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Hawthorn
Hawthorn maps
Historic maps of Hawthorn and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Hawthorn maps
Hawthorn area books
Displaying 1 of 12 books about Hawthorn and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Hawthorn
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Kent memories
Move to Horton
I think it was about 1986 when I moved to Horton, I was around 7 years old. We only moved from Wraysbury Road near Staines but it may as well have been 500 miles, leaving all my friends that lived all along the road to moving to Horton. There wasn't that many kids in Horton back then. We moved into the house next door to the Five Bells pub, a large detatched 4 bed house, it felt like a mansion house. Darlaron was the name of the house because the owner of the house, Stan Errett's granddaughter, couldnt pronounce the real name...my mum and dad changed it to Forge Cottage. Horton has changed a lot in the years since I left. The pubs have had many different owners! A lot of new houses and apartments have been built. When I moved to Horton the close where my sister lived until 2011, Champney Close, was a paper mill. Me, my brother and our friends would jump the wall on the weekends... Read more
Growing up in Horton
I lived in Horton from my birth to my 22nd year. I went to the Horton Church School first in 1941. There was a separate playground for both boys and girls, and a small door leading into the shelters. When the air raid siren went we all had to go into the dark, windowless shelters until the all-clear. One day a Nazi plane machine-gunned the pavement near the school. Being a church school, we sang "Now The Day Is Over" at the end of every school day. I thought it very mournful! Mr. Brown had the Grocers' shop near the school, and one section was a post office. Opposite, was Mr. Dove the newsagent and his shop was divided into two, the other side being for greengroceries. A tiny Horton Bakery served the schoolchildren with buns for morning break. Not too far away lived the then Queen Elizabeth's aunt (Lady Bowes-Lyon) -down a long winding lane with a river running... Read more
Days Gone by
This particular photo holds a lot of memories. Tthe bakery on the right hand side was owned by an old lady Mrs Rymes. My friend Di and I thought she was at least 100 years old back then! She used to sit in a chair in the corner of the shop, her son was the baker and the baking was done in a small building to the right of the shop just out of the picture. They used to sell the most beautiful (and warm!!) current buns at a 1p each and ohh they tasted so good. Over the road I remember was the Crown, just in the foreground, a funny little pub with an old Bottle and Jug where we as children were allowed in to buy Ginger Beer and we would take the bottles up the road to the rec (Park) just past the pub, and up the alley by the large square building (flats) in the background on the left.
Mrs Rhymes
I remember buying cottage loaves at Mrs Rhymes' bakery and being given a tiny one to eat on my way home. I also remember the paper cones of chips my brother bought me for 3d! I used to have three pence to spend in the sweet shop and the choice was so huge - I loved the little sweets that looked like sausages, peas and potatoes - great for doll's teas.
Langley Schoolboy Memories
I wasn't a resident in Minster Way, but as a small boy I used to visit my St Ethelberts School friend Adrian Kenny there every weekend. About 1960 it would have been. This road and its housing was really a relic of the Second World War - emergency housing made from prefabricated materials (the buildings were known as 'prefabs') As usual, they lasted for much longer than was envisaged and would have eventually been cleared some years later. Lovely and warm they were!
Reeling in The Years
Oh the wonderful warm penny bread rolls at the tiny Bakery on the right hand side of the street! I remember the smell, the texture the taste. And I remember Mrs Rhymes too thanks so much for posting this...
Where I Was Born
The photo of Minster Way is of the prefab where I was born.
