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Handcross
Handcross maps
Historic maps of Handcross and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Handcross maps
Handcross area books
Displaying 1 of 19 books about Handcross and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Handcross
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Handcross.
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The Bell
Several of the local lads and I took the bell from the chapel on the bridge and for a laugh we hung it over the bridge. When large trucks passed underneath, it rang so loud it could be heard all over the village!
West Sussex memories
Growing up in Slaugham 1961
I was born in Slaugham at No1 Carpenters Arms in 1961. It was the very last house on the right hand side before the White Gate. What a great time all of us kids had and I hope they share fond memories like I do. The Talmans, The Shoplands and then of course us, The Bottings. There were 5 girls, 4 older and 1 younger, and then 5 boys, 2 older and then 3 younger.
My fondest memories are of playing Down-The-Woods. We spent hours and hours down there and the parents had to take it in turn to give us all a call for dinner in the evening. We played cowboys and indians down there and one time we got hold of a piece of thick rope to swing from a tree and boy did we swing!! I can't remember who put the rope up over the tree limb, probably one of the older boys, but I reckon it was up 15' and then someone made a... Read more
Moved to Slaugham From Canada
I moved to Slaugham from Canada in 1963 and lived there until 1967. I went to school in Handscross and later in Haywards Heath. I fondly remember the fox hunt going through the village each year and Guy Fawks day! We lived next door to the pub in a house called Jenners, Dr. Tate lived next door at the time. There were weekend people that came down from London and I played with Clarissa and a bit with Serena, her older sister. I spent most of my time with Anne Ransom and Annette (last name escapes me). We were the only Canadians living in the village at the time. My Dad, Bill Jones, was in the Cdn. Navy. My mom, Lorraine was a housewife. I had 2 brothers, Michael who was 1.5 years older and Mark, 7 years younger. I lived there from the time I was 9 and left at the age of 12. We played at... Read more
Flower Sellers at The Black Swan.
My father was one of the "flower sellers".
Together with our neighbour - Mr. George Lee - the pair of them would bunch flowers from their respective gardens and take them up to The Black Swan on a Sunday evening to sell to trippers homeward bound from a day by the seaside. The flowers were kept fresh in stone jars. I can remember a van being there on the green from which I used to get a packet of Smiths crisps containing that little screwed blue bag of salt.
Flower Sellers at The Black Swan
My Dad, Sid Sargent also sold flowers at the Black Swan - he grew Dahlias and Golden Rod in our garden at Truggers in Handcross, bunched them up on Sunday afternoon and biked up to Pease Pottage to sell them to the Londoners going home after a day in Brighton. Dad was born at 11 Horsham Road, Pease Pottage in 1920.
My Mother
My mother, Beatrice Constable, was born in a little cottage in Balcombe. The happy event took place in a small asbestos bungalow with lots of hydrangeas around the front door. Her parents were Joshua and Elizabeth Constable. Nan had seven boys and seven girls. Some were stillborn and buried in the churchyard under a tree. Does anyone remember this family?
Evac
I was evacuated to Balcombe in 1940 along with the Stanley Technical College pupils from south London. At first, 3 of us were billited at Monks, a large and beautiful home some 3 km out of the village. At that time the Johnston family owned the house. This was a fantastic experience.
We were taught at the village school and the log-cabin scout hut was adapted for our engineering workshop practice. Later, I was billeted at a house adjacent to the railway station. I don't recall the owners' names, but the man of the family owned the only car-repair business in the village. We were resented and not made welcome in this home at all. A miserable experience.
I visited Balcombe from New Zealand in 1990 and found that Monks had become a protected property - owned by the National Trust - or whatever is its NZ equivalent. The log-cabin scout hut was still there, as was the school, and of... Read more
