Selected News Items, etc.
The Herts
Advertiser of 31st March 1888 report on a meeting of
the Sandridge Vestry in which it was said "the
fact that Mr Dickson was
now erecting a new brick kiln nearer towards
Sandridge [New Town - i.e. Culver Road area]
than the others, and it was stated that the fumes of
smoke being close to the cottages, the occupiers
would not be able to remain in them when the wind
was in a certain direction, and it was asked what
steps could be taken to prevent what would
undoubtedly prove a serious nuisance. – The subject
the dropped, it being understood that the chairman
[Dr Griffith] would investigate the matter.
The
Herts Advertiser of 19th April, 1890,
included a very detailed account of the death of
Leonard Margrave in a clay pit owned by J. Dickson,
and Jacob Reynolds, of Heath farm, helped the police
to recover the body from a pit behind the farm. The
paper also included the following editorial which
clearly relates to excavating clay pits on the area
sold for housing:
Shall the death-traps, as the ponds on Bernards
Heath have tritely been designated, be left to work
further desolation, to swallow up more little
innocents, and to bring grief unspeakable into other
homes, or shall they not? This is a question which
every parent living in that populous and growing
district has a right to ask, and one to which eash
and all have a right to demand a very definite and
explicit answer. We do not wish to say one word
which will add to the mortification which the
responsible parties must already feel in the silence
of their own minds, but in the interests of the
public we cannot refrain from remarking that, had
the very first stipulation under which the land was
sold been complied with, it would have been almost
impossible for the sad fatality, which took place
last Friday, to have happened. This stipulation
distinctly provides that “each purchaser shall,
within one month after being let in possession of
the let or lets purchased by him, erect and shall
always maintain boundary fences on the south-east
and south-west sides thereof.” This proviso has not
been carried out, and moreover, a portion of
the land, instead of being used purely for building
purposes, has been converted into a clay-field with
innumerable pits, some of which are twenty or
thirty feet deep. Many of these pits are more than
half full of water, and their dangerous nature can
therefore be imagined. The voice of warning
has been frequently heard, and as frequently
unheeded, and now a young life has been sacrificed.
At present we may be disposed to characterise the
action, or rather the inaction, of the responsible
parties, whoever they may be, as a careless
omission; but what shall we say if this omission is
not speedily rectified?
On 10th May, 1890 the Herts
Advertiser published the following note:
I notice with pleasure that Mr Dickson
has fenced in his ground on Bernard’s Heath, so as
to as far as possible keep children from the
dangerous pits where Leonard Margrave
recently lost his life. The barbed wire and wooden
railings are certainly an improvement, but if
youngsters are determined to get into danger, such
obstacles are easily surmounted. It is hoped that
adjoining owners will follow Mr. Dickson’s example,
and make some effort to keep the juveniles away from
such dangerous spots.
In 1893 the deep brick pit between
Culver Road and St Johns Road nearly claimed a
victim as the Herts Advertiser of 24th
June reports.
NARROW ESCAPE
from drowning
GALLANT RESCUE
Between Culver and St
John’s-roads on Bernards Heath there is situated a
very dangerous pond, which in some places is nearly
twenty feet deep, and on Monday evening this was the
scene of two narrow escapes from drowning and an
exciting and gallant rescue. Two boys about eight or
nine years of age, named Bacon and Sibley
respectively, were playing round the pond at 8 p.m.
and the latter got on a thick plank which was
floating on the water. He over-balanced and fell
into the deep water. Although the spot where Sibley
was was beyond his depth, Bacon very quickly jumped
in, hoping to render assistance, but as neither of
the boys could swim they were in imminent risk of
drowning. They however managed to cry out for help,
and Charles Paul, a workman living close by in St
John’s-road, fortunately heard them. Running up to
the pond he took in the situation at a glance, and
at once plunged in, just as he was with only his
coat off, and endeavoured to rescue the lads. Bacon
he managed to bring to the bank without much
difficulty, but not so Sibley, who had already sunk
once or twice. He was fully five minutes before he
could bring him out in safety, and the boy’s
struggles in his half-drowned condition well nigh
ended fatally for both himself and his rescuer.
Eventually, after great difficulty, and after having
sunk two or three times, Paul got the lad close up
to the edge of the pond, and both were then pulled
on shore in a very exhausted condition by a man
called Grover, who had come to render assistance
with a rake. A cyclist went off with all dispatch to
fetch a doctor, and Dr Fraser (Dr Boys assistant)
arrived with commendable promptness upon the scene.
Both Paul and Sibley were conveyed home as soon as
possible and received the usual treatment in cases
of drowning, and, we are glad to state, have now
recovered from the effects of their severe
immersion. The second lad, Bacon, was hardly the
worse for his adventure, and was able to walk home
without assistance. The highest praise must be
accorded to Paul for his gallant rescue, as but for
him one at least, and probably both of the boys
would have been drowned. As effort is, we
understand, being made to get Paul the medal of the
Royal Humane Society for gallantry.
The following
Advertisement, from the Herts Advertiser of
4th November, 1899, signifies the final closure of
the yard:
ST PETERS BRICK YARD, HEATH
ROAD, ST ALBANS
SALE OF BRICKMAKER’S PLANT
Messrs HARDING, LOW
& HARDING
Are favoured with instructions
to sell by auction, on the premises, on Friday,
November 7th, 1899, at Twelve for One o’clock.
The whole of the BRICKMAKING
PLANT at the above works, which are about to be
closed, comprising a corrugated iron and
timber-built engine shed, and brickmaking machine
ditto, a 4-h.p. Portable Engine, set of Rolls and
Pug Mill, Washing Mill, Mortar Mill, Brickmaking
Machine, one 10in, one 8in, two 6in, and one 4in.
Centrifugal Pumps with Suction Pipes complete,
wheelbarrows, weathering, and all the usual plant of
a brickmaker.
Catalogues may be obtained of Messrs Harding, Low
and Harding, estate agents, land and timber
surveyors and auctioneers, 49 Finsbury Pavement,
London, E.C. and St Albans
It is clear
that if you were building a posh house in the nearby
St Peters Park area the last thing you would want is
for someone to buy an adjacent plot and open a
brickworks. This is almost certainly why, when land
associated with Hall Place was put up for sale in
1904 the conditions said.
No gravel, sand, or brick earth shall at any time be
dug or removed from any part of these lots beyond
that which it might be necessary to remove for the
purposes of excavating for foundations, basements,
or approaches ... and in no case shall any gravel,
sand or brick earth be removed ... for the purpose
of sale.
Sale particulars, Hall Place,
2nd March, 1904, St Albans City Museum
