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Tillington
Tillington maps
Historic maps of Tillington and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Tillington maps
Tillington area books
Displaying 1 of 24 books about Tillington and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Tillington
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Tillington.
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Mother's Memory
Thinking that my mother always lived in and around Kidderminster, I was surprised to discover her mother had died in West Sussex. I did some research and found Mum and her siblings attended Tillington school. The school register was interesting reading, on 22 September 1927 the school nurse visited and Frances (my mum) and her sister Edith were sent home for having dirty heads. I remember Aunt Edith and Mum telling me they were sent home because they had nits and the walk home was up a big hill and it took ages to get home. My mum was 8 and her sister 10, not somthing we would do today. It does seem strange that nits are reported in the school register but not their mother's death 4 weeks later. Their mother died in the workhouse, Budgenor Lodge, Easebourne.
West Sussex memories
Petworth Mill
My grandparents Hylands live in the millhouse at Petworth. When I was a child, after moving from a farm at Sutton my grandad Bill worked for the mill driving a flour lorry and nan Olive used to sell tickets to men wnting to fish along the the river. I loved staying there, trying to catch fish in the big millpond with our nets. I remember the millpond used to swell and come up over the road, sandbags were put up to stop it going into the cottage. There was a man who lived in a caravan a bit further down from the mill cottage, I used to think it strange he would empty a bowl into the millpond every morning, lol. When Nan and Grandad moved in there wasn't a bathroom and we had to go down a corridor at the back to use the loo, a wooden seat with a hole in it, and chamberpots at night, until a bedroom was turned into a bathroom. I remember roaming the... Read more
Childhood
We took the steam train to Selham station and walked across the fields to our destination . My gran and step grandad lived in a little cottage called Smokey Hole in Selham. My granddad worked at a farm called Konigs (Conigs - not sure of the spelling) along the lane. I have been trying to find this location as I want to revisit. I remember being bathed in a tub and a long walk to the outside toilet down the garden. The harvesting, where all the rabbits ran out of the field across from the cottage and most met their demise by the local farmers. There was a stream in a field alongside the cottage and my cousin and I used to play in that, swing on a rope tied with a knot. All very happy memories of a five year old, but sadly only one photograph of myself standing on the cottage fence, none of the cottage itself.
The Old Bakery
The building in the distance is the old bakery. When I was a child/teenager (in the 1960s) my grandparents (Bert and Annie Hurd) lived in a cottage just behind where this picture was taken, and whenever we visited them we would go down to the bakery to see their friends Mr and Mrs Shoubridge (and Joyce Gumbrill who ran it and the little shop. Mr Shoubridge used to bake fresh bread daily in the oven which was heated by burning bundles of small branches called faggots. Then the ashes were raked out and the bread/cakes were baked in the oven by the residual heat. My memory says that one of the houses on the right of the picture was occupied by one Dr Death, but I cannot swear to that.
Chelsea Cottage (used to be Bridgers Cottage)
I used to have holidays in Graffham with my Great-Aunt, Lottie Bridger. We loved climbing the hill; collecting eggs from the chickens and even the adventure of visiting the outside toilet. My family lived in Graffham, going right back to the 1500s, and I still have a wonderful feeling when I visit the village. My aunt had no running water, except in the wash house outside, where the washing had to be boiled in a copper. Earlier than that, water was collected from the well in the front garden, which is now cemented over. Her father, James Bridger built the tiny chapel by the side of Ladywell Cottage. He was a non conformist and wanted to worship in his own way. When he died of diphtheria, after nursing his son Harry, who had the same illness, he was carried into the chapel, which he loved. We used to shop in the Post Office which is now... Read more
Four Years Old or So........
My parents worked for Mr & Mrs Agar, Beechwood, Lavington Park, Petworth, Sussex. Mrs. Agar's name was Barbara. They had a town house near Berkeley Square, London W.1. I remember living there more than in Sussex. However, I recall a sense of freedom as a 3 or 4 yr. old, only child while at Beechwood. Also, I remember lots of trees and country roads. Good memories! I hope to some day visit & perhaps see the home we resided in on occasion. Mr & Mrs. Agar were wonderful employers, I recall my parents comments about them. We returned to Ireland in Oct .1951, I needed to enroll in school. The baby boom was on and to enroll in school in England was difficult as we were not English citizens, plus Mom & Dad thought we should get closer to family again. I am much older now & live in the USA, the state of Nebraska to be exact. ... Read more
I Was Cross!
Having spent a beautiful morning walking around Surrey, we decided to visit villages with stupid names. We ended up at Balls Cross. Balls Cross consists of a house, 2 cars, a public bin and grass. No Balls and certainly no crossing - absolutely hopeless. If anybody is looking for villages in the UK with stupid names - I would avoid this one - there is nothing to see. (Plus I needed the toilet badly - not even a coffee shop - useless!)
