Selling Kent Hop Fields Have Photos

A Memory of Crouch End.

My grandfather Charles samspson started this in 1910 taking. His family hop picking in Kent ,wonderful times his daughter Lavinia my mother married John frances Borgia Dunford in 1918 he was in the Royal Navy First World War was in the black and white minstrels navy band before the First World War,*i was born 18 January 1937 in September 1937 taken to the kent hop fields with my mother ,well one day after picking hops pushing the prom back to the huts ,with me in it a farm horse and cart driven by the farmer hit my pram crushing it, my mother pulled me out just in time but a nail in the horses hoof caught my groin tearing me,the farmer took us quickly to the sittingbourn hospital for operation I still carry the scar ,well the farmer bought my mother a new prom when I came out of hospital ,and gave my mother chocolates saying how sorry he was ,well we went to the hop fields the next year year after until 1947 ,but before that when living down selling you lived in what they called a hut very large one big bed all my older brother were at war but for 4 of us ,so 5 use to sleep on the bed ,there was 9 huts all with mothers with children ,when I was seven the same farmer came to see us and said your son bob I will give him a big bag to collect all the vegetables and fruit for all these nine huts ,every day ,but only for bob,so from that day onwards I found were the potatoes ,carrots ,Swedes ,turnips ,cabbages ,corn on the cob apples .pears ,plums , nuts were ,and filled this bag twice a day ,so at night when all the mothers were by the fire log fire ,we had saucepans forks and knives salt pepper butter,weekends fathers would turn up with meat which we saved ,every night a very good meal was had by all,,I can remember twice german planes came over ,one crashed ,they were happy days ,