General Chat

I'm attempting to totally redecorate and refurnish a room, that is stuffed with boxes (mainly of books) has a bed/settee in it that I can fold up etc., but is seriously in the way.
Whilst (yet again) moving boxes from one room to another, I noticed a yellowing piece of paper on the floor. On it is written:

Mr Mutum,
You've got your Cromwells mixed up, says Mr Gostlins of Great Barton - William Dowsing of Lackfield was a commissioner for Oliver Cromwell, not agent for Thomas Cromwell. Could you ring him? Bernard

It's a very old piece of paper, the phone number has 3 figures!!!
I presume it fell out of an old book - but not sure which.

We used to live in a 300 year old weavers cottage and the strangest thing found was when OH was painting under the stairs, a bent 1749 penny hit him on the head. We took it to a dealer to get some info was told it was a Gypsy wedding coin/token but of no monetary value. I still have it but can't say if the tale is true or not, although interesting.

Maggie,

There's Olivers Battery nearby!! as you would prob. know. Sounds interesting, pity there's not more of it.



Sue :-)

Strangest thing we ever found was a load of half crowns (2/6p) hidden in a box under the stairs in 1956 after my grandfather died.

We found out that a half crown was his weekly National Assistance amount and that he had always put the half crown away somewhere safe for when the day arrived that the government would ask for them back - it seems he did not believe that the government gave you something for nothing - not much has changed then ;-)

Just looked up the area code on the phone number. It, like the actual number is only 3 digits long, but appears to be a Northern Ireland code!

Three digit numbers were used right up until the 1950's in some more rural areas

I'm sure we had a 3 digit phone no still in early 60's...that was in mid Wales.

we definitely had a 3 digit number in the New Forest in 1967!!
It was 538 :-D

Yes I can remember them from the early 60's so was suspicious about the accuracy of that info :-)

When one of my grandfathers died a large tin box was found hidden behind a false wall in his room. The box itself was full of betting slips, old copies of "The Sporting LIfe", stud books (he was a "turf accountant") and a lot of old family letters and army stuff. Right at the bottom were several thousand pounds in old black n white fivers !

He had 12 kids and no will so there was a bit of a set to....

My then fiancee had a 3 digit phone number as recently as 1975.