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The Old Crow |
Dream or Reality |
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Blowing his |
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I'm in bed and I'm looking about but I can't see anything although I can here voices saying, "What were you and John doing in Royton, last night?" "We signed a new player" "Do you know the number, Fred?". "Yes, Mr Airne, 1881". Then silence!
Suddenly, I'm walking up a country road on a fine spring day towards some houses which I seem to recognise but they don't look right. There are fields on either side with sheep and spring lambs where I expected to see houses. When I look down at my clothes, I am shocked. They appear to be of Victorian style and I feel that something peculiar has happened to me. Am I dreaming or am I dead? What is going on?
As I reached the houses on the left, I see that there are crossroads and a building on the right which seems to be divided into a number of different houses, although I thought that there should be a store at the front of the building. Why did I think that? I can also see more houses, the White Hart Inn and a church further to the left. Again, why do I know that it is the 'White Hart'?.
At the side of the first house, there is a boy sitting on a wall, putting his boots on. 
As I got level, he said, "Good morning, sir. Are you well?" I replied "OK". He looked at me with a puzzled expression on his face and I realised that I had used an Americanism and his dress was Victorian. I quickly said, "What's your name?" "I'm John Bradley and I live here" I said,"I'm sorry if I seem peculiar but I can't seem to remember anything" To my surprise, he replied, "I understand and maybe I can help. My dad, John Bradley,lives here and next door is Mr and Mrs Richard Riddle. The third one is Mr Alf Bradley's home but the next one is empty These houses are Lydgate North View" A picture of a newsagent's shop flashed across my mind.
Just then a chap appeared from one of the houses across the road and he shouted, "Hello, John, are you better? It's nice to see you again although you've changed a bit" Again I'm confused so I walked across the road, which was not much more than a cart track and as I approached him, I said, "I'm sorry. I don't know you, but you called me, John, so you must know me." He replied, "You had a bad accident some years ago and we didn't think that you would live. They said that you may lose your memory and, probably look different, which you do. But to remember your past, they said that you would need plenty of help. To help you, we said that we would take you around the village, viewing sites that you once knew, and talking to old friends. Is that alright with you?" I looked at him in amazement. I must be dreaming because I thought that I owned a car and a modern house but it seems that I am eighty or ninety years in the past so I asked him what year it was. He replied,"1881". Where did I hear that before?
"I'm Bob Schofield and I live here at Four Lane Ends, I'm a carter and my wife's Sarah Jane. Next door, at the end, is Billy Wrigley and his family and on the other side is Tommy Brierley.The two round the corner, are John Bolderson and John Kershaw and their families. Across the road is the mill manager and his wife, Mr Thomas Short, his wife Elizabeth and son Charles William". "Are you remembering anything,yet, John?"
I've no idea what's going on but I feel that I am enacting 'Life on Mars' . "Sorry, Bob" I said, "Nothing makes any sense". In my mind, I think that I'll carry on talking to Bob, hoping that I'll wake up soon. Anyway, it's a beautiful day.
Bob said,"Let's walk up to the church. There's a village wedding on this afternoon and the reception is at the White Hart". " I don't want to get involved in that". I said "My mind's in a whirl already" I am beginning to feel more confused trying to remember everything and I thought 'I hope that I wake up soon' so I made an excuse that I would like to make a few notes to help me remember. Bob went back to his home and came back with a pencil and some rough paper. "Thanks, Bob, I'll just sit down for a while and rest" He replied, "Sit down on the wall and I'll tell who lives in the five cottages leading up to the White Hart"
"In the end one lives John and Ann Jenkinson .
The second one is Sam Wood's house and, next door, is John and Mary Wright's. Next to the top is Jimmy and Elizabeth Short's and the top one belongs to the blacksmith, Ephraim Peel, who is shoeing my horse at the moment. That's why I've time to show you around"
We walked up the road towards the church and the pub and, just after the cottages, we could see the smithy and Mr Peel hammering away there. Bob went towards him and said,"How long will it be, Ephraim?" The blacksmith looked up and said,"About half an hour, Bob. How are you, John?, I didn't expect to see you. Will you be having a drink, later?" Bob turned to me and said "Let's go for a drink in the pub before the reception and I have to start work again later". I put my hand in my pocket and, surprisingly, found a handful of coins which were all with Queen Victoria's head on them. Bob looked at the coins and exclaimed, "You've enough for a couple before the reception"
"Just a minute. Before we go in, give me some money to get the drinks so that it will not confuse you ", Bob said. Normally, I wouldn't have fallen for that con trick but I gave him some coins. "That's too much". he said, giving me some back. We went into the pub and walked up to the bar. The place looked familiar although a lot darker but the bar is where I expected it to be although the floors were bare as were the stairs at the side. "Two pints, please, Mary?" Bob said to the lady behind the bar, who looked at me with surprise. "Two pints, Bob." Oh! Hallo, John, How are you?" Bob leaned over and quietly whispered to her. "Don't be worried. He might not recognise you. The accident has made him lose his memory, but he's alright". He turned to me, "Let's go into the tap room. The best room has been prepared for the reception". When we had sat down, Bob said, "That's Mary Jane Schofield behind the bar and she'll bring the drinks in a minute. She's the barmaid, here".
A rather well-built man brought the drinks and he asked me how I was, adding, "Bob tells me that you can't remember much about the village and he has been listing the names of the people here. I think that I can help. I'm the landlord, here, James Bradbury and I'm a farmer as well. Mary Jane works for me and lives in. There's a wedding on at the church this afternoon and because it's the mill manager's daughter who's getting married, the whole village will be having a drink, here. In fact, I've been given a list of the people coming so my wife, Amelia, is adding the addresses so that you can take your time trying to remember. The kids are going into the school, next door, and the headmaster, Charles Walker , is putting on a party for them.. It's a village wedding. Charles is, also, a churchwarden so he can help if you need it. Do you want another drink? I'll bring it back with the list".
After a few minutes, Mr Bradbury, brought the drinks and the list back and left it with me. Bob then told me that his horse would be ready and he had to get some work done so I finished my drink, took the list, went outside, and sat on a form in the sunlight. After a while, I took my list in my hand and walked past the school to look at some more cottages on the same side as the pub.
When I past the school, I saw that there were three cottages together and according to the list, they house the families of Abraham Farrand , Joseph Farrand and John Farrand . Then there was a ginnel and next were the homes of William Armitage and Henry Shaw . Surprisingly, to me, at least, the next property was the Ram Inn so I took the opportunity of going in for another small drink. There were two people behind the bar and I think that someone must have already been in to tell them about my circumstances, because the landlord introduced himself and his wife as John and Lucy Robinson and he told that he was , also, a farmer . We chatted for a while about the village and what had been happening in the past few years but nothing meant much to me and I was quickly getting more confused.
I finished my drink, came out and continued down the road with the list in hand. After the Ram Inn, the adjoining cottages were occupied by Joseph William Hutley , Edna Wood , Thomas Schofield and Charles Bradbury with the next three uninhabited. The next property, standing on it's own, is the farm with 38 acres, run by Mrs Ann Cottam and this was known as Lydgate Farm, Lydgate Pass. The following two properties were also called Lydgate Pass and the first was the home of Mary Ann Ashton followed by the Vicarage.
As I reached the Vicarage, I was met by who I presumed was the vicar. He was a bearded gentleman and, later, I found out that he had once been a boxer in Wales. He strode up to me and said,"Hello! are you here for the wedding?" I was at a loss to answer him so I just had to tell him that I was trying to remember the place and I showed him the list that the landlord had given to me. "Oh"! he said. "Well, you've come to the last house in the village itself. All the others are on the church side of the road. I'm John Fothergill Jenkin , the vicar of St Annes and I live in the vicarage over there. Come on, we'll walk back up the road and I'll show you who lives where. He started by explaining that the building opposite the farm was a disused cotton mill. The first two houses are Harrison Hutchinson Cottam's and Thomas Coggin's. The next four are uninhabited and the three in that building near the church are occupied by Albert Hall, Andrew Bolderson and John Buxton. Does that help?"
I thanked him and he went into the church to prepare for the wedding which was getting near. There were lots of people milling around the centre of the village. I felt tired and chose to get out of the way so I walked down by the side of the church and sat on a form and I could see what I knew to be Lancashire. I decided, because I felt a bit tired, to take a last look at the list and see if I could place the dwellings and the occupants together. I started by looking to my right, towards the crossroads, and noted that the single building was the School House where Charles Walker lived. In front of me, about two fields away, was Crawshaw Bent Farm of 36 acres, home of George W Platt, the farmer. To my left were a cluster of buildings, some large, some small, a small shop and what looks like a builder's yard and house. I checked my list to find that the joiner and builder was Sidney Buckley and the grocer, Charlotte Booth . Next door was George, another member of the Farrand family and on the other side was John Winterbottom followed by Emanuel Clapham , a pedlar. The next two cottages were uninhabited but across the road was Lees Cottage which was the home of two families of Lees's,Edward and Alice . Apart from two more empty properties, the last house was the home of Betty Fielding.
The village of Lydgate with Lees cottage on the right I finally realised that I was feeling dead-beat.
The sun was shining and I drifted into a deep sleep.
Is the dream over or am I dead? Who knows...