Clark And Butcher Families

A Memory of Eastry.

Hi, I'm very interested in Carolle's Ladd family memories as mine are so similar. You see photograph No. 2 of the High Street; the buildings to the left are Clark & Son's shops and the old house between them where my mother, Mabel Clark, was born. (Actually I think this photo was taken a few years earlier - see the old fashioned pram outside Pittock's the butcher shop.) The smaller shop nearest the camera became Eastry Post Office about 1955. In 1955 I was 17, so I think Elizabeth Andrews will remember me and my younger brothers. We then lived down Woodnesborough Lane at Lane House. This was right opposite the Eastry Caves and I spent summer 1955 acting as tour guide.
In 1957 my Uncle, Phil Clark, retired from the grocery side of the business but remained Postmaster with Margatet Bullock as principal assistant. My parents then owned the grocery store and the family moved to live in the old Clark house.
Carolle remembers hufkins and that proves she really knows Eastry. I believe hufkins were only made by Deverson's and Clark's bakeries in Eastry and some other small bakeries in nearby villages such as Best's at Adisham. I don't think you could even find a baker in Sandwich or Deal who knew how! Who invented them?
The Clark family first came to Eastry in 1826 as Millers; their principal windmill still stands converted to a private house. You can see this in other photos. The Clarks were key members of the Baptist Chapel where we had a large Sunday School. They had cousins who were Engineers and built a large Engineering Works - the business went bankrupt and eventually the building was converted to be Eastry Village Hall. It was also the Infants School where I commenced my education on 5th January 1943 . . . so, perhaps that's why I became an Engineer!

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