, great fire of: see under fires and fire- fighting equipment Slate Club. A group of people who agree to contribute to a common fund to be used for a specific purpose, such as saving for Christmas or providing small sickness or unemployment payments. One such club was started in the Lion Hotel in January 1909. Members subscribing 3d a week were to be eligible for a 6s weekly sick allowance. Mr William Wills (q.v.), bootmaker and sexton, was appointed secretary; he died a few weeks later. Slippery Road Surfaces Committee. In December 1919, the Minister of Transport asked the Society of County Surveyors to investigate complaints received from horse owners and users that their animals could not keep their footing on the new ‘scientific’ surfaces designed primarily for motor vehicles. The Society set up the Committee, which also had members co-opted from organizations such as the NFU, the RSPCA and road haulage groups. It was probably inevitable that fourteen months and fourteen meetings later, the committee admitted that it saw no way of finding a surface suitable for both classes of road user, and was therefore concentrating on trying to find an improved ‘foot-pad’ to replace horseshoes. This ‘solution’ did not go down well with farmers and other horse users, who found themselves paying for the upkeep of roads that were no longer safe for them to use. Among them was Buckden’s Frederick Pond, who was brought up before the St Neots magistrates for refusing to pay his rates: he claimed that he could no longer earn a living as a carter. The magistrates (horsemen all) were deeply sympathetic, but explained that they could not let him off (but they did waive the court fee). small, but clean see Russell, Lord John and Wesley, Rev. John. Smith, Francis James ( b. 1858) was a professor of music (i.e., music teacher) who became a butcher in Buckden. Frank J. Smith, as he was more often known, was the eldest son in the large family of master butcher James Smith, whose shop in Huntingdon (now a bookmakers) was on the corner of George Street and the High Street. Frank was taught music by Thomas Embury, Chelsea pensioner turned bandmaster of the Hunts Militia, and by 1881 was himself teaching music in Folkestone. Asthma forced him to retire to Buckden and the family trade: his butcher’s shop was on the Church Street/High Street corner of the Lion Hotel. In October 1890, he founded the Buckden Village Band, helping its members with loans to buy their instruments and uniforms. In 1893 he was elected secretary of the new Buckden and Diddington Horticultural Society (bands and flower shows went together in those days). However, by 1894 he had again exchanged butchery for music, becoming a piano tuner, and by 1901 he had left Buckden to become a professional bandmaster in London. Alfred Brown (and later his widow, Emma) succeeded him in the shop. See also Brass Band, Buckden . Smith, J. W. (1869-1950). Mr Smith took over the business of Buckden builders George Page and Son in about 1929. He and his family lived in Montague House on the corner of Hunts End Green. He had four small yards around the village. The office and one yard with a carpenters shop were on the site now occupied by 63 Church Street; Mr Peacock, who was Smith’s clerk, lived next door at No. 61. A joiners’ shop and yard stood where Hunts End Court now stands. The other two yards were in Silver Street and behind the village school. Like the Pages, Mr Smith was an undertaker as well as a builder. This was often the case with builders in villages and small country towns, since they were usually the main employers of the local carpenters, who would be responsible for making coffins, sometimes in an evening. As a boy in Buckden, Horace Haynes remembers seeing Sherwood House High Street