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30/03/2008


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to dearest Lottie from Walter ...

Isn't it amazing what you can find tucked away inside of an old book bought from a jumble sale? A few year's back I discovered this letter which was written to Lottie from Walter in 1877!

It reads:

Afwicks Farm
Little Missenden
Bucks
Oct 14th/77

Dearest Lottie

We arrived at Great Missenden at 4 o’clock. We got into High Wickham about 12 o’clock. Waited till about three, could not see anything of Uncle or Cousin, so started off to walk and found when we got there that they had gone to Aylesbury Fair.

Saturday we had a long walk through the wood and different parts of the farm.

In the evening we drove down to Great Missenden with Uncle to the school of which you have heard from Father, you may be sure we had plenty of broad language.

Will you send down the paper with the account of the execution of the
Penge Murderers, and receive lots of kisses for so doing when I come back.

Uncle says that we are to stay a month, but of course Love I shant think of that. I expect that he will make us stay the week at his place.

But I shall let you know when we are coming home. Edwin wants to walk home, but I expect we shall have had enough walking around here.

You will write to me Love and let me know how you are getting on.

Darling you must excuse bad writing I got such a wretch of a pen.

Darling accept my best love and believe me,

to remain
yours till death
Walter

I would like to visit Little Missenden, as I would be interested to know if Afwicks Farm still exists to this day. I have searched on the internet without any luck. I do know that shortly after this letter was written, in the census year of 1881, the recorded population of Little Missenden was 1113.

26 comments:

Lilli & Nevada said...

Oh what a beautiful find you got there. I love that penmanship wish i could write like that. His writing is so warm and loving, don't we wish our husbands would write like that to us?

Celia Hart said...

What a beautiful letter to find.
Did you find the farm on the 1881 census?

Celia

Matron said...

If you ever make it to Little Missenden, be sure to pop along to Great Missenden and take a peep at Roald Dahl's gypsy cottage!

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful letter to find. Please post if you find out anything else about the letter. In the mean time, come over to my blog. There is something waiting for you.

Anonymous said...

oh I love letters like that, what a fabulous find. x

Gina said...

A wonderful find Louise...you've got me very intrigued..now I want to find out more about Walter and the farm :O) Worth going to see Roald Dahl's cottage..one of my favourite writers ever! Gxox

Chelle said...

That is really neat. I bet you were completely delighted when you came across that. What an absolute treasure. Thank you for sharing the contents of it too.

P.S. I will put in a vote for the pup name choice for you. :)

Lynn said...

What a very sweet letter! Our world has changed since those days. People seem to have cared for each other more.

I have a little book put away that a great, great Aunt wrote about what life was like in her village during her time.

carolr said...

Isn't finding old stuff fun? Isn't it funny to think people were the same back then, as we are now? People are people-whenever!

Anonymous said...

Thank-you for sharing this wonderful letter. Congratulations on your blog of Excellence award. By the way Louise... please don't stop putting things up for sale. One of these days I will get a windfall and would love something that was yours. I think you have impeccable taste. I thought it was such a nice feature to add to your blog. xox

sheila said...

What a GREAT letter! A wretch of a pen! Broad language! What FABULOUS terms. Oh, Louise, I just love that letter.

Are you following that soldier's diary blog? It's testing my patience severely.

Anonymous said...

Oh, you'll definately have to dig deeper and see what you can find out. Did you get any nice finds on your charity trawl?
Lisa x

Mrs Moog said...

That letter is such a treasure and I love the way Walter writes. My brother has my Grandad's diaries from the 1920s and they are just as fascinating.
Good luck with the research!
xx

periwinkle said...

Type Affricks Farm , Little Missenden into Google and see what you find :-)
Lisa x

Country Cottage Chic said...

How charming! I love reading the backs of old postcards & birthday & Christmas cards too.

Cowboys and Custard Mercantile said...

These wonderful old scripts conjur up so many vivid images.. and the names themselves are so characterful.. Such a romantic era.

Michelexx

kari and kijsa said...

What a n amazing discovery! And now a fun little treasure hunt to discover more!!

blessings,
kari & kijsa

Lucy Bloom said...

Hi Louise, isn't that just lovely, I'll bet Walter never expected that his letter would be published world-wide one day! A fantastic insight into years gone by and a real treausure to own.
Lucy x
p.s. your mum's old living room sounds great, I might have to re-think my decor now ;)

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

What a fun thing to find an old letter in a book! It could be the beginning of a novel and you could write a whole plot around it.

I'm glad that you are enjoying my blog posts about the trip I made recently to lower Manhattan. There is so much wonderful history there to learn about. I've enjoyed researching it. London gave a very special bell to NYC after 9/11 -- it is in my last post.

Hugs, Pat

Sal said...

What a beautiful letter! I am intrigued and can't wait to see what else you manage to find out!
Amazing! Sal;-)

Unknown said...

wow..that's a very old letter..tks for sharing, love the handwritting :)

Carol said...

Hi Louise it is interesting to read old letters.
The word 'shant' is not in the dictionary.....'shall not' is what he means of course,I find this facinating. On Radio London they have a lady who comes on every week and talks about the English language and how it has changed over the years. This is the sort of thing that crops up. I am probably not making it sound very interesting !
I think I'll shut up!hehe
Cx

Anonymous said...

That is so cool, Louise. I love the penmanship and interesting strokes. I wonder what you'll find in Missenden.

Joanna said...

I love little finds like that interesting little mysterys. Sorry I ahve been a whole week or is that two with hardly any comments on any blogs, will do better. I will do a post later on mine as thats been awhile too.

Anonymous said...

I did a little bit of research - I believe the name of the farm in the letter is Affricks Farm. If you Google Affricks Farm Little Missenden, it throws up quite a few leads...

You may have done this already - I'm a newcomer to your blog and just catching up on it.

I was so intrigued by the letter in the book ....

Anonymous said...

There's a good view of Affricks Farm on Google Earth

The address is Affricks Farm, Watchet Lane, Little Kingshill, Gt Missenden.