This photo was taken in the 1920s and the area looks quite different now. On the right is part of the blacksmiths premises which had been on this site since the 1700s. For a long time there were 3 blacksmiths in Ashdon. When carts and horses were the main means of transport, the blacksmith was the equivalent of the garage, fixing horse shoes and cart wheels instead of tyres and engines. The last blacksmith to work here was William Smith who died in 1934. The forge and the blacksmiths house were later demolished to widen the road for vehicles.

Opposite the forge are three thatched cottages, including a very small house that only had one room downstairs and one upstairs.

At the far end of the forge you can see the telegraph pole which had only recently been put up. Telegrams came in to the Post Office in Crown Hill via these wires. Then the shopkeeper’s son Richard would deliver the telegrams to the specific address. It would cost 2d to receive your telegram if the delivery distance was less than 2 miles, but 6d if it was further.

Did you know that telegrams didn’t go out of service in the UK until 1982!