Fox Cottage

Sheila Haylock lives at Fox Cottage, Lt. Thurlow, which stands on the boundary of the two villages.

For many years she was landlady at the Rose and Crown, Gt. Thurlow, following her father and mother in the trade. Prior to this they were proprietors of the Queens Head (which is now the house belonging to the garage in Great Thurlow). Sheila has fond memories of the Queens Head where her father had his harness making and mending business.

Moving to the Crown when she was twelve years of age her father ferried people to Haverhill station with a horse and cart. Sheila kept a pet pig when she was a child, feeding it with an apple a day, but came the day for the kill it turned on her and bit her leg (second sight!). Sheila remembers the roundsmen meeting up in the pub for lunch. There were several butchers, a fishmonger, bread roundsmen, Wilkins the tailors, greengrocers and the oil man from Cowlinge called Foreman. Sheila’s grandparents lived in Gt. Thurlow, which is the place she still prefers.

Sheila attends the day centre in Haverhill twice a week and for shopping relies on help from friends and buys from catalogues.