Below is an enquiry about railway tunnels (- stretching the mining theme a
little I know)
Not come across the term Tommy Shop before
Has anyone on the list?
Regards
David
Re Tommy Shop Cottage
Has anyone ever come across the above name for a cottage in the vicinity of
Sapperton and specifically the railway tunnels?
There is a reference to it in 'By Chance I did Rove' by N Jewson (1951)
which hints that it might well be part of the buildings by Ash Hill at
SO938023. The implication is that 'one of a pair of outlying cottages in a
wood under which it [the railway tunnel] passes is still called "Tommy
Shop"'.
The name apparently has a connection with the navvies who built the railway
tunnels, in that a 'tommy shop' was where wages are paid to workmen who were
expected to lay out a part of the money for the good of the shop. Tommy
means bread or a penny roll, or the food taken by a workman in his
handkerchief or goods in lieu of money.
If anyone has any information, I'd appreciate it. My main interest is in
obtaining a photograph to use in an exhibition.
Regards
John Putley
Gloucestershire Archives
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