Our latest Memory Lane feature takes a trip back to old times in Welton when cows watched cricket and villagers drunk water from a well

This is the wedding picture of Stanley Pearson Clarke (farmer) and Rosalind (May) Clarke on September 30, 1933, taken at the old Welton Village Hall after the church wedding. May’s parents are to her left behind the bridesmaid and pageboy. The Goodes mentioned in the article are all in the picture. The man on the far left is Maurice Clarke, who farmed at Theddingworth, Leicestershire, and was a cousin of Stanley.

Maurice Clarke, who went to Welton School and then Daventry Grammar School, wants people's memories of Welton Cricket Club.

His father, Stanley Clarke, of Monksmoor Farm, was president of the club in the 1950s. He had many uncles, aunts and cousins of the Goode family in Welton.

Maurice told The Gusher: "Many of the Goode men played cricket for the village which had a playing ground in The Park which was part of the Welton Estate.

"My father was elected as president on December 11, 1953. John Cox was a good batter and each game he aimed to knock a ball into the lake which he did often."

He said cows roamed freely in the park and often watched games of cricket.

The Goode family lived at Well Cottage in Well Lane, which still exists today. The Well Cottage had two bedrooms. A farmhouse owned by the Snelson family was above the cottage who farmed land believed to be part of the Welton Estate.

The family tree

Welton Place, was a stately home built in 1758. It is shown here in the early 1900's when it was the home of Captian James Richard Plomer Clarke JP. Sadly it was later converted into flats, then left derelict and finally demolished in 1972. Now a housing development is currently being built on the former site.

John William Goode (1872-1946) married Sarah Elizabeth Bradshaw (1877-1949) in 1894. John worked as a wood cutter on the Welton Estate.

The Goode's children were John (Jack) who farmed at Crick, married and had a daughter; Florence (Flo) who married Harry Cox and had two children Beryl and John who both married and had three children each and lived in Welton most of their lives. Both John and Harry worked at Monksmoor Farm. Albert (George) Goode married and lived in Station Road, Welton working on a local farm. They had three sons, David, John and Timothy (Tim). Edward (Ted) Goode was a farm manager at Kilsby and had a son Edward.

Rosalind (May) Goode married Stanley (Stan) Pearson Clarke and they had a son Maurice Stanley, who married Mary Margaret Colby and they had four children, Jennifer (Jenny), Michael (Mike), Peter and Mark.

Sarah (Louise) Elizabeth Goode married a William George Edward (Bill) Garrard and they had two children - Joan Beryl who married Jack Freeman and had three children and Ronald (Ron) WGE Garrard, who married and lived at Corby and had three children.

Maurice told the Daventry Express: "I'd like to hear from anyone who knows more about the Welton Estate which to my knowledge was up to 1,000 acres of land around the village which around the early 1920s was broken up and sold off.

"My father Stanley's father came to Welton from Leicestershire and bought Monksmoor Farm on the Welton Road near Daventry. We sold it in the 1970s and it's now being built on."

He said there was a Lang Farm owned by the Dawkins which is now built on.

"I'm not sure if that was part of the Welton Estate," added Maurice, who now lives in Rugby.

Can you help Maurice with any information on the cricket club?

"The Clarkes had been in the village for many centuries but not linked to my side, but maybe some readers may have some memories or pictures they could share with me."

Maurice added: "The Clarke link came from Arnesby, Leicestershire, despite a Clarke link to the village. The Clarkes bought Dairy Farm at Welton in the early 1900s and took milk by horse and cart to Braunston Train Station.

"Then they bought Monksmoor Farm on the Welton Road, which had been part of the Welton Estate, and built a house there in 1926. Stan had a sister Lilian (Lil) who married a farmer, Henry Butlin, of Ashby St Ledgers. They had no children and eventually Lil, a widow by then, built a bungalow called Monkside on the Monksmoor Farm roadside."

The Welton Place Estate of some 711 acres was sold by auction on November 22, 1915 in 11 Lots, by James, Styles and Whitlock of Rugby (now part of Cluttons), and research continues as to the value and names of the buyers, but Monksmoor and Lang Farm were included.

Have you got memories to share with Maurice? Telephone him on 07758 205858 or/and email [email protected]

Many thanks to Dan White for his contributions to this article. His website is www.watfordvillage.weebly.com or Watford Village History Page on Facebook.