Copthorne Bank memories
Here are memories of Copthorne Bank and the local area. You can start now: Add your own Memory of Copthorne Bank or a Copthorne Bank photo.
I Remember...
I remember Hewitts well as a child but that would be about 1973. The first shop on the other side was a hairdressers that I remember as 'Sandra's.'
I Also Meant to Add...
I also meant to add that the 'Whitgates' I knew was a riding establishment on the road to East Grinstead just past the 'Hedgehog'. Run by a Mrs Welbourne for years but she did not own the property - a very elderly lady who lived in the house did - could she have been the recipient I wonder?
Love Letter Found.
My wife has a poetry book. Inside was found a love letter dated New Years Day 1943. It was addressed to a person at 'White Gates', Copthorne Bank, Sussex.
It is a wonderful message from a gentleman to a lady. To hold a letter, written in the cold and darkest of days of the 1940s, when the future was unsure, and people still sending warm words of love, is a real privilage.
I hope that someone can provide some information on where White Gates can be found.
The Four Shops at Copthorne Bank
In the picture of the four shops at Copthorne bank the last on the left was, until recently a Branck of Lloyds Bank. But during the long sweaty summer of 1959 it was a grocer's shop. The shop next door was a newsagents shop (owned for a long time by a chap named Hewitt). Last time I stayed above the last shop on the left was the summer of 1960. You could travel from West London to Crawley (in 1959) on a Green Line Bus for just under 4 Shillings. Memory is so short.
Memories of Surrey
Burstow Cubs
I was in the cubs at Smallfield and I remember carrying a flag in a Saint George's Day parade to the Burstow Parish Church. Cubs met in the village hall at Smallfield, the same hall we ate our school lunches in, half a mile from the Smallfield County Primary School. The school was half a mile out Redehall Road towards Burstow, and we lived another half mile past the school, on Red Road. I would do Bob A Job week around Burstow, calling at the Hall and at the few other houses in the area.
Burstow Barracks & Westlands Farm
I would be interested to hear from anyone who has photos and any info on Burstow Barracks during 1881 - 1911. My ancestors William & Sarah Carman lived here during these times and were buried at Burstow Church.
Smallfield
Does anyone remember the mobile library that was parked near the parade of shops? I think there is a house on the land where it used to park. I have memories of hanging my beret up on my named peg; my double-breasted dark blue rain coat two times bigger then me; the boys trying to pull me over the yellow line to the boys playground; the huge black spider webs in the outside toilets; the hopscotch on the floor of the girls' playground; walking two by two down to the village hall for dinner; being made to eat roast potatoes and ending up in tears; being in a play at the school dressed in pyjamas? Mr Johnson, ahhh, he looks like my dad now. I remember my dad taking me across to the playing fields for the swing and the slide, and me with my friends, sitting on the wall of Orchard Road. Would we allow 6 year olds to do that now? Ialso remember playing in New Road around the... Read more
Kings Builders
I started school in Smallfield in 1934. In those days there were bucket lavatories. The sewer was laid in 1938 and then most of Smallfield was able to do away with the buckets. There were 3 teachers, Miss Kempshall who came from Betchworth on a 250cc Panther, Miss Cottle who had attended the school and became a teacher (she ran the Cubs as well) and Miss Power. There were only about eighty children untill 1939 when lots of evacuees came from London. We were then crowded out and some had to sit on the floor. In 1940 I moved to Horley School. We were taken in a coach, and I remember having to get into the ditch with an air raid going on above. Alfred King & Son were fairly large building firm in Plough Road, established in 1856 and finished in 1952. Most families had someone who did or had worked for Kings. My grandfather worked as a bricklayer, my father and myself as plumbers. I started there in 1945,... Read more
Shops And Services in Smallfield During The 1930s
bill.haylor@btinternet.com Resident in and around Smallfield for 81 yrs.
Shops and services were limited but adequate. Village hierarchy although unwritten was arranged in a manner that suited most people; the traders held most sway by the nature of their businesses, builders and farmers controlled most of the land.
Starting from the centre of the village. The first shop in Smallfield was on the corner of Wheelers Lane, in the 1930s it was owned by McKenzie the Grocer, the Post Office was first located here. Outside the shop on the wall were machines for Nestles Chocolate and Woodbine cigarettes in thin green packets of fives. The next shop going upwards and south was Warnett the Butcher, the daughter was cashier in the small office to the rear, the men would select a carcase of meat from a large walk in fridge which they sawed, chopped and cut on a large wooden bench. During the summer there were flies!
The Church Hall was next, then across the drive... Read more
Memorybank total
We're very pleased and excited by your response so far to our "Share your Memories" community.
You've shared 28,861 memories of 5,948 towns & villages across the UK - keep them coming!
Find Memories
Simply search for your favourite places to read others' memories and share your own.
Tips & Ideas
Not sure what to write?
It's easy - just think of an important place in your life and ask yourself:
How does it feature in your personal history?
What are your best memories of this place?
How has it changed over the years?
How does it feel, seeing these old photos of your favourite place?
Do you remember stories about the local community, its history and people?
Start now!
It's easy to add your own memories and reconnect with your shared local history. Search for your favourite places and look for the orange "Add your Memory" icon to begin.
Places this week
Here are some of the places you've shared memories of this week:
- Spinkhill, South Yorkshire
- Penruddock, Cumbria
- Weaverham, Cheshire
- Amble, Northumberland
- Stokesley, Cleveland
- Streatham, Greater London
- Duloe, Cornwall
- Hampton Wick, Surrey
- Easington Colliery, County Durham
- Sway, Hampshire
- Great Holland, Essex
- Oadby, Leicestershire
- Southend Airport, Essex
- Crook, County Durham
- Knaphill, Surrey
- Chiddingfold, Surrey
- Halton East, North Yorkshire
- Forest Row, East Sussex
- Chertsey, Surrey
- Langley Park, County Durham
- ... and lots more - Browse this week's memories now.
Your memories
To jump straight to the memories you have added already to the Community, click here
I Remember When...
This stunning compilation highlights some of the best stories selected from the thousands contributed here on the
Frith website. The result is an absorbing chronicle of British life from the Second World War to the mid 1960s.
A colourful treasure trove of memories, "I Remember When" is an
irresistible mix of personal stories and recollections that affectionately reveal the detail of everyday life in Britain.
