Memories of Frimley Green
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Burrow Hill School is now derelict. It closed in 1998 and I have just walked past the boarded-up site this afternoon. Although I have lived in Frimley Green since 1993 and seen one of its main buildings from within a housing estate at the bottom of the hill, I have never known what that building was. Entry into the school is really off the beaten track and in effect the school is really hidden in the local community. Anyway the sight of a derelict school intrigued me so I did some searching on the internet after my walk and discovered that it was a boys' school, it closed in 1998 with around 57 pupils and more intriguingly that it was part of Wandsworth Borough Council, but located in Surrey! Reading the comments below was interesting. The whole area to the south of the school all the way to Farnborough is now housing. The Hatches is now an expensive housing area of Frimley Green. The gravel pits, towards Farnborough North railway station, are lakes. To the north the area has changed little, still woodland.
Shared on 01 November 2009
I was at Burrow Hill school from 1952 until 1956. I was sent there due to acute asthma and bronchitis. I have lots of fond memories of my time there and remember a boy called Alan Whittaker and a boy called Edward, surname Adrian I think. I also remember Mr and Mrs Reece and Mr and Mrs Cleaver who took over the headship from Mr and Mrs Reece.
We used to go under the buildings with our torches and one night four of five of us went out exploring about 2 o'clock in the morning with our torches through the fields. The police were called and members of staff searched for us. We all got a ticking off, of course, and because it was my idea I was branded the 'worst boy' in Woodlands dormitory by Mrs Cleaver.
I have many other memories and would love to share them with others who were there. I would particularly like to find Alan Whittaker who I believe came from Liverpool.
I have several photos of times and people there.
If anyone would like to contact me direct my telephone number is 0208 316 7945 and I live at 45 Glenmore Road, Welling, Kent DA16 3BN.
Regards Frank Thurlow
Shared on 10 September 2009
My name is Roger Hibbard from Staveley, Derbyshire, I was at Burrow Hill School from Easter 1952 to Easter 1953. I went there because at that time I suffered from severe asthma but I was never ill once during the wonderful year I was there,
I remember the headmaster Dai Reece and his wife Ida, teachers Mr Allen, Mr Stevenson and Mr Martin and one of the house mistresses Miss Spence.
My friends were Andy Davidson, Alan Blackham and Micheal Thorpe I also remember a lad called Dodd from Burnley and a big blonde haired lad (can't remember his name) who I saw on television several years later winning the British heavyweight boxing championship.
I also watched the 1952 Farnborough Air Show from near the school and saw the experimental plane DH110 explode over the airfield when a number of people were killed
I would love to hear from anyone else who was there at the time
Shared on 23 July 2009
I was there for two terms in the mid 1950s, it is so long ago that I can't be sure of the year. I remember headmaster Mr Rees and his wife, and teachers Mr Bellis, Mr Jarman, Mr Horwell, Mr. Stevenson, Mr Allen and housemothers Miss Rempy and Miss Harwood. The houses were Orchard, Gardens and Woodlands. We watched the Farnborough Air Show from the grounds one time. After living in Shepherds Bush, it was like another world to be there. My best mate was Terry Mulligan (Mugsy) from Wandsworth.
Shared on 22 June 2009
Frimley Green, Old Cottage 1906
Ref: 54907
I received information from my cousin Leslie about this photo. Now that I have found it I am delighted. My grandparents were Thomas Benjamin Fairminer (1881-1954) who married Louisa Florence Smith (1880 - 1944). They raised 11 children, some of them at Bedford Lane. Their birth dates range from 1900 to 1924. My mother Florence Louisa (known as Ciss) was born in 1905. I remember visiting Bedford Lane as a very young child, one of my mother's brothers, Alfred, lived a couple of houses down. A Mr D F Richardson shared information about this photo in April 2006. He says that he went to school with one of Mr Fairminer's sons, who must have been one of my uncles. I wonder which one it was? I am researching my mother's family and this is a lovely piece of information for me to include. During my research I have been able to get in touch with a number of cousins, many of them and their families still live in Frimley Green and in areas close by. My mother like so many young girls of that time was in service, she used to talk about working at 'The Big House', would any of the folks reading this know where that was?
Thank you.
Joyce, Queensland, Australia
Shared on 10 May 2009
I remember paddling in the stream and enjoying lazy days of peace and quiet. The hatches were then grazing land with cattle. You then could see the abbey and grounds in the distance, we then watched them dug out and they made way for gravel pits. A little lad drowned in the lakes.
Shared on 10 January 2009
I was at Burrow Hill for 18 months, having been sent there because of poor conditions at home. It was the happiest time of my life. We lived in dorms that were built for wounded GI's during the war. They were built on stilts and had stable type doors. We used torches at night to move from building to building as there were no lights on the paths. Supper was a mug of cocoa and a thick slice of bread and dripping. For a boy from a London slum it was heaven! I would love to hear from anyone who was there about that time or has any photographs.
Shared on 12 November 2008
I lived at 257 Frimley Green Road- where Warrens' garage now stands - 1942 to 1954. There was an air-raid shelter on the Green which we watched being demolished. Every Nov 5th there was a gigantic bonfire on the Green, fired by paraffin donated by Percy Warren; squaddies would come down from Deepcut and add to the tumult, one year detonating the Gents at the Rose & Thistle. Whenever I'm in the south I have a wander round the village, which has changed remarkably little; even The Mons is still there (or was in 2006) run by Mr Clapshaw, later by Mr Heap, who was one of the few shopkeepers who didn't object (usually with good reason) to the village boys. My friends were Anthony Harrison, Geoffrey & Mervyn Ellis, Chris Dawes, the Warren twins, Ron ("Freckleface") Riley...any of them still alive?
Shared on 29 August 2008
My Dad was Charles Cheyne, the village chemist in Frimley Green - famous for his cough medicine - the report in the local Camberley News when he died in 1963 reported "It was dark brown in colour and had no name. Word spread far and wide about Mr Cheyne's cough cure, and soon people were sending for his medicine by post from as far away as Gibraltar and Holland." My Mum was Joan Jarman - the local District Nurse, and one can only guess how she and my dad got together - bearing in mind their professions! I have lovely memories of living over the shop - and particularly our telephone number there - Deepcut 5! Dad had moved to Frimley Green in 1928 and opened his own chemist shop at 261 Frimley Green Road - it is still a Pharmacy today, but owned by a large chain rather than private. I would love to hear from anybody who remembers my Mum or Dad, and the time when Frimley Green was a real village.
Shared on 15 February 2008
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