In another example of 6 degrees of separation, John Meara, one of our volunteers dropped us a line about the story of Benjamin Hellewell.
The graffiti includes a mention of Tom Treddle. John tells us that this is the Tom Treddlehoyle pub in Pogmoor! Who was Tom Treddle[hoyle]? Seems Tom was believed to be a local character who, after several libations, would ride his donkey back from his local hostelry to his nearby village of Higham, usually riding backward! As late as the 1960s, during the annual fair, Tom’s ride home would be recreated.
But, sorry to ruin a great story, it seems that Tom was the creation of Victorian author Charles Rogers. Written in the local dialect, Rogers’ tale is the story was a polemic arguing for better employment rights in the local mines and factories.
