Merebrook

A Memory of Dormans Park.

We lived at Merebrook, Dormans Park for ten years from around 1952. My parents were Lilian and Peter Deverall and we were five children - Clive, Michele, Camilla, Nicolas and Louise. We lived next door to the Samsons - also a large family - Larry and June and children, Nicky, Penny, Jacky, ricky and Kim. On the other side were the Turners - Charles, Jamie and Hukin. Their house was called Falacre. We also knew the Wards, the Gilberts, the Slipners - who were American and lived at Eden Vale before the Samsons with their grand daughter Michele. I went to school at Little Felcourt and then Highfield. We walked to the bottom of the road and across the fields to catch the bus at Charters Towers to Lingfield Road East Grinstead - we'd get off and buy a cream doughnut for 1 penny at the bakers.

The Slanns lived opposite at Badmington Hall. We were told that the Park was built for the Prince of Wales who kept more than one of his mistresses there but Ive just learned that it was built by the Bellagio company who didn't make a great success of the idea of free membership of a Club. We had huge difficulty selling the house in the sixties as people didn't want old houses with tall ceilings, preferring the modern houses that were being built. In the end the price was dripped to 5000 which was around half of the asking price. It was sold to a Professor Mischon from the London School of Economics.

The upstairs rooms were hauned by Old Annie who must have been an old governess or something as she only came into the smaller dressing rooms when you were sick. Strange!

We would wonder all over the place on foot or on our bikes. It was a lovely place to live.

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