Ashtead memories
Here are memories of Ashtead and the local area. You can start now: Add your own Memory of Ashtead or a Ashtead photo.
Mac May
I lived in a cottage by the pond some 20 odd years ago. My neighbour, well into her 90's was Mac May (a version of her true name garbled by other neighbours' kids) who, every day, was out in her wellies digging in the garden. We had this photo &, knowing Mac May had lived in the cottage all her life, asked if she knew the children.
She did & remembered the photo being taken.
The boy & the girl in the middle are Mac May's elder brother & sister; the little girl is Mac May & her brother has just thrown the milk jug at her.
(small white object in middle foreground)
Ashtead Resident Finds Herself in 1925 Caterham Bus Photo
The above photo is the pond which is close to Dorothy Connor's current home in Glebe Road, Ashtead. This area has not changed so very much since the time the Frith photo was taken in 1904. Interestingly, Dorothy Connor (nee Step) is actually pictured in the Caterham Frith photo ref 78135V accompanied by her late Mother Elizabeth Step (aged 46) and her Sister, Florence Step (aged 21) having alighted from the 159a Bus which brought them from their home in Clerkenwell, London, pictured Outside the Old Surrey Hounds Public House, Croydon Road, Caterham Surrey on a Day Out to Caterham in 1925. They were on their way to the Barracks Hospital to see Dorothy's, Uncle Charlie (her Father's Brother) who was in the army hospital. Wearing a pull-down bonnet and a typical twenties dropped-waist shift, the young Dorothy and her family had no idea they had been caught on camera. It was not until Dorothy was looking through a copy of Helen Livingstone's book some eighty years on that the... Read more
My Childhood by Hilary [Nee Davies]
I spent all my childhood in Ashtead from 1954-1972 and enjoyed a wonderful freedom that today's children don't have. I'm still in touch with Gillian [Barrett] and Sheena [Tailby]. I wonder what happened to other friends: Rita Stewart, Monica Button, Sarah Hytch, Claire Manning, Hilary and Jane Lewis, Anthony and Jennifer Tatman, Graham Dodge, Sarah Dickenson, Melanie Hughes. I went to Ryebrook school 1957- 1960 then Parsons Mead till 1969.
Our First Car
The petrol station on the right is where my mum bought her first car, a standard 8. I was 3 at the time and remember sitting in the back [no child restraints of course] while she test drove it. I can still remember the smell of Gadsbey's, the delicatescent on the left. The pet shop/ garden equipment shop, 2nd on the left, was where she bought our first kitten, also about 1955. He was a tabby called Tiger and lived about 16 years. My mum was expecting my brother at the time and thought I would like a pet to look after. She denied that years later and said that Tiger belonged to the whole family.
Evacuated to Ashtead 1940
There are only a few things I remember about being billited to live with a lovely family Mr. & Mrs Hood and their two sons Trevor my age ( six) and Keith a couple of years older. Both the Hoods were artists . Their detached house was on Leatherhead Road. They were lovely people and I enjoyed the few months I was there. I attended Bowood School, is it still there?. I went back to Buckhurst Hill and my home just as the Phoney War turned to a reality, and the Blitz began
Denman Lalonde
I Loved it
Ashtead is the best place on Earth to live! I lived there with my sister and brother for almost 5 years in the late seventies early eighties..... this picture of the Street brings me tears of joy, the people there were wonderful, polite, hospitable and loving; I wish I could go back there one day to visit old neighbors and see this beautiful town and country again!!
Moorlands
We lived at Moorlands in The Marld, Ashtead, around the years 1948 to 1952. It was a large house with a very large garden and orchard. There was also a tennis court. I can remember being sent to the upper village to have the battery for the wireless recharged at the hardware shop and also hurling apples at any boys who came too close to our fence. At the top of The Marld was a ruined house that we were convinced was haunted. We dared each other to open the door and run upstairs. I wonder if it is still there or whether perhaps it has been done up and the present owners are unawares that they are living in a haunted house? I remember Ashtead as being a carefree sort of place to live with loads of places to walk and explore. There was a park at one end and large woods in the lower village on the other side of the railway. My brother Tony, who unfortunately died... Read more
Glebe Road Ashtead
I was born in Epsom and lived in Glebe Road from 1968 - 1980. My earliest memory was fishing at the pond, the wonderful swans, smurf stickers at Roundhills garage at the end of our road, humbugs (for free) at Goldings and Suzie the beige Boxer dog! I remember 1/2 penny, 1 penny and 2 penny sweets on trays at the sweet shop, skatebording with my brother Martin and friends down the sleep slope in Glebe Road and horseriding at Vale Lodge in Leatherhead. Blackberry picking at the common, the Minor Bird at the Copper Kettle cafe too. We had lovely neighbours and dear friends. Happy days at Barnet Wood Lane and Ashtead Middle school before a move to Lincolnshire, my heart remains in Ashtead!
The Felton Family
We, the Felton family, lived in Ashtead for many years until Dad retired from running the hardware shop Norman Stores in 1963. That shop had been in our family since probably about the 1890s (Dad was born there in 1907). We lived in Craddocks Avenue until moving to live above the shop for 3 years. Older residents might remember Dads parents - Joe and Jessie Norman and daughter Sybil, sons: Reg and Robert.
Going back even further to the 30's my grandmother Mrs E Baker lived at 108 The Street which has long since been demolished.
I loved Ashtead as a child and my brother and I still visit fairly often. It had then and still has a villagey feel about it with the pond and nice pubs. It does not really seemed to have been too spoilt by modern life and long may it retain its charm.
Brings it All Back
Looking at these photos brings it all back for me. My parents ran Ashtead Riding School, Ashtead Woods Road, for eight years until 1969 when we moved to Sussex. I still remember Nash's garage as seen in the Craddocks Parade 1961 picture, as I fell out of my father's Jag XK120, aged 5, when he pulled out of the forecourt. No seatbelts then! Seems like yesterday!!
Earlswood Lakes
My Sunday School first took us all to Earlswood Lakes in 1949. I loved it there but it was way too cold to swim. We went again in 1952 and took a boat out on the lake, it was so cold but so much fun, my poor mother froze, and said she would never go again. My second son was born in 1970, we took him to the lake in 1971, he loved it too, but my poor mother froze, I have a photo of her sitting on a bench wrapped in a woollen blanket. Susan
1950 Susan Simons
I was born in Ashtead in 1945, we lived at Read Road in Lower Ashtead. I have a vivid memory of the shops at the top of Read Road. From the newsagents, next was the off-licence, then Goldings grocery store, next was the chemist, next was a small cafe which we were never allowed to visit, don't know why. The next place was my favorite, the fish and chip place, where I worked for a while, then there were a couple of houses, then came a hairdressers, green grocer, another house a sweet shop owned by Percy Fares, next was a sewing shop, the butchers and another grocery store. We walked everywhere, sometimes biked. I loved the swimming pool, I worked there when I was 12. We fished in the Ashtead pond for newts and tadpoles. We explored the woods and the common. Every Saturday my mother and I would visit the Epsom Market, what a treat. Then we visited my grandmother who lived at Chase Road in Epsom. Ashtead... Read more
Special Days at The Pond
I spent many happy days sitting at the pond with my children and the special man in my life. Lots of visits, meals, still go there with special man. Good days and memories from 1994 to present day.
Memories of Surrey
Our Mother Worked There as A Cook in 1935
Our mother worked at the Blind School in 1935 as a cook, she had many a stories to tell us.
My Happy Young Years
I lived in The Mount near Fetcham where l went to school. One day l was out on my bike in Fetcham near what was them a bg field backing onto the school, there was a big local sports day and as l loved running l entered all the races to my surprise and my mother's l went home with the local silver cup which was to be engraved with my name and a replica for me + a football etc. I also used to help the milkman called John and in those days john had a horse and cart but a bit later he got a battery-run van. l loved living there, the people were lovely, Mr & Mrs Clark the greengrocers, Mr Sop the gardener, Mr & Mrs Burkhill and most of all Mr & Mrs Stacey who l lived with, oh and not forgetting Miss Benner the Sunday School teacher, who loved 'The Archers' and you were not allowed to speak when it was on.... Read more
Happy Days
Spent 3 very happy years on the nursing staff, made many friends, who I lost contact with.
SRN, RMN
I arrived at Horton hospital as a young nurse, from Guyana, and was given the best nursing education. I moved to the USA, The education I received at Horton was second to none, and I am eternally grateful.
Trips to The Blacksmiths
In the 1950's I used to ride my pony from the Leatherhead Road in Gt. Bookham through Fetcham to Leatherhead to get to the blacksmiths. The blackmsiths was a proper big old forge at Prewetts Dairy off Randals Road. I used to have to lead my pony over this rickety little bridge. It had wobbly planks and there was one missing one time I crossed it. It was probably a 9 mile round trip just to get the pony re-shod. It didn't cost much though, I think it was about 7/6d. The blacksmiths were father and son - I can't remember their names. The old man used to work the bellows mainly and shoe the quieter horses - like my old pony. Wish I had a picture of that too. It was a lovely sight with the fire going and the smoke. It is in my head though.
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I Remember When...
This stunning compilation highlights some of the best stories selected from the thousands contributed here on the
Frith website. The result is an absorbing chronicle of British life from the Second World War to the mid 1960s.
A colourful treasure trove of memories, "I Remember When" is an
irresistible mix of personal stories and recollections that affectionately reveal the detail of everyday life in Britain.
