Pymoor - John Wilkin's Memories

This is a little of what I remember when I was less than ten years old.

James Cockle Wilkin had four children, namely James Martin my father, Ella Jane who married Charles Cawthorn Broker and lived in Ely, Albert Henry who died when only 26 years old and Ivy Victoria who married Albert Robert White and lived and farmed in Oxlode.

James Martin Wilkin was born on Primrose Hill Farm, Pymore, on July 31st 1890 and died in Little Downham on April 24th 1979.  He married Susan Hannah Taylor on Dec 27th 1922 and they had three children, Martin John Wilkin, Roger James Wilkin and Mary Kathleen Wilkin.  Susan Hannah died in Little Downham on April 16th 1981.  James Martin Wilkin was always called Martin.  He was born on Primrose Hill Farm and as he grew he worked on the farm together with his father and brother Albert Henry.  He was very mechanically inclined and spent a great deal of his time in the farm workshop making equipment and repairing that used every day on the farm.

Martin was very interested in getting into Mechanical Engineering type work and leaving the farming to his brother Albert Henry but unfortunately Albert died when 26 years old and because Martin was the only male remaining he had to take over the farm.  Martin was very interested in sports including bicycle racing and was one of the first in the area to own a Motorcycle.  He became very reliable in maintaining the engines on motorcycles and when the first war was in progress he enlisted in the Huntingtonshire Motor Cyclists Battalion and took along his own motor cycle.  He was very quickly given the task of repairing and maintaining all the motorbikes in the Battalion and was well respected by all those who were serving with him.

A transfer from motorcycles to The Tank Corps took Martin to France where he was involved in several battles with the Germans and was wounded and gassed which left him with a very severe chest problem in later life.  After the armistice he returned to Primrose Hill Farm and assisted his dad James Cockle Wilkin with the farm.  In 1922 James Martin, together with his dad purchased Primrose Hill Farm from a Miss. Preston and associates who lived in Haddenham and were probably the descendants of Mr Thomas Vipan the owner when the Wilkin family first moved into the farm.

In 1922 Martin married my mother Susan Hannah Taylor and I was born in 1927.  We lived in a corrugated iron bungalow which my father had built on Primrose Hill Farm until we moved into a new house in 1936 which was built on the site of the old farmhouse which had been demolished.

The basic things I remember are the cricket matches which used to be played on the meadow in front of the house and the team was mostly the Pymoor Club and sometimes another group.  We also used to have Garden Fetes and sports meetings there in the meadow and sometimes the participants were those attending the Chapel down by the pumping station at the river.  We attended that Chapel and I remember that there was a Public House nearby and a store I believe.  I remember the Pearsons and Beefy Cornwall from those days and recall lots of fun. Recall also the fact that all who lived in the area used to travel through Primrose Hill Farm from the road that runs past the Pymoor Siding to the river bank about a mile away. Many people unknown to us used to go through and passed the house towards the river.

The Pymoor railway siding was a busy place in those days and there were always several railroad trucks in the siding for loading or to have goods removed.  My father Martin used to grow a large acreage of carrots and he would harvest them and wash them in a "Carrot Washing Machine" which he had invented and constructed.  When they had been cleaned and bagged by the machine they would be taken to the railway siding and loaded on to a railway truck and taken by train to Spitlesfield market in London.  The carrot washing machine was constructed and housed close to the railway siding in a shed next to the home of my Uncle Jack Taylor and utilized the water which ran in a nearby ditch.

My father also owned a corn thrashing tackle which consisted of a huge steam driven Traction Engine, a large thrashing drum and a large elevator which enabled straw to be piled very high.  This thrashing unit was rented out to all farmers in the general neighborhood and was gone from our farm for many weeks at a time with two men who worked for Dad. Can't remember their names at the moment.  The school I attended was in Pymoor and sat back quite a way from the main intersection towards the River.  It was constructed in such a way that there was a church one end partitioned off from the main hall of the school and off the main hall there were two more rooms and a cloak room.  The toilets were outside well at the back of the property.  One of the separate rooms was for new beginner students and the second room was for another class the nature of which I do not remember.  In the main hall there were several classes taught together.  The names of the teachers I remember were at that time Mr McEake (spelling unsure) the Head Master, Miss Heading and Miss Prior.  There was a shed at the back of the school which housed the furnace that heated the school and this was attended by the senior student.

There used to be a pond at the Village intersection and a signpost next to it which we used to collect around and discuss our various interests.  On the corner there was a store and gasoline selling facility and I believe there was also a slaughter house at the store because I remember my mother buying meat and sausages there.  Just down the street towards Little Downham there was a Public House and a little further on there was a little store where we students would spend our farthings and halfpennys when we had them.  Going along a little more there was the Memorial Hall where several concerts and meetings were held and on the opposite side of the road the was the store run in later years by Horace and Joan Saberton but at the time I lived there I believe it was owned and run together with a Blacksmith Shop in the rear by the parents of Horace.

The son of Ivy Victoria my Aunt is Alan White who now lives in Little Downham and for several years has been the Chairperson of the Local Government.  He is four years younger than me and used to attend the Pymoor School when they lived in Oxlode.  Maybe he can remember a lot more than I can.  I quote from the newspaper when we left in 1938 to give an indication of what Mum and Dad had been involved in.

"With hearty good wishes from a host of friends Mr & Mrs J M Wilkin together with their family last week left Primrose Hill Farm, Oxlode to take up their new residence near Clacton on Sea.  Both exceedingly popular, not only in Little Downham, but throughout the surrounding district, Mr & Mrs Wilkin will be greatly missed.  In the parish Mr Wilkin held numerous important positions. He was a school manager for Pymore and St Owens School, vice chairman of the Parish Council, chairman of the local branch of the British Legion, President of the Memorial Hall, a member of the Downham Feoffees, President of the Downham Cricket Club, the Swifts Football Club and the Pymore and Oxlode Cricket Club.  Of all the clubs he was a generous supporter.

Mrs Wilkin also took a prominent part in the social activities of the parish. For several years she was the popular president of the women's section at the Memorial Hall and for some years held the position of hon. treasurer to their Share Out Club. Before leaving she was presented with a magnificent oak framed clock, a gift from the members as a token of appreciation of her work among them and the high esteem in which she was held by them all."

An article about the Little Downham Cricket Club notes "Martin Wilkin, whose generosity and sportsmanship was of the highest order" and also notes that Martin Wilkin had given them a new pavilion.

I dont remember my grandfather James Cockle Wilkin who died when I was one year old.  I do vaguely remember my grandmother Sarah Ann Pearce who died when I was six.  My mother used to tell me that my grandfather allways came out after his midday meal dressed up with shiny boots and a clean suit.  This tradition was not followed by my father who spent 90% of his time in the workshop.

The reason for my father moving from Pymoor was to get to a dryer climate so that his chest problems as the result of being gassed in the war would be relieved.  However within a short period of time there was a new war and we moved back to Haddenham in 1940 and then again back to Clacton in 1945.

In about 1968-69 Martin and Susan moved back to Cannon St in Little Downham to be with some of the people they had grown up with and a few relatives including Ella Broker, Dads sister, Allan White the son of Ivy White, Dad's Sister and Jack Taylor the brother of Susan my mother.  Martin died in 1979 and Susan in 1981 and both are buried in Little Downham.  (Both were cremated.)

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