Letters

(page 4 of 4)

Dear Messenger,

“Crabtree - The Hidden Hamlet”. Your excellent piece prompts me to add my personal experience. My father, Thos Leo Cawley, bought Cliffe Cottage in 1938 to move from London with his wife and five children. The house and neighbourhood were an idyllic location providing space for all our family events. The garden finished with the delightful river Crab bounded on both sides by crocus and snowdrops in Spring.

Most of the large houses had affluent families and servants. During the war Crabtree Bank housed an RAF Barrage Balloon Station whose personnel saved our lives by defusing the bombs dropped on the lawn.

My only criticism of your article is the mention of the row of cottages. They were not demolished at the start of World War One and were still standing at my wedding in 1951.

My father continued to reside alone until his death in 1972. My only regret is that I sold the house with no notion that it would be demolished and didn’t preserve the fittings, including panelling from Derwent Hall, now submerged for the Bamford Resevoir.

Sincerely, Mrs AJ Johnson