You are here:
Ash
Ash maps
Historic maps of Ash and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Ash maps
Ash area books
Displaying 1 of 16 books about Ash and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Ash
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Ash.
Add your memory of Ash
or of a photo of Ash.
I Lived in The House Next to The Church
I lived in the house in the foreground of this picture, known as Hartshorn, from 1960 to 1964. The barn just visible on the left was our garage. The house itself was alleged to be an Elizabethan hall house and every room upstairs had a floor at a different angle to the others as each was put in separately. There was a bread oven in one room and a huge open fireplace in the other with a tiny (glazed in our time) window through which the ash was pushed. The ash heap could be seen outside.There was a well in the garden operated by a footpump as I recall just by the brick summerhouse. By the time we moved in, the front of the house was enhanced by a mature Wiisteria.
The Greyhound
This used to be our local pub. Many a night spent throwing money at the jukebox and into the pool table. I was sprung for being 16 but still allowed to buy lager (cheers!!) LOL!!
It's a chain pub now and has some kind of Big Steak restaurant attached. Such a shame.
Apsley Cottage.
My father's family lived in the cottage with the arched windows next door to the post office. The house was named Apsley Cottage. My grandfather Henry Briggs was a career soldier in the Royal West Surrey Regiment. He served in the regiment from 1896 until 1919. He was also a range warden of the Ash ranges. I spent many happy days in the cottage during my school summer holidays.
Fond Memories
At the age of nine, I had to come and live with my mother's parents, Albert and Emily Warner, at 3 Church Path (pair of cottages now pulled down, but their well - (what wonderfully tasting water, drawn up with a bucket) still remains now in the front garden of the house occupying part of the site. The reason for my evacuation from Colgate, near Horsham, was that the flat we all lived in caught fire very early one morning and all we escaped with was one horseshoe shape door stop and our lives! The Warner's were a very green fingered family. I recall big purple plums the size of a light bulb, raspberries, yellowberries, strawberries, very sweet apples, blackcurrants and gooseberries by the bucket load. Uncle Sid was a wizard with his crysanthemums and other flowers, and their two big greenhouses (I can still picture their special aroma) were full of tomatoes and lots of bedding plants. The Cannon pub (now converted to cottages) was the favourite Warner... Read more
Surrey memories
Tongham Shops
I remember going into all these shops when I was a toddler. I loved watching the sugar and flour being taken from bags stood on the floor or counter. Everything was in sacks or bags and on display. It was so interesting going shopping back then taking our time in each shop catching up on the village news. What a lovely time to grow up in!
All my Growing Years
I remember growing up in the village of Tongham, met my husband and still going strong. Prepared for many years of memories from school to moving, still visit occasionally, hasn't changed too much except for new builds. The cardinals remains virtually untouched. 1974-1988
The War Years in Tongham
I lived and served in the Home Guard in Tongham during the Second World War. Dad played the piano in the White Hart at that time. Canadian soldiers were in abundance (2 of my sisters were war brides). The landlord of the White Hart at that time, I believe, was Jim Hatton. There was also a POW camp there (Italian soldiers). I have so many happy memories of the war years and growing up within a large family there before joining the army and serving the final months of the war in Northwest Europe. I left for Canada with my young family in 1957 and am now a retiree living close to Vancouver, British Columbia. I have so many fond memories of Tongham and its place in my family's history during the war years. I have not been back since then and would probably not recognise the changes that have taken place since then, though I was pleased to see that the White Hart is still there. Thanks Tongham for... Read more
