Denham Court

A Memory of Denham.

I was placed in Denham Court on 20th February 1953 at the age of 12 years (just five days before my thirteenth birthday, which I recall was not even acknowledged by anyone) when it was a Children's Home. The Matron and her husband were Mr. and Mrs David Hill. They had a daughter called Susan and I believe she was about the same age as me. The home was populated by approximately 35 boys and only 5 girls! We used to disappear into the large grounds and have a secret smoke. The weir in the grounds was always a problem, but we never lost anyone in it to my knowledge. Before I travelled to school each morning, I had to share the cleaning of the house, especially the polishing of the wooden floors. We had to be up at 6 am and in bed by 6 p.m. All us girls slept in the girls' dormitory - when we misbehaved we would be confined to the dorm but used to climb out of the window and drop down onto the brick pillars surrounding the house - making sure that we climbed back in the same way before the time of our detention was up.
Is there anyone out there who might remember me? I was Elizabeth Geen at the time and can remember Carol Hibbert and "Sambo" Williams (not sure what his real name was) who were there with me. Miss Anstey Mr. Ashworth and Miss Robbins are the only staff I can remember.
I am now in the process of trying to write a book about my life in care, having traced my "care file". I am not planning to publish it, but to leave it for my children who have always been intrigued to hear the bits I can remember. Unfortunately there are no photographs of me as a child, and so I am only relying on my memories and sparse records that are on my file.
Is there anyone out there who remembers me or has photographs I can borrow, purchase or see? The chapter in the proposed book on my life in Denham Court needs to be developed greatly if it is to reflect how important it was in my life history. Therefore any help would be greatly appreciated. If you can help, please contact me on beth.neilly@btinternet.com
I have been busy trying to trace the rest of my birth family, from whom I was separated in 1944. I have now managed to at least find out what happened to them and am in direct contact with one sister who I found in Australia and am in correspondence with a younger brother and two step-sisters.

I believe Denham Court is now a Country Club, and I hope that during next year I will be able to re-visit the building and see how much it has changed.