Meals on Wheels.
I recently kept a long overdue appointment with Gladys Taaffe, one of Chipperfield’s nonagenarians, to discuss almost half a century of involvement with Meals on Wheels.
Way back in the 1950s, when Hemel Hempstead was developing rapidly as a new town, members of the W.V.S. were asked to help set up a Meals on Wheels Service for people unable to cater for themselves in their own homes. Sammy Bartlett, who lived at Frenches Farm, Tower Hill, was one of the volunteers and she asked Gladys Taaffe to help with the delivery of the meals which were cooked at the Co-op Restaurant, situated at the Kodak end of the Marlowes, in Hemel Hempstead.
Prior to collecting the meals, the W.V.S. stalwarts had to go to the W.V.S. H.Q. in the Old High Street, Hemel Hempstead, to pick up their delivery boxes called ‘Hot Locks’, which were heated by small charcoal blocks, and constantly needed re-lighting. The meals, in lidded, aluminium containers, usually had too much gravy on them, which spilt into the boxes. After the meals had been delivered to about five areas of Hemel Hempstead New Town, the W.V.S. delivery teams took the tins and boxes to the Salvation Army Hall in the Market Square, washed everything up and then returned the boxes to the W.V.S. H.Q. in the Old High Street.
By 1962-63, when the meals were being delivered in Chipperfield as well, the food was being cooked at St. Paul’s Hospital, in Queensway, Hemel Hempstead. A rota of village people collected the food and took it to Barbara Praat’s house, ‘Highfield’, in Langley Road, where the delivery boxes were stored. The delivery teams collected their boxes, distributed them to village people and on the following day returned them to Barbara Praat’s, where everything then had to be washed up.
It was Kodak who next took on the responsibility of cooking the meals, at their site on the Hemel Hempstead Industrial Estate. In 1972, Dacorum Borough Council took over the Meals on Wheels Service from the W.V.S. To this day, the meals are still prepared in the Civic Centre kitchen in Hemel Hempstead.
The blue, thermal delivery boxes are kept in Gladys Taaffe’s garage. The meals, which are collected at around 11.15 a.m., are delivered daily in Chipperfield, but only twice a week by the eight Chipperfield volunteers. Approximately 22 dinners are delivered on a Friday and more on Wednesdays. Gladys Taaffe and colleague Edith Griffin deliver meals in Chipperfield, Bovingdon, Felden and sometimes Flaunden, covering up to 25 miles. Their delivery round can take up to 2 hours, as some recipients enjoy a brief chat.
The Chipperfield team would welcome additional help, so if you feel able to do so or wish to know more, please contact Gladys Taaffe, Tel. 262923 Mary Nobbs