Station Approach c1955, Hinchley Wood
Station Approach c1955, Hinchley Wood Ref: H439011
Memories of Station Approach c1955, Hinchley Wood
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Hinchley Wood & local memories
Read and share memories of Hinchley Wood and Surrey inspired by Frith photos.
Growing up
My family moved to Hinchley Wood when I was very small. We lived in the flat over the butchers shop on The Parade, at that time it was called Hodson & Harmer but later progressed to Baldwin Brothers and later still to West Butchers which it was for several years later. The shop can be seen on the picture of The Parade.
My father Reg Martin became manager of this shop and was so for a good few years. My mother Eveline Martin often helped at christmas times and suchlike in many ways and at christmas times would be catering for many extra staff called in for 'plucking and trussing' the turkeys. This was of course before frozen birds became available, an event which relieved some of the pressures of the christmas trade. My brother later became manager of Coopers Stores at the far end of The Parade and my mother worked in the household side until her untimely death in 1962. Miss... Read more
Lawrence And Peggy Berg
My uncle Lawrence married Peggy Smurthwaite in about 1935 and took over the Hinchley Wood Hotel. It was already well-known to him and his brother, Ellis, because he was a partner in the building firm E & L Berg which had developed an estate over the other side of the Kingston Bypass. Though he knew little or nothing of the licenced trade, his wife, Peggy, was the daughter of teh Smurthwaites of the Kingston Hotel (now demolished). They later moved to the Roundabouts Hotel in West Chiltington, West Sussex; while there they began building. After Lawrence's death Peggy continued building, having disposed of the Roundabouts. The Hinchley Wood Hotel has gone, sadly. It was a meeting place for service men and women, particularly RAF aircrew. Peggy led a conga train through her normally staid pub on VE day. She was a most glamourous woman, an example of a 'South of France' type of pre-war days. Lawrence was a burly and genial sporting type who had been a bayonet-fighting instructor at... Read more
