Ide Hill
Ide Hill maps (2 available)
Map of Kent
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
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Ide Hill books (30 available)
- 1 photos on Ide Hill appear in 1 Frith books - View photos of Ide Hill
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Ide Hill and Kent
Ide Hill memories
Read and share memories of Ide Hill and Kent inspired by Frith photos
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 ...read more here
Contributed by Aubrey Wood
Kent memories
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 ...read more here
A memory of Ide Hill contributed by Aubrey Wood
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.
A memory of Riverhead contributed by John Howard Norfolk
Family connections.
One of my brothers worked at the fish shop 'Packman's' next to the greengrocers and the lady with the pushchair and small child is my sister-in-law and her children.
A memory of Sevenoaks contributed by Mr AR Norman
Extracts From Ide Hill & Kent books
This small hamlet, with its modest houses clustered around a village green, was known as ‘the dome of Kent’ from a crown of beech trees surmounting its position high up on the sandstone ridge overlooking the Weald of Kent. The little general store, on the right, with its chewing gum machines and daily newspaper placards around the entrance, was a valued local amenity.
An extract from from"Kent Living Memories".
The shingled spire of St Mary the Virgin stands out among the stunning views of this small village. The church was built in 1807, and aimed at serving a population of just under a thousand at that time. Its architecture is deemed modern compared to many other Kent places of worship that began life in Norman times.
An extract from from"Kent Revisited Photographic Memories".
In 1933, 70 acres of chalk
downland were acquired by
Chatham and Gillingham
councils to create this
beautiful open countryside
nature reserve between the
two towns. The local wildlife
includes several species of
orchids and butterflies. At
the centre of this picture,
we can see the horses of
travellers whose mobile
homes are among the trees.
An extract from from"Chatham and the Medway Towns Photographic Memories".
The bus advertises Fremlins’
ales outside the Red Lion,
a Style & Winch house of
flamboyant grandeur, but
now no more, sad to say.
There are now traffic lights
and a great deal more
traffic where this policeman
stands on point duty at the
junction of High Street with
Corporation Street (left) and
Star Hill (right).
An extract from from"Chatham and the Medway Towns Photographic Memories".
The virtual absence of
motor traffic suggests that
this photograph may have
been taken in 1956, during
the Suez Crisis petrol
rationing, which did not
end until the following year.
The restrained architecture
of The Eagle Tavern
contrasts with that of both
the Town Hall and the
Chatham Constitution Club
on the right of this picture.
An extract from from"Chatham and the Medway Towns Photographic Memories".