The Parish Council: the first hundred years
There is an old leather-bound Minute Book which faithfully records the proceedings of Little Thurlow Parish Council meetings from their very beginning in 1894. It’s worth looking through, if you are interested either in local history or human nature. Some things have changed greatly in the village over the last hundred years, it transpires, but […]
First Impressions of a New Rector
Nestling in the Upper Stour Valley lie Great and Little Thurlow. What does a prospective Rector do when it is suggested that he may look at these as part of his future “care of souls”? Well, to be quite honest, you have a quiet snoop around. In the first instance I thought I would be […]
The Church
The Church of St. Peter’s Lt. Thurlow is now part of the Stour Head Benefice which was created on 30 October 1977, with H.M. The Queen signing the oYcial order. This means that we no longer have our own rector but share one with Gt. Thurlow, Gt. and Lt. Bradley, Gt. and Lt. Wratting, Kedington […]
The Cock Inn
When we took over the Cock in 1971 from my father Syd Rowlinson it was the first change of name over the front door since 1912. My great grandfather, John, handed on to his son Orris, then my grandfather John took it in 1921 (he was brother to Orris), and then my father Syd in […]
The School: past and present
Thurlow School 1967-1990 Pam Pearman Reflecting on my twenty three years at Thurlow School the overall impression is one of a busy, happy and swift passing of time. Looking back, the first thing that impressed me in 1967 was how light the new building was, after the old school at Gt. Thurlow where I had […]
A Young Person’s Memories
My early memories of Thurlow only go back as far as the early 1970s but even since then I can see that life has changed quite considerably. I have many fond memories of Thurlow school. As the majority of the pupils lived in Thurlow and the immediate neighbouring villages, quite a few of the pupils […]
Lavender Cottage over Four Centuries
I feel somewhat defensive in writing on any aspect of Lavender Cottage; after all, it’s our house temporarily. I use that word because having, with others, done some research on the house, I am very aware of its past (and, indeed, its future) owners. But more of them anon. For the moment, perhaps I […]
Memories of arriving at Lavender Cottage
Major and Mrs. Bartholomew lived at Little Thurlow Park. Major Bartholomew was chairman of the Almshouse Trustees and involved in the exchange of the old almshouses for the new ones in The Square. He attended Little Thurlow Church and always sat in the Soames Chapel pew. Brigadier and Mrs. Frink lived in the Grange. Brigadier […]
Life in Little Thurlow 1919 – 1939
I was born in July 1919 at Myrtle Cottage, which is next door to The Cock Inn, but is I believe now called Lavender Cottage. My father was Rev. F. W. Taylor, rector of Little Bradley until his death in 1929. He was also Chaplain of the Risby Institute at Kedington. His means of transport […]
Memories of Thurlow between the Wars
My father (18561942) bought the Little Thurlow Estate in 1898 from the Soame family. Eight years later he bought the Great Thurlow Estate from the W. H. Smith family (Lord Hambledon). On my father’s death in February 1942 his executors sold all his considerable estates in Suffolk and Cambridgeshire (and later Yorkshire) but his children […]