Derek Hancocks
Courtesy of: Derek and Jennifer Hancocks. Uploaded:
The
photo on the left shows Derek as a 3 year old at Bream's celebration
of the coronation of King George VI in 1937. In front of the man in the
trilby we think is Evan Watkins, son of Rufus Watkins of New Road, Bream.
The photo bottom right is from the same celebration, at centre pushing
the
pram
is Jennifer's
mum,
Emma Tye (nee Blower). Jenny is in the pram. The photo at top right shows
Derek again, this time in 1951 as a seventeen year old 'Bevin Boy' at
Cannop Colliery. Bevin Boys were young men who worked "in the pit" instead
of serving in the armed forces as coal mining was an important "reserved
occupation". The Bevin Boy scheme set up by Ernest Bevin,
the wartime Minister of Labour, can be found documented elsewhere. Although
the Bevin Boy scheme had ended by 1951, "National Service" was
in operation until about 1960. Working "in the pit" was an
alternative to National Service and in the Forest, young men who took
this option were
still refered to locally as "Bevan Boys". The incorrect spelling
here is probably due to Bevan being a local name in the Forest.
-Thanks also to Len Olley.
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WANTED: Old photos, old postcards, ephemera and memories of the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. U.K.