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On with the tour

The West End Public House and the Fen.
[Come see it as it is now]

On with the tour

1Western Close (small)

2The West End Public House 1 (small)

3The West End Public House 2 (small)

4Fen Flood January 1915

Read about the excavation of Western Close. You pass it as you leave the western end of the village.

Just before the western entrance to the airbase is the West End Public House.
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Circa 1915-20. At about this time this used to be a Six Day Inn (ie closed on Sunday). The Landlord was Luke Rolph who swapped pubs with George Ketteringham c.1922.   Brewers: Steward & Patterson Ltd. Note the Barns, hedgerow & trees of Western Close (now Manor Park estate) on the right. Post 1922 as the Landlord was George Ketteringham (formerly of the Elm Tree PH). Note that a new extension had been built and the front entrance blocked in. Over the barn roof can be seen the chimneys of the former 9 West End Cottages (2 blocks, one of 4, one of 5). Poppylot Hall, Feltwell Fen Flood. Jan. 1915. No.4

Read about Poppylot POW camp.

 

Further Flood Photographs.

6Roman villa
7Roman bath house

1. The base of a Roman Villa found in a meadow of Glebe Farm. Taken in 1964.

2. The remains of a Roman Bath House found down Little Oulsham Drove about half a mile from St. Nicholas Church, on the Hithe Road.

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The Anchor Inn.

This pub, now derelict, was located on the river bank at Feltwell Anchor which was originally a separate parish. Both Feltwell and Feltwell Anchor parishes were amalgamated in the 1920s.

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Me and cousin Micheal Feltwell 1961 (002).jpg (190070 bytes)

Dad and Alexander - Feltwell Norfolk 1960 (003).jpg (139206 bytes)

The 4 photos above were sent by Clive Regis who wrote: My father, Royal Regis (Roy) worked on a farm on Corkway Drove. I do not know the name of the farm but we lived in a wooden bungalow. This bungalow is still there, and can be seen on Google maps ref 52°28'47.6"N 0°27'53.5"E. I lived here with my parents from 1960 - 63 before moving to Hertfordshire. My mother, Irene Kathleen Regis (Rene), worked as a domestic help for an American family on USAF / RAF Feltwell. We lived here during the winter of 1963. I recollect being told that the farm workers accommodation had previously been a WW2 prison camp for German POW's. There were two rectangular wooden buildings, each converted into 2 bungalows. My fathers brother lived in one. There were also other buildings in front of our home in which as children we played. I remember one was called "the canteen". I also recall that one of my father's work colleagues was a German POW, who had met and married a local girl and never returned home. I went to Feltwell Primary school. We were collected by a bus each morning. I remember Shrub Hill farm, maybe we collected more children there? Looking at the location on Google maps now, it appears that only our house has survived and the other buildings have been demolished and replaced with brick built bungalows. I am keen to confirm if the site had been a POW camp during the war. I've attached a few photographs taken of me outside our house on Corkway Drove. That's me in my first car, riding my first horse with my cousin on the back, and me on the left of the tin bath. If you look at the building on Google maps and my picture, you will see it is one and the same! You can also see the other buildings that I believe were once prisoner barracks.

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There were many POW camps in the area during WW2. They were used firstly for Italian POWs and then, in the closing days, for German POWs. Peter Jordan (middle of back row of right hand photo) recalls his time as a camp guard.

Click here to see a map showing the location of the camps.

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