Donna Saville (Hull) arrived in Woodnewton in June 1951 at the young age of 7 years old. Donna and her mother, Doris, moved to Dairy Farm, in Main Street, to be employed as Jim (James) Hull’s housekeeper, after the death of his wife, Mabel. Donna revealed to me that Dairy Farm was split into two houses, with the steps belonging to the house on the left. Ena and Bob Hull with their children lived there. Jim Hull lived in the right hand side house and Donna remembers that her bedroom was on the side that over looked the farm yard. She remembers that the pig sties were to the right of the yard at the front, which became the front of Byre House and the bullocks were kept in the barns at the side of the yard (sleeping quarters of Byre House)

The Horse and Jockey Public House was just up the road on the north side from Dairy Farm and Donna remembers being allowed inside on the day that her mother and Jim Hull was married in Oundle and then held their wedding reception at the Pub.

Donna started at Woodnewton Primary School on 14th June 1951, the date being confirmed from the school Log Book. Her lifelong friend, Shirley Hollowell, remembers Donna arriving at school with her foot in plaster, after a recent operation. Donna enjoyed her time at the Primary School, but also remembers that her teacher, Miss Black was very strict and used to rap her knuckles.

One of the highlights in the school year was the May Day celebration and Donna said that she had a turn as the May Queen, with Janet Hull as her first attendant and Barbara Hull as her second one.

So what was life like for children in Woodnewton after school; where did they go and what did they do?

Together with her friends, Donna used to cycle to Elton Green and back again, or make dolls houses in the hay yard, or just help out on the farm like feeding and collecting eggs from the hens which were penned at the bottom of the yard. On Sundays Donna would be in the church choir and also go to Sunday school, or the Methodist Chapel Service. There was no playground like there is in Woodnewton today, so all the children had to make their own fun.

Although there were buses on a Wednesday and Saturday, Donna does not remember leaving the village very much, except to visit her grandfather. However, she remembered with great pleasure the times that a coach took the children and adults to the seaside for the day. Here she is with the late Rosemary Spademan having fun in the sea at Hunstanton.

Donna revealed that the highlights of her week were the visits from the Adcocks Lemonade van and the Fish and Chip van; these were luxuries that she enjoyed. She also mentioned that the effluent wagon used to visit on a weekly basis too. Dairy Farm obviously wasn’t on mains sewerage, yet she does remember getting water out of a tap and not a ‘well’.

The year of 1957 was not good for Donna as her mother died in the early part of the year and then on the 25th July she left the safe haven of Woodnewton school and moved to Nassington in the September, where she stayed for two years. As she wasn’t enjoying life at Dairy Farm she decided to go and live with her maternal grandfather in Peterborough and this is where she completed her education.

When Donna made return visits to Woodnewton to see her friends, she started to see major changes around the area where she lived. The old cottage next to Dairy Farm was no longer there and in its place stood a brick built chalet type house.  When Donna first came to the village, a row of four stone thatched cottages stood across the road and these had all gone and in their place were modern detached brick properties.

She knew the first cottage in the row very well as this is where her friend Shirley Hollowell and family lived. Their neighbours were the Moisey family and in the other two cottages lived the Skinners and Pridmores. All these families moved to the new houses in Sycamore Close along the Nassington Road.

2018