By my estimation this is Day 20 of semi-lockdown and it is hoped that we are now beginning to reach the peak of this epidemic. Let's hope so. Once the peak has been reached, however, we cannot and must not relax the current restrictions. That's the only way of truly killing it off and ensuring it doesn't take hold again.
I would like to thank everyone who has sent me messages and said how much they appreciate and like my daily blogs and the things they are learning about Hethersett. I try to keep the entries fresh with a number of themes.
Today is a good time to catch up a little on some of the things mentioned over the past week. I am very grateful to Heather Emery who works at Hethersett Hall Care Home for sending me a picture of the Back Family coat of arms which I mentioned in my blog about Hethersett Hall. You can see a photo Heather took towards the bottom of this entry.
Kate Bygrave responded to my short piece about John Luke Iselin with a few more details. Iselin came from Switzerland and was responsible for building Hethersett Hall as a second dwelling. Kate has told me that his first home was in fact Cedar Grange down Cedar Road. She believes he later moved into Hethersett Hall. Kate also believes that a lady by the name of Gwen Hughes did research on Iselin. I vaguely remember Gwen, but do remember her brother Trevor Hughes and his wife Kathy. Trevor was a supernumerary Methodist minister and an absolutely delightful man. He was hugely academic but had this ability to be able to speak to people at all levels and my two young sons loved him.
Trevor retired to Hethersett but continued to lead worship (hence his supernumerary status). It's amazing how these blogs throw up different memories from our time in the village and I apologise if I keep going off at a tangent.
It would be wonderful if Gwen Hughes' research into John Iselin still exists somewhere - perhaps even in the Hethersett archive.
Anyway to get back to Kate Bygrave's message. She pointed out that in the early 1800s the building was known as Hethersett New Hall to differentiate it from Hethersett Old Hall which later became Hethersett Old Hall School.
As for Cedar Grange - well that's another Grade II listed building. It was called Lynch Green Cottage and then Grange Farm following 19th century additions. Subsequently it changed its name to Cedar Grange.
And it was whilst searching for details of it on the internet that I came across my own Hethersett Herald website that not only gave details of Cedar Grange but also had a section on John Iselin (I really should remember what I have written in the past).
The following is taken from that website:
"The early inhabitants of the property (Cedar Grange) are not known, but we do know that in 1791 John Luke Iselin was buying land in Hethersett which included this cottage.
"He was born in Basel, Switzerland, and, with his wife Margaret, became an English national in 1772. He was a partner of a Norwich firm of woolstaplers, Patteson and Iselin, and in 1783 was living in St Giles, Norwich. He played an active part in the campaign for land enclosure as it was said that 'the grounds in their present state were incapable of improvement' and it was after the Enclosure Act in 1798 that he not only owned Lynch Green Cottage but also built a mansion - Hethersett Hall.
"This latter had a coach house, stables, cottage, lawn and gardens, a total of around 30 acres. He also had part of the Great Common allotted to him under the Enclosure Award, which he sold to Sir John Lombe, of Great Melton, in 1800.
"After his death in 1816, at the age of 70, the cottage, by then updated to a farm, the mansion house and a further small cottage were auctioned. By the terms of his will, most of the proceeds of his estate went to his family in Switzerland, but he left some of the money for his old housekeeper, Sarah Addey, and some to a farmer and his wife by the name of Eke in Hethersett (we still have an Eke's Farm in the village). He also requested that his coffin be not screwed down until putrefaction had set in! A memorial stone to him can be seen in the floor of the parish church.
"In 1838, 110 acres of Cedar Grange land was gifted by Spooner Nash to his daughter Ann Nash.
"Occupiers of the house in the twentieth century included the Bainbridges from 1908 until 1916 and Judge Charles Herbert-Smith from 1922 until 1934."
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Today's speedy Raab Ramble was just a circle of the village to get some essential goods from Tesco Express. A few photographs from our walk are printed below
My photo of a kit car in yesterday's blog brought back memories to one reader. Rob Lotus contacted me to say it was a famous Norwich kit car - The Hudson Spirit which was Renault 5 based and built close to Carrow Road in Norwich.
Finally today a big round of applause for Derek Cubitt of Karen Close who on Thursday night gave a saxophone rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone" during the weekly "clap" in appreciation of essential workers. Derek's granddaughter Michelle Lemmon took a video of Derek's performance and it has appeared on Anglia Television and now in a big article in the Eastern Daily Press newspaper.
I was lucky to hear Derek's rendition and everyone stopped clapping to listen and the gave a spontaneous round of applause to Derek.
Derek still plays the sax professionally at the age of 92 and is likely to play "You'll Never Walk Alone" next Thursday. If you want to view the footage pop along to the link below:
https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/health/hethersett-great-great-grandfather-derek-cubitt-plays-saxophone-for-nhs-carers-1-6603011