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Boxley
Boxley maps
Historic maps of Boxley and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Boxley maps
Boxley area books
Displaying 1 of 24 books about Boxley and the local area. View all books for this area
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Memories of Boxley
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memories of Boxley.
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Boxley School
Hi, I have recently bought a silver trench watch dated 1915/16 with the following inscription D C M Boxley School 1910-17. My guess is that it was a gift to a teacher who had been called up for the first world war. Would anyone know where this school is? Or who was D C M ? Any ideas would be gratefully received. Thanks Paul.
Kent memories
Detling Village
My brothers and I attended Detling Primary School in the 1970s. Mr. Chidgy was headmaster and lived in the schoolhouse joined onto the main school hall, then later Mr. Cuthbert. We sat on the wooden highly polished floorboards of the victorian school hall floor for assembly, ate our school lunches and had PE lessons in that hall. The inside walls were painted brick above wooden head high wainscotting. I remember the "new" school classrooms and playing filed being built in the late 70's. The whole school closed around 2005 I believe. The village shop was called "Ratleys" after it's owner and the post office was down the street - now converted into a house or flats. We had harevst festival and nativity plays in the church presided over by the Reverend Hare. I was married in St. Martins and my father's ashes lie in the churchyard. There was a police house and we had a village bobby. The Cock Horse had 3 x bars, the public, saloon and another - it... Read more
Gulvins Village Store.
re. photo of 'Bredhurst, the Village c1955 (ref: B582003)'
The shop on the far left of the photo was a general store owned by the Gulvins, run mostly by Mrs Gulvin and Nan. Mr Gulvin was a farmer. They had at least two children. I only knew Nancy and Gerald. Gerald Gulvin married Barbara Pye, my cousin. (see my memories page). I would have been 15 years old in 1955.
Unfortunately Gerry (as he was known) was tragically killed in a tractor accident in a field not far from where this picture was taken.
Some Early Memories of Bredhurst.
My name is John Healey, I was born in 1940 and lived in Brick Lane, Enfield. The Second World War was on. I cannot say at what age I could read but I believe I was 2-3 years old. My first recolection of 'Bredhurst' was that it was the name of our house in Brick Lane. I am sure that my paternal grandmother lived there with my parents but moved back to Bredhurst before I was born. Apparently my father had some knoledge of Bredhurst long before he married my mother. The grandmother to which I refer was Louise Pike before she married my grandfather, Charles Healey, who died long before I was born. I had three aunts (Dad's sisters) who also lived in Bredhurst. Doris Rush (nee Healey) married George Rush. Maude Pye (nee Healey) married Jack Pye and Constance Thompson (nee Healey) married Dave Thomson. They were all very well known in the village, Con. was for a long time secretary of Bredhurst School. I had lots of cousins,... Read more
1970s Allington
I moved to 71 Hildenborough Crescent, Allington, Maidstone, Kent in 1973 aged 10 years old.
In the nine years I lived there I saw many changes. Parts of Allington were still being built. There were no houses built in between the frontage of the Mid Kent shopping centre ... it was just waste land later to become Foyle Close. There were no houses built lower than than Lullistone Road down Castle Road. The Quarry was there but still easily accessable down the path behind Fordwich Close. I collected many fossils there. Before the Community Centre was built during the 70s it was just an orchard we used to play in. I remember the swimming pool being built at Allington County primary school and the sadness we all felt when told by Mr Williams the Headmaster of the school that one of the soldiers helping to build the pool was killed in an accident there.
Allington Castle was still open to the public then between 2pm and 4pm and there was... Read more
The Bearsted Boys
I have put 1947 but infact it is from earlier than that to 1954.
I think this was a great place for us as kids as we had freedom and not much parental control, I think mainly due to our parents who had just survived the war years, and thinking how lucky we were all to be alive and not under Hitler.
One of my memories was being lifted from the tin bath to watch Spitfires chase 'doodle-bugs' over the village.
I remember sleeping under the table made from steel with mesh around so if we got bombed we may survive. I also remember a shell or bomb going off very close to our house and we as kids were digging the shrapnel out in the morning, the blast broke tiles from our house and the blue tits nested in there every year.
If they had any money for a drink they met with others from the village down at the Royal Oak, and got... Read more
From 1944
Memories from that long ago tend to stick in the back of the mind until an association brings them out. Being a small child, the village green at Bearsted seemed gigantic and the village pond was just a pond. We used to paddle in the pond up to the top of our wellies, hoping that the water wouldn't run over the top and give us wet feet. The green was a favourite gathering place for a lot of children. One particular place was the village pump. There was no pump, only accomodation which looked like a church lich gate with seats around the inside. As kids we had a lot of freedom to wonder the local fields and the golf course. We even went as far as the hills where there was a ruined church/castle. In those days we didn't appreciate the archaeological value of a castle built of flint stone which had fallen into ruin and was largely buried, even tho' there was a standing wall with an arch.
