Memories of Alwington

Church going in the 1960's

As local village children we used to walk from Fairy Cross meeting other children from the council houses along the way and wind our way through  the narrow lane, sometimes picking wild strawberries in summer - moving out of the way of cars that needed to pass us - usually on their way to church also - untill we arrived at St. Andrews, Alwington. We always sat up in the choir stalls with Mrs. Elston (who had been my first teacher at Abbotsham school - Alwington school, where my mother had attended, had closed some years previously because of low numbers and all from our village then went by bus to Abbotsham).  I can remember at special services - Christmas etc. - that some of us children would read from the Bible to the congregation and when I did this I was always very nervous and once I lost my place and it seemed like ages before I found it again!  Old Colonel and Mrs Pine-Coffin were always in the Portledge pew and often when the sermon went on a bit long I think the old Colonel used to doze off - he certainly had his eyes closed regularly !
On Sundays the children stayed for half of the service and then we filed out of the church to the old schoolrooms next to the church for Sunday School. I can remember that in winter in the schoolrooms it was freezing and a few times we stayed in the church and had Sunday School in the old minstrel gallery that originally came from Portledge House. After Sunday School we would then walk home again and be ready for our Sunday roast dinner which we always looked forward to!!
This was just a normal way of life for us then but looking back I think we were very lucky to have experienced it this way - no computers, fast food and only limited television - but we were healthy, entertained ourselves and were very happy with simple things.

Growing up in the 1960's

We lived in Headon's Cottage, Fairy Cross - it had been an old German doctor's cottage in the 1700s, a Doctor Wacerill who is buried in St. Andrew's churchyard,  and his faded plaque was still above the front door - walls made of cob and thatched roof etc. We were just up the road from Portledge drive - my grandfather William George Harris was woodsman and forester on the Portledge Estate for the Pine-Coffin family for over 50 years and his grandfather before him had been the estate foreman. As a boy I very often walked our Rottweiler dog , Limbo, down Portledge drive turning into the woods halfway down and making our way over some wooden bridges and past a couple of huts my grandfather had made for shelter, past what seemed to be a big lake often with ducks on it and ending up at the sea  - also remember the wooden beachhut there (I suppose for changing into swimming costumes - not that it got much use!) and that it was always full of flies in summertime. Had to be careful going down Portledge drive as "us" villagers were not welcome in those parts by Miss Vickory, later Mrs Knorkie, who was running the old house as a hotel then and seemed to think all those areas were private. My grandfather and old Colonel Pine-Coffin didn't agree and me and the rest of my family always went down to Portledge woods and the sea - I always kept my distance from the big old house/mansion/hotel and it was always a bit of a mystery to me - would have loved to have gone inside for a look around! My sister and I were very lucky to have had a childhood like it - wonderful carefree happy days.
We have lived in Queensland, Australia since 1972 but recently through the internet got in touch with Susan Pine-Coffin and was sorry to hear that they had had to sell Portledge after a family connection of over 900 years.