Page 16 - Jigsaw May 2020

Glance at the past.................
Something to commemorate? Eric Franklin elaborates...
In January 1919 Thrapston Parish Council discussed the possibility of there being a town memorial to commemorate the Peace at the end of the Great War. A committee
of four people was appointed to bring suggestions to a town meeting. After five months deliberations a public meeting was held in the Temperance Hall in Bridge Street on 2nd June, the large building on the right shown below in the 1950’s before demolition (Thrapston Heritage). The site is now occupied by Thrapston Garage.
The committee brought seven options for the public to decide from. These were:
1. That the Memorial in St. James’ Church
which was dedicated on 30th January
1920 be considered sufficient.
2. A recreation ground be provided for the
rising generation.
3. That the Temperance Hall be renovated
as a public hall.
4. An Isolation Hospital be erected for the
local treatment of infectious diseases, of
which there were many.
5. A Market Cross be erected (an outdoor
war memorial, as can be seen in many
communities today).
6. A public bath be erected as virtually all
homes lacked their own bath.
7. Playing fields be provided for team sports. Each option had its supporters and there was much debate. Eventually, a recreation ground for children received the most support and yet another committee of 17
people was appointed to progress this. Nearly a year later, in April 1920,
Thrapston Parish Council announced that agreement had been made with Major Buckley to buy the 2.5-acre field opposite Thrapston House at a price of £700.
The total cost, which was paid on 29th September, was £957 0s 4d which included legal fees and various expenses. A total of £699 18s 11d was raised by subscription, 216 individual people and businesses contributing with amounts ranging between £25 and 3d.
On 2nd July 1920 the Kettering Evening Telegraph reported that “the hay having been gathered from the War Memorial Recreation Ground, a number of children took informal possession on Wednesday and appeared to be quite in their element.”
The park is shown being enjoyed by residents in this postcard from the 1920’s. Slightly to the left of centre, the Elephant Tree can be seen. (This tree was felled for safety reasons on 17th June 2011 having succumbed to a fungal attack which ate away most of the inside of the trunk – maybe more about the tree in another issue.)
After the 2nd World War wooden shelters were erected in the park in memory of the men lost during that conflict. Seen in the final postcard, which was posted in 1956, sadly these did not survive local vandals and were never replaced.
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