Church Hill 1932, Ash
Church Hill 1932, Ash Ref: 84979
Memories of Church Hill 1932, 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.
Ash & local memories
Read and share memories of Ash and Surrey inspired by Frith photos.
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
Hill Side Farm
Mr Hogsflesh built Hillside Farm, Ash. The tree hides the farm house up the drive behind the white gates. Then Mr Maurice Scard bought the bungalow in 1954 and his wife still lives there. The farm was across the road - now it is Fairview Estate. The small, tiny bungalows next door were demolished in 1960 and new semi detached houses were built in their place. Hillside farm has a celler underneath where the milk was stored to keep cool for selling.
Fox Hill
I was told that the Queen was in the area to meet the regiment that was in situ on Fox Hill when war broke out. Because the road up to the hill was in a bad state due to being just a track , the army put down a concrete road up one side and down the other taking weeks to complete it and the the Queen went up, saluted the army, and came back down - apparently taking 15 minutes in total. All the locals were in dismay about the whole thing at the time.
Pubs Down The Guildford Road.
The Lyon Brewery is still there on the lefthand side. The Nightingale, further down the road, closed in 2006 and became an Indian restaurant, big pity as was a lovely pub.
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.
