Peregrinations of a Kiddy essay
'Peregrinations of a Kiddy' was written by Uxbridge man Thomas Strutt in 1873.
He describes in detail every shop, pub, house and alleyway - the Chequers Inn, where the Uxbridge Yeomanry Cavalry band played nightly; the cottages in Bonsey's Yard where he and his friends went ghost-hunting.
He remembers buying fish and chips, oysters and toys at the Market House and attending church upstairs among the straw bales, the hymns accompanied by a viol and clarinet.
In his words the people of Uxbridge come to life - from the grocer who failed to woo his neighbour's daughter by throwing almond cake over the garden wall, to an unfortunate accident with a bucket of whitewash.
Thomas's Uxbridge is familiar and strange - take the May Day parade, when the town's chimney sweeps dressed as girls and danced around a green pyramid known as 'Jack in the Green' - a common tradition lost to us today.
'Peregrinations of a Kiddy' is available without appointment in our search room, and includes a typed transcript of the original text.