A PIECE of Odiham’s history is back with descendants of its original owners after more than five decades.
The sign, which dates back to the 1950s, used to hang above the P Dicker Ltd grocery store, a mainstay of Odiham High Street for two centuries.
Rachel Watt discovered it when she took over the store in 1997 and turned it into the nextdoor at The George restaurant. The restaurant has undergone a refurbishment and is now just called nextdoor.
Rachel said she was recently contacted by Carolyn Russell, a descendant of the Dicker family, who asked if she could purchase the sign as a memento of her family history.
Mrs Watt said: “I said we would be happy to part with it because we do not need it now. I said we were happy to give it to her but I suggested that in payment for it, she might contribute to the Jack Bland Memorial Fund.”
The fund was set up by the parents of Jack Bland, an 18-year-old from Odiham, who died after he was hit by a car as he walked along the A287 on September 11, 2011.
The fund supports the two cricket clubs that Jack played for – Hook and Newnham Basics and Odiham and Greywell Cricket Club.
Mrs Russell made a donation of £100 to the fund. The fund, which has now closed, raised £13,400 for the two clubs.
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