Boxfields My Birthplace

A Memory of Hawthorn.

I was born in a prefab at Boxfields in November 1943. I have a brother Dave who was 13 years old when I was born. My parents were Olive and Edgar Poole and they came to live at Boxfields from Epsom in Surrey after my brother had been evacuated to my aunts in Midsomer Norton 18 months earlier to escape the bombing. After the war they decided that the area needed a Fish and Chip shop as there were no take aways within five miles at least and very few people had cars. But the local council were against the idea at first and refused a licence, so my mother went knocking doors at every house in the area and got people to sign a petition backing the plan. Eventually they were granted the licence, despite having no previous experience in the trade, and needed to find a place to have it. They leased a piece of land next to the grocery shop and my father and grandfather built a Fish and Chip Shop from scratch. They opened it when I was about 8 years old and ran it until 1968 when the whole estate was to be demolished and everyone was rehoused in Rudloe or Corsham. It was a lock up shop so every evening at approx 10.30 they would walk home carrying the days takings in a cloth bag and not once in 25 years did they get robbed, and only once did the shop get broken into! How times have changed! We lived at 97 Southlands and our back garden was opposite Tunnel Inn Cottages which were occupied by Mr & Mrs Pinker, Mrs Rogers and Miss Wilkins. It was three seperate homes in those days.
There was a genuine sense of community and a real village atmosphere at Boxfields and the Community Centre was exactly that. It was used for Doctors surgeries, baby clinics,brownies, cubs, dance classes, shows, youth clubs and live bands and jiving at the weekends during the 50s/60s. There was a strict rule of NO ALCOHOL but we still had a great time, all organised by a local resident Mr Arthur Larkin. My husband Terry grew up in Box, we met at Boxfields youth club, we
have been married 50 years and have lived in Highlands Close, Rudloe for 40 of them.