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This article written by Jackie Rickenberg was published in the Parish Magazine in February 2023. See also Vicars of Thursley. Revd Mathews with a parishioner It is with a heavy heart I heard this week of the untimely passing of Peter Muir, until recently, the vicar of St Michael’s and All Angels, Thursley. Peter had been an enthusiastic supporter of Thursley History Society and even in this last year or so since retiring to Cyprus, with his indomitable wife Angela, he maintained close links with us. On a personal note, Peter married my husband and me, some years back and I have very fond memories of his wisdom and guidance during this time. Rest in Peace Peter. I’m sure Peter’s almost four decades of living in Yew Cottage in the village, will be chronicled for posterity, but until then it reminded me of the memoir of Ken Mathews, a previous vicar of Thursley, which was compiled by John Fforde in 1996. “The Rev. Arthur Kenneth Mathews OBE, DSC, was of the generation that had only just completed its preparations for a career and taken up its first appointments when the Second World War intervened. Then came the naval life, best described by extracts from the obituary in the Daily Telegraph of 4th January 1993. Rev Kenneth Mathews was one of the Royal Navy’s most distinguished wartime chaplains. He joined the RNVR in 1939 and spent the rest of the war on the County Class cruiser Norfolk, a busy ship on the Northern patrol and then in the South Atlantic. “It would be impossible”, the captain of Norfolk later wrote, “to exaggerate Ken Mathew’s influence on Norfolk. His value in the ship was certainly greater than that of any other officer. He made her the happiest ship I have ever known. He was loved by every man on board, and it is largely his influence that has kept the Norfolk spirit alive ever since”. “ He had an admirable naval record, resulting in him being appointed OBE in 1942 and then DSC soon after, so becoming one of the few service chaplains to be twice decorated. After an influential career in the Church, he chose to return to the work of parish priest in which his pastoral gifts had free rein. And so, Ken and his wife, Betsy, came to Thursley in 1968. In the Parish Magazine for February 1993, thirty years ago exactly, Michael O’Brien and Robert Crawfurd record the following memories: “We remember him as Vicar of Thursley from 1968 until his retirement in 1976. For Thursley they were eight splendid years. Ken quickly made his mark on our community as a man of outstanding personality. He loved and understood people: understood their eccentricities, their joys, their sorrows. Just as in the Navy, he had won the hearts and minds of the men in his care as Chaplain on board HMS Norfolk so, in the less hazardous days of his peacetime ministries, the same magic was quickly evident to his parishioners. His desire to draw a community together, in the same way as earlier he had drawn his ship’s company together, resulted in the foundation in 1972 of our annual Harvest Supper in the Village Hall – an event that quickly proved popular with everyone and had continued, until recent events, without a break ever since. A series of winter lectures in the hall started under his direction and he also encouraged the formation of the Thursley Over 60’s club. He came to us from Peebles, in the Scottish Borders, where walking in the country is a popular recreation. He immediately reinstituted the Rogation Walk around the entire parish, including Bowl Head Green, blessing the farms along the way. He outwalked most of his new parishioners by completing the whole seventeen miles himself, and then presiding at Rogation Evensong in the Church. He always encouraged the young to come on their ponies if they wished, and always had a large following. Walking his dog in the village he was a popular friend to meet. Ken’s ministry in Thursley was marked by his untiring efforts to help all in need, to which end he would go to almost any lengths and be quite unsparing himself. Both he and Betsy were lovers of classical music and supported enthusiastically any musical events in the parish. When he left us, we all felt the loss of a truly Godly priest and valued friend. In 1976 they retired to a house in a valley near Burford, to the restoration of which they had given much thought. The Tallat, Westwell, became a place of pilgrimage for their many friends. Betsy died in 1981. In 1987 Ken married Diana Goschen and they lived happily at The Tallat until Ken’s peaceful death in his 87th year in December 1992”. The Institution of The Reverend Arthur Kenneth Mathews: The pdf of the Order of Service shows a heavily annotated version: Undated obituary from The Times https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Mathews

Thursley History Society organised a visit to the museum in November 2024 Sukey Langdale writes, "12 Thursley residents (including some from Pitch Place and Bowlhead Green) met in Southsea over coffee and then moved to the Landing Craft Tank 7074, the last survivor of this type.  It took 10 tanks to Gold Beach on June 7th 1944. It had two tanks on board for us to look at.  Then we were let loose in the museum to view whatever we liked at our own pace and it was truly fascinating.  The shop had bits and pieces to buy including very interesting books about D-Day.   Then we finished by looking at the Overloard Embroidery, finished in 1974.  It is 83 meters long, with incredible detail and colour .   To cap it all we then had a very good fish and chips lunch, sitting outside on the “front” at Southsea in glorious sunshine.   What a day!" From L to R: Tom Grillo, Sue Ranson; Peter Hunter, Jackie Rickenberg, David Young, Tricia Horwood, Pat Clake, Lizzie Young, Sukey Langdale, Jerry Horwood, Sally Scheffers, Peter Clacke These are just a few examples of exhibits both outside and inside the museum A scale model of the Atlantic Wall The 83 metre, 33 panel Overlord Emroidery is worth the visit for that alone. How good to end the tour with some fine Fish & Chips!

This delightfully named cottage was probably built between 1730-50. It was known as Pit Dairy before being renamed as Gnome Cottage by the National Trust. © Copyright Colin Smith It is a two-storey stone cottage with a half-hipped roof. It is thought to have been a farm and we have seen an old photo showing it as "Punchbowl Dairy Farm". The outlying farm buildings were demolished many years ago. The cottage has a large hearth and it has several early Georgian features, such as the brick in the quoins and in the jambs of the windows. It is a wonderful place to live. We moved into Gnome Cottage in 1991. Andrew works for the National Trust as Head Warden for Hindhead commons and I am an Infant Teacher. Andrew moved to the area in 1988 from Whitley Bay in Northumberland and I am originally from Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire. We were married in Thursley Church on the 31st July 1993. Jilly Storey, 1996 Jilly and Andrew Storey, 1996

By Judy Hewins, Marchants Hill Rural Centre, 1979, with notes by Sean Edwards and an article by Jackie Rickenberg which was published in the Parish Magazine in June 2024 On 10th April 2013, Sean Edwards of The Street, edited and published a document originally produced in 1979 as a teaching resource, written by Judy Hewins from Marchant’s Hill Rural Life Centre. It was entitled “Village Study Notes – Thursley”. It contains a well collated account of Thursley village, plus much original research that should be available to a much wider audience. I have included some excerpts of it here: 1.    “FUNCTION b) Original Function: The settlement dates from Saxon times. It developed as a farming community and would have needed to be self-sufficient, therefore the availability of the following resources influenced the location of Thursley: Water, light soil which is easy to cultivate, fuel from the surrounding wood, rough grazing for the animals and building materials for houses were all important. c) Increased Importance: Later Thursley increased in influence with the development of another function, the iron industry, with locally available raw materials. This brought employment and wealth to the village. d) Function Today: Now, however, these original reasons for existence have been lost. Thursley is a residential village with high property prices. It assumed this new function with the greater wealth, mobility and leisure time of its changing population. Thursley is a very charming place to live, but within easy commuting distance of the nearby towns and even London. Farming is still seen, but not as the prime function of the village. The farms are dispersed around the village. 2. POPULATION AND ADMINSTRATION The information given about the population of Thursley has been taken from the 1971 census. The total population of the civil parish was 630 people. a) Parish Council: An act of 1894 introduced Parish Councils to organise Village affairs. Thursley’s first Parish Council met on June 2nd 1895. Today it serves as a voice of the local people and retains the power to make bye-laws. It has 7 elected members, who serve for a 4-year term and a paid part-time clerk. They meet every five or six weeks and their main business is to maintain footpaths, deal with local complaints and discuss planning applications. 3. HISTORY a) Earliest Times: There is evidence that the settlement at Thursley dates from Saxon times. Parts of the village church are known to date from 1030. The name Thursley may be from the Anglo Saxon meaning a clearing or “field” in the forest, where the Gods Thunor and Thur were worshipped. Alternatively, the name may be a personal one associated with a former owner or holder of land - there was an Abbot Thor in 975 A.D. or an archdeacon Thor in 1100. Parishes were originally marked by boundary stones, and the bounds were beaten annually. On Thursley Common there are two boundary stones both known as Thor’s Stone. One beyond Thursley Hammer Pond marking the boundary between Thursley and Pepper Harrow and the other on the margin of Pudmore Pond marking the meeting of three parishes, Elstead, Pepper Harrow and Thursley. Both stones are located in extremely boggy areas, so it is very inadvisable to try and discover their location. d) The Turnpike Age: In the 18th Century many roads were in a very poor condition. The narrow sunken lanes in Thursley were often virtually impassable to wheeled traffic and the main London to Portsmouth Road, which passes near to the village, was a dangerous highway where travellers were often attacked by robbers and cut throats. The poorer people had to walk and tragedy sometimes befell them. Thursley Burial Register contains this entry “January, 4th 1788, Samuel a Sailor found dead upon Hindhead, who perished in the Snow”. Prior to the Turnpike Act of 1753, many laws were passed requiring people to work on the upkeep of their local roads, but there was little improvement. The first metalled road was constructed in Thursley in 1749. In 1753 it was allowed that local trusts could make up roads, each in their own areas and they could then collect tolls from people who used the roads. The Portsmouth Road, near Thursley, thus became a Turnpike Road in 1767 and travel by stage coach became more popular. A milestone still remaining gives the distance to Portsmouth as 33 miles and Hyde Park Corner, 36 miles. The Tithe Map (1846) shows the Commons Roads, including French Lane, Road Lane, Highfield Lane and Rutten Hill Lane. A total of 20 roads in the parish altogether. The Award which accompanies the map, shows the site of the Turnpike Gate and Tollhouse – which was owned by the Trustees of the Turnpike. In 1851 Henry Craft was the Tollgate Keeper. He was 39 years old and lived with his wife, Jane and two children, Mary Ann aged 14 and Henry aged 11, described as a scholar. On census night he had a visitor, Edward Jay, a 31-year-old Agricultural Labourer and also living there was Mary Welland, a 13-year-old girl. Ten years later the Turnpike was in charge of Mrs. Craft, Henry Craft described himself as an Agricultural Labourer, the children had left home and Edward Lyling lodged with them. 4. SERVICES AND AMENITIES a) The Church: Displayed in the Church Porch Enter this door As if the floor Within were gold And every wall Of jewels all Of wealth untold As if a choir in robes of fire Were singing here Nor shout, nor rush But hush . . . . . … For God is here Thursley church is dedicated to St. Michael and All Angels and dates from Saxon Times. The original church was built in 1030 A.D. and is therefore over 900 years old. The Saxon plan was of a nave and a chancel and except for the addition of a South Porch circa 1230, the church remained in this way until major restoration work was begun in 1860.” More to be continued next month. HOWEVER. By the time you read this, we will have had the exciting launch of the Thursley History Society’s new website, which will include a lot of the archives you have read through the years in this magazine, including these study notes. So please do take a peep at: thursleyhistorysociety.org    also Instagram: @thursleyhistorysociety And as we’ve recently enjoyed the Horticultural Society’s Spring Show, I thought it might be interesting to look back on one from seventy years ago. The pdf below is the complete 44 pages of Judy Hewins's Village Study Notes - Thursley 1979:

This book was compiled through the efforts of the Thursley Women’s Institute to commemorate their Jubilee Year, 1965. What different times we live in today! Many of the articles in the book appear under separate headings on the website and can be searched using '1965', the whole text of the book can be downloaded, see below. As President of the Thursley Women’s Institute, I would like to place on record my appreciation of the help afforded by Mrs Sadler (WI) of The Lodge, Thursley, who was responsible for the cover design, and to members of the Thursley Women’s Institute and Thursley village who contributed the following articles.   The delightful copyright photographs are by Miss Megson of Godalming who kindly allowed them to be reproduced and the reproduction was done by Mr Sadler of Thursley   Ursula Dunlop, Pitch Place, Thursley 1965

This article, written by Mary Bennett, first appeared in the Parish Magazine in July 1978 and was published by the History of Thursley Society in a loose-leaf book. THURSLEY IN THE 'TWENTIES When I was a child in the ‘twenties, Miss Aileen Lutyens, Sir Edwin Lutyens’ youngest sister, dominated the Thursley scene. She lived in the large house by the Clump, now Charringtons (the present vicarage stands in what was then her meadow) and looked exactly like her photograph in the village hall - brisk, capable and benevolent. There were close links between her and the Rapleys at Hill Farm, since Mrs.Rapley - already an old lady in my memory - had taught the little Lutyenses before her marriage. Both families were musical and, in retrospect, I think it was rather bold of my mother, as a newcomer, to start a choral society in the face of this entrenched interest. But she did, and all was well; Miss Lutyens’ penetrating alto was safely absorbed into the new choir, which proceeded to do well in a couple of Dorking festivals but did not survive our partial migration to Oxford in 1925. Miss Lutyens was one of those who got Thursley its first Village Hall, the large army hut that stood on the crest of the hill by the ‘Shoes and was to be the scene of all major social events for some forty years; she was also a founder member of the local W.I. I suspect that she had a hand in most of the local events of the time. The School was a real school then, presided over by Mr. Swallow, and beyond the playground where the Thorfield flats now are, was the Vicarage, now Thorcroft. This was then a much larger house (the upper storey was later destroyed by fire) and the garden seemed to me infinitely romantic, with winding paths leading through the belts of trees and shrubs that encircled the two lawns. On one occasion there was a fairy play, in which we dressed up with butter-muslin wings and flitted in and out of the laurels - this must really have been rather awful, but remains magical in my memory. Angela Smith, the Vicar’s daughter, also ran a pack of Brownies, whose meetings were the high spot of my week. We met in the Vicarage stable loft, which meant climbing up one of those ladders that are no more than hand-and-foot-holes against the wall, and stepping sideways off it through the loft door, an adventurous exercise when one’s legs were short. One of the things Brownies had to learn was (oddly enough) how to make a rice pudding. This was impossible for one of us, since her home had no oven, a fact that made a deep impression on me at the time and is a fair measure of the change in standards of living since. Angela Smith must have had a considerable gift with children since she kept a dozen or so little girls from a variety of homes happy and out of mischief on Saturday mornings for some years. Beyond the Vicarage, at Foldsdown, (which they had themselves built) lived the Parkers. Mrs. Parker was very pretty and very fragile - everyone liked and respected her, but she was not strong enough to play as active a part in village affairs as Mr. Parker, to whose drive and devotion Thursley owed the installation of its first district nurse, Nurse Collins. It is hard nowadays to realise that there was a time when the nurse’s salary and expenses were wholly provided from private subscriptions, but so it was, and a very great deal of work was needed to keep the nursing fund solvent and in good order. Of course I did not realise this until much later: I thought of Mr. Parker as a kindly grown-up, with whom my father used to go for walks, and Foldsdown as the scene of very splendid children’s parties at Christmas. My mother’s chief friend in those days was Miss Stevenson, who lived at The Lodge, now the O’Briens. She was a retired headmistress, a formidable and rather fascinating Scot, who still gave violin lessons and was very occasionally persuaded to play at village concerts. Among her pupils was Bob Goble from across the road, soon to join the Dolmetsches at Haslemere and eventually to become the leading English maker of harpsichords. A musician of a very different sort was Mr. Pecskai, who taught at the Royal Academy and played in a well-known London quartet. Hungarian by birth and breeding, though passionately English in sentiment, he looked like a rather stouter Napoleon: my father enjoyed the verve of his conversation and we saw a good deal of him. He and his elderly rather cross-grained accompanist, Miss Lebel, lodged at Heathview, the house now owned by Wendy and Graham Jones, until he suddenly married one of his pupils, when Miss Lebel went off and took lodgings with Mrs. Harbutt in Vine Cottage. Poor Mrs. Harbutt must have had a time of it with my old cousin, Mrs. Woods* in her front room and Miss Lebel in her back - neither old lady at all easy, and the two of them on far from friendly terms. Louis and Bertha Pecskai eventually built themselves Rack Close and they lived in Thursley until his death in the 40’s. But that takes us far beyond the days of these childhood memories of a Thursley that now seems very remote indeed. MARY BENNETT * Margaret L. Woods, a well-known poet and popular novelist at the turn of the century.

Pax Cottage was built in 1500/1550 as a single hall house standing free of the now attached Oak Cottage built in the 17th century, and Shrike Cottage and Rose Cottage were attached in the 18th century. It was purchased by Peter and Leslie Huish on 20th July, 1957 The roof construction has no ridge pole and has rafters attached in pairs supporting the handmade tiled roof which was first thatched with heather. The small sitting room was originally open to the roof void and an open fire on the floor allowed the smoke to escape through a smoke vent now covered by the the tiled roof. Pax Cottage also showing Oak Cottage Timber frame construction in bedroom We have opened the original large fireplace after removing three smaller fireplaces, and exposed the beamed walls and ceilings. The relatively large garden at the rear has been featured in the "Gardeners World" of August 1992 and "Which" magazine and has ironstone paths and patio constructed by Pat and Leslie Huish. We spent two years moving earth to level the garden which sloped downhill in two directionss. The garden includes Himalayan Pine and hybrid Catalpa trees Leslie grew from seed.

The cottage was situated by the stream in Rocky Lane. All that is known is that a William Enticknap was born there in 1880 and his father had a donkey and cart. In 1952 William Enticknap was known to be living in Witley. The cottage was known to be occupied until 1905. This article, written by Jackie Rickenberg, was published in the Parish Magazine in January 2024 Stream Cottage Happy New Year to one and all! 2024 is an exciting and busy time for the Thursley History Society. We are currently in the early stages of organising an event to launch and showcase our new website. It will be relevant to, and hopefully of interest to, every single person that lives in our village and surrounding parish. It will be crammed with photographs and documents relating to the buildings, the people of Thursley and their lives.   In the meantime, if we cast our minds back to the December article, I asked about the location of a photograph featuring two Edwardian ladies standing on a path. Thank you to Sean Edwards, for not only did he recognise the photo, he had re-enacted it with his late wife Salosh and mother, Monica Edwards, exactly one hundred years after the original. The original was from 1897 and Sean’s reconstruction was from 1997. And the location was what we now refer to as The Valley of the Rocks, but in those days was known as Rocky Lane, at the top of Highfield Lane, just before entering The Punchbowl.   Notes, found in the archives but not signed, say:   “Rocky Lane, the BOAT (Byway Open to All Traffic), at the top right-hand side of Highfield Lane, was once an important track, as part of the route from Churt to Witley Station. Now, it is a lovely leafy path (written before off roaders obviously!) down to the stream at the bottom. However, if you look carefully, you may see the outline of a dwelling in the nettles. On the eastern side of the stream there was a cottage, aptly called Stream Cottage, which was inhabited up until about 1905. The Enticknap family lived there, one of the last members to be born in Stream Cottage was William in 1880. He became a bricklayer and lived in Witley. As a child, William remembered riding in his father’s cart pulled by the donkey which also lived at the cottage. William’s mother would go to Hindhead to see her uncle and aunt who kept The Royal Huts (a hostelry), known locally as Hut Inn, and William recalled seeing the local doctor driving his dog cart past on his rounds from Haslemere. Even though Stream Cottage has long gone, we are fortunate to have pictures of the Enticknap home. The first is a very old photograph of Robbie Morgan’s, of two young Edwardian ladies by the stream with a building in the background. However, a watercolour painting (see below) of Stream Cottage by Josiah T Wilson hangs in the Victoria and Albert Museum. On inspection, it seems that the artist has abused his artistic licence somewhat, as the stream seems be on the wrong side of the cottage.”    And another unattributed handwritten note from the archives states:   “The stream leading to Rocky Lane and Ridgeway Farm, which was originally Ridgeway Nurseries, note the shed on the right. In in my grandparents time there used to be a cottage there also.”   Last month’s photo, this time looking up Rocky Lane, still showing Stream Cottage 1897. The same view this time on 1st January 1997,100 years on with Salosh and Monica Edwards, but by now Stream Cottage has disappeared. An earlier view of the bridge c.1860, again looking up towards Little Cowdray.     Rocky Lane, 2009, by Sean Edwards

This small 20 page booklet is available from the Godalming Museum and the Lutyens Trust. It contains a circular car trail that allows you to see about 24 of Lutyens's designs in a fairly compact area. In Thursley it identifies The Corner , Lutyens's first executed work, Street House which was his boyhood home, Prospect Cottage which was formerly the Thursley Institute and Thursley Churchyard where there is a simple cross to his father and a memorial to his nephew killed in the first World War.

There is no obvious connection between John Freeman, the poet, and Thursley, but he is buried in our churchyard. He must have visited the village, liked it and somehow obtained permission to be buried here. His friends, probably the circle of Georgian poets, including Walter de la Mare and Alice Meynell, bought the field next to the churchyard and gave it to the National Trust in his memory. From Allpoetry.com : John Freeman was a poet whose work reflects the asethetic principles of the Georgian era in British literature. This period, which roughly spanned the first two decades of the 20th century, was marked by a renewed interest in traditional forms and a focus on rural life and themes of nature. From A Dictionary of Methodism: Poet and critic, born into a WM family at Dalston, Middx on 29 January 1880. His health was permanently impaired by scarlet fever in early childhood. At 13 he joined the Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society as a junior clerk and spent the rest of his life in its employ, rising to become Secretary and Director in 1927 and a leading figure in the insurance world. He was a  local preacher . But he was more widely known in the literary world, where he contributed to Edward Marsh's  Georgian Poets  anthologies and enjoyed the friendship of such figures as Alice Meynell, Walter de la Mare and J.C. Squire. His friend Edward Thomas called him 'a sort of angel' and Eleanor Farjeon described him as a 'quiet poet ... gentle, with a fine sensitive mind, and qualities which made his plain features lovable.' After Thomas's death, she collaborated with Freeman in seeing Thomas's first volume of poems through the press. His own first book of poems, published in 1909, was followed by several others, marked by his 'grave and quiet rhythms' and including  Stone Trees  (1916) which gained him recognition.  Poems New and Old  (1920) won him the Hawthornden Prize for imaginative literature. His  Collected Poems  appeared in 1928. He wrote on literary matters for the  New Statesman ,  The Bookman , the  Quarterly Review ,and the  London Mercury  and his prose works included a  Portrait of George Moore  (1922),  English Portraits  (1924),  Herman Melville  (1926) and a play  Prince Absalom  (1925). He died on 23 Sept. 1929 and his funeral service at Anerley WM Church was conducted by his fellow poet, Andrew Young, then a minister of the Free Church of Scotland. He was interred at Thursley, Surrey, where a field adjoining the churchyard was given to the National Trust in his memory. ' Meanwhile de la Mare came to know a poet friend of Roger Ingpen's … John Freeman, who like himself was in business - a great deal more successfully than de la Mare. He had begun life as an office boy at thirteen, and became in time the Secretary of his insurance company, the Liverpool Victoria. Like de la Mare, he would come home at the end of an eight- or nine-hour working day in the City, to write verses late into the night. He was also a copious correspondent and very well read. Tall, gangling, ugly, solemn, punctilious, there was in him an endearing quality about these very attributes; Edward Thomas referred to him as "a kind of Angel", and de la Mare, after his death, described even his physical appearance in phrases that suggest beauty - "beautiful brows", and ruminative eyes "of a peculiarly ardent blue".' Theresa Whistler,  Imagination of the Heart: the life of Walter de la Mare  (1993), pp.127-8 From Wikipedia: John Frederick Freeman (29 January 1880 – 23 September 1929) was an English poet and essayist, who gave up a successful career in insurance to write full-time. He was born in London , and started as an office boy aged 13. He was a close friend of Walter de la Mare from 1907, who lobbied hard with Edward Marsh to get Freeman into the Georgian Poetry series; with eventual success. De la Mare's biographer Theresa Whistler describes him as "tall, gangling, ugly, solemn, punctilious". He won the Hawthornden Prize in 1920 with Poems 1909-1920 . His Last Hours was set to music by Ivor Gurney . John Freeman's headstone in Thursley Churchyard: This stone, set into the wall of the churchyard and juxtaposed to Hohn Freeman's headstone, has this inscription: THE ADJOINING FIELD WAS PRESENTED TO THE NATIONAL TRUST IN 1931 FOR PRESERVATION AS A MEMORIAL TO JOHN FREEMAN BORN 29 JAN 1880 DIED 23 SEPT 1929 The view across the National Trust field with John Freeman's grave, and the inscribed stone in the wall, in the foreground John Freeman's poetry: Here are two examples of his verse: from MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD AND OTHER POEMS; published 1919 by Selwyn and Blount of London. Snows Now the long-bearded chilly-fingered winter Over the green fields sweeps his cloak and leaves Its whiteness there. It caught on the wild trees, Shook whiteness on the hedges and left bare South-sloping corners and south-fronting smooth Barks of tall beeches swaying 'neath their whiteness So gently that the whiteness does not fall. The ash copse shows all white between gray poles, The oaks spread arms to catch the wandering snow. But the yews--I wondered to see their dark all white, To see the soft flakes fallen on those grave deeps, Lying there, not burnt up by the yews' slow fire. Could Time so whiten all the trembling senses, The youth, the fairness, the all-challenging strength, And load even Love's grave deeps with his barren snows? Even so. And what remains? The hills of thought That shape Time's snows and melt them and lift up Green and unchanging to the wandering stars. The Wren Within the greenhouse dim and damp The heat floats like a cloud. Pale rose-leaves droop from the rust roof With rust-edged roses bowed. As I go in Out flies the startled wren. By the tall dark fir tree he sings Morn after morn still, Shy and bold he flits and sings Tinily sweet and shrill. As I go out His song follows me about ... About the orchard under trees Beaded with cherries bright, Past the rat-haunted Honeybourne And up those hills of light: As up I go His notes more sweetly flow. Or down those dark hills when night's there Full of dark thoughts and deep, A thin clear soundless music comes Like stars in broken sleep. When I come down All those dark thoughts are flown. And now that sweetness is more sweet, Here where the aeroplanes Labouring and groaning in the height Lift their lifeless vans:-- Sweet, sweet to hear The far off wren singing clear.

The first newsletter driven by articles from the website was delivered to subscribers on 1st September 2024. If you want to receive these updates, please sign up on the home page. We have also added newsletters from the beginning of the society when it was known as the History of Thursley Society. https://shoutout.wix.com/so/14Oz8EPSe?languageTag=en&cid=bceff40b-12d7-4ab7-879e-2fc25b2b4a42

Having already found an Elizabethan sixpence, Olly Lynes has also discovered a pocket watch belonging to Lt. Leslie Richmond. He must have lost it before he went to the front in WW1. This article was written by John Lynes. Discovering the watch It was with some surprise that local lad Olly Lynes came across a rather interesting artefact whilst searching  Punch Bowl Farm, owned by Sally Scheffers. Olly had been searching the farm for the past few years with many interesting items being discovered. On this occasion, as Olly removed the find from the soil he realised it was a silver military pocket watch. On getting home, and after a little research, it transpired that the watch had in fact belonged to a special Australian soldier, who was identifiable for rather sad reasons. The pocket watch belonged to Leslie Richmond of the 1st Gordon Highlanders. Thanks to an Australian article written about Leslie Richmond, Olly was able to learn a great deal about the history of the person behind the watch. Lt . Leslie Richmond, an officer in the 1st Gordon Highlanders, was the first Australian-born casualty of World War I. Born in Armadale, Victoria, in June 1888, Richmond was killed at the Battle of Mons on August 23, 1914. This battle marked the first major engagement of the British Expeditionary Force in the war. Despite his service in a British regiment, new research has revealed that Richmond's Australian roots merit his inclusion on the Australian War Memorial's (AWM) Commemorative Roll. From Australia to Scotland Richmond's family history is a tale of migration and success. His father, James Richmond, left Scotland for Australia in 1863, becoming a prosperous pastoralist. The Richmond family later returned to Scotland, renting the 17th-century Monzie Castle in Crieff, Perthshire. Census records from the time show the family lived a life of relative affluence, employing several household staff. The Battle of Mons and Richmond's Service The Battle of Mons, where Lt. Richmond lost his life, was a critical early conflict in WWI. On August 23, 1914, British forces faced a superior German army and were forced to withdraw, suffering approximately 1,600 casualties. The battle is also notable for the legend of the Angel of Mons, which purportedly appeared in the sky to protect retreating British troops. Lt. Richmond's military career began with his commission in the Gordon Highlanders in 1906. By 1909, he had risen to the rank of lieutenant. He married Ruth Greenwood in April 1914, and she was pregnant with their only child when he died. Their son, also named Leslie, was born in January 1915. Recognition and Family Legacy For many years, Seaman William "Billy" Williams and Captain Brian Pockley were believed to be the first Australians to fall in World War I, having died on September 11, 1914, in the Battle of Bita Paka in Papua New Guinea. However, recent findings by Toni Munday, curator of the HMAS Cerberus museum, and Diane Morris, the AWM's centenary communications officer, have brought Lt. Richmond's sacrifice to light. Munday discovered a notice about Richmond in The Argus newspaper from October 1914, prompting further investigation. Richmond's descendants, Jeannie Furphy of Shepparton, Victoria, and Alexandra Ramsay of Warren, NSW, were aware of his military history but had not considered him a candidate for recognition in Australia due to his service with a British regiment. The AWM's criteria allow for Australians who served in foreign armies to be included on the Commemorative Roll, provided they meet specific criteria. A Family's War Tragedy The Richmond family's history is marked by the tragic loss of both Lt. Richmond and his son. The younger Leslie was killed at Dunkirk in May 1940, shortly after his marriage, while serving with the 10th Royal Hussars. Ruth Richmond, Leslie's widow, never remarried, enduring the profound loss of both her husband and son. Lt. Richmond is buried at St. Symphorien Military Cemetery in Belgium. From ABC News Australia: WWI Scottish regiment soldier 'may have been first Australian-born casualty' https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-23/leslie-richmond-first-aust-born-soldier-killed/5685774 A portrait of Lieutenant Leslie Richmond of the Gordon Highlanders who died at the Battle of Mons. (Supplied: Richmond family) Lt Leslie Richmond From Obituaries Australia: https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/richmond-leslie-18261 From Newscorp Austalia: https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/how-leslie-richmond-and-william-chisholm-became-the-first-aussie-casualties-of-world-war-i/news-story/ecbc8f42f454a3de46c96ebb4907f715