Cheshunt at War tells the story of the war years as they affected a small town in Hertfordshire 14 miles north of London.

Cheshunt at War

It recounts the privations and the dangers, the hard work and the leisure, the tragedies and joys of life between 1939 and 1945.

The author, Peter Rooke, draws on his own memories and on taped conversations with local people, some of whom held posts of wartime responsibilty. Here are the recollections of teachers, nurserymen, farmers, land girls, Civil Defence workers, office workers and housewives.

Much use is made of contemporary records: wartime diaries and scrapbooks, Council minutes, Civil Defence records, school logbooks and many others were consulted.

Cheshunt was not in the front line but its people had their fair share of wartime experiences. Some of these are recorded here before memories fade.

About the Author

Peter Rooke

Peter Rooke was born in Cheshunt in 1927. Throughout the war he attended Cheshunt Grammer School. After National Service with the R.A.F in the Middle East he worked as a planning officer with authorities covering the Lea Valley, taking early retirement in 1981. His interest in local history has resulted in many books, articles, pamphlets, lectures and dramatic scripts and in more recent times – local history videos. He was for many years the Secretary of the Friends of Lowewood Museum and a past Chairman of Waltham Abbey Historical Society.

Cheshunt is in the extreme south-east corner of Hertfordshire and is bounded by Essex to the east and Greater London (formerly Middlesex) to the south. Its shopping centre at the Old Pond is fourteen miles north of London Bridge as the crow flies. It now forms part of the Borough of Broxbourne, but until 1974 it was an Urban District in its own right, covering the townships of Cheshunt and Waltham Cross and the smaller settlements of Turnford, Flamstead End, Hammond Street, Goffs Oak and Beaumont.

Map of Cheshunt

At the time of the 1939-45 war the only part of the district which was solidly built up was Waltham Cross, particularly east of the High Street, and the area then known as Waltham New Town and since redeveloped as Holbrook. Most of the rest of the district was sporadically developed along the old lanes and streets, with much of the back-land occupied by nurseries. Large tracts of open farmland and woodland covered the northern and western parts and most of the southern margin (the Theobalds Estate) west of Waltham Cross. The extreme eastern fringe between the railway and the River Lea was open marsh and water meadows with a few gravel pits.

At the 1931 census the population of the Urban District was 14,656; the Registrar General’s estimate for mid-june 1939 was 17,850, and for 1945 18,700.

The chief local source of employment was horticulture, Cheshunt then being at the centre of the world’s largest concentration of glasshouses, but proximity to London afforded the opportunity of community by train to Jobs in the City and the industries of the lower Lea Valley.

Cheshunt was in many ways typical among outer sub-urban settlements around London, being served by a railway and a trunk road (A.10) radiating from the capital. It was, however far enough from the centre to escape the heavy aerial attacks suffered by the City and the East End. Cheshunt also suffered much less than districts a similar distance to the south and east of London, which lay under the flight paths of enemy bombers and V-weapons. Nevertheless, given its geographical position, Cheshunt had its share of bombs and human suffering and tragedy.

The book attempts to describe life in Cheshunt during the war. It tells nothing of the adventures of local people in the armed forces; this is the story of those who stayed at home, who supplied the materials of war, taught or learned in schools, joined voluntary organisations to help with morale and the war effort. It is the story of the Civil Defence Services, the work of the local authority, of farmers and nurserymen. There is plenty of evidence of very hard work by many people; there is grief and sadness, there is humour. Never before had civilians been so much in the front line. Many towns could no doubt tell a similar story – indeed, many books have been written recently about how the war affected particular places. Early in 1983 it occurred to me that there were many people with detailed memories of Cheshunt in the war years, and that it would be an interesting and enjoyable task to record their recollections. I quickly found that one contact led to another: I was told “Oh you must go and see old so-and-so – he can tell you all about that.” Much to my delight I discovered that some of those I visited had wartime scrapbooks, documents and photographs, which they generously lent to me for copying. Before very long I realised that I had the makings of a fairly detailed history of Cheshunt between 1939 and 1945.

Further investigation brought to light, such valuable records as the minutes of the Urban District Council and its committees, the official register and map re cording all incidents of enemy action in the area, and the wartime diary and photograph albums of the late Mr E.J. Carter. These and many other sources have enabled me to fill out the detail and give a chronological framework to much of the anecdotal history obtained in conversation.

It has been enormous fun. The greatest pleasure for me has been to meet and correspond with so many people – some for the first time following my appeals for help in the local press, and others old friends I had not seen for many years. Some of those who helped me have, alas, since died.

We would be very pleased to hear from anyone who has any further memories, relevant documents or photographs to add to the files. I have done my best to be accurate and factual in this book, and should be grateful to be told if I have failed in any way.
I hope these pages will bring back memories for those who lived through the war years, and be of interest also to those too young to remember them.

Peter Rooke’s Cheshunt at War continues in two weeks time with – Preparing for War.