{"id":914,"date":"2023-08-05T14:09:54","date_gmt":"2023-08-05T14:09:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/knebworthhouse.com\/blog\/?p=914"},"modified":"2023-08-05T14:09:54","modified_gmt":"2023-08-05T14:09:54","slug":"june-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/knebworthhouse.com\/blog\/?p=914","title":{"rendered":"June 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

A column with perennial themes that I\u2019ve been writing every month since 2005 is bound to repeat itself on occasion, so excuse me this month – in response to the sad news of the death of \u2018Wocko\u2019 Watkins on 24th<\/sup> April – for republishing this piece I wrote for the September 2014 edition:\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t remember when Wocko came to Knebworth.\u00a0 He joined us as a woodman sometime in the early 1970s, one of a team of five.\u00a0 He would say he could make anything out of riven timber except a decent living.\u00a0 There are no full-time foresters now.\u00a0 But Wocko has always been here, keeping the Knebworth Park deer, the fences, the spirit of our beautiful countryside alive in our increasingly city-influenced community.\u00a0 Whether you know him from summer shows in his straw hat, weaving willow or hornbeam into sheep hurdles; or playing his accordion or ukulele in the Lytton Arms, for the Morris Dancers or as part of the legendary Nup End Mountain Men; or singing cheeky songs at the Estate Christmas Party or as Master of Ceremonies at Music Hall evenings at the Village Hall; or telling wonderful stories at the Cricket Club bar, or to me and my children on Sunday afternoon walks to explore hidden corners of the Knebworth Woods\u2026\u00a0 Wocko has become part of the wood of this community of Old Knebworth.\u00a0 But all things come to pass, and this month Wocko and his lovely wife Jan retire to Market Rasen in Lincolnshire.\u00a0 He would say that this split is along the grain as opposed to sawn, but a wonderful man is thus riven from us.\u00a0 We say goodbye with love and great gratitude for all that he has left us, not least the familiar echo that will forever be heard in the halls of Old Knebworth, \u201cSing along in the chorus, folks!\u201d<\/p>\n

Henry Lytton Cobbold
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A column with perennial themes that I\u2019ve been writing every month since 2005 is bound to repeat itself on occasion, so excuse me this month – in response to the sad news of the death of \u2018Wocko\u2019 Watkins on 24th … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-23"],"yoast_head":"\nJune 2023 - Henry Lytton Cobbold<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/knebworthhouse.com\/blog\/?p=914\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"June 2023 - Henry Lytton Cobbold\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A column with perennial themes that I\u2019ve been writing every month since 2005 is bound to repeat itself on occasion, so excuse me this month – in response to the sad news of the death of \u2018Wocko\u2019 Watkins on 24th … Continue reading →\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/knebworthhouse.com\/blog\/?p=914\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Henry Lytton Cobbold\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-08-05T14:09:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/knebworthhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Wocko-alt.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/knebworthhouse.com\\\/blog\\\/?p=914#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/knebworthhouse.com\\\/blog\\\/?p=914\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/knebworthhouse.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f15e48bf5e00572a561d40bb2c4078b5\"},\"headline\":\"June 2023\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-05T14:09:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/knebworthhouse.com\\\/blog\\\/?p=914\"},\"wordCount\":314,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/knebworthhouse.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/knebworthhouse.com\\\/blog\\\/?p=914#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/knebworthhouse.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/Wocko-alt.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"2023\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/knebworthhouse.com\\\/blog\\\/?p=914\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/knebworthhouse.com\\\/blog\\\/?p=914\",\"name\":\"June 2023 - 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