Tag: Local News

Why do the British love to Queue?

Pam Preedy

I really like this advertisement to encourage people to queue in an orderly fashion for the trains and buses. It is no wonder that the Brits are know for being such great ‘queuers’, it seems our grandparents and great-grandparents have been conditioned to do so after adverts like this appearing in local newspapers. Though, these days, at times, we do like to break the queue, especially in the rush hour and at the supermarket check out (more difficult). [su_row][su_column size=”2/3″]Pass Down the Platform There are four, five, or six cars…

Tanks for the Memory

Pam Preedy

The country was in desperate need of money to pay for the Great War.  Throughout the war the Government had been trying to encourage people to invest in war loans and saving certificates. None of the earlier issues had been particularly popular. In 1918 there was some desperation as Britain was on the brink of bankruptcy.  In March, 1918 towns began to hold ‘Tank Days’.  Tank Drake (yes, it was a male tank – the sex of a tank depended on the kind of weaponry it had ). With a…

The Paper Shortage – Recycling in 1918

Pam Preedy

There many were shortages by 1918. Paper had been in short supply for several years to such an extent that papers were reduced, not only in the number of pages, but also in reducing the size of the page. Around each Christmas, there were more pages, in order to increase the number of advertisements. Immediately after the Armistice, the papers quickly returned to their pre-war size. Today, supermarkets are beginning to introduce places to return plastic bottles and received some sort of credit. We didn’t have plastic bottles, but small…

National Kitchens Open During WW1

Pam Preedy

National Kitchens were opened during World War One to provide affordable nutritious meals for war workers and poorer people. The school dinner ladies and set up may have looked like this. This article was taken from the Bromley & District Times, 22nd March 2918 Communal Kitchen and School Dinners Under the able guidance of Mr A Goymer and the energetic secretaryship of Mr Foxwell, the village Food Control Committee has brought forward a scheme for a communal kitchen. Mr Goymer explained the details of cost and organisation, and said that…

What was happening in Bromley 100 years ago?

Pam Preedy

1917 was a bad year. The death toll was going up. If the casualties of the Battle of the Somme had come as a terrible shock, Passchendaele was even worse. Men were dying on the battlefield by their thousand. Food was in short supply and prices were rising. What was happening in Bromley 100 years ago? Here are some of the items occupying the columns of the District Times from the 30th November, 1917 With so many men away at the Front and few to keep an eye on them,…

Soldiers Entertained

Pam Preedy

This extract, taken from the Bromley & District Times, 6th September, 1918 [pg 5] and gives an account of an evening of entertainment in Bromley:   The men of the Army Service Corps in our neighbourhood, together with their lady friends, had a capital entertainment provided for them on Wednesday evening at the Drill Hall, Bromley, which well deserved the cheers given at the close. The principle part of the entertainment was sustained by the talent found in the men themselves, and their efforts were heightened and graced by the…

Conscription Introduced

Pam Preedy

Conscription Introduced Within a year of Great Britain declaring war on Germany in August 1914, it had became obvious that more recruits were needed as volunteer numbers began dwindling. The government saw no alternative but to increase numbers by conscription – making active service compulsory. In January 1916 the Military Service Act was passed, imposing conscription on all men aged between 18 and 41 years old. Exemption were given to those who were medically unfit, clergymen, teachers and certain classes of industrial worker.  It also included Conscientious Objectors (men who objected to…