The famous well was opposite the lane leading to the allotments, at the bottom of the sloping lane leading from Tandy' Close to the Lace Cottages. In 1875Colonel Higgins of Picts Hillplaced a stone arch above it on which was inscribed the following quotation:
NELL'S WELL
O fountain pure, whose spring so sure
Has never yet run dry:
Thy water tells of deeper wells
Which living springs supply.
Thy spring, though pure, no thirst can cure,
Who drinks will drink in vain:
Go, neighbour, try that deep supply:
Thou ne'er shalt thrist again.
Restored, 1875.
Today (Nov 2000), Nell's Well is just an empty archway in the wall beside Ladybridge Terrace. ( with my son, Matthew, posing beside where his ancestors would have got their water).
The well was closed for water in September 1960, after giving water since 1600. There was a huge cry of protest from villagers, (with a petition carrying 1700 signatures!) which even made TV headlines on a program called 'Tonight With Fife Robinson' shown in September 1960.
Because of modern water quality standards, the protests were in vain and the pump was removed. The left picture show Fife Robinson at the well. The right hand photo is of schoolchildren saying goodbye to the doomed water supply.
The door of Tinkers Cottage, to the left of the now Village Stores.
Recently, iron rings have been discovered in the walls of the cottage. It is thought that horses were shackled in here whilst the coaches which they pulled were changed.
The Village Stores, once the Tinker's Inn or The Tinker of Turvey Inn. The original Inn sign is now preserved in Luton Museum, Beds. It shows the Tinker, his wife - Nell, and their dog. The building was altered quite a bit in 1840.
Old Nell must have been a most remarkable character. As well as the reference to her and her tinker husband on the inn sign of the public house ('The Tinker of Turvey, his dog and his staff, Old Nell with her budget will make a man laugh'), there is also a local well named after her.
Before I tell of this, let me explain the previous quotation. A Budget was a small bag or bundle carried by travellers - the British Government still announce their yearly financial Budget from a small black bag. There was a somewhat coarse pamphlet in the British Museum about 'The Tincker of Turvey, his merry pastime from Billingsgate to Gravesend. The Barge being freighted with mirth, and mann'd with Trotter the tincker, Yerker a cobbler, Thumper a smith, &c, and other mad merry fellowes, every one of them telling his tale.' The pamphlet was published in London in 1630 and reprinted by J.O. Halliwell (Phillipps) in 1859.. Part of the preface goes 'The Tinker hammers out an epistle to all gentlemen that love Latin, to all strolling tinkers; and to all brave mettle men that travel on the hoof with a dog, and a doxie (unmarried mistress) ats tayle. Be you all, then (my brother strowlers and padders on the highway), as jovial as I am. Lives not a merry man longer than a sad? Has not a tinker less care than a Tamberlaine the Great? Is not an hour of honest mirth worth a vinter's hogshead (that has no doings) full of melancholy? Heres's a gallimawfry of all sorts: The wayting wench has ests to make her merry: and clownes, plaine Dunstable dogrell for them to laugh at till their leather buttons fly off.:
The Tinker's Inn dates back to 1150,
if we believe the stories!
To find out what a 'tinker' actually was, see the Trade page!
In 2005, Nell's Well had a cosmetic overhaul.
The inn sign for the 'Tinker of Turvey'
The well was reopened on 4th December 2004 by Mr Len Savage. After the re-opening, the village Christmas lights were switched on at the small field called 'Lancelot's Piece', which is just in front of the Rectory.
