Broad Oak

The Day The Pub Got Blown up

Does any one remember the local pub in Sturry, that got blown up in ww2, my dad saved a little boy, but through shock, the young lad later died. Does any one remember the ODELL family who lived in ROOKERY NOCK?
   Would love to hear from any one who knew them, my sister was in the Land army, any one who can remember her, her name was HAZEL ODELL, she also worked in the backers in Sturry.

                            You can get me at ....pamelaodell2000@yahoo.co.uk

William Amos

In the 1851 census William Amos, believed to have been my Great Grandfather, lived with his wife Caroline and children in No.10 High Street, Sturry. He is recorded as being a schoolteacher. In the 1861 census he is recorded as being a Shipping Agent living in Whitsable, address unclear in the register. A rather strange change of occupation.

I would be very interested in learning more about him and his family and which school, possibly Kings, which is close by, that he taught at.

Peter Amos

Bomb Alley Kids, as we Were Known at That Time.

I have been writing all my memories of my life from 1940 up to the present day for my grand children in case they want to know what we had to contend with in our days. My blog is on facebook called Bomb Alley Kid. I have had many old friends getting in touch.

The Present Day Hospital.

St John's Hospital Gateway 1898
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St John's Hospital is home to 35 elderly people. 24 live in the older part. There are 6 houses each holding 4 flats. House six can be seen in the photo, it stands alongside the hospital chapel. The chapel is used twice a week by the residents. Beyond the chapel and graveyard are two more modern buildings, St John's House is about 40 years old and comprises of 2 flats, one of which is occupied by the chaplain of he hospital. Alongside St John's House is St Elisabeth House. It has 8 flats and is for the more frail of our residents. It was built in 1999 and took the name of St John the Baptist's mother. The room above the Gatehouse is still in use by the Bursar of the hospital.

St Stephen's Church Interior c1888
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There are several dating features on both this print and subsequent ones and inspection of the church today that suggest that the photograph is probably correctly dated at 1888.  The pews shown were installed in that year, replacing an earlier box version.  A memorial tablet on the wall in commemorating the life of a local lady who died in 1888 does not appear although it is present on a photograph of 1902. I would suggest that the photograph was taken in 1888 to show the new pews "in situ."

Marten Rogers

WINCHEAP SCHOOL

I have a photo of the 'top class' sitting in front of what had been the connecting passage from the Head Master's Office(Mr Bradshaw) to another part of the school. It was known as 'the drainpipe' after the school was blitzed, we had our school dinners in there!. I don't know who took the photo but we all had a copy. I was then Doris Bailey.

Grandeur in Kent

Lee Priory 1903
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In a corner of Kent known with justification as the Garden of England stood the magnificent building known as Lee Priory. It saddens me so much that it no longer exists. In my childhood a Colonel Belcher resided there with his family and in their generosity they allowed we local children to have access to their own children's library. A gesture that awakened in me a lifelong love of books.
I remember the wide expanse of park that fronted this beautiful house where deer could be seen grazing. I could only imagine at the time the lifestyle of the people who lived there. But such memories were inflamed by the literature of the time that illustrated so vividly a life so far beyond the reach of those of us from humble country origins.
I can only thank them for giving me a brief insight into a lifestyle I would never know, and in an age where now the standards they set are being swiftly eroded who can be blamed for... Read more