Washinghall Lane Memories

I was looking at your website and enjoyed seeing the photos from the past.  I thought that you might want a copy of this photo of William Stringwell and Emma Stringwell (nee Jackson) and their granddaughter Florence Emma Stringwell outside their home in Wash Hole Lane.

I’m not sure exactly where they lived on Wash Hole Lane (now Washinghall Lane),  or if the house is still there.
My Gran (Florence) was born in Dec 1917, so I assume that she’s about 9 in the photo, so it would have been taken around 1926, roughly.

They appear to have lived in the village between 1910 and 1940…and their children did too…Albert, Ada, George, Arthur, Florence.

In 1911, William and Emma lived with their niece, Betris Emma Wray.

And I know, Ada’s husband, Norman Hewes, was working as a “horseman on a farm” according to the 1939 census, and seemed to use the ‘wash hole’ in Wash Hole Lane to clean the horses each day.

1911 Census

Their home was listed as #1 Council House in the 1939 census, I believe…not sure if it’s the same house as William and Emma were living in in this photo.
I believe that William, in the photo, was an agricultural labourer.

1939 Census

Both William and Emma appear to be buried at St Bartholomew’s Church.
Hopefully this is of some interest to you, and may help preserve a little bit of the history of Eastoft.
Thanks

Ryan Matthews
ryanmatthews@btinternet.com

 

The Washing Hole

My great grandfather, Edmund Oates, Eastoft village’s boot and shoemaker had a small farm, Gaythorne Farm, Washing Hole Lane, Eastoft.

The powers that be stating,
“We cannot have a lane named after the place that the poor people of Eastoft did their laundry”   have renamed it Washing Hall Lane. My father was highly amused when this happened.

The Washing Hole was a pond with firm clay bottom about 18 inches deep. It was where the farmers and farm workers took their carthorses after a days work in muddy field to wash their fetlocks before they returned to the stables.

The position of the hole is still there but it is now filled in, a square of grass on a 90-degree bend in the road.

Original Text Posted by Bill Goldthorp   on  www.crowle.org

The Washing Hole Green Today

IT’S YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD 2019

EASTOFT GARDENING CLUB
Assessed on: 19.07.2018

The group continues to work on the appearance of their village with the support of the Parish Council. They maintain displays along the main road as well as enhancing a corner of the village that otherwise could look untidy and be overgrown. Planting continues to develop, using donations from local residents and more distant relatives. There is enough here to provide colour over a long season through spring and summer….

Eastoft Gardening Club