Knowlton, Kent

The Pantomime at the Welfare Hall

My mum was called Jill Drake and my dad was Bob Drake and he worked down the pit.  We lived in St Johns Road and I remember that I was about 7 when the Elvington Players was first launched.  The Pantomime was Mother Goose and somewhere I have a photo of it which I will try and find it. It was... [more]

The Toll House

I am looking into my ancestry, and find relatives on the 1861 census living at the Toll House, Eastry, can any one tell me if it still stands today and are there any pictures of it?
Thank-you
Elspeth

'Tewkesbury c.1750'

We are just about to move hopefully into Tewkesbury, Mill Lane, Eastry, it sits in front of the Smock Mill up the lane directly opposite the newer houses. The house itself has a white picket fence around the front it is detached and painted cream with black surround to the front door and windowsills. There is a plaque on the front... [more]

1950s

I have three connections with Eastry - when I worked with Lamberts Laundries we served the Clarks of Eastry. I also visited the chapel as lay-preacher, and a forebear of my family was one time resident shoemaker at The Union.

In the days before washing machines we had numerous customers in Eastry and it was all day round. A... [more]

Clark and Butcher Families

Hi, I'm very interested in Carolle's Ladd family memories as mine are so similar. You see photograph No. 2 of the High Street; the buildings to the left are Clark & Son's shops and the old house between them where my mother, Mabel Clark, was born. (Actually I think this photo was taken a few years earlier - see... [more]

Ladd Family 1878

My grandfather Ernest Ladd, born Eastry 1878, is buried in the churchyard. Although as a child when visiting my grandmother we would tend the grave and put flowers on it, I only have a vague recollection of its location. My mother and father were married at the church in 1938 (at that time the family lived next to the Andrews family... [more]

my Dad's childhood

My Dad was a member of the church choir here when he was a child. Gerald Fuller is his name but he left the village around the age of 16. His parents continued to live in Eastry with their other children, Hazel, Brian and Chris. Dad immigrated to Melbourne, Australia were he met my mother and had my sister Amanda and... [more]