Boyhood Memories

A Memory of Smallfield.

I lived here, Woodside Crescent, from 1958 when I was 2 yrs old to 1967 when our family wanted to see more of the world...so we moved to Horley...oh yes, we got around! Went to school near the village centre and further down Redehall Road. We had walk down to the church hall to have our school dinner. Hartnell's the sweet shop (8 fruit salads for an old penny). The woods seemed vast...gone now. Collecting conkers, hundreds of them, from the trees in Smallfield Place. Walking down to the duckpond with my mum and a slice of bread. She wouldn't stop eating.
The bus-stop near the hospital where there was always mountains of gravel to play in. The ditch where our cat always used to catch the water voles and bring them home. The Cafe opposite the bus stop. My parents always used to send me there to get their fags...Players untipped....was it allowed? No motorway then. The recreation ground. Just a couple of swings, a slide and a roundabout but to us, it was like Thorpe Park.
My most vivid memory is school.....walking to school in the summer. No blazers. Hazy early morning sunshine as all the kids walked up Redehall road in complete safety...hardly any cars on the road.