Cluggies Pond

A Memory of Cobham.

I obviously don't remember the common in 1911, but I did live in Old Common Road number 15 from about 1943 until 1955. Where the children are sitting was The Common, and a herd of Fresion cows were often grazed there. Old Common Road ran parallel to the path running past what my mates and I called Cluggies pond, so called because the house behind the pond was owned by a Guy we think was German, and his name was something like Klugmann if I remember correctly. In the spring we would collect frogspawn from the pond, and in the Winter when it froze over,which it often did in that era, we would slide on it, trying to get off of the slide before we got to the deep part of the pond towards the back as the ice was always thinner there and therefore more chance of breaking through it and falling in. November 5th was always a big occasion on the common and us boys would have collected old furniture, cut down trees, and done everything we could to make the biggest bonfire for miles around. The only village which was ever able to compete with us was Riply, which was a few miles away. Occasionally, neighboring gangs would come in the night and set fire to it so we would have to start all over again. A few years when we had an exceptionally large fire, our parents and grandparents would patrol late into the night to ensure we were not raided. Happy memories....