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Beacon Hill
Beacon Hill photos
Displaying the first of 20 old photos of Beacon Hill. View all Beacon Hill photos
Beacon Hill maps
Historic maps of Beacon Hill and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Beacon Hill maps
Beacon Hill area books
Displaying 1 of 18 books about Beacon Hill and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Beacon Hill
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Beacon Hill.
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James Christopher Poyle
While undertaking Family Research, during 2011, I discovered that James Christopher Poyle, previously unknown to us as a member of my wife's extended family, passed away at Marchants Hill Camp, on 9th April 1955.
I would apprecate hearing from anyone who might have known anything about James and/or his life while he was a resident there.
Many thanks in anticipation of a reply!
Surrey memories
9 Months of my Life Spent Here
I was a boy sargeant soldier at Arborfield AAS when I came down with a serious illness and rushed into Cambridge Military Hospital, Aldershot and when I defied the odds and lived , it was discovered that I had pulmonary TB of the right lung. I was transferred to Connaught Military Sanatorium at Hindhead ,Surrey which I believe is the hospital featured in the photo ref.67886 although I do not recognise the angle it is taken from.
I got to know many of the patients and staff and although the hospital by this time was already condemned I received very good and kind treatment and the male orderlies competence and kindness motivated me into becoming a male qualified nurse. I am now 76yrs.old and am still working as an RGN in old folks homes in Lincolnshire, but I shall never forget those 9 mths months in Connaught Military Hospital ,Hindhead where I was restored to health from near death.
Thanks to any of the... Read more
The Undershaw Hotel
I remember having a very nice meal in the Undershaw sometime in the 1990's - it's a shame that it closed down around 2004. The house was built for Conan Doyle in 1897 and this is where he wrote "The Hound of the Baskervilles" and other Sherlock Holmes novels.
Unfortunately, property developers who bought the house want to turn it into flats or pull it down! The house is Grade II listed and I hope the local council can save it for the nation before it falls down.
Family D'Hondt
My grandparents Paula and Gustave D'Hondt managed this hotel during the latter half of the 1930s till it was requisitioned by the army during the war. They then moved with some of their paying guests to Highdown, Hindhead, a large house nearby. Many of their full time residents were ex colonials. They kept chickens during the war to help with rationing. I know that they had at least 2 people working for them, Nelly and Margaret(whose surnames I don't know)
Paula and Gustave came from Belgium originally and had 12 children. Their eldest daughter Paula lived nearby and their 2 youngest daughters Marie Therese and Patricia at that time lived at home with their parents. Gustave and Paula D'Hondt are buried at St Joseph's RCC Grayshott.
Connaught Military Hospital
My husband and I were both stationed at the Army Chest Hospital in Hindhead but it was not this building. It was a single storey building with long corridors and the wards leading off these. It was on the main Portsmouth road. My husband was in the Catering Corp and I was in the QARANC. There were two wards for the Ghurkas as they very prone to catching TB in those days.
'Goldcrest' on The A 287
I was evacuated from Battersea, South London, in 1944 to a large house named 'Goldcrest' on the Hindhead Road not far from Beacon Hill and have some happy memories of that time although as it was wartime everything seemed somewhat strange. The house was owned by Lord and Lady Freemantle who were extremely kind and hospitable to my mother and to me, giving us several items of furniture and a complete set of Dickens novels. My mother worked as a barmaid in the Royal Huts Hotel and was often wolf whistled by Italian POWs in Marchants Hill Camp as she walked home to Goldcrest in the evenings alongside the beautiful Golden Valley. We also stayed for a while in Nutcombedown Cottege but I have been unable to trace this despite many searches. Any news will be appreciated. William Heath
The Only Pub in The Village
The pub has been here for almost a hundred years. The Save the Woodcock Action Group are campaigning hard to prevent this pub from being demolished and redeveloped. We want to revitalise the pub and make it a vibrant community facility again.
Please support us.
Contact "brendanorton47@btinternet.com" or "ronnie@pineacres.freeserve.co.uk"
25th November 2011
