A snapshot of life in the village
1987 - 2007

 

 

1997

A link with the Past

Details
Category: 1997

"On February 1, a small ceremony took place on the Green at Pipers Tye. A replica of the pump that supplied residents there with water until the coming of mains supplies in the early part of the century was handed over to the Parish Council by a local resident, Norman Bayes whose home overlooks the Green. A retired engineer, Mr Bayes spent over eighty hours building the pump and its wooden cover, and reproducing the railings that originally surrounded it.

In making the presentation , Mr Bayes said, 'I would like to thank Galleywood Parish Council for giving me this opportunity of fulfilling a long felt wish to restore this pump. When I was a child, staying at my grandmother’s home, which was just over the road, I used to come over here and draw water at the pump in the early thirties. In those days there was no mains water in this part of the village. I've enjoyed making what you see before you, and hope it will remain a point of interest and a link with the past for people in the future. Thank you all for coming. I've been most surprised at the interest shown in the project and now I have great pleasure in formally handing this pump over to the Parish Council.'

Responding, the Chairman of the Council, Ted Hawkins said 'I would just like to express on behalf of the Parish Council our tremendous thanks to you and our gratitude for giving us today this magnificent pump that stood on Pipers Tye until the nineteen twenties. As you can all see, it is beautifully constructed and designed and is a great focal point on this most attractive green of ours. I also think it's a superb landmark for us to see and enjoy as we go along the Watchouse Road in and out of Galleywood. It takes us back in time to what Galleywood was like about seventy years ago before we had mains water. In those days, Galleywood was just a small rural hamlet with about eight hundred people compared with about six and half thousand today. The pattern of life was very different in those times - it was mainly farming here, or work to do with the horse racing events on Galleywood Common. So I would now like to mark this historic occasion by attaching this plaque to the pump.'

The plaque reads:

Replica of the village pump that stood on Pipers Tye until the 1990s."

Best Kept Village Runner Up

Details
Category: 1997

In a competition jointly sponsored by Calor Gas and The Daily Telegraph, Galleywood has been awarded a certificate as Runner-Up as the Best Kept Village in the Essex Category. Chairman Ted Hawkins praised litter collector Ron Doubleday, Keene Hall caretaker Don Gibson, groundsman Denis Andrews, John Brockman who cleans the bus shelters and Norman Bayes for the pump and flowers at Pipers Tye. The winner was Theydon Bois.

Council work on The Common raises Protest

Details
Category: 1997

As the Borough Council put in hand some of the work set out in the revised Management Plan, a group of local residents have raised a cry of protest. Led by Dr Brian Hale of Mill Hill they are dismayed by the clearing of all trees from an area of around 1.6 hectares just inside the northern loop of the old racecourse. The Plan envisages returning the space to 'lowland heath', regarded by those who profess to know about these things as a rapidly disappearing valuable habitat. Unconvinced by the need for such a scheme, the protesters see the place becoming a playground for mountain bikers with little prospect for heather recovery.

Despite some effort by the Council and the Galleywood Common Association to raise public awareness of the scheme, few objections were voiced during preliminary discussions.

Four Star Musical Packs Keene Hall

Details
Category: 1997

A new musical to celebrate the golden age of cinema brought the house down at the Keene Hall in October. Organised by the Parish Council and the Keene Hall Charity, the show was performed to a packed house by four energetic members of the Gilt and Gaslight Company. Liz Adams, Christopher Whitehead, Rhiannon Meades and Dean Fowler kept the audience enthralled with comedy, song and dance. The nostalgic trip down memory lane had the audience joining in singing the classic Broadway musical hits.

Further development in Brook Lane

Details
Category: 1997

Following the death of Mrs Egerton Smith a couple of years ago, 'Glentworth', was bought by developers last year. The house, built around 1917 by Marvens the Galleywood builder, has been the home of Mr & Mrs Egerton Smith for over forty five years. Charles Smith was an engineer and used to make prototypes for patent purposes working from an office and workshop in his home. It is said that he designed a simple car for use by demobilised servicemen after the war in 1945 but the project was not taken up by manufacturers. On his death, Mrs Smith sold part of the land next to the house to Countryside Properties who put up two detached homes, numbers 17 and 19.

When Glentworth was demolished, the site was bought by Jenny Moody Properties who put up four detached homes. Local concern over the fate of the large beech tree was satisfied when a Tree Preservation order was awarded to this magnificent specimen. A plot on the eastern edge of the site was bequeathed by Mrs Smith to her neighbour Eric Kearnes and this is likely to remain undeveloped for the foreseeable future.

1997

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