Letter
to the Editor
from Olive
J. Samuel, Christchurch, Dorset
Chastell’s
Coaches
Would any member of the Society have memories of Chastell’s Coaches
from the Cookham and Maidenhead area in the post-war years? A member of
my family saw a coach with that name in London at this time.
I have a copy of Paul Lacey’s excellent book A History of the Thames
Valley Traction Company Ltd 1920-1930. He mentions on page 109 the Dean
Bus Service in the 1920s run by John Chastell and Douglas Gray of
Cookham Dean. Based at the Chequers Inn it went from there to Cookham
village and Maidenhead. Paul also told me that John Chastell had been a
chauffeur to a doctor in c.1906.
From my own family information we know that my grandfather, Thomas
Chastell, had a brother John and he married May Saddington of Cheshunt,
Hertfordshire. I remember that Saddingtons ran a local taxi service. In
the 1920s John Chastell (my great-uncle Jack) organised coach outings
at Cheshunt for local people to Southend and the east-coast resorts. I
knew great-uncle Jack’s son, Len Chastell, but although he married he
had no children.
I would like to discover more about the Chastell family of Cookham Dean.
with any
queries