Bussage, the Village c1955

THE WAR YARS 1939 1945

Hi I am Derek Hyde.  I with my sister arrived in Eastcombe late afternoon on the day war was declared, Sept 3d 1939.  We had been evacuated from Birmingam, we were to live with our grandparents for the duration of the war, we were the lucky ones to be with them, many others who came later did not know who they were to live with.  We were related to the well known Bond family.  I only ever remember very fond memories of all the people I got to know during that period. Boys of my age were Derek Dowdswell, Hedley Law, Maurice Greenwood. I worked on the farm owned by Mr Andrews. I was also a choir boy in the local church.  I am now 76 years of age. I have from time to time revisited Eastcombe on my own and quietly sat on the green and reflected my life. No other place has ever had the effect on me that Eastcome has.  My very best wishes to all in the village.

Early Life in Chalford

I was born in Chalford at "The Little House" in Chalford Hill in 1932 and lived there until March 1940. I was the youngest of six children who all lived in the cottage and have very lovely memories of both the cottage and the local school which I attended. My Mother was a local girl who was a clerk in the post office beore her marriage. Her name was Florence Emily Griffin, and she married my Father Christopher Hugo Chatteris in 1924 when they moved into "The Little House" prior to that the cottage was occupied by my Grandmother who died in 1932. I recently returned to Chalford, and although I remembered the hill was steep, at my now advanced years it was hard to believe how we used to walk up and down at regular intervals to the railway station when my brothers & sisters went off to boarding school. I think next time I would be better off using a 4 X 4.

Caravan Holiday with Mum

We stayed in a small caravan on Ridings Farm, owned then by Mr & Mrs Rand. We travelled by coach from Gosport, Hampshire. Catherine Hackett, my mother,adopted me when I was less than a year old, she was widowed and had 4 children of her own and as you can guess she was very special. Gosport is a naval town on the opposite side of the Portsmouth harbour. We had no television, no car and so I had quite a limited childhood. To then find myself amongst this truly lovely countryside and the introduction to cows, calves, piglets etc was awesome. We spent another holiday there some 4 or 5 years later and they were the only two holidays that I remember that we had. France Lynch has been in my memories all that time, it caused me thereafter to search for houses in the country and the farm experience, to give me my love for animals and I can happily report that I now at the age of 62, live in a cottage on a farm just outside Salisbury. Yesterday (8th September 2007) we were out for a day trip and found ourselves in Stroud and looking for France Lynch. Well we found it and drove around and I was amazed to find it unchanged and still as beautiful as I remembered.
Stella Flux

The Potters' Cottage on the hilltop

I knew Fred Potter and his family in the early 1960s - Fred and I dated for a while. Many times we got off the bus on the main road (I lived in Nailsworth), often straight from school - he at Marling, me at High School. We'd then walk past the lake and up that hill - seemed no distance in those days - to be greeted with a lovely tea from his mum - and then some Charlie Parker from Fred's record player. I remember how remote it was - Mrs Potter getting water from the old pump in the kitchen telling me that all manner of things would often appear in the water! Other water came from a spring in the opposite hillside - fetched by hand. Then there was the Elsan loo down the garden - with lots of foliage round the door. As Fred says - isolated it certainly was and in my youth I never truly appreciated the beauty of the place. I've been back to the area twice this year and discovered it again after asking a local if he remembered the Potter family which he did - so I walked to the cottage - how it's changed! Still beautiful and still remote - both of which I now fully appreciate - I'll be back again soon!