Ightham, Kent

Housemaid at Ightham Mote

This memory is not mine, but that of my mother in law, Beatrice, nee Head. She grew up in the Girls Training Home in Boxley Road Maidstone until she was 14 when she had to go 'into service'. One of her first jobs was as a housemaid at Ightham Mote where she also looked after the two little boys belonging to the family. Unfortunately she no longer remembers the family name but says they were very kind. She remembers that the house was 'very big' and that she had to cross a wooden bridge to get to the house. I wonder if anyone else remembers working there in the early 1930s, or if anyone can remember the name of the family.

The Village Square

This view was seen by me every day that I went to school at Judd School in Tonbridge. I caught the bus here. There were two bus routes through the village - Number 9 which ran from Maidstone to Sevenoaks and operated by Maidstone & District - and the number 122 which was operated by Southdown and ran from Gravesend to Brighton. Both buses arrived in the village on the hour.  I lived at Cobtree Cottage at the top of the village next to the Village Hall and the builders yard of F & G King who were related to me.  I was in the church choir for many years and joined the RAF in 1951 following in the footsteps of my brother who was a pilot but was unfortunately killed in Malaya in 1952 and his name appears on the rear side of the memorial. A very happy childhood spent in this beautiful village. I now live in Canada and sincerely hope that the village will not change too much with the passing of time.

I have an old postcard of this same image!

Hello.
I have just found an old postcard of this image! It belonged to my late great aunt's husband. I'd love to hear your stories if you lived in this village around this time or have a relative who did!

Ightham 1960s

Interesting to see this picture though I don't think that by the 1960s Ightham was ever this free of traffic except early in the morning.

The building in the centre of the picture was a petrol station and provider of all sorts of bits and pieces. Was it run by Mr Arthur? My father would drive down there (with me in tow) to find whatever he needed to keep the lawnmower and other garden equipment going as well as getting a can of two stroke fuel. Possibly our mini is in the picture (but not if this was taken early in the morning).

Mrs Cox ran the newsagents, just out of picture to the left and there was still a butcher, and a general store in the village. And of course two pubs. I think only the two pubs survive today.

Kent Revisited Photographic Memories

This 14th-century building with its 15 bedrooms and ancient halls boasts a fascinating list of owners including knights, MPs, sheriffs and businessmen. Mystery surrounded the old mote when a skeleton was discovered bricked up in a wall. In 1900 the house belonged to Sir Thomas Colyer-Ferguson. In 1953 it belonged to an American, Charles Henry Robinson, who bequeathed it to the National Trust in 1985.

Kent A Century Ago Photographic Memories

This delightful rambling village acquired its name from the Saxon king Ehta, or Otha’s settlement. But nearby Oldbury Hill has traces of Neanderthal hunters and an Iron Age fort on its slopes. For many years the village shop here in Ightham was kept by Benjamin Harrison, who achieved international recognition in the Victorian era for his archaeological work in this area. He died in 1921 at the age of eighty-four, and is commemorated in a tablet in the local church.

Victorian and Edwardian Kent Photographic Memories

This delightful rambling village acquired its name from the Saxon king Ehta, or Otha’s settlement. But nearby Oldbury Hill has traces of Neanderthal hunters and an Iron Age fort on its slopes. For many years the village shop here in Ightham was kept by Benjamin Harrison, who achieved international recognition in the Victorian era for his archaeological work in this area. He died in 1921 at the age of eighty-four, and is commemorated in a tablet in the local church.