North Mymms History Project

Early Memories of Eleanor Vyse 1887-1976

Water End School c 1903. Headmistress Mrs Cooke on the left
Image part of the Images of North Mymms Collection

Eleanor Vyse left school before she was 13 to help her mother care for her brothers and sisters. She was glad to get away from the schoolmistress who was "stern" and who could control 60 children "by just looking at us". A highlight of the year - "almost the only one" - was tea and games on the vicarage lawn on Ascension day. A year after leaving school she moved five miles away to serve as a mother's help doing "stacks of washing up". It was not an easy life for some children growing up in North Mymms towards the end of the Victorian era.

Welham Green when "everyone just about knew everyone else"

The Water Cross, Welham Green 1900s
Photograph by G Knott, part of the Peter Miller Collection

Washing clothing by hand with water from a brook, freshly made bread baked daily and delivered door-to-door, welcoming evacuees during WWII, and the day a bomb landed near to the North Mymms cricket pitch shattering a stained glass window in St Mary's parish church - just some memories shared by a local resident who lived in Welham Green when it was a small village where "everyone just about knew everyone else".

The history of Welham Cottages

Welham Cottages, Station Road, Welham Green - 1982
From the Images of North Mymms Collection

In 1890 a pair of cottages at the junction of Dellsome Lane and Station Road, Welham Green, went under the auctioneer's hammer. The highest and final bid of £340 was made by Alfred William Vyse, a local haybinder.

The semi-detached cottages, which were called Welham Cottages at the time of the sale, were owned by Coningsby Charles Sibthorp of North Mymms Park who had a vision for building "a model village" at Welham Green. Welham Cottages, which were built in 1872, were part of that plan. A datestone with the original owner's initials C.C.S. is on the front face of the premises.

Sheepsheadhall along Bradmore Lane

Sheepsheadhall Cottage, Bradmore Lane
Photograph A Nott / G Knott part of the Images of North Mymms collection

A small, wooden-faced brick cottage "set in neat gardens" on what was described as "an excellent holding" once stood alongside Bradmore Lane on the edge of Brick Kiln Wood. Now the site is overgrown with the adjacent woodland having reclaimed the land.

The spot where Sheepsheadhall Cottage once stood (location - https://w3w.co/gloves.head.every) is a third of a mile west of the junction with what is now Station Road.

The compact "brick, timber, and tiled" cottage, with a "parlour, living room, and scullery" downstairs and four bedrooms upstairs, stood at the point where the woodland meets a field. There were "good gardens" and a "well of water".

Photographs of Gobions brick bridge wanted

The brick bridge at Gobions in 1986 - NMLHS *
Photograph from the Images of North Mymms collection

Do you have any old photographs of the brick bridge in Gobions Wood, taken before its current ruined state? If you do they might help in the restoration of an important part of the history of North Mymms.

Maps of south-west North Mymms

Detail of the North Mymms Park area of the 1899 OS map of North Mymms
Map courtesy of the Royal Library of Scotland

These three maps are of the south-west area of North Mymms, which include North Mymms Park and the area north of South Mimms, were published in 1899, 1920, and 1938.

Maps of south-east North Mymms

Detail from the 1898 OS map of North Mymms
Map courtesy of the Royal Library of Scotland

These four maps are of the south-east area of North Mymms including the area just above South Mimms were published in 1898, 1919, 1938, and 1946.

Maps of north-west North Mymms

Detail of the Colney Heath area of the 1899 OS map of North Mymms
Map courtesy of the Royal Library of Scotland

These four maps are of the north-west area of North Mymms including Colney Heath and Roestock were published in 1899, 1925, 1944, and 1947.

Maps of north-east North Mymms

Detail of the Welham Green area of the 1883 OS map of North Mymms
Map courtesy of the Royal Library of Scotland

These three maps are of the north-east area of North Mymms including Welham Green, Marshmoor, and Bell Bar. They were published in 1883, 1899, and 1925.

Bartholomew 'half inch to the mile' maps

Bartholomew & Sons map of Hertfordshire 1902-1906
Map courtesy of the Royal Library of Scotland

These three maps are the 'half inch to the mile' maps of Hertfordshire by John Bartholomew & Son for 1902-1906, 1919-1924, and 1940-1947.

Maps of the Mimmshall Wood area of North Mymms

Detail of the 1935 OS map of the Mimmshall Wood area of North Mymms
Map courtesy of the Royal Library of Scotland

These four maps are of the south-west area of North Mymms including Redwell Wood and Mymmshall Wood. They were produced in 1896, 1898, 1914, and 1935.