20th Century Memories of Ledbury Cabbage Lane

Cabbage Lane

Worcester Road leading to the Church

Also known as Capuchin Lane / Cabbage Walk / Badsey Walk

1901

August 10 Mr. T. BADSEY, Horse Lane, defrayed the cost of paving the lane leading from the Worcester Road to the Church, as a thank-offering for a long and prosperous life. A tablet erected on the wall perpetuates the occasion and the donor of the gift.

1905

The Ledbury FREE Press Newspaper

There used to be an open brook running all the way from the waterfall through into the Rectory garden and on through the tanyard. The road leading from the Worcester Road into the churchyard was called Cabbage Lane, and at the bottom of the lane, in the churchyard, was a brick arched bridge and rails over the brook which was very deep at this spot. The Lane has also gone by the name 'Capuchin Lane' ( a body of Capuchin monks was established here. A priest was stationed at Ledbury at the time of the Norman Conquest ). The time came when more burying ground was required and at different periods the brook was arched over and interments took place in it.

1958

To the south of the Church is a long and narrow walled-in path known as Cabbage (Capuchin) Lane. This was formerly paved with cobblestones, which though uncomfortable to modern footwear, were more artistic than the present bricked path. The iron gateway at the entrance to this was formerly duplicated from the wall to a turnpike house which then stood here, so that perambulators ( which were elsewhere forbidden by a signboard to be wheeled anywhere but on the high road ) could not be pushed on the raised footpath beyond.

Unknown Date Tiled & Cobbled

( 2014 )
Jo Edge - Lovely photo. I wonder if the path still looks like that now? Mum often talks about the lane as her dad rang the bells at the church, then took the kids up the conigree wood and then came back to ring the bells at the end of the service.

Beryl Smith - What a beautiful picture, I remember it well

Roger Baker - It looked a lot tidier then!

Jo Edge - Is the path the same or is it tarmac now?

Roger Baker - Worn tarmac with the tiles showing through, and weeds down the sides

Beryl Smith - I bet lol, when I was a child it was kept tidy

Jo Edge - Best we get a team together and get those weeds sorted!!!

Lynne Long - Lovely

Margaret Brooke - Cabbage Lane...not looking so good these days

Sylvia Manns - Is this the path leading to the Grammar School? I wouldn't mind a pound for every day that I walked up Church Lane and this pathway as a shortcut to school.

Margaret Brooke - It's the path from the Worcester Road by the Police Station to the church.

Sylvia Manns - Ah wrong side of the church then! Thanks Margaret.

Jo Edge - It would be lovely to get it restored back to the original tiles and cobbles!!!

Elizabeth Brace - Haunted

Katherine Balch - Wow ! looks amazing ! I used to live in one of the ex police houses so know it v well - there was (and still is) a handy pole stuck in the wall at the end of the Police Station car park that we used to climb onto, into Cabbage Lane - we always wondered if the police used it too but never saw any of them climbing over !!!

Pam Wildig - I also used to live there, but it was a police house at the time. We used to climb over the wall from the churchyard into the station yard as a short cut. I wouldn't be surprised if it was haunted, though I never saw anything. Apparently there's a tunnel going from the Cloisters ( where Sue LILLEY used to live - and where monks used to live a long time ago ) to the church

Beryl Smith - Pam my sister and I had a friend we used to play with there we used to climb the wall as well, think you would remember my sister Pauline Nursey then now White xx

Janet Morris - Lovely photo does look really tidy x

Pam Wildig -Beryl Smith - yes of course I remember Pauline. It was a great place to play around there - we even sneaked into the police station to play in their table tennis room!..

Ismet Mustafic - I'm ashamed to admit it but I can't remember from the days when I walked along here on a regular basis whether it had been tarmaced over or not? Does anyone know/remember when it happened?

Ismet Mustafic - I wonder what the 'Capucin' refers to: a monkey or an an order of Roman Catholic friars? I had to look up the second one 😉 🙂

2014

Cabbage Lane with tiles showing through

September 11 - Attended Local Council Meeting, Cabbage Lane is the responsibilty of Herefordshire Council. Ledbury Town Council to request the lane be stripped back to tiles or cobbles. Will update page when we get news.

October 6 Ledbury Reporter Newspaper Extract

CABBAGE WALK to be tiled not tarmacked?
MOVES are afoot to reveal an ancient tiled walkway in an historic Ledbury lane.

Mrs Jo Manuschka, administrator of the "Old Ledbury" site on Facebook, recently contacted the town council about Cabbage Walk, which leads from the Worcester Road to the Closed Churchyard, close to St Michael and All Angels Church.

She told councillors that the narrow lane is currently tarmacked, but the tarmac is wearing away, exposing the tiles that lie beneath.

Rather that repair the tarmac, Old Ledbury members want to see the tarmac removed, exposing the tiles beneath.

Cllr Martin Eager, who was chairing the meeting of the town's environment and leisure committee, where Mrs Manuschka spoke, thanked her and suggested that all interested parties, including the Ledbury Civic Society and Herefordshire Council, should be contacted to establish a consensus.

Cabbage Walk probably saw fighting between Cavaliers and Roundheads, during the Battle of Ledbury, of 1645.

It is also reputed to be haunted, by a tall shadowy figure that, on some nights, passes before startled pedestrians.

Dogs are reported to broken their leads to get away, although numbers of reported incidents are few and far between.

2021

April 27 No update yet from the Council. More tiles are showing through. Perhaps through the summer we can arrange for the work to be carried out.

Sources

1897 - 1979 Ledbury Tilleys Almanacks - Herefordshire History
1905 The Ledbury FREE Press George WARGENT Recollections of Ledbury
Photographs are credited to the owners where possible Roger BAKER & Chris PONTER
Edited Memories in italics are from members of the Old Ledbury Facebook Group
Cuttings are from Old Ledbury Reporter Newspapers
History of Ledbury in the 19th Century