Roots go deep!

Photo: Lisbeth Taylorson.

Bridges hold a special fascination for a lot of people. The Romans of course excelled at them. Rivers were a major obstacle to primarily the movement of troops but the state as it developed post-Roman demanded communication and commerce that made bridges essential. Apart from primitive clapper bridges that can still be found in remote locations, only the arch - until modern times - served the purpose. Of course the best arch makers were the masons who worked for the church. The bridge at Stanton Drew is perhaps the best example of this with its ribbed structure and as a result received a much more sympathetic renovation after the flood. Woollard Bridge was less fortunate and was sadly destroyed in an act of municipal vandalism. Pensford's old bridge in contrast is a rather humble affair of two buttresses and three arches that has been repaired over the centuries with some older than the others. However it retains a certain charm and social significance not applicable to others on the Chew, insofar as it was always seen and experienced as the 'heart' of the village. The older inhabitants used it as a meeting place where local news was exchanged, whilst staring into the watery depths beneath. Generations carved their names into the coping stones as an indelible memorial of their passing. Fortunately it remains and scores of people still lean over its parapet - despite its failings - to gaze in wonder at a vista of arches spanning time and those that have crossed before.

Photo Dom Lowe. Home of John Locke, Acker Bilk and me. LOL.

Photo: Dom Lowe

Oh and some of the other facade of the mill!

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Notice the asymmetrical roof line.

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There is a bit of a mysterious cutting at the end of the 'Maranatha' garden as if the river filled it. Could it have been used to keep a 'barge' at some time?

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The outbuildings to Mill House can be clearly seen and the privet hedge which ran either side of the path which I remember well. It led to the double privy.

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What is now Paul Hunt's house was my grandfather's vegetable patch, important to keep a large family fed.

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A shortcut footpath to the station, mainly for workmen, existed to the left of Viaduct House that avoided the long slog up Pensford Hill.

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Flag pole on the church tower rather than the cockerel. The river can be seen miandering its way to Publow in the distance.

Tim Veater

NeilandJanet Kay Yes it came from Dom Lowe's collection of postcards. It was taken from the 'siding' adjacent to Guys Farm where we used to toboggan if the snow settled. It was a exhilarating ride! It's fun trying to date these early images and spotting all the changes. From the evidence of the school (after the first but before the second buildings) it must have been taken sometime between 1906 and 1915 (I think) Of course the cottage on the right was where I grew up and the group of buildings to the left of the church was where my grandparents lived from about 1900 onwards until they were demolished in 1968. Interestingly the 1885 OS map marks it as 'The Vicarage', a little realised fact in the village I believe. See: https://beta.bathnes.gov.uk/.../2020-01/pensford_ca_v3.pdf

Enjoyed your trip down memory lane Ros. We all have them and seem to spend more time going down them as we get older. My Sundays as a child were rather 'straight laced' and starchy affairs, though not without their humour and highlights. It was best clothes day and THREE(!) Gospel Hall services that could be very tedious surrounded by adults. I envied Steve Perry who was a Choirboy, whose religious obligations appeared much less strict and more relaxed. For him Sunday was a normal day of freedom; for me play was restricted and centred on religious observance that I took a long time to break free from. It had its advantages in routines and meeting largely the same group of people every week, who became a sort of extended family. With God on our side, who could be against us? (Irony but partly true in mind at least) Growing up in the world, you discovered it wasn't always quite so protected or secure. Innocent until proven guilty in later life, those memories become more distant by the day. Stanton Drew Lane each Sunday used to fill with characters and their lives, held together by common belief and faith, now only reappears to an ever diminishing select few, in 'Memory Lane', though I guess on misty days, their spirits might still wander beneath the echoing arches of the viaduct.

Jane with her grandad in the doorway of the butchers' shop (Image: Jane Flower)

Pensford's River Chew (Image: Bath Live)

In July 1813 James HARFORD of Chew Magna sold the houses and property standing on the site now occupied by Nelson House to Thomas SMITH the Elder. The property consisted of dwelling houses, gardens and stables on an area of one rood and ten perches with tenements in the occupation of Mathew Jacob WATTS and Monty HARVEY, Thomas SMITH the Elder, Thomas SMITH the Younger, Jacob SAYS and Richard BATH. The leashold of the land was purchased at the same time from Charles KOMOYO of Haldwell House, Somerset. The total purchase price is not clear but it was probably in the range of one hundred and fifty pounds; one house was sold immediately to John HAZLE of Poblow. (Taken from notes on Nelson House, Pensford, researched by an owner.)