Abbotsham, St Helen's Church 1890

In 1940 a group of children with ages ranging from about eight to eleven were evacuated from Croydon, (then in Surrey) and taken in by the local populace. I (Les Quilter) and John Durr were billeted at Pusehill Farm with George Bellew, where we spent the next eighteen months. The school in Abbotsham received us and increased the number of pupils attending by quite a number. I suppose the worst memory I have in school ...see more

I lived in Abbotsham from birth in 1947 until we moved away in 1967. I attended the village school from 1952 until 1959. Started in the infants class with Mrs Attenborough then on to the Junior class with the Headmistress, Mrs Cotton. In the Juniors we used to listen to the Schools Radio programmes where we learnt much about History and Geography. Also twice a week were music programmes - Music and Movement ...see more

This photo has brought back so many memories of when I had my summer holidays in the last house before the white houses. There was a gate to the side of the house which lead into a large garden where my grandad grew veg and fruit, and the chickens from the farm behind walked around the garden. I loved to play in the sheds in the garden and pick the peas for dinner. The days would be filled ...see more

At the side of the Post Office is a single track lane that leads to the cliffs, half a mile along the lane past the farm was a large thatched cottage named "Rixlade". In 1957 our father Major William (Bill) Hay was stationed as O.C. at Fremington camp near Barnstaple, from our home town of Aldershot in Hampshire. As a southern townie from the London commuter belt moving to the quiet but ...see more