Hopping (1907):3,350 strangers; many coming by road

Post date: Feb 27, 2012 1:10:5 PM

Extract from Parish magazine , October 1907

THE PAROCHIAL MISSION TO HOP-PICKERS, 1907.

The Report appended is that which has been sent, according to custom, to the Secretary of the Church of England Mission to Hop-pickers. We, have to add an expression of sincere thanks to the subscribers and to the many ladies who in various ways gave help in the mission. By the kindness of Sir George Donaldson, Mrs. Cartwright, the tenant of the cottage in New Road, vacates it by arrangement it may be used for the Hoppers' Hospital. Lady Donaldson added to the furniture of the hospital by several welcome gifts, and Mrs. Cartwright left two bedrooms furnished for the use of the lady-nurses. The special tent-mission having fallen through (this season) we have not had to call upon the Church of England Mission for its usual contribution to our parochial fund. No doubt it will be ready to help us at any future time when our fund may need assistance to meet unusual expenditure.

WATERINGBURY REPORT.

" Hospital Staff.—Sister Kerr, Nurse Hewlett and Miss Carnegie.

Mission Ladies.—Mrs. Riches and Miss Dixie.

Lantern Missioner.—Mr. J. Williams.

" There is no special feature to report, this year. We were fortunate in obtaining the help of the same hospital staff and mission ladies as last year. Mrs. Riches has now been with us for nine and Miss Kerr for five successive ' hoppings.' Under such conditions the organisation of the work is much simplified. We were also very happy in securing the gratuitous services, as lantern missioner, of Mr. J. Williams, whom we have.to congratulate on his recent appointment to the position of senior student in the Missionary College at Burgh, Lincoln. As evidenced of the interest which the Mission has aroused locally we are glad to report that Miss Cator and Miss Lambert, who did most of the work in connection with one of our garden stalls this season, have promised, all being well, to take its management entirely off our hands next year. Our parochial subscription list affords further evidence of local appreciation of the Mission. Mr. A Leney and Mr. E. Goodwin each lent a waggon for use as a stall in the gardens, with a horse and man to draw it every morning to a spot near the pickers, and supplied us with the necessary water. Mr.Goodwin also supplied a cart for our lantern services throughout the picking, while all the growers did whatever was required to simplify the organisation of those services. With some regret we found ourselves before the commencement of the picking, unable to organise a tent mission like that which was held on the Hermitage Farm last season under the auspices of the Rev. H. Iselin and his band of workers, but later on our regret was tempered somewhat, by the short duration of the picking—the shortest we have had for many years. Mr. Iselin, however, was able to come down for a day or two and we were glad of his help at the station stall. We hope to be able to re-start the tent mission another year.

We had in all 893 bins of pickers at work in the gardens, of which 117 were taken by home dwellers. Our total number strangers we computed at 3,350. We find that a much larger number come down by road than we hitherto imagined. The Station Stall, well managed by hired labour supplemented by some supervision and voluntary help, proved, as always, a great boon to those who came down in the darkness of the small hours by rail."