Farley Green, Suffolk

A Ham Family

My mother and father lived in Evelyn Road - the cul-de-sac opposite the large white house in the distance - mother still there - lived in two of the houses for all her eighty years - married the boy next door (well.. at the top of the cul- de- sac!).
I'm 53 and it is how I remember itn into the early 1960s - Elson the grocer on the right, the shop on the right became the Co-Op, the central shop was Frank Birch the Butcher next to Dunkley's sweet shop where I worked as a lad.
I can see the faces now!
Left in 1980 and back to see Mum a number of times per year.
A fantastic place to grow up in the 1950s & 1960s - the Common, the Park, the River, Ham Pits - cycling, football & fishing in the pond.
Different times!

The Bakery, Tatsfield

Hi
My family ( The Watsons) owned the bakery which was a substantial building in the village centre. It housed the bakery itself ( My Uncle Dick Watson was the baker in those days) It was also a hotel with six bedrooms, plus it had a shop on the front corner, shown in the above photo.
I was 12 years of age at the time and used to visit my Grandad Watson in the long, triangulated room above the shop. He was well into his 80's in those days.
I am now 63 and live in nearby Westerham.
My Dad owned "Tatsfield Garage", 150 yards down Paynesfield Road from where the photo was taken in fact. My only brother Tony still owns the garage which was started in the village in 1928.
Barry Watson. ( Web:- http://www.barrybwm.plus.com)

riddlesdown shops

It was so good to see the photos, the memories came flooding back.  When I was a child I too used to go for walks on the downs and into Kenley.  I lived in Derwent Drive near what was then called Riddlesdown Secondary Modern School.  The shops we used to go to at Riddlesdown.  My mother would send us there every Saturday to buy 2 loaves of bread.  Then when I was older I worked in the hairdressers called "Hazels".  Thankyou Liz for your memories, I wonder if we know each other?        Yvonne Slater.

Riddlesdown in the 1950's

We lived in Dale Road, right near the bottom of Downscourt Road and we spent a lot of time on Riddlesdown because it was near to where we lived.  When we got a bit older, we used to walk along the downs towards Kenley or maybe even further along where there was a railway crossing.  We used to get pennies and put them on the rails and wait for a train to come along and squash them.  That was in the days were children could go anywhere they liked. We used to go up to the downs by ourselves and so long as we were back for tea or supper, it didn't matter what we did.