Redhill Baptist Church

Interesting. I was born in my grandparents house on Ladbroke Road. My parents went to the both the baptist church on London Rd ( I have vague memories of it) and the newer one on Hatchlands. To top it off I also went to Frenches Infants school.Oh, I was also born in 1954. Around 1960/1 my parents moved to Waltham Chase in Hampshire.

How extraordinary! The only thing I remember about the old church in London Road is two old ladies who always sat together called Miss Cook and Miss Barton. While the new church was being built we moved into the Colman Institute on the other side of the road. I went to Sunday School after the new church was open and was taught by Mr Hat. He's still around. Mind you, so are both my parents at 91!
I remember playing with model cars on the hill above the playground at Frenches. I remember Mrs Sharpe who had what we would now call Reception, the Mrs Frances and Mrs Smith was the Headteacher. Although I can't picture you exactly, you might remember that a couple of times I played the piano in assembly at the tender age of 6!

My name is Clive Wilkinson. I went to the Tabernacle in Redhill in the 1940s and 1950s and continued attending for a while when it moved to Hatchlands Road. I also went to Frenches Road Secondary School for a year until I passed the 11+ on the second attempt and went to Reigate Grammar. I remember the Tab well. I used to go there with my father, sister and brother. I also went to the Sunday School there and seem to remember being taught by someone called Gwynneth, and was there someone there called David Kingston, who later went on to be ordainded? My father then took us all to the Reigate Evangelical Free Church on Bell Street, so I lost contact with the Baptist Church. I was born in 1940 and now live at the other end of the country. The building on Hatchlands Road, I recall, was much brighter and less forboding than the old Tab on London Road, which always seemed rather sombre to a nine-year-old lad! I always enjoy the occasional visit back to Redhill and Reigate.