Childhood In Hascombe During Wartime.

A Memory of Hascombe.

I was born in 2 Pound Cottages in 1940. It was the home of my maternal grandparents Arthur John and Katie May Street. He was a gardener who worked for Col. Harper at Lamberts. I recall a house in Godalming that was hit by a bomb and being embarrassed by furniture on view! There was a lone grave in what is now the churchyard extension at St Peter's of a German airman who had been found dead on Hascombe Hill. I am told that his body has since been returned to his family. Nurse Caines exercising her goats on their leads was a frequent sight if one were walking in the countryside. She ministered to me when my grandfather's terrier bit my wrist. I remember my grandfather made me a little wheelbarrow and small tools and the family stitched dungarees with seed packets attached to take part in a village fancy dress competition. A celebration was held at The Raswell for either VE or VJ day with fireworks and in my agitation I clasped the hand of a complete stranger! In those days, there was a second pub - The Royal Oak - in the centre of the village. My memories are of Ron and Molly Hoare running the White Horse and later I played with Rosemary, their daughter. She is alive, well and married near Wolverhampton now. My aunt, Vi Street, did domestic work at the pub on giving up her job at Dunsfold Aerodrome to look after her father when my grandmother died in 1950.
The scene in your photo has changed little. There is a wide sweep of carpark opposite the White Horse as conservation area status has made the village a popular eating place and magnet for walkers and horseriders. Some of the pub's back garden has been surfaced as well.TIt is still the bus stop. The most striking change is the restoration of the pond by the church in memory of Daisy Coote, the dedicated school mistress. She always remembered my birthday which fell a day after her own on St George's Day even when my family moved away. In those days, Miss Musgrave who lived opposite the church was a terrifying lady to youngsters and caught me rearranging flowers in the churchyard, trying to share them with graves that had none once! She played the organ for services until very old. It is lovely that St Peter's has been restored so carefully - I can still recall the fishing net design on the walls of the nave in very poor and damp state.
Jean Waddington