Sonning Mill

Hi Jackie, My name is Barry Noakes and my father also worked at Sonning Mill. I remember your parents very well, and again I remember your father at Sindlesham Mill when I worked there as a van driver. Yes I also remember the Vooghts black dog when I played with one of there sons Christopher it was a dog you kept away from. It might be good to compare other memories, Best Wishes Barry .

Hi my grandfather also worked at sonning mill I think in the 1960s / 70s his name was Thomas Slee he lived in a small cottage with a long garden not far from the mill I think it was 1 Mill Farm Cottage and I do believe that was his last job and he retired there . After coming out the army in 1919 he had worked in different mills all over the country from the 1920s onwards
I no when he did retire they they had to move out of the mill cottage and find a new place to live and they settled for nearby sonning common.
He passed away in 1983 aged 87 if any body did no him from his sonning mill days it would be nice to hear from you.
Chris Robinson

Hello Barry, The only name I can remember from both the mills was a man called Sam who had ginger hair and beard and was a very big man. I'm sure you could jog my memory if you could name a few more. I visited Sonning twice a couple of years ago and desperately wish I could move back!!

Hi Chris,
Yes I knew Tom as he was known very well, I was only a 4 year old boy when our family moved to the Mill Lodge to live. It was a few years later that Tom and his wife moved to the mill, he was a roller man and he was in charge of 2 other men and between them they rolled the wheat into flour, that ment when the mill manager went home he was responsible for the running and production of the mill. He mentioned to me several times about Bideford in Devon, I believe that he grew up there but I am not sure of that which is a pity because for the last 3 years I have lived 6 miles from Bideford, that is a coincidence. As far as I remember Tom was there until the mill was closed when he my father and all the other workers were made redundant. Hope this has been of some interest to you. Best wishes, Barry Noakes.

HI Jackie,
The person who you remember as Sam with a ginger beard is not a person that comes to my mind, may be he worked at Sindlesham mill after I went back to Sonning mill. A few names that come to mind at Sindlesham are the 2 drivers who lived just down from you are Alex Coker and Jack Smith, another, I can only remember his surname was King he was a special constable in his spare time and I believe lived near you. I don't know if you remember me but we lived in the lodge which was next to the mill. There were 2 brothers who lived near you at Sonning they were Ray and Harry Bennet, also some other names are Arthur Green, Sid Lilley, Jeff Coulson, Ray Wiggington, also Tom Slee who lived in what we called the yard where the lorries were kept, I have just repleyed to his grandson, hope some of these can jog your memory. Best wishes to you for 2019, Barry Noakes.

Hi Barry I remember Mr Coker and Mr Smith very well, Mr Coker let me fish for newts in his garden pond when I was a child. Mr Jack King and his wife Queenie lived next door but one, My mother collected one of his dogs from the train station for him as he had her sent from the kennels as a puppy. It is only later that I wondered about their names being a coincidence or nicknames! I also remember the Bennets and Greens and went to school with some of them. I wish you a happy healthy new year.

Hi Barry,
Thank you for your memories of my grandad at Sonning Mill it was nice to hear from somebody who knew him at that time.
Hope you are enjoying life in Devon you are right about Tom he was indeed a Devon man born in Newton Abbot and just before the First World War living in Bovey Tracey indeed his first job in his long mill career was at Bovey roller mill before going into the army in 1914 after the war he worked in various mills until ending his mill career at Sonning.
I am not sure he ever lived at Bideford but I might be wrong as I do have some gaps in his life I do know he had two sisters who lived in North Devon all there life who he used to visit once or twice a year places you might know one sister lived in a village called Weare Gifford the other sister lived in Holsworthy.

Best regards
Chris Robinson