Detling Village

A Memory of Detling.

My brothers and I attended Detling Primary School in the 1970s. Mr. Chidgy was headmaster and lived in the schoolhouse joined onto the main school hall, then later Mr. Cuthbert. We sat on the wooden highly polished floorboards of the victorian school hall floor for assembly, ate our school lunches and had PE lessons in that hall. The inside walls were painted brick above wooden head high wainscotting. I remember the "new" school classrooms and playing filed being built in the late 70's. The whole school closed around 2005 I believe.
The village shop was called "Ratleys" after it's owner and the post office was down the street - now converted into a house or flats.
We had harevst festival and nativity plays in the church presided over by the Reverend Hare. I was married in St. Martins and my father's ashes lie in the churchyard.
There was a police house and we had a village bobby. The Cock Horse had 3 x bars, the public, saloon and another - it was pokey, dark and wonderful.
I remember the road leading from detling hill was still used to turn left down into the village - before they closed it off near the WW11 memmorial and Cock Horse.
The old village hall was like a large wooden shed before they replaced it with the brick built building there now.
Lots of memmories of a very special place.

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