Ewhurst memories
Here are memories of Ewhurst and the local area. You can start now: Add your own Memory of Ewhurst or a Ewhurst photo.
Family Recollections.
My grandfather Edward Chase kept the Windmill Inn on Pitch hill and my father worked for him. My maternal grandfather John Allen kept the Bull Head in the village of Ewhurst and had two daughters, Mona and Lilian.
My father Robert Chase ( Ted ) joined the Surrey Yeomanry during the first World War and served in France with this cavalry regiment. He returned to Ewhurst after the war not in the best of health having been wounded and gassed and married my mother Mona the daughter of the landlord of the Bulls head in the village.
After a while my grandfather and his wife retired and my father and his new wife took over the licence at the Windmill Inn on Pitch hill. They ran the Windmill up until the onset of the depression as far as I am aware and the trade was mainly providing the usual services of a village inn but crucially providing hotel accomodation to walking parties down from London. When the walking parties... Read more
Temporary Home
When my maternal grandparents' house "Hobart", Mount Road, Cranleigh was bombed during World War Two we were housed temporarily above the the Crown Inn whilst the bomb was defused and the house put back in order.
Windmill Inn
In the late 19th century both this inn and the windmill itself, which was a short way away, were run by members of the Coldman family --- brothers I believe.
Ewhurst War Memorial
For more information on the men from Ewhurst who served and fell or returned from the First World War, details can be found at www.ewhurstfallen.co.uk.
"The number of volunteers from Ewhurst and Ellen's Green was 'second to none'. The memorials show the price they paid"
Walter Stemp, one of the village's veterans.
Coneyhurst Farm
I am researching my family tree and I have learned that my ancestor George Worsfold born around 1799 ran Coneyhurst Farm in Ewhurst in the mid to late 1800s. He had 7 children and a lot of other relatives also in Ewhurst and Cranleigh. I am hoping to discover more and perhaps visit Ewhurst soon.
Memories of Surrey
My Forest Green Family
I moved to Forest Green when I was 2 but my whole family comes from the area. Christine Dendy (my maternal grandmother) was born in the village. Her parents were a housemaid and a gamekeeper/odd-job man for the Vaughan-Williams estate. My grandmother was born in the row of First World War council houses erected behind the village green and she married the son of a village shopkeeper from Ockley. Their children were my mother and my uncle. My mother married a Londoner she met through her job and I am one of her four children. Two years ago my husband and I upheld four generations of tradition when we married in Forest Green church and were doubly proud to display my grandmother's wedding pics from the same venue! Hopefully at some point we will move back to the area, though sadly the village school at Walliswood which at least four generations of my family attended has been closed.
Temporary School
Cranleigh (Junior) School was hit by a V1 rocket at 9 am on a Sunday morning during the Second World War. The following day we started using the Village Hall for lessons. I remember sitting cross-legged on the floor as there was insufficient seating. Had the rocket fallen 24 hours later, the death toll would have been very high indeed.
Mercer in Cranleigh
The low building to the right was the shop of George Mercer - Bootmaker, the building on it's right with the large chimney was the home of my Great Grandfather Henry Mercer who expanded into 2 then 3 of the cottages as his family grew ( 10 children). Henry worked on the opposite side of the common at the woodyard.
The man in foreground with the horse is probably Mr Stemp, groundsman for both Cranleigh School and Cranleigh Cricket Club. My Grandfather Albert (Jack) Mercer later took over his job and moved from the common to a tied cottage "Barnside" near Cranleigh School lower fields. The war memorial in Cranleigh includes the name E.A. Mercer, son of Henry Mercer (Edward Allan Mercer) who was killed age 17 in the Royal Navy in what was dubiously called the Live Bait Squadron on one of 4 ships sunk that morning by a German U boat.
CRANLEIGH HOTEL
Hi I am researching the Cranleigh Hotel in Cranleigh (presently called the Cranley Hotel). It has also in the past been The Railway Hotel. I have also been told that the hotel was previously in a different place (where the Old Laundry Cottages are now) but I am not sure if this information is correct. Can anyone help me with the history of this hotel? Many thanks for reading this. Regards, LINDA
My Childhood
I was born to Victor Owen Colman Emmerson and Jean Florence Emmerson at the family home of Garden Cottage, Holmbury St Mary in September 1957. I have an older brother, John and a younger sister Diane who were also born there. My grandmother Catherine or 'Kit' was for many years housekeeper to Dorothea Flower who lived next door in Hurtwood Cottage. I have many memories of growing up in the village, attending Holmbury St Mary primary school, belonging first to the brownies and then the girl guides. Although I no longer have any family connections in the village there are still a number of family friends that still reside there. Some of my fondest memories are that of the special bonfire nights held near the village, the pyrotechniques of which were originally orchestrated by a Mr Bill Narroway.
Garden Cottage is still very clear in my mind, being built on a raised bank directly opposite the rather grand house and grounds belonging to Lady Catto. It was, and still is... Read more
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