This month we have something that's part anecdote, part mystery and - depending upon your taste - a piece of poetry.
The text of this short poem vividly describes a walk through Farnhill, where the protagonist visits various shops and meets some of the villagers, who may be on their way to a musical event.
Click for a larger text version of the poem.
Now as this piece was given to us by James Whitaker, we are pretty confident that the "Florrie, fair of face" mentioned was his mother, Florence Whitaker, who certainly took part in at least one musical production at the Institute (see our short piece on Musical Events).
We think the other people might be:
- "Dorothy and Marjorie" - the Hill sisters ?
- "Bill" - possibly William Dawson
- "Norris" - almost certainly Norris Webb
- "Grace, the shepherdess" - maybe Grace Marklew ?
If you have any other suggestions or if you can tell us anything about the Farnhill fruit-shop or the tobacconists mentioned, please email us at history@farnhill.co.uk.