Living Near Sittingbourne

A Memory of Sittingbourne.

Living in the outlying village of Doddington, Sittingbourne was our nearest town for shopping, services and entertainment. My Parents ran a children's home in Doddington at the top of Chequers Hill from about 1949 to about 1965. My first school was a private house in Sittingbourne, I am unable to remember the name of the lady who ran it. At the age of 7 years I started attending Doddington County Primary School. My early memories are of travelling to and from Sittingbourne on a bus, I think there were three a day. I went with a friend to see Solomon and Sheba at The Odeon cinema but could not stay to see the end as we needed to catch the last bus home! We also went regularly to the Queens cinema. I learnt to swim at the swimming baths in Sittingbourne, each lesson finished with a cup of hot Bovril. When I was accompanied by my mother we used to walk there and back (6 miles each way). I also remember Mr Tidy the hairdresser, Woolworths where I had a Christmas holiday job when I was 15, a toy shop, a departmental store (was it Hubbards?) where my mother used to take her nylons for repair and the Westminster Bank where my father collected the staff wages and where I took my money box which could only be opened by the bank clerk. I have never been back since leaving Doddington but expect it to be completely different now. I wonder if anyone else remembers the places I have mentioned.

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