A very large audience listened with great interest to the day to day happenings of Bill Bridger, a farm worker who began these diaries at the age of 29 years, when he met his wife to be.

Over the years they had first a girl, then two boys, another girl and then another son.

One of the farmer's favourite pastimes was to collect moleskins (catching the moles first) and for each skin the employer would award 1d, and on one occasion Bill collected 200. A nice addition to his wages!

He mentions the hop fields that were all around the area at the time, and cattle, sheep, wheat and potato crops. From time to time he mentions the wet seasons.

He went to church twice a day on a Sunday, not necessarily the same church.

When it was necessary to buy new clothes the family would shop in the Bentall Departmental store in Farnham. He would visit the cattle market held in Farnham once a week, and on historic occasions like the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria a day of celebration was declared and fireworks would be part of the day's events.

He mentions the day King Edward VII came to Frensham Common with Queen Alexandria to inspect the troops.

When the Boer War in 1902 came to an end men were needed to build Bordon Army Camp and Bill worked there as a carpenter's labourer, building huts and eventually the garrison church.

Each day he would walk from Dockenfield to Bordon, six miles each way.
When all the building work was completed, he found himself redundant and returned to Frensham to work as a gardener, the duties of which he carried out until his death at the age of 76 years.

His three sons became fighting men during the First World War and each one survived. Alas the girls were not so lucky.

Una, the elder, had been in service in Frensham for some years before telling the family she wanted to work in a London household.

Within two years she suffered appendicitis and was rushed to hospital where she died, aged 20. Her younger sister, the apple of her father's eye, died during childbirth.

To improve their living standards, Bill and his wife Jane would grow vegetables on their own plot of land behind their cottage, and sometimes after a long hard day Bill would take a lantern out into the garden to tend the crop or pick the produce.

Soft dolls were displayed with the names of each member of the family, old photos were shown relating to the diaries, and a photocopy of Bill Bridger's death certificate.

Members learned a great deal of history from these thoughtful diaries found in the loft of the younger son, although unfortunately two are missing.

The group gave the speakers a heartfelt vote of thanks, and much applause.

New members to The Headley Society are always welcome - ring 01420 474266 or visit the website at: www.headley-village.com/society for further information.