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Debden
Debden maps
Historic maps of Debden and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Debden maps
Debden area books
Displaying 1 of 18 books about Debden and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Debden
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Debden.
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or of a photo of Debden.
Picturing My Mother
I have no doubt that my lovely young, 23 year old mother, Elma , a WAAF stationed at Debden fighter aerodrome, during WW2, cycled this lovely lane at some point.
It was around here, in the summer of 1942, that my life began when my mother and still unknown father 'sparked' me into life. He apparently named John, according to one source, guarded a radio transmitter from a small hut out in the Essex countryside, safely away from the aerodrome. A perfect place for my beginning, I imagine !
The unfortunate part for Elma was that she had to leave the WAAF and travel home to Kirkbymoorside in Yorkshire to have her first child. She died in 1947, when I was only 4 years old.
I have researched her past, as best as I can, and tried to get the 'feel' of her life as a plotter in the operations room at Debden at such a critical time in our country's history. I managed to get in... Read more
Wartime Watering Hole
More than likely The Fox was a popular watering hole for the pilots, mechanics and WAAFs at Debden Aerodrome during the war.
The Summer of '42
Another view of The Fox, one of 5 local 'hostelries' which was frequented by the Debden Royal Airforce crowd, including, most likely, my dear mother, Elma Rivis,a WAAF.
Essex memories
Burnt House Cottage
This was of course taken long before Burnt House Cottage was built. This was where my grandmother Ruth Hare lived. The cottage is now to the right of the road. In the background are accommodation blocks at Carver Barracks (Debden Aerodrome). Burnt House Farm is to the left of the picture where the Boutwood family lived in the 70's.
Sawmill
My Great Grandfather's brother used to own a sawmill in Newport in Wartime (World War II). His name was George Alfred (Alf) Ginger and Alf was married to Rebecca. My father remembers visitng the sawmill as a boy, seeing his cousin Seorus and hearing stories about how their house, situated near the mill, was haunted. My father's Uncle Ralph would make matchsticks stand up on end! I would be interested hearing from anyone who knows anything about the sawmill or my long lost relatives.
A Patient's View
When I was eight I was admitted to Saffron Walden General Hospital for surgery. My parents were told that I would be discharged home at the end of the week. I vividly remember the feeling of being suffocated when the pad of chloroform was put over my face to anaesthetise me.
During the week a young girl was admitted to the ward with suspected Polio. She was put into a glass encased cubicle and the next day she was transferred to the isolation hospital. It was decided that all the children in the ward should be put into quarantine for three weeks, so my week turned into four! Visiting hours were restricted to a short time in the afternoon on Tuesdays, Thursdays and at the weekends as it was considered unsettling for children to see their parents more frequently! The weeks seemed very long. However, it obviously didn't affect me too adversely as, ten years later, I trained to be a SRN (State Registered Nurse!)
In later years... Read more
A Meeting Place
In the 1950's the building on the right of the picture was the Corn Exchange. The local farmers used to congregate there on Tuesdays which was market day. The buiding is now used as the public library.
Market day was not only stalls on the market square, as it is today. In the 1950's I remember that there was also a livestock market just around the corner from the market square. There were sheep and cattle. Next door there were hens, rabbits and auctions took place there. Later a pig market was constructed nearby.
When my grandparents, who lived in Derbyshire, came to stay, Grandpa would take me to the market. He enjoyed it as much as I did but for him it was also a novelty because there weren't any livestock markets in his home town.
