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ASTON HALL

Aston Hall was a very large hall with many farm buildings attached and it was owned my a Major and Mrs. Benson. The hall itself was like a country manor house and had very many rooms which were divided between the Benson family and the servants. At one time there had been a number of servants but when we were there the number had dropped to three. The most important person was Mrs. Hayden who was the housekeeper. Her husband had been Major Benson’s batman in the army but she was now a widow. The other two servants were called Mary and Hilda. Our bedroom was right at the top of the house and opposite to Mary and Hilda’s rooms. Mrs. Hayden’s room was on the floor beneath where there was a nursery, playroom, children’s and nannies' bedrooms and a bathroom. The bathroom and flush toilet compared very favourably with the tin bath which hung on the backyard wall and was used once a week in front of the fire at home in Liverpool. Our flush toilet was at the bottom of yard, which, on winter nights, was very cold on the nether regions. Having said that we could only use the inside toilet at Aston Hall on the dark evenings and during the night. During the day we used the outside toilet in the back garden. This consisted of a stone building and inside it had a long wooden boxed-in toilet seat. It had four or five different sized holes that ranged from daddy/mummy sized down to young children sizes. The smallest size hole had two or three wooden steps leading up to it. Below the seating arrangement was a long drop where the contents were occasionally limed and emptied no more than once a year. It never got full as Ken and I were the sole users. I never thought of it before but as that was the only toilet on the farm I have no idea what the farm hands used. The last time I spoke to the current owner of the Hall he told me that the outside toilet is now the only listed part of Aston Hall and as such he was unable to knock it down and indeed had to maintain it. If anyone is interested I am sure more exact details are available with some archivist or other. My comments have only been as a sometime user of said facility.

There were kennels in the orchard, which was alongside the hall, and they accommodated Major Benson’s four black Labrador gun dogs. The Major used to have shoots in the season and the menu would change to pheasant, partridge or wild pigeon and rabbits. While I enjoyed the fowl and rabbits the wood pigeon never did appeal to me. As regards the gun dogs, I was told that one of the pups was so good a film was made of it. Unfortunately I have not seen the film and have no more details of it. Ken and I were too young to be beaters but we were required to take the food to the dogs if Mrs. Benson was busy. It’s true to say that we were never used as cheap labour and what work we did we did of our own free will because we enjoyed doing it. However, there was one exception and that was weeding the very large cobbled back yard, which was a penance if we had misbehaved.

Major and Mrs. Benson had four sons but they were grown up and had left home, but we used to see them occasionally if they visited. One son was called John and he was out in India on a tea plantation. Rio was a vicar and I think became a bishop. Then there was David who was a Major and lastly Tom who was the black sheep of the family.

THE GARDEN

There was a very large walled garden, which supplied all the produce for the kitchen. Jack Preece was head gardener and Bert was under gardener. They brought the produce to the kitchen every day and in the winter warmed their hands on the ‘old man’ which was a big black anthracite hot water boiler. The garden supplied virtually everything needed including cherries, peaches, strawberries, figs, apples, pears, every sort of nut and every kind of vegetable in season. The gardener also looked after the tennis lawn and the mowing of the lawns and paths which was done using Robin the pony who had to wear leather shoes to protect the grass. Wood’s of Craven Arms collected surplus produce.

THE FARM

The farm was mixed and I am not sure of the acreage but it was quite large and Major Benson also owned a couple of tenant farms. The staff at Aston Hall consisted of Geoff Preece and his sheep dogs. Geoff was the farm bailiff. George was the Wagoner, Charlie the cowman and Geoff’s son, Ernest, who was the tractor driver, and Raymond. At harvest time extra labourers were hired and some times Italian prisoners of war used to appear. Each season brought in different experiences for Ken and me.

THE FARM YEAR

Life at the hall revolved around the different activities required for that particular season of the year. The early part of the year would be topping up the deep litter, feeding the calves and young cattle, and milking the cows, which had been brought in for the winter. Another job was clearing out the last of the stored potatoes, mangolds, sugar beet, turnips, apples etc., Also the sheep and cattle left out in the fields needed feeding. As the year progressed the lambing season got under way and the sheep were brought in close to the farm. Geoff slept in the saddle room overnight, fully clothed and with just a blanket, so that he could help if required. This was also the time when the autumn cereal harvest was thrashed. The thrasher used to arrive with a caravan pulled by a steam engine that was also used to power the thrashing machine. Mary, the servant, used to go visiting the caravan in the evening, much to the annoyance of Mrs. Hayden. Later, after we had left, Mary married the thrasher and so I suppose Mrs.Hayden eventually approved.

May time brought the haymaking season, together with all the signs of spring and new life. There were the lambs' tails to be cut and castration to undertake, the ones to be sold and those to be kept to be sorted. The milking cows were now providing more milk and we had the job of separating every day and butter making in a large churn each week.

Summer time brought visitors to the Bensons and the children and nannies moved into our first floor accommodation and became part of the ‘below stairs’ contingent. We had good company and a welcome change from the winter months. Mum also visited for a week or two and blended in great with Mrs.Hayden and Mary helping with the household duties. If her visit was a little later in the year she would help out with the potato picking. Late summer was sheep shearing time and my job then was to catch the sheep and sit them on their bottoms ready to be sheared. I was so dirty and smelly by the end of the day that I needed to be hosed down before being allowed inside.

Autumn brought the harvesting of all of the farm crops: wheat, oats, barley, potatoes, apples, pears etc., and the filling of all the barns, hayricks and granaries. It was also cider making time and the storage of the big barrels of cider for the next year’s usage. In the summer months we always had a large stone jar of cider in the fields to have with our bait (packed lunch). Late autumn brought the end of a couple of our pigs as they were slaughtered to provide pork, sausages and the most delicious pork pies I have tasted. The sides of pig were hung up salted and provided bacon throughout the year.

With the return to early winter came the mists, which at times were quite thick as we crossed the fields to school and back. Late winter brought the snow, which during these years was quite deep and was heaven for us children. The family still had a high runner sledge left over from their boys and we had many happy hours playing in the snow.

Electricity for the hall was self-generated and battery storage. Water came from the top barn and presumably from a spring. The water supply never failed which was more than could be said about the supply to our home in Liverpool where it failed frequently due to damage to the mains supply caused by the bombing.

CONCLUSION

I suppose one can only look at the whole episode of evacuation in the time frame in which it happened. Yes, it wasn’t nice to be taken away from our Mum and Dad although it was probably worse for them. It did interfere with our early education and the learning help normally received from one’s parents. On the other hand we were safe and sound in what in those days was a self-contained community at Aston Hall. We were introduced to, and in my case thoroughly enjoyed, a completely different way of life and experiences and the memories have lasted a lifetime. If you asked me at the age of seventy-one if I would like to do it all over again the answer would be yes. The gains out weighed the losses for me. But then that would be true of life at home with Mum and Dad, the Boys Brigade, apprentice engineer, life at sea as an Engineer Officer with Cunard, Director of Estate in the N.H.S, married life, two children, one granddaughter and I hope not finally, retirement.

ROBERT DAVID WILSON

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