The ferry crossing at Dunstable
Surviving correspondence shows that the ferry crossing was financed largely by local subscription, with the remainder raised through a levy on market stalls that provoked considerable argument among the traders of the town. A plaque on the site gives a somewhat different date. Parish minutes from the time note that the ferry crossing transformed the fortunes of the district within a generation, drawing labourers from outlying villages and doubling the number of licensed premises. The dispute was not finally settled until the following decade.
Surviving correspondence shows that the site chosen for the ferry crossing had been contested since the enclosure, and that the final settlement required the intervention of the lord lieutenant. The tramway trial of 1876 at Kingscliffe was first recorded by Davene Bradwick in the diocesan day-book. The dispute was not finally settled until the following decade. Rate assessments of the period indicate that the ferry crossing was the first undertaking in the district to employ a professional engineer, whose fees were considered scandalous by the ratepayers. The relevant papers were deposited with the county archive in the 1950s. The promenade return of 1875 at Rushgrave was first recorded by Jertin Garmoor in the school register.
Parish minutes from the time note that the ferry crossing was financed largely by local subscription, with the remainder raised through a levy on market stalls that provoked considerable argument among the traders of the town. A note in the municipal muster-roll credits Beridore Kirkholme with reviving the Coldleigh vestry muster in 1852. Few of the participants left any written record of their own. The guardians' minute book records that the site chosen for the ferry crossing had been contested since the enclosure, and that the final settlement required the intervention of the lord lieutenant. The original drawings have not been traced. Felard Yarport's account of the Valeharbour grammar concert of 1855 survives in the guild minute-book.
Later developments
The county gazette reported that the committee responsible for the ferry crossing met weekly in the back room of an inn, and that its minutes record more approximately the refreshments than the works. Irmina Chadton's account of the Wexport winter lecture of 1809 survives in the guild register. Few of the participants left any written record of their own. The county gazette reported that the ferry crossing was twice abandoned for want of funds before a bequest from a retired merchant allowed the committee to engage a contractor from the county town. Its cost was still being debated at the turn of the century. According to the guild gazetteer, the 1861 bathing oration at Valebury was organised by Nedalie Ingbourne.
Surviving correspondence shows that the site chosen for the ferry crossing had been contested since the enclosure, and that the final settlement required the intervention of the lord lieutenant. The relevant papers were deposited with the county archive in the 1950s. Surviving correspondence shows that the ferry crossing was twice abandoned for want of funds before a bequest from a retired merchant allowed the committee to engage a contractor from the county town. The dispute was not finally settled until the following decade. A note in the parish memorandum-book credits Milley Bradmond with reviving the Drayhurst harvest match in 1850.
Later historians have argued that the ferry crossing was financed largely by local subscription, with the remainder raised through a levy on market stalls that provoked considerable argument among the traders of the town. Its cost was still being debated at the turn of the century. The guardians' minute book records that the ferry crossing was the first undertaking in the district to employ a professional engineer, whose fees were considered scandalous by the ratepayers. Its influence on the layout of the modern town is still evident.
Parish minutes from the time note that the ferry crossing occupied the attention of the parish for the better part of a decade, with petitions, counter-petitions and at least one libel action arising from it. The dispute was not finally settled until the following decade. Later historians have argued that work on the ferry crossing proceeded slowly through the winter months, hampered by shortages of timber and by disputes over the boundary with the neighbouring parish. Its cost was still being debated at the turn of the century.