Gaining a Full Gedney

What is a 'Full Gedney'?

A full Gedney is what you can claim to have achieved if you have visited the six settlements in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, with Gedney in their name. These are Gedney Hill, Gedney Broadgate, Gedney, Gedney Dyke, Gedney Drove End and Gedney Dawsmere. You are also required to have visited Gedney Fen in order to claim a full Gedney. You also need to have visited Gedney Marsh but this is synonymous with visiting Gedney Drove End or Gedney Dawsmere and therefore gains no extra credit. Suprisingly few people can claim to have a Full Gedney, even many who live in one of the Gedneys cannot claim it, as it is 13 miles from Gedney Hill to Gedney Dawsmere. Note that you are not required to visit Gedeney Road in Tottenham, London.

The Credit System

Credits towards a Full Gedney can be attained through visiting each settlement or area. The magnitude of the credits assigned to each place vary depending on the importance of the settlement, the accessibility of the area and the level of reasons you would otherwise go there. It cannot be over stressed that all 100 credits must be attained before a Full Gedney can be truly claimed. These are the specific details of the credit system:

Place/Area	Credits gained for visit	Rationale	Sign
Gedney	5	Easily assessible via A17.
Gedney Fen	5	Of minor significance and no sign.
Gedney Hill	15	Notorious Gedney, very important could go for Golf.
Gedney Broadgate	15	Few attractions but too close to Gedney.
Gedney Dyke	15	The humps are too much of a pull factor.
Gedney Drove End	20	The holy grail of Gedneys to ill informed collectors.
Gedney Dawsmere	25	The biggest Gedney conspiracy

What is the big deal about Gedneys?

That is the beauty of attaining a Full Gedney there is seemily no incentive to visit these places. However this makes doing it much more note worthy. It isn't even because there are more Gedneys than anything else since there are ten Holbeachs. Possible incentives are the fact there is no hill at Gedney Hill and that Gedney Drove End is very close to the sea but they aren't significant. Nor is it that the Greenwich (or Gedney) Meridian passes within a kilometre of Gedney Hill.

Gedney Expeditions

While a Full Gedney achieved by car is still eligible it is much more satisfying to complete it through your own toil. I have personally attained a Full Gedney through cycling alone. This involved a 58.5 mile, three and a half hour ride. Through cycling you can appreciate the landscape more and take in more details. Here are observations made on two rides and a car journey to the Gedneys:

* Eastern Laminate Supplies E.L.S. are based in Gedney Hill.

[Eastern Laminate Supplies]
* Gedney Hill is home to the Peterborough League 1st Division club Gedney Hill FC. To see their current league position click here.
* Free range eggs in Gedney Hill can be purchased for Ł1.20 per dozen.
* The run down Baptist Church in Gedney Broadgate is dated 1889.
* Coming out of Gedney Broadgate going towards the A17 roundabout you are actually in two Gedneys at once as the Gedney sign arrives before the sign out of Gedney Broadgate.

New Station

* There is a train station at Gedney but no track. Hopefully this means they will be building a high speed link to the Gedneys. Well you can but hope.
* Coming into Gedney Dyke there is a large barn being constructe and a large amount of pallets stacked up which are marked AAC.
* Surveillance cameras are in operation at The Chequers Pub in Gedney Dyke.
* There is a house in Gedney Dyke called Pooh Corner.
* On the way out of Gedney Dyke there is a bit of a mound like rise within a field which could almost be described as a hill in Fenland terms.
* H C Goose and Son have White House Farm between Gedney Dyke and Gedney Drove End.
* JEPCO (J.E. Piccaver & Co) have a circular mirror opposite their entrance near Gedney Drove End.
* The General Store in Gedney Drove End is called the Old Wheat Sheaf.
* The pub opposite the Old Wheat Sheaf Store is called The New Inn.
* The Rising Sun in Gedney Drove End offers Real Ales, hot and cold food and children are welcome.
* The Methodist Chapel in Gedney Drove End is dated 1885.
* Onslow House retirement home is situated in Gedney Drove End.
* There's actually six Gedneys as when you get to Gedney Drove End there's a sign saying Gedney Dawsmere 1.5 mile.

* At Gedney Dawsmere there is a cemetry which is nowhere near full.

[Gedney Dawsmere Sign]

* The sign coming out of Gedney Dawsmere has been partially prised off its post.
* There's a bit of controversy over the correct name of one of the main thoroughfares through Gedney Hill. One sign says Lincoln Avenue whereas the other says Lincolns Avenue. To confuse things further multimap.com calls it Lincoln's Avenue.

LINCOLN AVENUE LINCOLNS AVENUE

* The Maria-Helena Care Nursuing and Retirement home is located near Gedney Dawsmere.
* The vicar has his own private car space outside the church in Gedney as does the Warden.
*There are three pubs in Gedney Hill;
The Cross Keys Cross Keys Pub

The Red Lion Red Lion Pub

The Dukes Head. Dukes Head Pub

* According to the 1881 Census, the population of Gedney Hill was 328. Of those 165 were born in the village. The next most frequent birth place being Sutton St Edmund, 14 people's place of birth. Followed by Gedney Hill's other neighbour Holbeach Drove with 11. 9 were born in Holbeach and a further 9 in Thorney, 8 in Spalding, 7 in Fleet, 4 in March, 3 in each of Long Sutton, Crowland, Whaplode Drove, Thorney Fen, Eye and Fleet Fen. In total 256 were born in Lincolnshire. 36 were born in Cambridgeshire, 17 in Norfolk, 6 in Northamptonshire, 3 in Suffolk, 2 in the old county of Huntingdonshire, 2 in Warwickshire, then one in each of Rutland, Dorset, Leicestershire and Aberdeenshire. A total of 220 residents were born in a settlement that qualifies for points on the Full Fenland table. The oldest resident in 1881 was John Lammet aged 83. He lived with his sister, Jane Pepper, who was a widow. Of the 328 residents, 164 were listed with occupations (excluding wives and scholars). The most frequent occupation was Agricultural/Farm Labourer with 25. Next was Farmer with 19 and Farmer's son with 13. The greatest acrage of farm was 200 acres. Nine people were General Labourers, 9 were Domestic Servants, 7 were Cottagers, 6 were Housekeepers, 5 were Bakers or Millers, 4 were General Servants, 4 were Blacksmiths or their assistants, 3 were Farm Servants, 3 were Cordwainers and 3 were Dressmakers. Of the others there were 2 Wheelwrights, 2 Tailors, 2 Grocers, 2 Drain Labourers, 2 Road Labourers, one butcher, one vicar, one Licensed Hawker, one Laundress, one Annuitant and one Poultry Scarer.
* In the 1881 Census all the other Gedney settlements are grouped under 'Gedney'. This had a population of 1907. Of those 659 were born in Gedney. 157 in Gedney Drove End, 35 in Gedney Dawsmere (sometimes referred to as Dawsmere Gedney and just Dawsmere) 22 were born in Gedney Dyke, 18 in Gedney Broadgate, 14 in Gedney Church End, and four in Gedney Fen. The oldest citzen of the Gedneys in 1881 was a Minson Gray a widow aged 70 living in Chapelgate, Gedney. The largest farm in the Gedneys was owned by Jesse Caudwell aged 34 and from Frithville. His farm at Gedney Marsh Red House was 473 acres and employed 10 Men, 1 Boy and 6 Women. Incidently this farm still exists today and has no doubt a larger acrage and employs many fewer people.
* Community spirit is alive and well in Gedney Hill as the successful raising of funds for a new village hall testifies.

Brand New Village Hall

The village even has its own Community Website.
* We've also been kindly informed that Gedney Hill has a top notch Bed and Breakfast establishment in the form of Sycamore Farm (Tel: 01406 330 445) its central location in Gedney Hill offers excellent access to all three pubs, the church and the shop. Moreover it would surely be a stunning base for anyone on a village collecting trip! Visit the website: http://www.bedandbreakfast.freeserve.co.uk.
We are reliably informed through the owner of the excellent B&B of the origins of the Gedneys: 'Gedney - Geadors Island - Geador, a women, arrived by boat from 'Europe',landed on a dry spot and founded a colony. That's when no-one had surnames. Geadors Island as it was then known, became crowded, so other Gedneys developed on dry spots. Gedney Hill, ( the heel of a boot of Gedneys - look at the shape on the map) is also on a high spot (weakness) ofa volcanic fault, the next nearest being Ramsey.'
She has also brought the following Gedney observations to light:
* Sir Tim Rice has a relative buried in the churchyard whose grave he has been and visited.
* An actress from 'Baywatch' has her family home in Gedney Hill.
* Stainless steel body work is made in Gedney Hill for 'e' type Jags. There is also a silk and gold leaf book printer embosser, Bread is baked every day at the village shop and a field near the Red Lion Pub is at sea level!

For unabridged versions of many of the images featured, visit the MFVCS gallery.

Steps to take

If you live in South Lincolnshire, North Cambridgeshire or West Norfolk it should be relatively easy to gain a Full Gedney. I live in Deeping St James, 28 miles from Gedney Drove End and just 13 miles from Gedney Hill. For you a Full Gedney is just a fairly long cycle ride or a moderately long car journey. For people further a field it might be worth coming to stay on holiday within the area in order to gain the Full Gedney. The towns of King's Lynn, Spalding and Wisbech could be good bases.
A general rule of thumb for claiming a settlement is to go past a sign for that village. The exception to this rule is Gedney Fen where there is no sign, this can be truly claimed by going past The Fenlands farm marked on the Boston and Spalding ordnance survey map, N.G.R. TF386204. This prerequisite probably significantly lowers the numbers having a coincidental Full Gedney as this farm is off the more major roads.

I've gained a Full Gedney what next?

Before you continue, you should first take a step back and appreciate what you have achieved. Realise that at an estimate your are one in a million - in terms of the population of the world - to have visited all the Gedneys. Then it is recommended you continue on the long path towards gaining a Full Fenland. This entails visiting all the places that have duplicated names in the Fenland area (see site for details). However, remember that the Full Gedney is the best of the individual Full awards and it will be a long haul before you get a greater achievement as there are 26 multiple settlement groups and 145 individual places in total!

Claimants

While there is no official way of showing you have gained a Full Gedney I am willing to put up the names of claimants on this site. I will also put up the names of anyone claiming a partial or half Gedney. This should be very easy for those in Gedney Drove End as they would automatically gain 20 points, Dawsmere is 1.5 miles away for 25 points an in order to go anywere they'd probably need to go to Gedney for 5 more points.

All claims should be sent to The executive Board of the Multiple Fenland Village Collecting Society. Claims should include some original observations if possible which may be verified.

Full Gedney

Andrew Titman - 16th August 1999

James Pepper - 23rd August 1999

Daniel Felton - 7th October 1999

Zoe West - October 2002

Jake Simpson - October 2002

Richard Lycett - August 2003

John Boulton

Ed Peacock

Katie Chatterton

Steve McLachlan

Mandatory Full Gedney

Richard Mariner - 7th October 1999

And Finally...

Happy Gedney collecting!

You should now be Gedney Bound!

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