Remains of Belhus
At the beginning of September the kids would raid the conker trees like locusts. We used to throw heavy sticks to the top of the tree, so it would cascade like pinball, raining down conkers for us to scoop up. We'd always try to get the largest conkers we could. Put them in the oven, soak them in vinegar - harden them up.
We collected the best in a place called Conker Well, in Belhus. I think a lot of locals will remember Conker Well. It was sort of a brick wall with a crater, about 3 ft, 4 ft. The top of it was completely wrecked, just the brickwork left. We thought it was a filled-in well, but it wasn't. It was the icehouse from the old mansion.
In winter, the servants would go to the long ponds that Capability Brown had built and grab the ice. They'd take it to this icehouse, sunk underground. It would stay there all winter keeping cool. In the summer Lord and Lady Leonard or Barrett would say "Can we have some ice in our gin and tonic?" and the butler would walk about half a mile, get some ice and take it back to the manor. And that's how they got ice in their gin and tonic in July.
I saw it in a television programme about mansions, and thought "That's what I fell in!" I only know it from a 10-year-old's perspective, I just used to like collecting conkers.
From memories shared at High House Community Group
Related stories: 5, 66, 70, 74,39, 40, 97
We collected the best in a place called Conker Well, in Belhus. I think a lot of locals will remember Conker Well. It was sort of a brick wall with a crater, about 3 ft, 4 ft. The top of it was completely wrecked, just the brickwork left. We thought it was a filled-in well, but it wasn't. It was the icehouse from the old mansion.
In winter, the servants would go to the long ponds that Capability Brown had built and grab the ice. They'd take it to this icehouse, sunk underground. It would stay there all winter keeping cool. In the summer Lord and Lady Leonard or Barrett would say "Can we have some ice in our gin and tonic?" and the butler would walk about half a mile, get some ice and take it back to the manor. And that's how they got ice in their gin and tonic in July.
I saw it in a television programme about mansions, and thought "That's what I fell in!" I only know it from a 10-year-old's perspective, I just used to like collecting conkers.
From memories shared at High House Community Group
Related stories: 5, 66, 70, 74,39, 40, 97
