Street Plans c1940

A garage business really got under way when Mr Hammond installed a petrol pump at his premises in 1928 while Mrs Hammond sold sweets and tobacco from her little shop by the side of the road.  The most important business in the village however must have been that of the windmill as this supplied the needs of the bakers for the bread that everyone needed.  Tricker's Bakery thereby became well established and much of that building can be still be seen today although the business ceased trading in 1958.  Ludkin's Bakery ceased trading in 1947 although the building is still in existence as a private residence.  By contrast the carpenter's shop was demolished in 1950 and the Paddocks, a thatched house, in 1950.  Originally called Pockthorpe it is now known as Duke's Lane having got its name from The Duke's Head which closed in 1970.  Duke's Lane was once home to a coach and bus company but the land there is currently being developed with more housing

 

 The road layout was changed around 1955 to its present formation.  It is interesting to note that the village had its own village constable from as far back as 1851 but The Villa (top left), built 1912, was acquired in the 1920's and housed the village bobby from then until 1936 when a new police house was built at Stow Bedon.  The Laurels was home to the village bus (see photo in the gallery) which was garaged here.

 

Northacre's only shop was that belonging to Mr Self.  A charming story is told of how a child, buying an ounce of sweets, would, if the packet was slightly overweight, wait patiently while Mr Self sucked one sweet down to the precise weight.  The premises closed in 1927.  In the mid nineteenth century there was a school either in the house immediately east of Mr Self's house or more likely in what is now shown above as The Lilacs.