Fornham All Saints, Suffolk

Steel's Grocers

In 1861 my Great, Great, Great Grandfather Charles Frederick Whiskin worked for the Steel family in their grocer's shop situated in the Butter Market.  Charles came originally from Black Friars in London and was born in 1832.  He learnt his trade from the Steels and went on to own his own shop in Aylesbury Buckinghamshire which he ran with his wife Susannah.   

So Many Happy Hours

I spent so many happy summer holidays in Great Barton, and in particular Conyers Green where my Aunt Norah Lovelace lived in a cottage next to the old chapel building.  I cycled often to the village store/post office, and to my friend's parent's farm up the lane at the side of the cottage, their name was Rolfe and we had many lovely Sunday lunches there, going to Sunday school afterward.  There was no great television to watch in those days, my aunt only watched the news on her black and white, but it didn't matter as there always seemed to be something to do and living most of the year round in a city the countryside was great, I loved it so much.  My last visit there was in 1980 and although most of the village appeared just the same I was sad to see my aunt's cottage with a fence around it, it had always been open plan with a very pretty garden. I didn't get to see too much but I have nothing but wonderful memories of this beautiful place and its people, I just wish I could have spent the rest of my life there, but I have found something similar living in a very small town, smaller than Bury St Edmunds, in South Africa. Living next door to my aunt in the little thatched cottage lived Dorothy and Bert Hitchcock, but they moved to a farm, but I know they still had family living in Great Barton, Ralph Hitchcock and his family.  I remember the Mason family very well also.  It was a very close knit community in the old days, we were always at someone's house for tea or lunch, I don't know today if that close bond still exists, but it was part and parcel of the making of the village then,
I am going back some 50 to 55 years and obviously my friends there would now be my age, 65 or thereabout, obviously many of the old residents of Conyers Green have either left or passed away, but I sincerely hope that it has retained its old world charm and hasn't fallen prey to the modern buildings of today, it would be so sad if another of England's beautiful spots was spoiled because of urban sprawl.

I miss it....

I was looking for pictures of the mansion and church. I lived in Barton Mills as a young girl... American girl....lived across the village green... I am still holding bottles I dug up at the mansion. With love, Bobbi.

Friday luncheons at Tillys from Jean Ryder

During the years of 1959-1960 I worked as secretary in the Education Centre at RAF Mildenhall. One of my favourite memories of that time was having lunch at Tillys Pantry every Friday. Another secretary at the air base had just passed her driving licence exam - quite a feat for a young girl at that time as it was a thorough examination and not too many passed on the first attempt, and four of us would pile into her car every Friday at 1p.m. and head for Tillys for a delicious lunch.
I remember what an attractive place it was, sparkling with dark polished chairs and tables with walls lined with many brass jugs, plates etc. The china that was used was in a lovely shade of blue.
Now, some forty odd years later I'm living in Fort Worth, Texas, and wonder if Tillys is in fact still in operation, and hope it is and that people are enjoying it as we did.