Correspondence
Buntingford Revisited
Sir,
After an absence of 17 years, I visited the town of Buntingford, and the village of Westmill recently, and thought an account of my impressions might prove of interest to your readers.
Buntingford appeared to be quite up-to-date with good raods and progressive shops. The paths were fair, and I was surprised to find some of the old cobbles on the paths at the Corney Bury end.
The old almshouses near "The Crown" have lost none of their original beauty, whilst the War Memorial, a feature new to me, of course, was not so suggestive of a cemetery as a good many monuments of a similar kind in other places.
I found that there was still good service at the "Adam and Eve," which looked no worse - and only slightly altered - than when I first became acquainted with it over 80 years ago. With its Grammar School, Technical Institute, Women's Institute, and other modern improvements, the town looked in every way progressive.
Visiting Westmill, I found the churchyard overgrown with grass, and the head-stones of the graves covered with moss, obliterating the inscription. I failed to find the resting-place of my forbears, and it seemed to be a pity Old Mortality should thus have gone from our midst.
The old familiar pond was filled up, but the village was delightfully quiet after the noisy traffic of a parish so near to London as Cheshunt. I missed some of the old landmarks entirely, but on the whole I spent a profitable half-day dwelling on the memories of the past, and I am convinced that the march of progress and improvement, whether we will or not, will go on making for a fuller, brighter, and better life than our forefathers knew, and tending towards a far better world than the croakers would have us believe.
Yours faithfully,
James Bunce
25, Turners Hill, Cheshunt.
0 comments:
Post a Comment