A Baby Boomer's Memories Of Groombridge

A Memory of Groombridge.

I was born in 1947 and as a baby lived for a short time with my parents at Leyswood Lodge south of the village. My family on my mother's side had lived in Groombridge for many, many years and I was the first of the fifth generation of the family to live there. In 1948 we moved into a brand new council house in Gromenfield. Many children lived in Gromenfield in those days, mainly the children of railway workers, so there were many friends to play with. We attended St Thomas; Primary School where Miss Agnes Rae was the headmistress, There were two other teachers, Mrs Scott and Miss Druitt. The older children attended either Groombridge Secondary School or East Grinstead Grammar School if they had passed their 11 plus. Our playground was the countryside all around the village that included Harrisons Rocks where we would collect bottles left by climbers that we would return to the local shops and claim back the deposits for pocket money. It was just a wonderful place to grow up. We would go scrumping in the orchards around the village. There was one orchard in the field between the recreation ground and Groombridge Place lake, another in a field just before Birchden Farm on the High Rocks Road and yet another over the wooden bridge in the Back Lane, all now gone. At the end of the summer the villagers would go hop picking in the hop fields around the village, and the children were very much involved, so much so that the schools in the area returned later after the summer holiday than other schools. so the hops could be picked. We loved damming up the streams and ditches around the village and the cardinal sin was to return home with wet wellington boots. Roller skating and playing marbles in Gromenfield were other things we enjoyed. We had freedom today's children could only dream of. We made bows, arrows and catapults and honed our skills at using them. We carried knives for cutting branches to make our bows, arrows and catapults. They were also used to carve our initials in trees and rocks but unlike today we would never have considered using them as weapons.
The Baby Boomers of Groombridge like myself were extremely privileged to grow up where and when they did.
Keith Grose

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