Humphrey Phelps
1927 - 2016
A countryside writer who started by drawing on his own experiences of growing up on and then running the family farm. He also wrote books that captured the stories of other peoples' lives working and living in the Forest of Dean during the early to mid twentieth-century. His books containing some of the earliest photographs of Forest places and people were immensely popular too and have become a valued resource for local historians. He was a regular broadcaster, and later wrote books on Suffolk and Essex.
A countryside writer who started by drawing on his own experiences of growing up on and then running the family farm. He also wrote books that captured the stories of other peoples' lives working and living in the Forest of Dean during the early to mid twentieth-century. His books containing some of the earliest photographs of Forest places and people were immensely popular too and have become a valued resource for local historians. He was a regular broadcaster, and later wrote books on Suffolk and Essex.
Early life
Humphrey Gordon Phelps was born in 1927, the son of Albert Allen Phelps (1887-1975) and Elsie Elizabeth Pontifax-Price (1896–1990), who married in Mitcheldean. He was the eldest of three children, having two younger sisters, Lucy and Jean. Humphrey attended Blaisdon Primary School, and was also privately tutored by Doreen Wallace, before entering the Crypt Grammar School in Gloucester.
As young children both Humphrey and his sister Lucy featured regularly in the ‘Birthday Congratulations’ page of the ‘Children’s Corner’ of the Gloucester Journal between 1935 and 1943 (e.g. Gloucester Journal, 1st May 1937, p.9)
The very young Humphrey entered a number of competitions for children, also run by the ‘Children’s Corner’. He was one of those awarded a ‘highly commended’ in a colouring competition run by the paper when aged around 8 years (Gloucester Journal, 23rd Nov 1935, p.9).
Humphrey grew up knowing both his grandfathers, James Phelps who died in 1948 and Albert Pontifax-Price who died in 1978. Humphrey would have learnt a lot about past times in the Forest from his grandparents, as well as other older adults both within and beyond the immediate family. Grandfather Albert lived long enough to see his grandson’s emergence as a successful local author.
As young children both Humphrey and his sister Lucy featured regularly in the ‘Birthday Congratulations’ page of the ‘Children’s Corner’ of the Gloucester Journal between 1935 and 1943 (e.g. Gloucester Journal, 1st May 1937, p.9)
The very young Humphrey entered a number of competitions for children, also run by the ‘Children’s Corner’. He was one of those awarded a ‘highly commended’ in a colouring competition run by the paper when aged around 8 years (Gloucester Journal, 23rd Nov 1935, p.9).
Humphrey grew up knowing both his grandfathers, James Phelps who died in 1948 and Albert Pontifax-Price who died in 1978. Humphrey would have learnt a lot about past times in the Forest from his grandparents, as well as other older adults both within and beyond the immediate family. Grandfather Albert lived long enough to see his grandson’s emergence as a successful local author.
family roots
FATHER'S FAMILY
Earlier generations of the Phelps’ family had worked as iron miners (ancestry.co.uk: 1861 census) however, Humphrey’s grandfather, James Phelps (1857–1948) broke away from mining and became an innkeeper. By 1891 he was running the Jovial Colliers pub in Mitcheldean (1891 census, www.ancestry.co.uk ), where he remained as publican for many years. He was also a farmer, initially leasing and later purchasing Court Farm in Mitcheldean (Gloucester Journal, 28th Dec 1918, p2). Farming in that period involved much use of horse power. A 1932 photograph featuring James, standing in front of a heavily loaded horse drawn hay cart, appears in Humphrey’s book The Forest in Old Photographs, p54. James also served on the Parish Council in Mitcheldean. (Gloucester Citizen, 12th April 1923, p.3).
James married Lucy Simmonds in 1883. The 1891 census indicates that the couple went on to have three children, Frederick, Edith and Albert. The eldest son, Frederick (1885-1948), went on to run the farm with his father. Court Farm was later to become the site of the Rank Xerox factory. Both Frederick and his father James died in or around 1948. Sadly James Phelps’ wife Lucy died in November 1917, at the age of 58 years, after a long illness which had required her to reside for a time at a nursing home in Gloucester (Gloucester Journal, 1st Dec 1917, p.6).
Humphrey’s father Albert was baptised in the parish church in Mitcheldean on 23rd November 1888. Growing up in Mitcheldean Albert was still living at home in 1923, when he suffered a minor mishap, falling from his horse and dislocating his ankle, a short article to this effect appearing in the press (Gloucester Journal, 6th Oct 1923).
By the 1930s Albert, now a married man, was farming in Westbury on Severn, at Boseley Court. The farm was purchased from the Ebborn family. Humphrey later joined his father in running the farm, which is still in the possession of the Phelps family.
Albert died on 31st August 1975, at Boseley House.
MOTHER'S FAMILY
Elsie (1896–1990) was the daughter of Albert Pontifax-Price (1872–1978) and his wife Elizabeth (nee Alderson). Elsie’s family ran a butcher’s shop in Newnham-on-Severn. Elsie was confirmed in her teenage years, also in Newnham, on 28th February 1913. A 1904 photograph of Albert, outside his shop, appears in the volume The Forest in Old Photographs, p110). Elsie, like her husband Albert, died at Boseley House, Westbury on Severn on 23rd Nov 1990, at the grand age of 94 years.
Earlier generations of the Phelps’ family had worked as iron miners (ancestry.co.uk: 1861 census) however, Humphrey’s grandfather, James Phelps (1857–1948) broke away from mining and became an innkeeper. By 1891 he was running the Jovial Colliers pub in Mitcheldean (1891 census, www.ancestry.co.uk ), where he remained as publican for many years. He was also a farmer, initially leasing and later purchasing Court Farm in Mitcheldean (Gloucester Journal, 28th Dec 1918, p2). Farming in that period involved much use of horse power. A 1932 photograph featuring James, standing in front of a heavily loaded horse drawn hay cart, appears in Humphrey’s book The Forest in Old Photographs, p54. James also served on the Parish Council in Mitcheldean. (Gloucester Citizen, 12th April 1923, p.3).
James married Lucy Simmonds in 1883. The 1891 census indicates that the couple went on to have three children, Frederick, Edith and Albert. The eldest son, Frederick (1885-1948), went on to run the farm with his father. Court Farm was later to become the site of the Rank Xerox factory. Both Frederick and his father James died in or around 1948. Sadly James Phelps’ wife Lucy died in November 1917, at the age of 58 years, after a long illness which had required her to reside for a time at a nursing home in Gloucester (Gloucester Journal, 1st Dec 1917, p.6).
Humphrey’s father Albert was baptised in the parish church in Mitcheldean on 23rd November 1888. Growing up in Mitcheldean Albert was still living at home in 1923, when he suffered a minor mishap, falling from his horse and dislocating his ankle, a short article to this effect appearing in the press (Gloucester Journal, 6th Oct 1923).
By the 1930s Albert, now a married man, was farming in Westbury on Severn, at Boseley Court. The farm was purchased from the Ebborn family. Humphrey later joined his father in running the farm, which is still in the possession of the Phelps family.
Albert died on 31st August 1975, at Boseley House.
MOTHER'S FAMILY
Elsie (1896–1990) was the daughter of Albert Pontifax-Price (1872–1978) and his wife Elizabeth (nee Alderson). Elsie’s family ran a butcher’s shop in Newnham-on-Severn. Elsie was confirmed in her teenage years, also in Newnham, on 28th February 1913. A 1904 photograph of Albert, outside his shop, appears in the volume The Forest in Old Photographs, p110). Elsie, like her husband Albert, died at Boseley House, Westbury on Severn on 23rd Nov 1990, at the grand age of 94 years.
marriage, family and farming
Humphrey married Pauline (nee Charlton) in 1951. By the late 1950s Humphrey and his wife were living in Boseley Court, managing the family farm, his parents living nearby at Boseley House. The couple had four sons, Nicholas (b.1952), Simon (b.1955), Adrian (1958-1969) and Rupert (b.1960). Sadly Adrian died when aged only 10 years, when his clothing caught fire in the family kitchen. Neither Humphrey nor his wife Pauline fully recovered from this sad loss.
Simon and several other members of the family continue to live in and around Westbury.
Boseley Farm was a mixed one, keeping both beef and dairy cattle, together with a few pigs and other animals. Founded in 1953 the Boseley Herd largely comprised Red Poll cattle, a dual purpose breed (i.e. bred for dairy and meat) with strong links to Suffolk (www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Poll). At the time of Humphrey’s death the Red Poll herd comprised some 160 cattle and two bulls. As his son Simon notes the herd later also included Friesian and Friesian /Jersey cross cattle. (Dual Purpose Red Poll Newsletter, No105, 2016, p9)
Writing for the magazine Gloucestershire and Avon Life in June 1982 (reprinted in A Gloucestershire Notebook) Humphrey discusses the Red Poll – then and now possibly a less familiar breed to the general public than the Friesian or Jersey. His comments include both an outline of the attributes of the breed, and the factors contributing to a decline in its popularity:
“When I started keeping Red Polls, almost thirty years ago, they could be seen at every major show, and at many minor ones”..."There used to be several Red Poll herds in Gloucestershire, some of which were world famous”. However "with increasing specialisation in agriculture, dual-purpose breeds and the mixed farms to which they are ideally suited, have gone out of favour”...... "fashion, like our weather, is notoriously fickle”.
Simon and several other members of the family continue to live in and around Westbury.
Boseley Farm was a mixed one, keeping both beef and dairy cattle, together with a few pigs and other animals. Founded in 1953 the Boseley Herd largely comprised Red Poll cattle, a dual purpose breed (i.e. bred for dairy and meat) with strong links to Suffolk (www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Poll). At the time of Humphrey’s death the Red Poll herd comprised some 160 cattle and two bulls. As his son Simon notes the herd later also included Friesian and Friesian /Jersey cross cattle. (Dual Purpose Red Poll Newsletter, No105, 2016, p9)
Writing for the magazine Gloucestershire and Avon Life in June 1982 (reprinted in A Gloucestershire Notebook) Humphrey discusses the Red Poll – then and now possibly a less familiar breed to the general public than the Friesian or Jersey. His comments include both an outline of the attributes of the breed, and the factors contributing to a decline in its popularity:
“When I started keeping Red Polls, almost thirty years ago, they could be seen at every major show, and at many minor ones”..."There used to be several Red Poll herds in Gloucestershire, some of which were world famous”. However "with increasing specialisation in agriculture, dual-purpose breeds and the mixed farms to which they are ideally suited, have gone out of favour”...... "fashion, like our weather, is notoriously fickle”.
literary circle and friendships
Humphrey had a wide circle of friends, both locally and more dispersed. Amongst this number was F.W. Baty, author of Forest of Dean (1952) (one of a series of books by different authors published between 1952-58, each looking at specific areas within the UK). Humphrey assisted Baty in the preparation of this volume. Humphrey was also a close friend of Harry Beddington. Humphrey's son Simon recollects that, as Harry Beddington got older and became unable to drive, Humphrey would drive to his home to maintain their friendship. Humphrey also counted local author Winifred Foley amongst his friends, and Fred Archer, an author with a similar background to his own who was brought up on the other side of the River Severn, in the Cotswolds.
WRITER AND BROADCASTER
By the 1970s, when in his late 40s, the first of what would be many books written by Humphrey Phelps was published. The first four books were written and published between 1974 and 1979. They focus on the experiences of Humphrey and Molly at a farm near the River Severn in Gloucestershire. The books are nostalgic, looking back on farming as it had been in the past. One book in the series was Just Across the Fields, a review of which appeared in the Birmingham Daily Post in a column entitled ‘Country Books’ in 1976. The reviewer, Brian Vesey-Fitzgerald wrote:
‘Phelps farms in Gloucestershire. He is a Gloucestershire man born and bred, through and through.......There is no questioning the authenticity of this account of life on a Gloucestershire farm 30 years ago, when the author was a boy......this is more than a book about farming; it is a remembrance of village life, warm and peaceful...a book to treasure’.
(Birmingham Daily Post, 1st Dec 1976, p.14)
The same column also contained a review of a new book by Phil Drabble. The following year both Drabble and Humphrey Phelps, with others, featured on a BBC2 broadcast presented by Julian Pettifer, entitled ‘Country Game’ – in discussion about butterflies, hedges and poppies (Coventry Evening Telegraph, 6th Aug 1977, p.11). Humphrey went on to appear quite regularly as a panellist on this programme.
The following year a further book, entitled ‘Just Over Yonder, was published. Vesey-Fitzgerald again reviewed this book, describing it as:
‘..a delightful, gently humorous book of reminiscences, which, after a first reading, can be dipped into with pleasure and profit’ (The Birmingham Post, 30th Nov, 1977, p.19)
A later book in the same series, Just Where We Belong, published in 1978, received a less favourable review from critic Vivian Bird, who also wrote for the Birmingham Daily Post, in a column entitled ‘Country Ways’. He wrote:
‘Nothing memorable emerges from Humphrey and Molly Phelps second year at Perrygrove Farm which.....exists almost in a vacuum, though we gather it is in Gloucestershire, near the Severn Estuary’. (Birmingham Daily Post, 29th Dec, 1978).
Concurrent with the publication of this series, Humphrey was a regular contributor to a number of magazines, including 'The Countryman' and 'Gloucestershire and Avon Life'. Humphrey’s son Simon recollects that Humphrey also collected every edition of 'The Countryman', from the very first issue. A collection of articles written for both publications were many years later put together in a volume entitled A Gloucestershire Notebook (The History Press, 2008). The articles included accounts of day to day farming and family life. Family members are mentioned in several of the articles, including Humphrey’s children and grandchildren. Other articles include descriptive passages about local places such as Newnham, whilst others are reflective pieces, considering the ways in which the world was changing and the impact of this on the established local way of life.
By the early 1980s the scope of Phelps’ work had extended. Publications at this time included a personalised history of the Forest of Dean, followed a year later by a collection of historical photographs of the Forest, and in 1996 by a book based on interviews / oral histories. These three books each serve, through his own words, to provide an indication of Humphrey Phelps’ personal perceptions of and reactions to the local area, and of changes taking place in and around the Forest. Other books of a similar local historical vein were to follow, throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Whilst many continued to focus on the Forest of Dean, others, some of which again included collections of old photographs, featured a number of locations in Suffolk and Essex. Humphrey had developed this interest in Suffolk through farming and his herd of Red Poll cattle. Some of the latter books have been reissued in more recent years, forming part of what is now an extensive series of books featuring old photographs. The images have been collated by a range of authors and cover many areas of Britain, all published / reissued by Amberley Press.
The following year a further book, entitled ‘Just Over Yonder, was published. Vesey-Fitzgerald again reviewed this book, describing it as:
‘..a delightful, gently humorous book of reminiscences, which, after a first reading, can be dipped into with pleasure and profit’ (The Birmingham Post, 30th Nov, 1977, p.19)
A later book in the same series, Just Where We Belong, published in 1978, received a less favourable review from critic Vivian Bird, who also wrote for the Birmingham Daily Post, in a column entitled ‘Country Ways’. He wrote:
‘Nothing memorable emerges from Humphrey and Molly Phelps second year at Perrygrove Farm which.....exists almost in a vacuum, though we gather it is in Gloucestershire, near the Severn Estuary’. (Birmingham Daily Post, 29th Dec, 1978).
Concurrent with the publication of this series, Humphrey was a regular contributor to a number of magazines, including 'The Countryman' and 'Gloucestershire and Avon Life'. Humphrey’s son Simon recollects that Humphrey also collected every edition of 'The Countryman', from the very first issue. A collection of articles written for both publications were many years later put together in a volume entitled A Gloucestershire Notebook (The History Press, 2008). The articles included accounts of day to day farming and family life. Family members are mentioned in several of the articles, including Humphrey’s children and grandchildren. Other articles include descriptive passages about local places such as Newnham, whilst others are reflective pieces, considering the ways in which the world was changing and the impact of this on the established local way of life.
By the early 1980s the scope of Phelps’ work had extended. Publications at this time included a personalised history of the Forest of Dean, followed a year later by a collection of historical photographs of the Forest, and in 1996 by a book based on interviews / oral histories. These three books each serve, through his own words, to provide an indication of Humphrey Phelps’ personal perceptions of and reactions to the local area, and of changes taking place in and around the Forest. Other books of a similar local historical vein were to follow, throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Whilst many continued to focus on the Forest of Dean, others, some of which again included collections of old photographs, featured a number of locations in Suffolk and Essex. Humphrey had developed this interest in Suffolk through farming and his herd of Red Poll cattle. Some of the latter books have been reissued in more recent years, forming part of what is now an extensive series of books featuring old photographs. The images have been collated by a range of authors and cover many areas of Britain, all published / reissued by Amberley Press.
Audio recording featuring Humphrey Phelps
The John Moore Museum in Tewkesbury is named in honour of the Tewkesbury-born writer and conservationist . Its website includes a number of readings linked to Moore’s writing, and one of these features Humphrey Phelps reading a piece written by Moore in 1948, entitled 'Poetry and Sprouts': www.johnmooremuseum.org/fun-stuff/listen-here
Video recording featuring Humphrey Phelps
In 1986 a film was made about the mines and freeminers of the Forest of Dean. The film included short interviews with a number of local people, including Humphrey Phelps. He speaks on a range of themes including the independent nature of people from the Forest, free roaming sheep, and the impact of a changing population within the forest. The recording can be accessed on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKIHH3BD4ik
The John Moore Museum in Tewkesbury is named in honour of the Tewkesbury-born writer and conservationist . Its website includes a number of readings linked to Moore’s writing, and one of these features Humphrey Phelps reading a piece written by Moore in 1948, entitled 'Poetry and Sprouts': www.johnmooremuseum.org/fun-stuff/listen-here
Video recording featuring Humphrey Phelps
In 1986 a film was made about the mines and freeminers of the Forest of Dean. The film included short interviews with a number of local people, including Humphrey Phelps. He speaks on a range of themes including the independent nature of people from the Forest, free roaming sheep, and the impact of a changing population within the forest. The recording can be accessed on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKIHH3BD4ik
Forest BOOKs
The Forest in Old Photographs (1983)
The images in this volume were collected and put together for publication by Humphrey Phelps. While certain of the images came from family sources, others were acquired from a wide range of local people. In the introduction Phelps notes:
“Collecting these photographs has been a pleasure, looking at them has caused both pleasure and sadness. Sadness because so much has gone, often thoughtlessly and needlessly”
The sections of the book are divided into themes, with annotations about the content of each image provided by Humphrey. In some instances considerable detail is provided about the people pictured – offering a marvellous resource for family historians. Some, but not all, images are dated. The volume opens with a selection of pictures depicting various local towns and villages, organised alphabetically. A prominent section is devoted to occupations – mining, woods, farming, building and demolition and more find their way into this fascinating glimpse into days gone by. Later sections focus on themes such as Recreation, Devotion and School, and Shops.
The book proved such a success that a second volume was published just a year later.
The images in this volume were collected and put together for publication by Humphrey Phelps. While certain of the images came from family sources, others were acquired from a wide range of local people. In the introduction Phelps notes:
“Collecting these photographs has been a pleasure, looking at them has caused both pleasure and sadness. Sadness because so much has gone, often thoughtlessly and needlessly”
The sections of the book are divided into themes, with annotations about the content of each image provided by Humphrey. In some instances considerable detail is provided about the people pictured – offering a marvellous resource for family historians. Some, but not all, images are dated. The volume opens with a selection of pictures depicting various local towns and villages, organised alphabetically. A prominent section is devoted to occupations – mining, woods, farming, building and demolition and more find their way into this fascinating glimpse into days gone by. Later sections focus on themes such as Recreation, Devotion and School, and Shops.
The book proved such a success that a second volume was published just a year later.
The Forest of Dean: A Personal View (1982)
This volume opens with a brief history of the area, which also touches on more recent changes to the local way of life: new industries, and other outside influences. Humphrey guides the reader around the Forest, with a wealth of historical information, including material about notable individuals past and present with forest connections. These include historical figures such as Rev H G Nichols (author of The Forest of Dean, 1858), through to more recent names such as Angus Buchanan V.C. and contemporary people involved with mining, forestry, woodland management etc.
The whole volume is also interspersed with commentary and descriptions of past and present ways of life. Themes include free roaming Forest sheep, the state of forestry and, unsurprisingly in the Forest, free mining.
Anecdotes abound, on a wide range of themes, reflecting Humphrey’s intent to provide a personal account. Whilst much of the historical material and many quotations come from external sources, the book also includes extracts of conversations with local people. In one such conversation, an old man gives Humphrey his views on changes to forestry practice:
“Once all the Forest was like this. But they’ve raped our Forest, old Butt. They’ve slaughtered so much of the hardwood and planted all them conifers. All the same and all in straight rows, green soldiers we do call ‘em”.
It is clear from comments within the text that Phelps was concerned about these and other changes taking place at the time the book was originally published (1982). Through his first person comments, it is possible to gain some level of insight into Humphrey’s own perceptions of the Forest, and those changes:
“For centuries, under the Crown, the Forest proper has been safe in its entirety, and in its character, rights, privileges and customs, but its heritage is under threat”.
He comments on forest sheep – this at a time prior to the reduction in numbers occasioned by relatively recent foot and mouth outbreaks:
“Sheep are a great nuisance roaming the villages and towns and fouling them with their droppings...but...the streets are also fouled by dogs and litter. And if there appear to be more sheep on the verges and in and around the villages, it is because the grazing has become less.....Without the sheep the forest floor would become overgrown, the verges and the rough wasteland a wilderness or a tremendous expense to ratepayers and the Forest would lose one of its main features”
This volume opens with a brief history of the area, which also touches on more recent changes to the local way of life: new industries, and other outside influences. Humphrey guides the reader around the Forest, with a wealth of historical information, including material about notable individuals past and present with forest connections. These include historical figures such as Rev H G Nichols (author of The Forest of Dean, 1858), through to more recent names such as Angus Buchanan V.C. and contemporary people involved with mining, forestry, woodland management etc.
The whole volume is also interspersed with commentary and descriptions of past and present ways of life. Themes include free roaming Forest sheep, the state of forestry and, unsurprisingly in the Forest, free mining.
Anecdotes abound, on a wide range of themes, reflecting Humphrey’s intent to provide a personal account. Whilst much of the historical material and many quotations come from external sources, the book also includes extracts of conversations with local people. In one such conversation, an old man gives Humphrey his views on changes to forestry practice:
“Once all the Forest was like this. But they’ve raped our Forest, old Butt. They’ve slaughtered so much of the hardwood and planted all them conifers. All the same and all in straight rows, green soldiers we do call ‘em”.
It is clear from comments within the text that Phelps was concerned about these and other changes taking place at the time the book was originally published (1982). Through his first person comments, it is possible to gain some level of insight into Humphrey’s own perceptions of the Forest, and those changes:
“For centuries, under the Crown, the Forest proper has been safe in its entirety, and in its character, rights, privileges and customs, but its heritage is under threat”.
He comments on forest sheep – this at a time prior to the reduction in numbers occasioned by relatively recent foot and mouth outbreaks:
“Sheep are a great nuisance roaming the villages and towns and fouling them with their droppings...but...the streets are also fouled by dogs and litter. And if there appear to be more sheep on the verges and in and around the villages, it is because the grazing has become less.....Without the sheep the forest floor would become overgrown, the verges and the rough wasteland a wilderness or a tremendous expense to ratepayers and the Forest would lose one of its main features”
Forest Voices (1996)
Published in 1996, this book is made up of transcripts of Humphrey’s conversations with an extensive number of local people, reflecting on many aspects of local life as it was in the first half of the twentieth century. This book thus provides an oral history of local life, through the memories of the participants, who came from very varied backgrounds. Themes include, but are not limited to, schooldays, migration (to and from the Forest), trade and traders together with sections on iron and coal mining. Chapter 7 includes a number of personal memories of the 1921 and 1926 miners’ strikes, and the hardships which ensued. One interviewee, Eric Morris, said:
“My father was out of work from 7 May 1926 to 11 November 1927 and he never had as much as a penny from anywhere”
Religion was also an important aspect of local life. In one chapter people reflect on attendance at chapels across the Forest. Many chapels were reliant on visiting lay preachers, as interviewees M and S Harris describe:
“Grandfather was a preacher and he’d walk from Drybrook to Woolaston, Lydney, Yorkley and other places to preach at chapels. Sometimes several preachers would meet at the Speech House and walk back together”
Published in 1996, this book is made up of transcripts of Humphrey’s conversations with an extensive number of local people, reflecting on many aspects of local life as it was in the first half of the twentieth century. This book thus provides an oral history of local life, through the memories of the participants, who came from very varied backgrounds. Themes include, but are not limited to, schooldays, migration (to and from the Forest), trade and traders together with sections on iron and coal mining. Chapter 7 includes a number of personal memories of the 1921 and 1926 miners’ strikes, and the hardships which ensued. One interviewee, Eric Morris, said:
“My father was out of work from 7 May 1926 to 11 November 1927 and he never had as much as a penny from anywhere”
Religion was also an important aspect of local life. In one chapter people reflect on attendance at chapels across the Forest. Many chapels were reliant on visiting lay preachers, as interviewees M and S Harris describe:
“Grandfather was a preacher and he’d walk from Drybrook to Woolaston, Lydney, Yorkley and other places to preach at chapels. Sometimes several preachers would meet at the Speech House and walk back together”
bibliography
Forest of Dean
Just Around the Corner (1974) Thornhill Press
Just Across the Fields (1976) Michael Joseph, London 1976 - first paperback issue Sphere Books, London 1978
Just Over Yonder (1977) Michael Joseph, London
Just Where We Belong (1979) Michael Joseph, London
The Forest of Dean: A Personal View (1982) Alan Sutton
The Forest in Old Photographs (1983) Sutton Publishing Ltd
The Forest in Old Photographs: A Second Selection (1984) Alan Sutton
Uncle George and Company (1984) Sutton Publishing Ltd
A Forest Christmas (1993) Sutton Publishing Ltd
Forest to Severn (1994) (Old Photographs series)
Country Anecdotes (1990)
Forest of Dean of 100 years ago (1992)
The Forest of Dean in Wartime (1995) Alan Sutton Publishing
Forest Voices (1996) Chalford Press, Stroud
Uncle George’s Golden Days (2008) Amberley Publishing
A Gloucestershire Notebook (2008) History Press
Suffolk and Essex:
(N.B. the covers for some items in this series describe Humphrey Phelps as having compiled and / or chosen the included items. It is assumed that the pictures were made available to Phelps in a similar way to those featured in the earlier The Forest in Old Photographs)
A Suffolk Christmas (1991) Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd
Southwold to Aldeburgh in Old Photographs (1991) Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd
Around Woodbridge in Old Photographs (1992) Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd
Suffolk of 100 years ago (1992) Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd
The Heart of Suffolk in Old Photographs (1993) Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd
An Essex Christmas (1993)
Lowestoft to Southwold: Old Photographs series (1994) Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd
Walberwick to Felixstowe in Old Photographs (1994) Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd
Victorian and Edwardian Suffolk (2008) Amberley Publishing
Many of the above publications by Humphrey Phelps have been reissued by either Amberley Publishing Limited or The History Press in recent years.
Just Around the Corner (1974) Thornhill Press
Just Across the Fields (1976) Michael Joseph, London 1976 - first paperback issue Sphere Books, London 1978
Just Over Yonder (1977) Michael Joseph, London
Just Where We Belong (1979) Michael Joseph, London
The Forest of Dean: A Personal View (1982) Alan Sutton
The Forest in Old Photographs (1983) Sutton Publishing Ltd
The Forest in Old Photographs: A Second Selection (1984) Alan Sutton
Uncle George and Company (1984) Sutton Publishing Ltd
A Forest Christmas (1993) Sutton Publishing Ltd
Forest to Severn (1994) (Old Photographs series)
Country Anecdotes (1990)
Forest of Dean of 100 years ago (1992)
The Forest of Dean in Wartime (1995) Alan Sutton Publishing
Forest Voices (1996) Chalford Press, Stroud
Uncle George’s Golden Days (2008) Amberley Publishing
A Gloucestershire Notebook (2008) History Press
Suffolk and Essex:
(N.B. the covers for some items in this series describe Humphrey Phelps as having compiled and / or chosen the included items. It is assumed that the pictures were made available to Phelps in a similar way to those featured in the earlier The Forest in Old Photographs)
A Suffolk Christmas (1991) Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd
Southwold to Aldeburgh in Old Photographs (1991) Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd
Around Woodbridge in Old Photographs (1992) Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd
Suffolk of 100 years ago (1992) Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd
The Heart of Suffolk in Old Photographs (1993) Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd
An Essex Christmas (1993)
Lowestoft to Southwold: Old Photographs series (1994) Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd
Walberwick to Felixstowe in Old Photographs (1994) Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd
Victorian and Edwardian Suffolk (2008) Amberley Publishing
Many of the above publications by Humphrey Phelps have been reissued by either Amberley Publishing Limited or The History Press in recent years.
Written and researched by Reading the Forest volunteer Caroline Prosser-Lodge.
