By Anthony Larkman

One of your contributors asks if we remember Fr. Cornwall. Indeed I remember him well.

I was an altar boy during the second World War and served Mass daily for Fr. Cornwall. But this is by the way. Fr. Cornwall was very patriotic (I believe he flew fighter planes during the First World War.) However war-time meant a shortage of food, so using the land behind the church (the church hall came later) he built a hen house and raised chickens from young pullets. A bold venture you may think? But - next came the ducklings followed by the young geese. Finally the turkeys which were almost fully grown and took some persuading to roost in the turkey house.

By this time the whole field was covered in sheds and various buildings to house the poultry. Fr. Cornwall paid me ten shillings a week to feed the birds after finishing school for the day. Ten shillings - 50 pence now but a princely sum in those days. By way of a bonus or a reward Fr. Cornwall also bought me a couple of rabbits. However, I soon learnt the art of mixing food for all the poultry and Fr. Cornwall even had a metal copper behind the Presbytery for boiling potatoes.
Well, Christmas came and an army of women volunteered to pluck the birds. Many went to the Christmas raffle, some were sold, and quite a lot of birds were given away. So the object of the exercise, to provide a good number of Christmas dinners was achieved.

So much for Fr. Cornwall’s war-time efforts. It must be said that these activities never interfered with his pastoral duties. After the war all evidence of poultry keeping disappeared and eventually a parish hall was built on the field, which I believe has since been demolished.