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Toppesfield
Toppesfield maps
Historic maps of Toppesfield and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Toppesfield maps
Toppesfield area books
Displaying 1 of 18 books about Toppesfield and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Toppesfield
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Toppesfield.
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My Father
My father Ollie Frank Letch was born at Gainsford End, Toppesfield in 1907. His parents were Harry William Letch and Ellen Ruth (nee Teader). In later life my father was also known as Cyril. I believe the family also lived at Morris Green and Hawks Hall, Sible Hedingham. They were horse keepers on farms and labourers I believe. I wonder if anyone has memories of his family and where they lived at Gainsford End. My father also had a sister Irene and an older brother Cecil William who was born in 1903.
Birthplace of my Grandfather
On 5 August 1885 my grandfather, Edward Bentall Collis, was born at Hall Farm, Toppesfield. Edward was the fourth child of David Taylor and Julia Anna Collis.
I have visited Toppesfield twice and have been unable to locate Hall Farm. On my last visit, some three years ago, it was suggested to me that Berwick Hall was Hall Farm back in 1885.
Can anyone confirm for me that this is correct.
Essex memories
GREAT YELDHAM 50+ YEARS AGO
Born in Chelmsford in 1946 I grew up in Gt. Yeldham but after a career in the Fleet Air Arm the flying side of the Royal Navy I settled in Somerset. The small town where I now reside though quite away from the coast is close to a Royal Naval Air Station at which I served. I married a Yeldham girl and as I mentioned we live in Somerset.
As a child I lived at the top of Oaker Hill on the Ridgewell road and opposite the entrance to the RAF station. Father was a porter at Yeldham station before becoming a platelayer for BR and ending up as a Signalman at Birdbrook station. We moved to the Croft when it was built I think in the 1950s and would go by bus to Hedingham Secondary Modern School. Mother was a Post Lady and also helped run the library as a volunteer.
I can remember Highfields being built as some of it was directly behind our house in The Croft... Read more
Where I Grew Up.
I lived most of my life in Sible Hedingham, as a family we moved there from London in 1962. I was just 2 years old at the time. My father Robert Farren, "Bob" as he was best known and my mother Ivy, took over the licence of The White Lion, Church Street. Growing up I never imagined that I would ever live anywhere but there. My parents retired after 28 years behind the bar.
The White Lion can be seen in picture S276003 of Church Street, it is the second building on the right hand side of the photograph. The first building is, or I should say was a General Store. You could buy just about anything there from linens, clothing and yarn to cheese and sugar. It closed somewhere around 1972 and was turned into a private residence. The Lion was originally a workhouse and had several cottages on the premises, two of which I can still remember - they were in what is now the car park.... Read more
Growing up in Wonderland
In the mid and late forties I attended Kingsmuir Boarding School in what is known today as Alderford Grange. It was owned and mastered by Ms Francis. We were told that the building had once been the Inn attached to the Bell PH next door. During my attendance the interior was extensively rebuilt, even the deep wooden sink in the kitchen was replaced, along with the ancient lath and plaster walls. While leveling the interior open patio, at the end of the "kitchen" garden, the workmen's tools literally fell through the floor. The hole turned out to be part of the cellar of the adjacent pub. One wall was lined with hundreds of pewter mugs, all had broken glass bottoms. Next day they had all disappeared and later the hole was filled as part of the remodeling. The nearby malt house was then a warehouse full of wooden doors and window frames. These were removed thus restoring the interior to its original state, including the... Read more
Richard Moss, Samuel Nott b. 1811?
Ancestors Richard Moss and his cousin Samuel Nott were from Sible Hedingham according to the 1841 and 1851 census. Richard was a brick maker and carter. Are there any traces of these family still in the village? They relocated to Rotherham before 1840 but I'd like to trace Richard's ancestors.
Church Street
My name is Jan Scott nee Boreham, my father's name was Peter and my mother's name was Elsie, my brother's name Andy. We too lived in Church Street in the Cottages opposite the White Lion and next door to Mr & Mrs Yeldham, and my mother used to work at the stores across the road then called Cloughleys. I remember the Farrant family very well, in fact Sue lived next door to us in Park Fields when we moved into our new home in the early 1970s. So many memories, I love this picture of Church Street...
