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THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — these
Findon Chronicles are created by Valerie Martin and contain scenes from her home
village of Findon,
West Sussex, U.K. Everyday stories about real people.
MRS FRANCIS REMEMBERS — plus The Mystery of Findon's Telephone Poles
Copyright Valerie Martin 2012
At the end of January 2012, ex Findonian, John Greves now living in Walton on Thames in Surrey, emailed to say...."Dear Valerie .... old pictures include Telephone poles ... two wires for each subscriber.....not many in Findon .... wonder who they were ... ? John"
Bob Blackwell the one-time butcher in Findon's Square, came up with the logical conclusion saying...."Valerie....Findon Telephones. The butcher's shop had one of the earliest telephone number in Findon and it was 2. I believe the original Post Office had the number 1. Bob".
This brings me to some revelations concerning the old Post Office in the village.
Here is an extract from "West Sussex — Within Living Memory" a publication by the West Sussex Federation of Women's Institutes in 1993....the memories of Mrs Francis of Findon —
| My uncle was a postman in Lancing. The post office then (in the 1930s and 1940s) was in a wooden hut behind a shop. The hut is a printer's now, but the road to it is still as rough and full of puddles after rain as ever it was. My uncle did three postal deliveries a day, travelling all over Lancing on his bike. He used to park his bike outside The Farmers Arms and it was never stolen. He finished work about 8 p.m. and his wages were a princely £3 a week. In 1929 I was 25 years old and had been married for a couple of years when my husband obtained the job of village sub-postmaster at Findon. To obtain the job his character had to be exemplary, and he had to supply a reliable timepiece and suitable premises. With the help of my parents, the village bakers, a 20 year mortgage was taken out to build the office and shop, and a telephone exchange to give continuous service. I had been working in a town sub-office for five years, but did not know anything about telephone operating. While the building was being erected I cycled some four miles each afternoon to learn how to manage a telephone exchange by kind permission of the Worthing postmaster. When we opened our shop, I set up in stationery, haberdashery and wools — a traditional village post office shop — as this would give us some good will to sell when we left, as post office trade was not considered "good will". The mail would arrive in bags from Head Office at 6 a.m. and would then have to be sorted on the post office counter by the two postmen. My husband would deal with and sort the registered bag, starting the delivery about 7.30 a.m. There was usually a heavy parcel delivery which the postmen would strap on to their bicycles. Christmas was a bumper time for parcels as the post office was the number one service in those days, so we always hoped for fine weather then to be able to tip the parcels out on to the concrete outside, at the back, so as not to hamper movement in the shop. I might add that there were no stated hours for postmen at that time. We reckoned to clear each day and it was not unusual for a man to work until 7 or 8 p.m. There was delivery on Christmas Day too — until the office was clear! A this time the telegram was relied upon for sending urgent or tragic news. The telephone had not come into general use and, if a willing boy could not be found, then the sub-postmaster would have to deliver. There was a time when the sub-postmaster of the adjoining village had a bad accident, and we were requisitioned to cover his area as well as our own. Gratefully the pay was extended also. The Post Office was always very fair, even if somewhat strict. The only industry in the village was horse racing which provided employment during the winter months. When the horses were engaged at the races, they would be walked the four miles to Worthing station. This would be impossible now owing to the heavy traffic. It was always noticeable when there was a winner. Then during the summer months, there was another source of income. Most of the cottagers would let a couple of rooms, and that meant new faces around the village. The postcard trade would flourish. I kept a record of accommodation available, and earned a few shillings.
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Gladys Lambourne of Findon wrote....
"Mr and Mrs Francis opened up the Village Post Office and telephone exchange in the 1920s at the junction of cross and Nepcote Lanes. We saved pennies in a special money box that one got from the Post Office and only they had the key to open it when you took it for the contents to be deposited in your bank account.
I was frightened to ever make a withdraw as Mrs Francis seemed so reluctant to part with any money put in her care.
In the 1990s our post office moved again, back to the square but this time in part of News agents that is now in Shorts old farm house, with a flat about".
In 2004 I heard from the late Bill Day....
| 12th October 2004 Hi Val, One of the things she started was the wool counter which became very popular with the village women, remembering in wartime it was make do and mend. The wool in those days came in what I believe was called shanks, it had to be wound into balls for knitting. Childrens arms were made for this job. how i hated it and mums words "only just a little bit longer then its done". Also the tedious task of holding jerseys and pullovers as mum unpicked them and rolled the wool into tight balls for re-knitting. Children in those days usually ended up with a multicoloured fair-isle pullover if the wool was well worn if not so worn dad got it.
I can recall many trips to
the post office with a piece of wool trying to match the colour for mum.
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Mr. A. Francis was Findon's postmaster in 1945 and was bitten on his leg by not a dog..... but guess what......a fox. The reason for the attack was..... he was attempting to spear the animal with a pitchfork while it was worrying geese in the village.
The fox was eventually killed and this prompted a commentator to write at the time...
"There being no local hunt nowadays to keep them down, foxes are proving a considerable nuisance to local farmers".
Mr and Mrs Francis ran the Post Office for 32 years Mr Francis died several years ago but his wife had 32 years retirement before she died.
Continue if you would like to read... Bunty Remembers
THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — was launched by Valerie Martin in January 1999 and will grow to be a historical record of life in Findon, West Sussex, U.K.
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Do let me know of anything you hear about Findon - not too controversial. Please note that opinions expressed in the Findon Chronicles are not necessarily reflective of my own thoughts.... but sometimes they are! |
