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1. Introduction
Stanley Monsey (early 1890 -
1953), his wife May Monsey (late 1890 to mid 1970’s), and their children
lived at the old Ratcatchers Row in the first half of the 20th.
century. Stanley died in 1953. May Monsey was relocated to Rodwell
Corner at Eastgate after the old row of houses was demolished in the mid
1960’s
I remember in particular three
sons of May and Stanley: (1) Sydney, married to Brenda, was stationed in
Germany in the early 1950’s; (2) Ronnie, married to Stella, who lived
along the Holt Road at Felthorpe until his death in the late 1990’s; and
(3) Mrs. Monsey’s step son from Dereham, whose name I do not recall.
Before I was born one of their sons Eric Monsey was killed in the second
World War. His name can be seen inscribed both in Cawston church and at
the local cemetery. Our family has close relations with Stanley and May
Monsey as my grandfather’s brother Wilfred married their daughter Dolly
Monsey.
2.
The House and Garden
The Monsey family lived in the
third semi-detached house from the Eastgate end of old the Ratcatchers
Row. A short path led to the front door from the road. On the right hand
side there was a small flower garden which at certain times of the year
was full of lavender, wallflowers, asters and nasturtiums, looked after by
May Monsey. A high hedge on both sides separated the front gardens.
The wooden door to the house was
simple in structure with a small lock just below the “snack” as it was
then called, that opened the door. Upon entering the house you
immediately stepped into the living room (called ‘front room’ in those
days). On the left hand side there was the pantry with many built-in
shelves. The pantry floor was made of cement which provided a storage
place for sensitive foodstuffs in the absence of a refrigerator. In each
corner of the pantry there was a mouse trap with a small piece of cheese
fixed to it. It often served it purpose as mice from the Easton’s
cornfields frequently made their way into the houses at the Ratcatchers
Row. The electricity metre was located near the pantry door.
A large wooden multi-purpose table
with several chairs stood in the middle of the room. The front room also
contained a large set of drawers near the window with numerous photos of
family members placed on top. At the other end there was a sofa. A large
wireless stood on a table next to the pantry which was switched on at
certain times of the day for the news and entertainment programmes. There
was a built-in cupboard under the stairs full of toys and games. I knew
the content of this cupboard well and it contained items that were
collected by her children such as matchbox labels, bus and railway
tickets, cigarette packets, postage stamps, razor blade packets as well as
many books. As this was next to the fire place it was formerly used as an
airing cupboard. I remember that it also came in useful during bad
thunderstorm.
The built-in fireplace was
situated near the staircase with an arm chair on each side. The fireplace
was also used to cook food both in summer and winter. The only day of the
year when it seemed empty was the day when May Monsey was expecting the
chimney sweep.
A door next to the right hand side
of the fireplace in the front room concealed the winding staircase (or
“the wooden hill’ as May Monsey always said) to the bedrooms. The first
bedroom was the biggest and contained a large washing basin for the family
in the absence of a bath room. This was also the warmest bedroom as it
was directly situated over the fireplace. A door leading through this
bedroom led to two smaller bedrooms which were much cooler in the winter
months. The floor boards, partly full of woodworms, always squeaked and
were covered only by a small mat next to the bed that had seen better
times. As there were no indoor toilets, each bedroom had a round white
chamber pot under the bed.
Another door from the living room
lead to the so-called ‘back room’ or kitchen which had a built-in oven,
fuelled by coal and wood. There was also a copper for washing the clothes
and an old wringer. The large table in the back room was full of pots and
pans and crockery. Many of the cooking utensils were hung up on the wall
by using simple hooks. Only one small window in the back room facing the
house next door let in some light.
A door from the back room led to
the garden path. The coal shed was at the back of the house as well as
old tub for collecting rain water from the roof. The garden was about 60
metres long with outdoor toilets situated half way up the garden path. A
long linen line supported by poles along the path stretched from the back
of the house to the toilets. Along the path there were numerous black and
red currant bushes as well as gooseberry bushes and rhubarb. The garden
was always cared for and provided the family with fresh vegetables, fruit
and potatoes. At the top of the garden there was the strawberry and
raspberry patch with a few blackberries growing along the hedge. A
compost heap was situated near the garden shed along the hedge that
overlooked Alfred Easton’s (owner of the Ratcatchers Inn) cornfield.
3.
May and Stanley Monsey
Stanley Monsey died quite young
(1953) and his life consisted mainly of bringing up a family and working
locally to earn an income for the family. In his free time he went
fishing at the claypits at Booton, attended to the vegetable garden,
listened to the wireless and occasionally visited the Ratcatchers Inn. At
a very young age I remember often seeing him get off his bicycle with lots
of fish (mainly large pikes) that he brought back from Booton claypits.
May Monsey was a gentle woman who
never learned to harden her heart. Her duty as a housewife was to cook,
bake and look after the house as was expected of her in those days. She
spent most of her time in the house, took a great interest in both world
and local events, read the Eastern Daily Press and always had time for a
pleasant conversations with her neighbours and friend. After the death of
her husband she would use Easton’s taxi service to collect her pension
from Cawston post office every Thursday. She would also go to Aylsham
with her neighbours Alfred and Kate Betts now and again and look forward
to the tradesmen that delivered the papers, post, bread, fish, groceries
etc. After she had done her housework she spent most afternoons sitting
next to the fireplace listening to the wireless or knitting before
preparing the hot evening meal for the family when they came back home.
May Monsey often talked about
her son Eric who never returned form the war. I remember her telling me
about the hundreds of thousands of children who were evacuated from major
cities in England to the safety of the countryside. Whether any of them
came to Cawston I cannot remember. Mrs. Monsey’s life changed during the
war: she worked for a while on the land in Cawston as many men had gone to
fight. She told me about the constant rationing and austerity throughout
the war years as well as the German prisoners of war. But at the end of
her talk about the destruction and horror of the war she would always
mention the joyful celebration that marked the marriage of Princess
Elizabeth to Prince Philip in 1947 and Queen Elizabeth’s coronation a few
years later.
I remember that May Monsey, as
well as her son Ronnie, often talked about the ‘old days’ and the rural
past of Cawston. She and her family lived according to the typical
country traditions and upheld the rural ways of life in North Norfolk.
They appreciated the importance of the local community, talked about the
new agricultural farming ways being introduced on local farms and knew how
to find relaxation in simple but useful tasks like cooking, gardening and
fishing.
In early June May Monsey would
often go out into the garden, pick the ripe strawberries and rhubarb and
come back into the house to make jam. Only a few of the strawberries were
kept for teatime. Any unripe strawberries picked by mistake were put on
the window sill to ripen in the sun. The remaining rhubarb would be
stewed with sugar to make a rhubarb tart.
After the death of May Monsey’s
husband my grandfather always took her two buckets (called ‘pails’ in
those days) of water in the early hours of the evening from the water pump
along the Ratcatchers Row. None of the houses had running tap water. He
always stayed there for a long chat and often took her some of my
grandmother’s freshly made shortcakes and a few fresh eggs from his
chickens pen.
I remember visiting Mrs. Monsey
one summer evening with my grandfather just after the gypsies from the
caravan site from Haveringland had been to the households along the
Ratcatchers Row. Mrs. Monsey always bought her linen pegs from the
gypsies and like most people she believed that it is unlucky not to buy
something from a gypsy. My grandfather did not have much understanding
for the romany life of the gypsies and was more concerned about the way
they brought up their children maintaining that they never attended
school. I remember how one of the new pegs Mrs. Monsey had just bought
from the gypsy suddenly broke in my grandfather’s hand which gave him the
opportunity to say that she would be better off, financially and
quality-wise, buying them in the local shops.
I remember once visiting Mrs.
Monsey when an Indian gentleman arrived with a suitcase full of linen,
towels, white underwear, small carpets etc. May Monsey let him in, made
him a cup of Camp coffee, assuming that he did not drink tea like her, and
then listened for more than an hour about his high-quality and
value-for-money products. She told me on this occasion that she always
bought white ‘underthings’ for her sons from this man as she felt sorry
for him having to carry a heavy suitcase from door to door.
4. The family
One of the sons I recall quite
well is Sydney Monsey who married Brenda. Sydney was stationed in Germany
with the forces after the second World War and I saw him and his wife
every time they came back to Cawston. They usually visited Cawston twice
a year; in the summer and at Christmas. As a small boy I often went to
Cromer and Sheringham with them in the summer months. I have not seen
them again since the death of Mrs. Monsey in the 1970’s when they moved to
Devon/Cornwall.
Another son, Ronnie Monsey,
married Stella and lived until his death in the late 1990’s in a small
house with a large piece of agricultural land along the Holt Road at
Felthorpe. Ronnie and Stella kept goats for a couple of decades winning
numerous prizes at local competitions. Stella was an expert on local
history (see “Alvington”) and was very knowledgeable about history,
literature and politics. Ronnie, often called Sonny, always took the lead
in lively conversations about local events often heavily criticising the
local government for not keeping their promises. Stella and Ronnie had
two daughters, Angela who still lives at King’s Lynn, and Catherine who
lived in Northern Ireland until her tragic death in the early 1990’s.
I also remember that after the
death of Stanley Monsey, May’s stepson always came to visit her at
Christmas bringing her a plucked chicken. I can no longer recall his
name.
Further references to the members of the Monsey family are also contained
in:
1. Christmas in Cawston 1950's
and 1050's
2.
The Ratcatchers Row at Eastgate in the 1950’s.
3.
Life in Cawston in the Victorian Age 1870 - 1900
Michael Yaxley
Bonn
July 2007
| Photos |
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| May Monsey with daughter-in-law Brenda
and son at Rodwell Corner, Eastgate |
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| Rodwell Corner: May Monsey at the
window and neighbour Cecil Dunn in his garden |
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| May Monsey's son Sydney and his wife at
Sheringham |
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