Appledore, Kent

Where are you now

On returning to visit Appledore over the years, not a lot has changed. There are a few new houses but mostly it is the same. This makes it such a peaceful place to remember when there are so many changes in the world today. I live in the north of England now but Appledore will always be 'home'. I am used to town life now, the hectic dash of having to get things done at certain times, everyone rushing about for this or that, but I long for the peace and quiet of the village life. Probably those living there would not agree but it really was the good life. A lot of the kids I knew then have left for pastures new. It would be great to hear from them and what they are doing and where they are now. I have married, had 3 children and also sadly been widowed. But I have a lot of good memories both from my childhood and also of my life as a married lady. I also have 7 grandchildren and now 2 great-grand-children, all of whom have been a joy, if at times exhausting. I still hear a bit of news about Appledore from my cousins who still live there and in surrounding places, (unfortunately now it seems to be mostly of those who have passed away). I would love to gear some good news from those old friends. This is the second memory I have left, my brother also left one last year but so far there has only been 1 response. Rebecca Boorman asked if her grandad Leonard Boorman was the same person my brother mentioned (our Uncle Len). If she reads this, I can answer that in the negative, although my older sister says she can recall a 'Dennis' (Leonard) Boorman who kicked a football and hit her in the face, accidentally I believe!

Happy Days

My mother's family were from Appledore and although I was born on a visit up north to my father's family, I was only a few months old when we came back. We lived in various houses in the village, Canal Cottages and Hawthorn being two of them. My Grandad and Granny King lived at 3 Victoria, my dear Aunt Mary and Uncle Len (Gray) lived at 4 Griffin where my cousin Duncan and his family still live. Aunt Alice and Uncle Fred lived at 102 The Street. My best friend was Iris Terry and her mum and dad Doris and Charlie were good friends of my parents. I spent the next 10 years in the village in idylic surroundings for my childhood. I went to the village school, to which we walked, no lifts from mum's 'taxi' in those days! Many happy leisure hours were spent walking along the canal banks, fishing with pins on sticks and spying on the courting couples! Also going down into the bunkers, which were still there the last time I visited, although the door and windows were bricked up. I remember riding my bike up to the village store to hand in mum's order along with the ration books. I remember vividly the day I went in and Margaret, the assistant at the time said the money wasn't in the book. What a panic, I cried all the way home and was not allowed to go to the church fete. However, luckily someone found the money and took it to the police station, yes we had one, and I was reprieved! We picked runner beans and strawberries at grandad's field up on the school road, got a trug full of apples or pears from nearby orchards. I see my brother has already been here before me and left his memories of holidays spent back in Appledore after we moved North for good, in May 1952, the year King George VI died. That was a horrible year. We all cried from Appledore the 300 miles to Newcastle!!! I still have cousins Val (Payne nee Coleman) and Maurice Coleman as well as Duncan mentioned earlier who still live in the village. Does anyone still remember us, Ethel (nee King) and Jackie Wright, Madeleine my older sister, myself Celia, sisters Susan and Janis and little brother Leonard (Lenny). I could go on all day about my memories but best get on. Hope that someone from Appledore reads this and adds theirs too. I will write again soon with more of my memories.

Collecting runner beans

My mothers' side of the family all come from Appledore and thereabouts.
I have 3 out of 4 of older sisters who were all born in Appledore. I was born in Wallsend on Tyne. My mother and father (he was stationed at Appledore in the second world war), moved up to Wallsend before I was born. But, when I was very young, we would travel down to Appledore during school holidays, I enjoyed these trips tremendously and have many happy memories of Appledore. In particular, I remember collecting runner beans from my Uncle Lens' smallholding along with other members of my family.
I still have cousins and an Aunt who live in the village and nearby but, unfortunately, we don't seem to see each other as often as we would like. I now work in a job which means I travel aroud the globe and all over the place. I last visited about 3 or 4 years ago and, although the village has changed over the years, it will always be one of my favourite places on the planet.
If any of my cousins read this, here's a big hello!! and although we don't see too much of each other, I quite often think about all my family in Appledore.

Hythe, Romney Marsh and Ashford Photographic Memories

The church is close to the photographer, yet he is obviously in a rural location. This shows how comparatively small Ashford was a century ago. Will growth on a similar scale take place over the next hundred years?

Hythe, Romney Marsh and Ashford Photographic Memories

This photograph was taken a century ago, and a world away from the same road today, which seems at times like a public motor-racing circuit - it is now part of the Ashford ring road. Again we see attentive pedestrians, and manure going to waste in the roof!

Hythe, Romney Marsh and Ashford Photographic Memories

Smart dress and good behaviour are to be seen here in front of the picturesque Clock House Pavilion. And there are no skateboards or litter in this park scene from a more orderly age.