Such is Olney, grown out of a simple village into a small country town with an industrious community principally employed in the shoe trade, numbering 2,764. The manufacturers are Messrs Hinde & Mann, Messrs S Cowley & Co, Messrs J Kitchener & Son, and Mr T Johnson, and the shops compare favourably with any modern town as the spirit of keeping pace with the times is much in evidence.

The old town itself, hundreds of years ago, stood at the north end but nearly all traces are lost except with the exception of the old Elm Tree, opposite the Queen Hotel, known as the “Churchyard Elm”. This tree has been written about several times before and so I deem it useless in repeating it again.

The people of Olney take a delight in the purity and copiousness of their water supply although the Ouse is not always a friend, especially to the occupiers of the adjacent fields as it has an unpleasant way of flooding the meadows at the most awkward times, especially just before the grass is ready to cut. This I presume the occupiers must put up with until the County Councils take over the rivers, like the roads, clean them out, and sweep away the obstructive and practically useless mills which now principally use other motive powers. The river has been, at the lower end of the town, somewhat polluted with sewage, but this will soon be a thing of history as the Sanitary Committee have made arrangements for a sewage scheme from plans by Mr Chadwick, the eminent sewage authority, of Bletchley.

The town itself, with formerly, its one long street and ancient hostelries, ancient church, Cowper museum, replete with interest to admirers of Cowper, the antiquarian, and lovers of folk-lore, has changed with the times; the schools and the benefactions are ample, and the aspect of the place is that of a rising and contented community.

The Great House, Olney, demolished in the early part of the last century

The Old Churchyard Elm, Opposite the Queen Hotel

To put it mildly, Olney, half a century ago, in enlightenment, was on a par with the Middle Ages, and folk-lore or, more correctly speaking, devil-lore (see page 18) was implicitly believed in by the lower class, as I have been informed by some of our old inhabitants. To go further back there are many traces of the Romans being here in great force, no doubt to stamp out the stubborn spirit of the natives. Their coins are found in Ash furlong in great numbers and a Roman road is known to cross there in the direction of Lavenden. Following on the Romans and when the Normans attained the ascendancy we find Olney principally woodland as the “wood afforded mast for four hundred hogs” and the “meadow-land was ten carucates” (1000 acres). Olney and Warrington contain 3,367 acres according to the Ordnance Survey.

From the early history of Olney we turn to the consideration of the modern appearance of the north end of the town, viz; Wellingborough and Midland roads and the streets diverging from the latter which sacrifice the beauty of the town by their inartistic brick and mortar artisans’ dwellings, and imposing factory. Viewed however, from Weston (Over’s) hill or Clifton hill, during a good sun-set the prospect is pleasing and diversified, comprehending the various places of worship, Cowper museum, the large houses and business premises, the brewery, the modern gas works which the lovers of the picturesque would have deleted, and a tannery which adds unpleasant ozone in the immediate vicinity. The meadow which boasts the name of “a recreation ground” is in prominence, viewed from Clifton hill.

There are all kinds of recreative societies according to the fashion of the times affording amusement to all grades of the inhabitants.

Considerable interest attaches to our church on account of the worthies who have been connected with it - Newton, Cowper, Brown, Gauntlet, etc - and to its architectural beauties, its noble bulging spire technically called entasis, and its gradual internal beautification worthy of such a sacred edifice.

Naturally the pleasant township, associated with so many renowned men in the religious world - Scott, Carey, Sutcliff, etc - cannot help but teem with interest; and as a result of the varied labours of these great men the old-world spot, with which their names are linked have become hallowed by the association.

The flooded meadows looking towards Weston Underwood, May 1907 Goosey Bridge and Toone’s Bridge appearing like rafts on a lake

Two Ratcliff 'end pieces'

"You have a model husband," said the lady who was congratulating the bride. The next day the bride bethought her to look up the word 'model' in the dictionary, and this is what she found there. 'Model: A small imitation of the real thing.'

"I wish to complain," said the newly-wedded wife, "about that flour you sold me. It was very tough." "Tough, ma'am?" stammered the grocer. "Yes, tough. I made a piecrust with it, and my husband could hardly cut it."