Turners Hill, The Village 1895

Photo ref: 35225

I was one of many children evacuated from Balham, London to Turners Hill on 3rd Sept 1939. My first billet was 106 Lion Lane, which at that time was the village sweetshop. How lucky was that. It was owned by Mr & Mrs Terry. They were very kind, but a bit surprised to have two 10 year olds to look after. Unfortunately, Mr Terry suffered bad health, so in June 1940 I moved to the Brackpools residence at 110 ...see more

My paternal great-grandparents used to live in 4 Mantlemass Cottages and I can remember my grand-parents taking me there quite often. I have vivid memories of sitting around the Aga and looking look up the chimney and seeing the sky. I also often used to go across the road to see other relations called the Milhams as the wife Madge was a relative on the Baker side of my family.

As children we were very priviliged to be part of the village community. We spent many carefree hours playing and making camps in the woods and fields, sometimes we would venture further but had to keep a watchful eye for the keepers. I'm sure they knew we were about but most of the time they turned a blind eye. I was fascinated by their traps, they may seem cruel to some these days but they had a duty to look after ...see more

I used to live at Grove Farm Cottages, Paddockhurst Road, Turners Hill. My father was Noel Sargent and worked as a farm employee for Grove Farm which was either managed or owned by a Mr. Hocken. My father's name was Noel, married to Dorothy (daughter to Charles and Elsie Clark of Ardingly). I had 2 brothers, Michael the eldest and Colin the youngest of the trio. My brother Michael also worked as a ...see more