January 2015

Drama on Church St. around 1905 as the shop on the corner with Long Lane burns. Crowds have gathered to watch and the village fire pump is in action with a rather puny jet of water spraying on the building. But it is all in vain and by morning there is nothing left but rubble. Fire was a constant hazard in the days of thatched roofs and open fires. Within a few years a new shop was built which is now the “One-Stop.” The little cottage behind the rubble survived the fire and remained for another hundred years – but eventually fell to redevelopment after becoming dilapidated.