This black and white photograph offers a glimpse back to a time when Whaplode Drove was a working rural landscape. The row of cottages on the right were originally three separate two up, two down land workers’ cottages, built to house agricultural labourers. Like many cottages of this period, they had no bathrooms and no electricity, and daily life would have been closely tied to the surrounding land.
At the far end of the row was a wheelwright’s, a vital rural trade that supported local farming through the making and repair of carts and wheels. The photograph captures an everyday scene, with horse drawn road work taking place and figures moving along the Drove, framed by trees, hedgerows and modest village homes.
The exact date of the photograph and the identities of those shown are unknown, but it is likely from the early to mid twentieth century, before later modernisation of the area.
In later years the three cottages were renovated and combined into one single dwelling. Today this is the home of the Pell family, and the property has been the Pell Family’s home for over forty years, providing a living link between Whaplode Drove’s past and present.
As part of our Flash Back Friday, we invite locals to share memories, stories or photographs connected to this stretch of Whaplode Drove and help keep our village history alive.
