Page 18 - Jigsaw October 2018

A glance at the past...
Raising money to build a swimming pool proved to be a memorable task for George Essex as Eric Franklin explains
My article last month has brought many positive comments, for which I thank you. If you are able to come down to the Plaza for the end of World War 1 exhibition on Saturday 29th September between 10am and 4pm, I would be pleased to see you.
Just over 50 years ago in 1966, Thrapston was busy raising funds to construct a swimming pool. As part of this effort, George Essex wrote his memories, which he entitled “The Thrapston I Remember”, covering
the early years of the 20th Century. In his introduction he wrote: “I am no historian
and this exercise of memory is no history of Thrapston. It is no more — but no less — than an attempt to record some facts and observations about the Thrapston I knew. My sole qualifications for this task, which has been a pleasant one, are that I was born in Thrapston in 1889 and have had my home there or nearby ever since and that I have a deep affection for the town and its people.”
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Three of his included memories are: “The old fire station which used to
house the horse-drawn engine on the Huntingdon Road almost opposite the Baptist Church (now the site of the Working Men’s Club car park). Mr. Obadiah Booth was captain of the brigade, taking over from William Lord in 1907.”
This picture of the brigade was taken outside their headquarters in 1906.
“The floods. Before the advent of channel clearing and deepening the River Nene,
at high flood, would make impassable the