Ide Hill, c1965

Early Years

My father was born in Ide Hill and, when he left school, worked as delivery boy for Pierce's shop. That's how he met my mother, delivery goods to the large house Emmets, where she was a housemaid. When, eventually, I was born we lived about a mile outside the village, beside Sundridge Hospital, or The Union as it was known as then. In the autumn of 1945 I took my first, faltering, steps in my education at Ide Hill C of E school. Stayed there until moving to Westerham Secondary Modern School in 1951. After that I joined the Navy, then in 1967 came to Northern Ireland where I have lived since. It has been many years since I was home but the memories of growing up in that lovely area of Kent stay with me.

Interesting

I lived in Riverhead from when I was 2 until we moved to Sundridge when I was 12. Our house was the one next to the church but hidden by the bus shelter in one of the pictures. Arthur Tye the butcher was my godfather. I also remember the steps up to 'The Heights' - when I was little, I used to watch the dustbins 'walk' up the wall of our back yard.  I went to Amherst Primary School too! Does anyone remember the pageant "Under the Greenwood Tree" in about 1958 or so?

My Best Years

I was born in Tunbridge Wells, but my parents had a flat in Riverhead and we moved to London Road, Riverhead when I was a baby. My grandparents lived at the Heights, next to the church. I remember the steps the way they are in the photograph, but also I remember when there was only the one road through Riverhead and there was a row of houses opposite us which were all pulled down when I was very young and the new through road was built. I went to Amhurst School as did my dad and aunties and my grandfather was a caretaker at the school but sadly he died in 1968. I'm now 53 but love going through Riverhead and seeing the places that were all familiar to me. I remember Mr Tye the butcher and Mr and Mrs Nightingale who had the shoe shop. My own great-grandparents came from Dunton Green where they had a cobblers, they are mentioned in another book about locals and he was known as Snobby Hollands. I used to go and ask for horseshoes at the farriers on the way to school. I belonged to the Brownies in Riverhead and I think everyone knew everyone else, times were good then.

Our first home was in Robyns Way, Riverhead

Elizabeth and I married in 1971 and moved into our first home which we bought together at 21 Robyns Way. From our house we could walk round Pontoise Close and along a path at the edge of a sandpit, past a ramshackle village hall and into this church which we attended frequently. We lived in Riverhead for more than four years and loved the town of Sevenoaks, the local Scout Troop and Cub Pack where we were both leaders, and the Bradbourne Lakes at the end of our back garden. Evntually business took us away from this lovely place and we went to live and work near Glasgow in 1975.

Walking to lunch

When I first started school we would walk up the High Street in a "crocodile" to a cafe were we had our lunch. We then walked back to school for the afternoon lessons.