Page 20 - Jigsaw Sept 2020

Glance at the past........................................................................................
Working down at the mill – Eric Franklin is across the water...
I am aware that I have concentrated on Thrapston for many of these articles so, for a change, this month I look to Islip. I will write a piece about Denford in the early months
of 2021.
The current Islip Mill buildings are about 300 years old, although it is very likely that mills were at this site earlier. The hand-tinted colour postcard is from circa 1910 (EDF Collection).
In 1910 the mill provided flour to a wide community, this being delivered by Sam Gray with a team of three horses and wagon. One flour-laden wagon can be seen in front of the mill in this picture from about that time. Deliveries went as far as Kettering and Rothwell and, whilst Sam kept fully alert on his way to a delivery, the return journey was a different story. After unloading and heading for home, he would get in the back of the wagon and have a sleep whilst the horses, who did the journey regularly, made their way back to Islip. Travelling the back road through Warkton and Slipton, the team halted outside the Red Cow public house, more recently named the Samuel Pepys, and waited until Sam awoke and went in to refresh himself with what he called “red milk
from the Red Cow” before completing his journey home. As far as is known, he never had an accident; I cannot see him getting away with this today! (Postcard produced by Taylor & Downs of Thrapston and Kettering, EDF Collection).
As I have mentioned on several occasions over the last few years in this column, pictures taken today are future history (my thanks to Steve for the recently received picture of Gray’s Garage on Oundle Road with many Reliant Robins on display before redevelopment). During the last months
we have walked many miles around town, one favourite being past the sailing club to the bench just past the bridge to Aldwincle lake. When we moved here, in 1982, I recall walking along the path with a conveyor belt carrying gravel towards the weighbridge
by the Nine Arch Bridge at the side, but never took a photograph. At the bottom
of Mill Lane is an old barn which has been slowly deteriorating over the years. In
1990 my mother, Sybil Franklin, whilst out on one of her many summer walks, took
the photograph of the barn with the fields covered in golden stubble. One corner of the roof is starting to fall off but remains basically
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