It was wonderful to welcome the Grace family back to Goldfield for a magical piece of nostalgia as they shared their family slides taken over 120 years ago by their great, great Grandfather, a miller by trade whose hobby was photography. The slides were shown using the family's Magic Lantern also 120 years old. Today's focus was transport but these wonderful slides are all encompassing and show a complete history of Tring.
Slides for the Magic Lantern
Horse power was essential for ploughing and moving heavy goods
This lady is using a hand held trolley to deliver milk
Back then the only vehicles in Tring High Street were making deliveries, most people walked everywhere
This grand family are off on a day out, can you see the dog running along by the side of the carriage?
Here is the entrance to Tring Park and Nathaniel Rothschild is leaving his estate in a very grand carriage pulled by two horses with a driver and footman
Nathaniel's son, Walter Rothschild is riding in a carriage pulled by zebras! But if you look closely you can see two black legs? I think a horse could be leader of the team
Cycling was a popular form of transport - Jess and Frank Grace, photographed here, are on a tricycle made for two
These ladies have cycled to the stocks at Aldbury Common, (that must have been tricky cycling in those long skirts!)
The roads got very dirty and dusty especially in hot weather, here is the solution...
... a horse drawn road sprayer!
As times passes more engines were developed. Here is one of the first tractors to work the land and a steam engine used to transport heavy goods.
Tring's bus depot. People couldn't afford holidays, instead they enjoyed days out to the seaside or countryside for a picnic. How did they get there? Travelling by buses.
A grand day out with a picnic lunch
This wonderful car belonged to Gilbert Grace (from a different 'Grace' family). Gilbert's family own Grace's Hardware Store
Miswell Lane is just here with the playing fields and houses but no Goldfield! (It hasn't been built yet)
Boats and barges were also used to transport goods and Tring had its own boat builders yard
Barges brought corn to the mill to be ground into flour and then transported it to the bakers for making bread
Boats were also used to transport people, there is nothing quite like a leisurely sail along the canal!
In this photograph you can see that the canal is frozen, the boat is an ice breaker used to brake the ice so that other barges can travel along the canal. Look how many horses are pulling the ice braker, what strong animals they are but what hard work it must be for them!
Time for the railway to make a connection to Tring, in this photograph men are working on the cutting for the railway
Tring Fair and a Merry-go-round entertains the public which is powered by steam
A candle would have given light to this Magic Lantern but it has been adapted and electricity supplies the power to light the bulb
This is Thomas Grace the photographs we have seen today have been taken by him
Parsonage Farm owned by Frank Grace (where Bishop Wood School is today).
Robert and Tom Grace (Frank Grace's sons) put on slideshows called "Old Tring Lectures" for the people of Tring. At the beginning of the slideshow they would take a photograph of the audience. At the end of the slideshow they would amaze the audience by showing a slide of themselves. (If your family have been living in Tring for over 100 years you may be looking at a relative of your own?)
for sharing these wonderful photographs with us! The photographs we have seen today belong to the Grace family.
Back to Picture Gallery