Tony J. Drake MBE 1923-2012 The intrepid Tony, a friend to many, was a lifelong hiker and devoted rambler. His love of freedom was deeply engrained. He was out canoeing on the Mediterranean at 16 when he was advised of the outbreak of the War. At 18 he volunteered to join the Royal Airforce and became a radar technician. Tony was always at his element in the open countryside or climbing mountains. He would also walk the urban footpaths and…
Report and Message from the Vice President to F.E.W. AGM, Lincoln, 2023 There is little for me to report on recent activities of the Executive which has been very quiet. FEW has had several setbacks following the Covid epidemic and is suffering a slow recovery of our activities. To this end a Working Group is busy looking at policies and practices to advance the prospective future of the Association. You may be aware that I am in poor health and…
Photographs by kind permission of Mr Andy Kerry
Alan, Paul and Tony at Well House farmyard, Tirley, Gloucestershire drinking Plumpton Wine. This puts me in mind to addressing ourselves as Tupman, Snodgrass and Winkle of the ‘Plumpton Club’. (after Dickens ‘Pickwick Club’) ‘These Passing Years’ From a beer on a sawdust floor in the Half Moon Pub A trip to Lewes could be great fun, Tony and I, we knew when to run! Or a frothy coffee in a Brighton bar, We now drink fine wines in Tirley,…
Remains of Clare Castle home of our patrons the De Clare’s, Earls of Gloucester On Tuesday, 4th July, I had the great privilege and pleasure to accompany a group of Gloucester freemen and women on a venture to Clare and Sudbury in Suffolk. We were driven, in a mini-bus by President Mr Lee Hensley. The journey from west to east being around 170 miles to Clare. (340-50 m. round trip). Although there was heavy rain at times we had a…
‘Tenacious Trio’- BBBF ‘Old Boys’ born March/April 1940 The quintessential countryside of John Constable and the Suffolk Stour Valley is not typical of the varied English landscapes. However, the sight of agricultural activity will always enhance the rural scene. A Three-part Song I’m just in love with all these three, The W’eald an’ the Marsh an’ the Down countrie; Nor I don’t know which I love the most, The W’eald or the Marsh or the white chalk coast. I’ve buried…
Tewkesbury Abbey Preamble The coincidence of connections between these distant places have largely affected our national history. Chapter 1 ‘Freedom of the Protected Boroughs and the Vikings’ Vikings from Scandinavia had begun raiding parts of the British Isles during the late eighth century. In most events they found little resistance from a relatively undefended peasantry. A mark in time would be when, in 877 on a reconnoitre, a large contingent visited Gloucester, to find a strong walled but unprotected, almost…
Sudbury Common Lands Following the first and second World Wars many common lands were in a parlous state through lack of manual attention. Much of the land was turning to scrub and apparent wasteland. Common land in general represented a large proportion of the national landscape. A Royal Commission was set up in 1955 to make recommendations as to what changes were desirable in the law relating to common lands. This had become necessary as the problems over ownership and…
“While Stewardship may not be anything like semi-natural habitats with their associated wildlife accumulated over several centuries, it does have an important part to play in reducing the haemorrhaging of wildlife from our farmed countryside” AW. Endangered Skylark This is the lament of my pal Adrian, Clerk/Ranger to the Sudbury Common Lands Charity. Not quite as John Clare towards the ‘Inclosures’ but a modern view of the landscape today. He has my sentiments as we observe the seriously diminishing natural…
Preamble: Freedom – by right, influence or law Liberty under Roman law was a privilege given rule and under Scandinavian law, liberty was a birth right by a tradition of entitlement. Of note, people of Scandinavia have always been able to move freely throughout their nations without fear of prosecution for trespass. England inherited the rules (codes) initially set by Roman law and this has been complimented by much of the freedoms recreated by the Anglo-Saxon and subsequent Dane law….