Droxford memories
Here are memories of Droxford and the local area. You can start now: Add your own Memory of Droxford or a Droxford photo.
Meonstoke And Droxford
Terrific memories by both Harriott and Skipwith families. Thank you! Mine centre first on Midlington Cottage (rented from the Horsmans, he a magnificent model-train builder, the house out of Droxford a bit on A32, where all the Army ordinance lumbered past, day after day, to the coast for the D-Day invasion, and from where our beloved cairn terrier Tim killed a couple of the farmer's wartime chickens, the farmer - quite rightly - subsequently threatening Tim with summary execution if he ever caught him at it again), then Mylor Cottage, up the hill, with a flourishing fig tree in the tiny back yard, then over, in 1946, to Meonstoke and Stoke Cottage for many years, with an interlude to Aberdeen for a few years in between. Altogether I remember them as a marvellous dappled time, beautifully captured by your reminiscences. To Meonstoke, of course, Droxford was the great metropolis: it had everything, Meonstoke boasting a single store. Therefore the bike was in constant use, splashing cartwheels of water across the Droxford... Read more
Visiting
I had family who lived in Droxford, that was my Uncle Peter, Aunty Dot and my cousins Susan, Christine and John Miles. Sorry John if you are reading this, it's your five mins of fame. I loved going over there and was always made welcome. I went to Droxford school with Mr Bark? and his wife. She was ok but he in my eyes was not, but I am sure I wasn't the only one who thought that. All kids think their head teachers are to beware of. We the cousins would go for walks, either to Soberton or over to the water meadows. One year my cousin was May Queen for Droxford, she really was very pretty, well I thought so. Later my mum worked at the telephone exchange, until it changed. She had her photo in the paper, thought that made her a very important person, well she was and still is.
Harriott Brothers - The Butcher's Shop
My Father was Arthur Harriott who owned Harriott Brothers Butchers Shop (which can be seen at the bottom left-hand corner of the picture) together with his Brother, Edward. We lived in "Old Sarum" which is the white house adjoining with my Mother, Molly and my Aunt Olive and Uncle Edward. One of my first memories must have been in about the late 40's when my Dad would wrap up parcels of meat and put them in a wicker basket in the iron frame fitted to a bicycle and delivered to the householders of Droxford by "the Boy".
I don't think I ever remember seeing my Father without a Craven A cigarette tucked into a corner of his lips - a sublime disregard for Health and Safety but I don't recall a single case of anyone becoming ill as a result!
The shop floor was covered with a dusting of sawdust which trod into the house and drove my Mother wild but the smell of... Read more
MILES FAMILY
Dear Villagers of the Droxford & Exton area -
Please can you help me, I'm looking for living relatives of Alfred Miles, who died in 1900, around the Droxford area. He was a gamekeeper, his wife was called Sarah, two of their sons also lived in the area, Richard Miles (gamekeeper) and Arthur Miles (kennelman/groom). I believe Richard lived at a place called 'Lights Dell'. I would like to know anything, however small, about them. Photos of any member of this family would just be fantastic.
Kind regards,
Carl Miles
My Time at Studwell Lodge And in The Village of Droxford
My family first came to live in Studwell Lodge, which they bought from the Bruce family, when my father retired from farming in Berkshire at the age of fifty five. It was then 1959 and I, as a teenager, was overawed by the sheer size and space of the property. The village was very welcoming to us newcomers. Barbara Wade was one of the first to cross the doorstep bearing a fruitcake that she had made. She was a legend in Droxford history with her riding school and stern attitude towards car drivers who dared to pass her clutch of Thelwellian students. She was a pillar of the church who ably supported Pagey (Rev Page), the first rector that I knew. His rectory is now Willow House, just across the treacherous A32 from the Square.
The village of Droxford was, at that stage, a self sufficient community with Harriots, the butcher’s shop (I too remember Brian Harriott and other family members, Pamela). Nearby in School Lane there was... Read more
Memories of Hampshire
Main Rd - Hill House
These are not really memories although I do remember my father talking a lot about Meonstoke with affection.
I have 2 old postcards and 2 old photos. The photos are of the building (I understand it was a Post Office at some date) in the picture above but when it was a private house. According to family tradition it was called Hill House and was built by William Cooper one of my ancestors. I do not know if that was true.
I do know from research that in the 1840s one William Cooper lived at Church Cottage while in the 1860s Mary Cooper (widow of one of the 3 Williams) and some of her children were living in Church Rd. She was a cordwainer (boot/shoe maker) as was her husband.
The younger William, her son was living at Gavdiff/Cardiff House at this time but I don't know where that was.
In the 1870s this younger William was living in Hill House with his wife... Read more
Meonstoke And Its Surrounding Farmland
There are many people better qualified than I to write about Meonstoke, but this photo evokes memories of the Cooke's, who ran the village shop with cheerful kindness and where we shopped for essentials - and particularly for sweets which we took back to school in a biscuit tin (I have written about it here http://lawfordherry.blogspot.com/2007/11/st-ronans.html/). Opposite were (and still are) the quintessential Meonstoke family, the Biggs's and their magnificent thatched barn, scene of Christmas carol parties for over forty years - and below the village shop were the Harders - Paul and Anna- who I think were Danish. Below them was a house lived in by the Lushingtons - Betsy, Jane and John. And below that, Miss Apps ran a small private school. The Manor House stoood opposite below the Biggs's barn, and was lived in for a time by my cousin Ruth and her husband John Howard.
Some of this is mentioned in my Archive where Stocks Farm (signed from the triangle at the top of... Read more
Exton Post Office
I lived in the village in the mid 1950s. I can remember that the owner of the Post office was a Mr Worthington. The granddaughter was called Celia.
Memories
MY MUM USED TO BIKE OVER FROM NORTH BOARHUNT TO SOBERTON EVERY THURSDAY WHEN I WAS SMALL.
She had a small seat fixed at the back so that she could take me too,i had to sit on a blanket as it was hard.It use to take a while and i use to sit back there and sing my heart out,as i was so small people could not see me until we had gone pass,and i am sure they thought it was my mum singing.We use to go to the end of trampers lane and turn left pass Newtown school,then turn first right pass what was Miles garage,nothing to do with us.On in to inerfield lane sorry folks if i spelt that wrong its been a long time.Anyway those lanes were narrow and the fields either side were higher than the road,and when it snowed they were inpassable.
My nan lived at the "Five Trees" in a cottage it was one of five,and the river ran out by her front, when... Read more
1881 Census
At the time of the 1881 census The Bricklayers Arms and Terrace was owned and operated by my great-great-grandmother, Mary Ann Bevis, maiden name Pouncy, who was enumerated as a widow and "Licensed Victualler", or seller of spirits. My great-grandmother, Sarah Ann Hollis, maiden name Gulliver, and my grandfather, Owen Pouncy Hollis, were also living at this address.
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