Barcombe, East Sussex

Coombe Place

My grandmother Edith Lizzie King was first a seamstress and then I believe the housekeeper at 'the big house,' Coombe Place. She later married the chauffeur Ernest Crane, after looking after his children for many years, his wife having been admitted to a psychiatric hospital suffering from post natal psychosis. My grandmother had my mother in secret in 1921 before my... [more]

Growing up at Coombe Place

My family and I moved to a bungalow at Coombe Place in 1960. My father, Walter Motley, took up the post of farm manager on this 100 acre dairy farm with a herd of Jersey cattle. Coombe Place is set on the side of the South Downs with views across the Weald of Sussex. It was a truly magical place to... [more]

Coombe Place

I was born in this lovely house in1970. My parents worked here for Mr. Cannon from 1960 until 1983. We then moved to Italy, my parents home country. I have many sweet memories but unfortunately I have lost all contacts, maybe because when we went to Italy I was only 13.All I know is that the Cannons died many years ago... [more]

Beards

My family the Beards used to run the mill in the 1800s. They also had the shop on the green which was there for over three hundred years.

The Beards of Chailey Green Shop

My family were the Beards from the shop on the green next to the church. They had the shop from around 1754 to around the 1930s. George Beard the first was good friends with Thomas Turner who kept a diary, he recorded eleven colourful years of life in a Georgian village. Anyone who remembers them please keep in touch, I would... [more]

Micro Brewery, Lewes,  East Sussex, around 1936

My father recently told me that his grandfather, William Parkes, was the manager of a micro brewery, in Lewes, East Sussex, in about 1936. My father, Gordon, remembers spending many holidays visiting his grandfather there, with his sister, Barbra, and believes the brewery was a 'Watneys'. He also remembers the hams that used to dry in the cellar, which were sold... [more]

during www2 - were you called ''Blackie''

We had many summer holidays in this lovely village. My aunt and Uncle had moved here from Danehill, and lived firstly in the Reading Room. Jimmy Edwards lived in the village and he often opened the gymkanas in the summer. My brothers used to stay with the Auntie and Uncle, while I stayed one year with the Griffiths. Who owned the... [more]