On the left at the back of the Hall was the dairy and the larder. This was a room with stone slabs all the way around. The milk was taken into there and poured into shallow, earthenware bowls. The cream was then skimmed off with a shallow perforated ladle and put into big containers. Twice a week it was churned into butter. They had a big old-fashioned churn and it was usually the gardener's wife who did the churning. All the employees had their butter from there and their milk. Of course it was skimmed milk as the cream had been removed to make the butter. My father would take the milk can over with him when he went to work in the morning. We also had our logs and coal from there, so we lived quite well.
In the dairy at the Hall were several coloured rosettes, won for exhibits of butter at the
Staffordshire County Show. Butter from Jersey cream was a very bright yellow and had rather a strong flavour. One of the milkman who served the village was Mr Picken. He had a pony and trap with bells on it. Inside the trap were a couple of churns and the containers with his measures in. Milk cost about 2d a pint. It was difficult to buy cream as this had already been taken off the milk for making butter. There was also Mr Gill who had a farm at the Foaming Jug. He often came round twice a day. He emigrated to Australia with his wife and their seven children.
HOUSES IN CODSALL WOOD
Many of the houses in Codsall Wood were occupied by people who worked at the Hall. There was Pendrell Cottage where the groom lived and our house, which had the garage for the cars and the generator room. Then there was the blacksmith's. The next house belonged to Mr Cockerill's mother � after her house there was one belonging to one of the gardeners.
Round the corner was Mr Tudge. He worked at Wheatstone as a groom. Then there was Richards, who was possibly a farmer and Nash's � her father was a vicar. Mrs Nash eloped to marry her husband, who was a corn merchant. In the back lane lived Alcock, the carrier, and another gardener lived on the main road.
Mrs Nash was the organist for St Peter's Church, Codsall Wood, she also conducted Sunday School for about a dozen children of all ages. Mr. Cockerill's mother lived in Codsall Wood and when he and Miss Jones, the well-known teacher from Codsall School (see the Booklet 'Mrs Cockerill's Memories'), were married in 1916 they stayed with Mr Cockerill's mother for some time. I think their house on Wood Road was in the process of being built.
Lots of cottages had pig-sties and my father and Mr Cockerill thought they would keep a couple of pigs, so two pigs named Tweedledum and Tweedledee made their appearance. They were the fattest pigs you could imagine. When they were killed we had a side of bacon, and of course when a pig was killed in the village in those days almost everyone who lived there was given some portion of the pig. It was the fattest bacon I have ever
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