Stories of the Bodgers Part 1: Memories of my father, Reginald Tilbury

My father Reginald Tilbury was born in 1898 and died at 92 years of age. He went to Lacey Green School until he was allowed to leave at the age of 12, after passing the Labour Exam. During school holidays Reg was sent stone picking in the fields down Lily Bottom Lane where he lived.

The stones were left in heaps to be collected by his father Eldred Tilbury. Loaded onto a horse and cart, and taken to Cuddington for road making. The money which he earned over the summer holiday would pay for a new pair of boots, which had to last for the next year. On a Saturday night, he and his father would walk to Spring Coppice, Speen, where the cobbler would instruct him to stand on a piece of leather. The cobbler would then draw around his foot with a pencil, allowing a little extra room for growth. The following Saturday night they returned to the cobbler to collect the new pair of boots.