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Betchworth
Betchworth maps
Historic maps of Betchworth and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Betchworth maps
Betchworth area books
Displaying 1 of 16 books about Betchworth and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Betchworth
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Betchworth.
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Betchworth Village Shop
A school friend at Reigate Grammar was Joe Cheffings; his parents ran the village shop and bakery about midway to the church, on the left of the picture. An elder brother, Tony, helped at home when on holiday from St. Paul's school, and had a penchant for very elderly motorcycles, picked up for nothing from a quarry dump towards Dorking somewhere. 2 dogs, and 2 donkeys completed the household! I used to cycle over from Salfords and have a wonderful time, birdnesting, fishing - and eating some of the wonderful cakes and buns that were produced, and which were so difficult to come by with the strict rationing in force!
There was a large German P.O.W. camp somewhere around, and the Cheffings had a couple of German bakers assigned to help in the bakery: years later I heard of various shennanikins taking place over these!
The blacksmith was active in his shop opposite The Dolphin, and the cobbler worked in his tiny shop around the side,... Read more
Surrey memories
Somewhere in Buckland
Round about 1840 my widowed great, great grandmother Hannah, and her son Joseph were brewers in Buckland. But unless any Buckland resident knows of the history of the village I shall never know where exactly. The Frith photograph shows something of the village, but is over forty years too late to help me. I know nothing of Hannah prior to 1841, other than that she was married to William Chandler who died in 1832, and she died in 1844, so presumably the brewing also stopped then, as Joseph, her son, went to Betchworth to become a butcher, and then on to Bell Street in Reigate in the same trade. Buckland of 1886 certainly looks to idyllic. A peaceful place to live in - then at least.
Buckland
I moved into the White House, Old Road, Buckland with my parents Fred and Peggy Jennings and my two brothers Tony and Richard. I remember friends who lived in Buckland, Janet Oxley, Liz Boyes. Gillian Reynolds (lived next door), Barbara Smith (who I am still in contact with). The Seagars and Wade familys lived nearby. I married in 1964 and moved to near Gadbrook Cross Roads. I have one daughter, Joanna, who lives in Billinghurst and has two children. I now live near Lewes, Sussex, having re married. If anyone remember those years or me, I would like to hear from them. Penny (Jameson) now Hunnisett
Wartime in Buckland: as I Can Recall
Om my first day at the little school on the green I carried around my neck a box illustrated with Mickey Mouse. It contained a mask smelling horribly of rubber and talcum chalk. I was left in tiny classroom dominated by a very 'tall' woman called Miss Owden. A door led into a cloakroom and on into the senior room. This room was dominated by a much smaller woman with shiny flat hair and pale grey eyes. Her name was Miss Euston. When the warning siren was heard we were collected together and led across the green into the rectory and quickly drilled with the masks and told to crouch down close to the floor. Even at that age I wondered if that could not have been done in the school. But it was a break away from tedium. Nothing more. War seemed to a child very far away from the little paradise of Buckland. During lunch time two children were picked, given a burlap sack and told to go... Read more
My Weekend Job
WOW, I never thought that I would see this post card again. Yes, that's me doing my weekend job as a waitress at the funky new Wimpy bar on Boxhill. My name was Vanessa Howard and I lived at Ismanola, Boxhill Road. Reputed to be one of the first in the UK, locals, mods and rockers, and day trippers flocked to buy their Wimpy and Chips and Coffee, Knickerbocker Glory, Pepsi Cola in a glass bottle and all else Wimpy by the thousands. Hot doughnuts were a speciality with queues of folk waiting anxiously for their fix at 4d each or 4 for 1/-. Folk marvelled at the huge picture window which overlooked Dorking. Astute locals would return the glass Pepsi bottles to get the 3d deposit - it was quite a lucrative way of earning a bit of pocket money. Oh! and the washing up on a Bank Holiday was never ending! Situated opposite Upper Farm, the Wimpy bar was previously a tea garden and now is a restaurant.
Pepsi-Cola And Merry Legs
These two ponies belonged to Dorking Riding School and they were popular characters with gentle dispositions. They retired in 1963 to good homes. Pepsi-Cola is in the foreground. I was a groom at the stables and regularly rode them around the area.
Working For British Railway's Southern Region
My mother, Valerie Evans, worked for British Railways southern region from 1957 -1960 at Deepdene House. She was a shorthand typist and remembers Deepdene House to be a beautiful building with extensive grounds. She has happy memories of friends in the typing pool.
The building hadn't changed much since 1891 although I don't believe there was a conservatory in 1957. During her lunch breaks she would play tennis, table tennis and netball or just sit out on the grass and enjoy the scenery.
