As we continue to work on the 'Guard Books', the marketing department's scrapbooks, we discover more thought provoking advertising aimed at children's health.

Here in the early to mid- 20th century a theme emerges about how good Ovaltine is for children's development, providing the nutrients and breakfast that they need.

There are many conversations and research papers today that evidence the importance of good nutrition and breakfasts for children's learning and development. Many schools and childcare provision provide breakfast clubs and free fruit for break time.

Whilst we can't say that Ovaltine is the answer, it's interesting to see the same information coming through 100 years apart.

Within the Ovaltine Collection, rescued from Kings Langley when the factory closed in 2002, are 40 Guard Books. These fragile books range from the late 1910s to the 1960s. What makes them so special is the fact that they are the advertising department's scrapbooks.

Hidden amongst the pages are cuttings from newspapers and magazines glued to the books pages. Some have notations of where they were published, others include the costs of the adverts or other annotations by the department employees. They tell the story of styles, products and changes in society and advertising over 7 decades.

As we work with the wider Ovaltine Collection, this unique archive helps us to date the original artwork and advertising mock-ups that we also saved when the factory closed.

A recent discovery amongst the pages help to date one of the Ovaltine babies - two oil paintings that have recently been conserved. Whilst we thought that both babies were used to promote the sale of Ovaltine Rusks in the late 1920s, we happily learn that one of the babies didn't.

We've found advertisements from 1923 that show this particular baby 'enjoying' Cristolax - a lubricant, laxative, nutrient, digestive.

Throughout the years, Ovaltine produced a number of marketing materials for both the British market, and also the global market, from their Kings Langley Factory.

This 1967 Calendar is one of two '60s calendars designed, we believe, for gifts to sales reps and to businesses stocking Ovaltine.

Recently cleaned by paper conservator in residence, Kate, the colours and style immediately evoke late '60s illustrative vibes. These plus the movement of the figures evoke a sense of that Ovaltine Energy - Supreme Energy!

As well as surface cleaning the calendar, Kate has repaired and strengthened the perforations for the calendar section and repaired some minor tears.

This work is funded by the Garfield Weston Foundation.

CZARIST RELIC

Many residents of Berkhamsted rubbed their eyes and stared when they saw a horse-drawn sleigh progressing down the High Street on Tuesday morning.

The sleigh was formerly owned by the late Mrs. L. A. Foot, of White Hill, Berkhamsted, sister of the late Sir Richard Cooper, Bart.

Richard, son of Dr. and Mrs. Frank Cooper, of Bulbeggars, Potten End, a grandson of Sir Richard, had “had his eye on it” for some time.

On Tuesday he fetched it from Hamberlins Farm, at Northchurch.  He found that the sleigh had no shafts, but this did not present much difficulty to a determined young man.  Other shafts were found, and fitted, and, after the vehicle had been “cleaned and brushed up”, he drove it round to the front door and invited his mother to come with him to Berkhamsted on a shopping expedition.  An ex-milk float pony provided the motive power, and when all was ready his mother journeyed to Berkhamsted by this unconventional mode of transport.

On the way to town there were two halts, the first to enable Mrs. Philip Cooper to join the party, and the second to show their horse-drawn sleigh to Alice, Lady Cooper, who was delighted with this reminder of bygone days.

The sleigh halted at the traffic lights to enable the ladies to descend and start the main object of the expedition – shopping.

Richard had by that time been dropped at the station as he had to go to London.

Mr. Wheelan, a groom from Hamberlins, drove the sleigh back home, making a wide detour through Shootersway, as by that time the main road had been sanded.

The two ladies returned home by car.

We should mention that the sleigh is reputed to be genuinely Russian, and was once used by Mrs. Foot for delivering milk in this area during the winter.  It is of the usual droshky type common in the old Czarist regime.

Transcribed from the Berkhamsted Gazette dated Friday 21 January 1955.

Sourced, edited and transcribed by Pam Gasking

Collections & Research Volunteer, Dacorum Heritage

The Bourne gutter, or brook, is one of many transient chalk streams that come from springs and run into the River Bulbourne. Joining the river at Bourne End, the bed of the brook is usually dry, with water running when rain fall has been high.

Mr. John Evans read a paper to the Watford Natural History Society and Hertfordshire Field Club on 8th June 1876 about this phenomenon.

“Although historical records thus appear to be wanting, the valley of the Bourne furnishes evidence, in the extensive denudation which has resulted in its formation, of the existence of a stream most probably long before historic times. For five miles from the point of where it flows into the Bulbourne, this stream, in its occasional appearance above the surface, has cut a valley of considerable depth and at least a mile in width, through the glacial gravel and sand and the clay with flints into the Chalk which forms its bed. That it ran in olden times is also proved by its now forming a county boundary for a considerable part of its course."

According to local tradition the Bourne Gutter was called the woe water and when it flowed it was a sure sign of impending disease, disaster or war. This unusual phenomenon has become shrouded in local folklore and mystery for many years as it was thought that it had no relation to recent rainfall.

Some have even narrowed this superstition to signify that war will affect the UK, and others still see a more significant global consequence.

So does it predict death, war, disease, famine?

Let’s look at times when it’s flooded

1665 – the Great plague (& fire) of London

1912 – The sinking of Titanic

1914 – the out break of WW1

1916 – The Battle of Jutland – the largest naval battle

1939-1946 – every year of WW2 (when this photo was taken)

1982 – the Falklands War

2003 – start of the Iraq war

But as much as the myth sounds believable, there have been a number of years when the river flooded, with no clear link to disastrous events either nationally or globally.

In fact, scientific research has shown that it’s due to the time it takes for rainwater to percolate the chalky ground that delays the water’s flow.

Although the idea that the Bourne Gutter was connected with impending doom was dismissed a century ago … its still discussed locally to day.

And so a light hearted end to this tale of woe is this excerpt from the Berkhamsted Gazette when the Bourne Gutter was in full flow in the early 2000s as gravel extraction damned the Bourne causing Bottom Farm to flood. The children wasted little time putting this woe water to happy use.

The Woe Waters have been flowing again so let’s hope that the superstition has truly been set to rest.

During a nature ramble around Aldbury, the class 1B boys were trying to locate a special plant – the Great Henbane – on Mr. Wright’s small holding. We don’t know if they found the plant in question, however they did find some small fragments of pottery.

Once back at school, they showed their find to Miss. Harris, the headmistress of the school at Aldbury.

In early September 1943, Miss Harris reported to her neighbour, Percy Westall, that some small fragments of pottery had been found.  He was the Curator of Letchworth Museum at the time.

Following the identification of the finds as ‘pre-Roman’, a fascinating series of events unfolded.

The site, a rare cremation cemetery dating from the early 1st century AD was excavated by the school children. They kept detailed records of their work, including written description, scaled drawings of the site and their finds, in exercise books as a school project.

Several of the exercise books have survived and these, together with other correspondence in the Letchworth and St Alban’s Museums and at county Hall, Hertford, have enabled the full story to be recorded.

The finds consisted of at least six individual burial groups. Each group was buried in a separate pit and consisted of several pottery vessels. In each case, one served as a burial urn and probably contained cremation ashes. The others, known as Accessory vessels, contained flagons, platters and drinking beakers. These almost certainly contained food and drink for the afterlife.

The pottery seems to be mainly of local manufacture, although some pieces were almost certainly imported from outside the region.

On 13th November 1275, Eleanor of Castile, the wife of King Edward I, bought an estate in Langley.

In 1276, she used part of this estate as a hunting park and under her supervision a magnificent palace was constructed.

Later in 1308, under the patronage of Edward II, an important Dominican friary was established just to the north of the palace.

During the Black Death of 1349 Edward III used the Royal Palace as the Seat of Government. His fourth son, Edmund (the first) Duke of York was born there and Richard II (1379) grew up at the palace and was very attached to it. Richard was initially buried there following his assassination but later his body was moved to Westminster Abbey.

Following a fire in 1431, the palace fell into decay and most of the royal estate was sold off in the 17th century. None of the Palace survives today above ground level. Part of the site, now occupied by the Rudolf Steiner School, was excavated in 1970 and again in 1974-76.

One of the many small finds from these excavations include this fragment of leaded glass.

Finds like this not only tell us more about what the building may have looked like, it also sparks the imagination - who looked out of this window and what did they see?

Find out more about Eleanor Castile and the royal palace through a video by local historian, Michael Long here.

Doris Sygrave was the secretary for the Hemel Hempstead Home Guard, at the request of Lt. Col. Grover and Mr. (Capt.) Davis.

She recalled that it was difficult at the beginning. To start with they had no weapons, undertaking drill using chestnut paling stakes. However, from Summer 1940 the men were issued with uniforms and training books, rifles and ammunition. These all came, slowly, from County Hall Hertford.

Doris would recall one incident in Autumn 1940 with amusement, although at the time it was quite terrifying.

"I was in the dining room "office" when I received a telephone call that parachutes were dropping North East of Hemel Hempstead. The Colonel handed me a revolver and told me to shoot any 'Huns' in sight, whilst he made a call-out of all troops. The cook at the house, an elderly woman, went hysterical and the parlour maid fainted.

It turned out to been a false alarm. The Brocks Firework Company, who had their factory on the outskirts of town at what is now Woodhall Farm, were experimenting with what was called pyrotechnic trials. These looked very like parachutists, but as I learned later were used to drop articles to troops behind enemy lines."

The Home Guard were stood down in 1944.

Taken from "The Home Front" life in the Dacorum area during the Second World War 1939-1945 available to buy from Dacorum Heritage.

When war broke out, C.T. Brocks Crystal Palace Fireworks in Cupid Green, near Hemel Hempstead, became a munitions factory.

Many local residents undertook war work at the factory, include Sue Radlett.

Sue recalled, "we had to show passes at the gate and leave all tobacco, cigarettes and matches in lockers provided near the bicycle sheds."

One of the biggest risks in the munitions factory was fire, and this included from air raids.

"Fire watching at night was made compulsory for all over sixteen. We formed groups of ten and manned a small narrow hut. It had a table, two long forms, two gas heaters and ten wooden bunks fixed to the walls. Army blankets, pillows and a ration of tea, sugar and powdered milk were provided. Sausages were not rationed, so we generally had sausage and chips. On Tuesday or Friday, two of us would cycle down to get fish and chips from a shop in the High Street. Before supper we did a fire drill with bucket and stirrup pump."

Taken from "The Home Front" life in the Dacorum area during the Second World War 1939-1945 available to buy from Dacorum Heritage.

George Butler moved to Chipperfield with his wife and two young children in 1935.

A traditional watercolourist and trained artist, George worked in the art department of J. Walter Thompson advertising agency. He worked across London, Berlin and New York.

At the start of World War II, George was seconded to MI6 to work on propaganda at Woburn Abbey. Here, his team came up with the V for Victory call sign used by the BBC when broadcasting to occupied countries - the first notes of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony that matched the morse code for "V". He also worked on propaganda leaflets dropped by the RAF over occupied countries.

In 1942, George moved back home. At work, he was engaged in design for several government departments including recruitment for the services and industry and Ministry of Food campaigns.

At home he joined the Chipperfield Home Guard. He became a camouflage expert, regularly going off to lecture and advise other units.

His daughter, Tania, recalled, "Our garden shed filled up with green and brown netting, cardboard replicas of tanks and guns and papier-mâché heads."

Tania goes on to recall VE Day, "On VE Day, we all had the day off from school. For some time a huge bonfire had been growing on the Common. My father painted one of his Home Guard papier-mâché masks to look like Hitler and put it on the top. That night the bonfire was lit, firecrackers and fireworks went off, and the lights went on in all the houses."