A Great Place To Live

A Memory of Buckhurst Hill.

Having been born and brought up in Buckhusrt Hill in the 1960s and 1970s and 1980s and now living in Kent, it reminds me what a unique place it once was. My immediate memories are of Lords Bushes and living in Forest Edge, I was lucky enough to live opposite this lovely part of Epping Forest. I also remember attending Buckhurst Hill County Primary School in Princes Road and being part of its centenary celebration in 1971. They don't make schools like that anymore! Queens Road was a delightful shopping centre to visit with no big name shops and many family businesses - not like the designer, no prices in the window, boutique type shops of today - and I particularly remember Broomes the newsagents, Metson's the school outfitters, Rorke's the tobacconist and sweet shop, Sorrels the greengrocers, the Loreli restaurant, Warwick's the hardware store, Pang's the Chinese, Silks and Moore's the newsagents, Murray's and Hobley's the bakers shops, Piggott's the butchers, O'Dell's the greengrocers, Relaible Radio, and even a transport cafe whose name I think was Oasis.
I also remember the brickfields and the River Roding where many a happy childhood memory comes from, both playing and fishing. There was also a Victorian bottle dump along the banks of the Roding, but I think this would have come under Woodford Bridge. Knighton pond was another childhood favourite fishing for sticklebacks, and I recall getting conkers from the vast array of Horse Chestnut trees opposite St John's Church, with one particular tree seeming to supply the largest conkers I've ever seen. Moving on from childhood, and I remember my local pubs being the Prince of Wales in Buckhurst Way where I played pool regularly with a great group of people. Then moving on to The Bald Faced Stag where winter drinking had its hazards walking down Queens or Princes Road in frost or snow and trying to stay on your feet! My father has recently moved into a nursing home in Kent, but up until then I was still a regular visitor to Buckhust Hill and the surrounding areas that I knew and loved. It no longer has the character it once had, but it's still a good place to live if you have the money to do so.

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