Arthur Randell
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Arthur Redvers Randell (11 July 1901 – 26 March 1988) wrote about life in the English Fens.


Biography

Randell was born near the
River Great Ouse The River Great Ouse ( ) is a river in England, the longest of several British rivers called "Ouse". From Syresham in Northamptonshire, the Great Ouse flows through Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk to drain into the ...
at
Wiggenhall St Mary Magdalen Wiggenhall St Mary Magdalen is a civil parish and village in the English county of Norfolk. It is south of the town of King's Lynn on the west bank of the River Great Ouse. It covers an area of and had a population of 729 in 304 households in ...
, Norfolk, in the United Kingdom. During his early life he made a living from being a
railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
worker for
Great Eastern Railway The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern R ...
, LNER and
British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...
and a
molecatcher A molecatcher (also called a mowdy-catcher) is a person who traps or kills mole (animal), moles in places where they are considered a nuisance to crops, lawns, sportsfields or gardens. History of molecatching Roman times Excavations of Ancient ...
, the fourth generation in his family. He worked on the railways for 47 years mostly at Waldersea siding signal box. After retiring in 1965 he worked as a mole-catcher for the Hundreds of Wisbech
Internal Drainage Board An internal drainage board (IDB) is a type of operating authority which is established in areas of special drainage need in England and Wales with permissive powers to undertake work to secure clean water drainage and water level management wit ...
and the Laddus Drove Drainage Board. In 1968 he went to work as a pest controller on the Coldham Hall estate. He was a great authority on
The Fens The Fens or Fenlands in eastern England are a naturally marshy region supporting a rich ecology and numerous species. Most of the fens were drained centuries ago, resulting in a flat, dry, low-lying agricultural region supported by a system o ...
and its people and customs. He wrote about the blacksmith who was forced to turn to repairing farm implements and kitchen implements, the
chimney sweep A chimney sweep is a person who inspects then clears soot and creosote from chimneys. The chimney uses the pressure difference caused by a hot column of gas to create a draught and draw air over the hot coals or wood enabling continued combust ...
, the harness maker, the
pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus '' Sus''. Some authorities cons ...
-killer, the straw worker, the maker of corn dollies and many other now extinct trades. Later he wrote a number of books which were edited by Enid Porter and published. He was a popular speaker at community groups and made several TV appearances. He waas interviewed by Anglia TV's Dick Joice and featured in one of the ''Bygones'' books. In a letter published in a local newspaper he wrote that he had nearly finished a hand-written manuscript for a book of ghosts, witches and haunted houses, this does not appear to have been published. By this time Enid Porter, the editor of his earlier publications had retired.


Death

Randell died on 26 March 1988 in the North Cambridgeshire Hospital, Wisbech. His funeral service was held at Friday Bridge church and he was interred at
Elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus ''Ulmus'' in the family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical- montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ...
Cemetery.


Bibliography

* ''Sixty Years a Fenman'' (London Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1966) - Arthur Randell, edited by Enid Porter * ''Fenland Railwayman'' (London Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1968) - Arthur Randell, edited by Enid Porter * ''Fenland Memories'' (London Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1969) - Arthur Randell, edited by Enid Porter * ''Fenland Molecatcher'' (London Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1970) - Arthur Randell, edited by Enid Porter Detail taken from a copy of ''Fenland Memories'' published by Routledge and Kegan Paul (
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
) in 1969, and edited by Enid Porter of the Cambridge Folk Museum


Footnotes


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Randell, Arthur 1901 births English writers People from King's Lynn and West Norfolk (district) 1988 deaths