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West Stratton
West Stratton maps
Historic maps of West Stratton and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all West Stratton maps
West Stratton photos
We have no photos of West Stratton, although we do have photos of these nearby places:
Micheldever| Brown Candover| Preston Candover| Itchen Abbas| Kings Worthy| Abbots Worthy| Overton| Freefolk| Upper Wield| Headbourne Worthy| Alresford| Whitchurch| Oakley| Weeke
West Stratton area books
Displaying 1 of 22 books about West Stratton and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of West Stratton
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Hampshire memories
Granny's Home
The Micheldever cottage with the steps facing the camera is where my mother Evelyn Rogers (nee Chalk) grew up with her brothers Alfred and Charles, and sisters Maude, Ivy, Kate (Kit) and later Ruby Hansford. Henry Arthur Gale Chalk was my mother's father who died in 1908, the year she was born. My granny Elizabeth remarried to Arthur Hansford in 1912.
We believe that the cottage was originally called Tudor Cottage, with the corner cottage in the foreground being the Post Office cottage in later years, its entrance being at the side through the gate.
My sister Ruby visited and stayed in the cottage in the 1930's and 40's but I only have memories of several visits in the 1950's as a small boy and that it seemed a long walk from the station.
My Nan's Cottage
The cottage in Church St was my nan's, Mrs Elsie Collins, she died about 1969. I remember staying with her when I was little. I haven't been back since she died. I believe a neighbour bought it and converted it into one cottage. I remember the old black range and 2 kettles, little john and big john, and the front door key was about 6 inches long, and granddad going out the back field and collecting mushrooms for breakfast.
My Aunt Lived Here
My Aunt Clarice and Uncle Keith Symes live in Micheldever in the early 1960s, I used to go there on holiday, I remember going to the river and collecting cress off the water, there was tons of it. I believe they lived in the Forge, I believe Keith's father and brother worked in the smithy.
Brightwells Cottage
In 1979 my then boyfriend and I viewed Brightwells Cottage in The Square at Sutton Scotney. It was, to put it bluntly, a hovel ... mud floors, lead covered wiring, an Elsan Toilet and holes in the thatch, but we loved it. The lady who was selling the place was at that time living in a care-assisted bungalow in South Wonston, we'd made an offer through the estate agents but had been rejected. On visiting her and convincing her that we wanted to restore the cottage to its former glory, she insisted that the agents sell it to us for the princely sum of £11,500.
Six months later we had the home of our dreams, a beautiful cottage with all the mod cons but still retaining its character. The people in the village were so welcoming and I for one was very sad to leave in 1983 when we decided to move back to Andover.
Village Life
We first lived in White Cottages, when I was about 2, my dad Des Brown worked as a dairyman on the farm, and my mother Audrey cleaned for a Mrs Henshaw. When I was 4/5 we moved up the road to 3 Wheatley Close, next door to Mrs Bond and Mrs Ayres, and went to the village school, the head was Mrs Tanner, she had a dog called Lucky. My teacher was Mrs Haycock, she would pick me up from my gate and take me to school, as I didn't want to go, I preferred playing in the fields, or helping my dad on the farm. I remember coming back from a Christmas party one evening, and Teddy Ayres said that there were big holes under the tunnel (they were puddles really) and I wouldn't go under, my dad had to carry me, the tunnel was pitch black in those days.
Preston Candover School House
I lived, with my parents and brother and sister, in the 'School House' from 1956-1963. My mother [Mrs Maud Slater] was one of the teachers and taught in the school until her retirement in 1978. The school and house were demolished in 1963/4 when a new school was built. Although for much of my life in PC I was at boarding school /the army I have wonderful memories of my boyhood in the fields and woods around the village and the happy hours spent working, during the harvest, on Manor Farm for 2/- [10p] per hour. My last,passing,visit to PC was in 1997 when I noticed a marked change in the character of the village from agricultural [in the 50'/60s most, if not all, of the cottages were 'tied'] to a residential/commuter community. In 1961 I can only think of one commuter-Mr Paul of North Hall.
The Thatched Cottage
We lived in a thatched cottage just out of the village, there was a farm nearby where my dad worked. I used to go to St Mary's Church on Sundays. I attended Perins School. I had a friend who lived on the housing estate in the village, her name was Susan Dickins or Dickinson, she had a older sister Margaret. After all these years does anyone remember her?
