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January 2012
 BOOKS
 
Pollywiggles In The Run: Recollections and Reflections of Wenhaston
Felicity Jelliff
Published by Harveys Ink, Wenhaston IP19 9DP ISBN 978-1-907938-26-9Available at Halesworth Book Shop and other outlets
Southwold Street Names: A Speculative History
Jenny Hursell
Published by Jenny Hursell ISBN 978-0-953340-65-1
Available from Chapman's, the Town Hall and Barbrooks, or direct from Jenny herself (tel: 01502 724699 or e-mail: jennyhursell@hotmail.com), price £7.99
The close of 2011 brought two books of local social history, very different in content and tone, but both equally illuminating about the communities that they describe.
Pollywiggles In The Run is Felicity Jelliff’s tribute to Wenhaston, the village where she has spent most of her life. As well as her own memories, the author draws on the village archive and recollections of its inhabitants to bring the past into focus. If you know Wenhaston, these tales will cast new light on familiar surroundings. If you are a stranger to the village, it will make you want to explore it and bring Mrs Jelliff’s word painting to life. Oh, and if you’re not familiar with Suffolk dialect, the pollywiggles of the title are the tadpoles that the author used to catch in the golden summers of childhood.
This little book, beautifully illustrated with Wenhaston artist Wil Harvey’s drawings, is like an afternoon spent with an old friend, reminiscing about well-loved places and names. Characters and village institutions crowd the pages and the only criticism is that some of these fascinating glimpses are all too brief, leaving the reader longing to know more. There must be many more tales that could be told of the village school or the drama group, the chapels and the farms. You never know, maybe there is enough material left in the archives for a sequel.
In Southwold Street Names, Jenny Hursell explores the stories behind the names that those familiar with the town take for granted. In so doing, she uncovers tales of deep-rooted local families, luminaries and fishermen, not to mention some less salubrious former street names. In her explanations, Mrs Hursell gives us hard fact, informed speculation and occasionally some admitted romanticism. Running throughout is a strong sense of Southwold’s history, from its early origins as a small cluster of thoroughfares centred on the High Street and St Edmund’s Church, surrounded by small farms, to the townscape that we know today, with its architectural beauties and occasional eyesores.
What may surprise readers is how late various of the older roads came by their names, with many being decided at a special borough council meeting in 1911. As a former Town Clerk, Mrs Hursell is well-placed to throw light on the official thinking behind the naming process, as well as demonstrating deep knowledge of local sentiment. This is a lively, engaging thesis, with the author not afraid of expressing some forthright opinions, the description of the telephone exchange at the end of Pier Avenue being particularly amusing. All in all, it a refreshingly different guide to Southwold.
Bibliophile
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