Wednesday 26th June 2013
Richard Dombkowski, of Warminster, has contributed this photograph which he refers to as “The tranquil and beautiful Battlesbury and Little Me.”
Richard writes ~
This photo was taken by my late father Bruno Dombkowski in the 1950s. The little chap in the picture is me. I seem to be balancing pretty well for the pose, on my one leg [joke]. I haven’t a clue what happened to the other one. I’m okay now, I have found both legs to walk around on, but it must have been very difficult for me as a young lad, hopping around while everybody else walked normally! Battlesbury Hill, in the background hasn’t changed much. I wish I could say the same for little me in the picture!
Danny Howell responds ~
Thank you Richard for sharing this picture. I should think, Richard, that you are aged two to three years in the picture, which would make it circa 1957.
For the amusement of readers I took Richard back to the same spot this morning ~ Wednesday 26th June 2013 ~ some 56 years on, to take a photo of Richard as he is now. Richard was most willingly to do this and I know he enjoyed reminiscing as we re-staged the photo shoot.
The location is near Big Gates, just north of Home Farm, Boreham. Temple’s Plantation (Primrose Wood) is right of the road (Morgan’s Drove Lane) in the picture. The field immediately behind Richard is the Camp Ground which is part of Boreham Farm (once farmed by Tom Bazley, who was the employer of Richard’s father Bruno for many years). The Camp Ground is currently farmed by Gore Cross Farms.
Battlesbury Hill in the background, as Richard says, doesn’t seem to have changed much at all, but there is one major difference, and that is in regard to Battlesbury Wood on the south-facing front of the hill. Up until 1964 (during the time when the first picture was taken, Battlesbury Wood was deciduous, with many oaks, chestnuts, ashes, elms, and plenty of box bushes. Just about all of the deciduous trees were felled in 1964 and the wood was replanted with firs, which make up the scene today, although one or two of the chestnuts and a lot of the box bushes can still be seen today.
Anyway, before we digress too much about things arboreal, our thanks once again to Richard, and it was my pleasure to make this a “then and now” opportunity. Here below is the “now” pic, with the “then” pic reproduced once again, alongside it, so dannyhowell.net readers can compare the 56 year gap for themselves. ~
Left: Richard Dombkowski, photographed by
Danny Howell on Wednesday 26th June 2013.
Right: Richard Dombkowski, photographed by
Bruno Dombkowski, circa 1957.