Brambletye memories
Here are memories of Brambletye and the local area. You can start now: Add your own Memory of Brambletye or a Brambletye photo.
Brambletye School One Easter
It was wonderful to read ‘Memories of Brambletye Boys Preparatory School 1967 – 1971’ including a mention of the catering staff: "The food was always prepared and brought to the ends of the tables in large aluminium trays by some curious little Spanish couple called Angela and Manuel. I was never sure where they lived but it appeared to be in a large cupboard at the end of the dining hall!" They say it is a small world, but when I read the name Manuel I couldn’t believe it, as although my personal connection with the school was very brief (being only a few days) I too remember Manuel. My mother (Mrs Gwen Hamling) worked at Brambletye School for a time in the sewing room, mainly mending boy’s school uniforms and underwear. This would have been around 1964 when I was about eight or nine years old. My mother was a very good looking young woman, with a modern outlook on life and it always seemed a strange job for her to... Read more
Brambletye Preparatory School
Memories of Brambletye Boys Preparatory School 1967 – 1971. When I went to Brambletye at the age of nine, in September 1967, it was my fifth school in the last four years. As my parents were routinely being posted within the Army, they felt a boarding school would give me a more stable education. I vaguely remember touring the school with them and Mr Blencowe, the Headmaster, one summer before term and being asked if I would be happy there for the next four years, to which I obediently replied, "Yes". The school seemed to be based on many military methods. Each boy was allocated to one of four Houses named after great British military heroes: there were Nelson, Marlborough and Drake, and I was in Wellington. Many boy's fathers had been to Brambletye when they were young and it was not unusual for them to insist their son followed in the same House. Instead of prefects we had Officers. As just one part of the overall military discipline we... Read more
The Happiest Days of One''''s Life.
Brambletye school, well set between the beautiful Ashdown Forest and thriving town of East Grinstead on the Sussex/Surrey border was a paradise on Earth for any schoolboy with an aesthetically romantic (!) imagination. I was fortunate to be a boarder there between 1955-1960 even though my family lived only a few miles away near Sharpthorne, a village 'much connected' with the Bluebell railway, until 1959.
The aforementioned year produced a very hot summer, aertex shirts and khaki shorts being the school dress code I seem to recall. The main building, originally built as a private mansion, was a grand stone house of spacious proportion standing on a rise overlooking the Weir Wood Reservoir. The grounds were extensive, including a large wood fringed by a small lake.
This was in halcyon days when computers (generally) didn't exist of course and life seemed so much simpler and uncomplicated. In some ways the late 50s was a period of 'making do', bearing in mind we were all still... Read more
Memories of West Sussex
Granary or Mill Forest Row
In the 50's and 60's, I remember the building on the left of this photograph being a mill where they ground flour. You can just see a horse and cart in the lower left of the picture, and I believe that just above this was a first floor opening with a static crane for lowering sacks into the wagons. I can remember going inside and looking out through this opening as a small child, and being frightened by the height. Opposite, were some cottages and a parade of shops; a newsagents and an electrical shop. Eventually, some of the cottages were knocked down to make way for a telephone exchange, probably in the late 50's or early 60's. On a Friday lunchtime we were able to go out of the primary school, and walk up this road to the fish and chip shop (owned by the Sitwell's, I believe) by the war memorial and buy cod and chips. My parents only let me do this on a couple of occassions,... Read more
Families
On the 27th of December 1956 my ex-husband KEITH GEORGE JEARY was born at 6 UPPER CLOSE where he lived with his parents until we were married at Holy Trinity Church on the 6th of November 1982 - both of my children Emily and Dominic were duly christened at Holy Trinity in 1984 and 1986 respectively as was their father in 1957. My ex-parents-in-law Audrey and George Jeary settled in Forest Row in 1954 and on 2nd May 1990 Audrey died of heart failure in the bathroom at 6 Upper Close - George lived on at the house until he was brought to live in a nursing home close to Keith in 1996 - and where he died in 1997 - both are now buried in the little graveyard at Forest Row. My memories only go back as far as 1975 when I met the JEARY family - Keith worked in the village TV Shop JACKSONS as an apprentic television engineer whilst going to college to get his profesional qualifications... Read more
Cumbers of Upper Close
Dad had lived at No 51 for many years. Myself and my two brothers grew up here, went to the local primary school, where Mr and Mrs Jupp were the heads. All three of us went onto Sackville Secondary in nearby East Grinstead, before going our seperate ways. Barry still lives in the village, but we all enjoy going back to our childhood home. Mum and Dad have since "gone south" to Uckfield!
Wolseley 1902
The car in this photograph is a Wolseley 10 HP car and a similar car can be currently seen on our website. The car on the website was part of a collection owned by the Lucey family in Ireland that was sold in 2007.
http://www.wolseleyworld.com/index.php
Sally Busby(nee Bench)
I had to leave this school due to my father's death and missed it terribly. ALL my closest friends were now too far away to see. Because it was a boarding school, it was like being taken away from my family. My most enjoyable young years were had here.
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