School Years

A Memory of Kenardington.

I lived at Glebe House. I went to the primary school at Warehorne, the very strict head was Miss Sane (later to become Mrs Buxton) and my teacher was Miss Small. Most of Kenardington's children including myself got taken to school in Mr. Worsely's Taxi, a very old taxi that smelt of real leather. He used to be strict and would threaten to 'box your ears' if you didn't sit still. Manor farm was a beautiful mixed farm that housed every farm animal and at that time was tenanted by Mr. White who had a son called Alexander. I used to visit him at the farmhouse and watch 'Champion the Wonder Horse'. Steam trains used to run by at the crossing and my friend Linda's father, Mr. Kinane, used to be the crossing keeper. His wife used to take us to the cinema in Ashford and for this we would have to walk down the line to Appledore to catch the train! You could see the steam trains passing through the countryside from the windows of Glebe House in those days. I went to Sunday school at St. Mary's and we would often attend christenings beforehand. Mrs. Reynolds used to help my mother and her husband would often decorate for us although I think he was employed as a policeman. My parents had a fete in the garden to raise money for the social hall. The actor Thorley Waters opened the fete. I remember once a tractor driver was killed in the field next to our house, his coat had got caught in the mechanism. I wish I knew his name. As children we would walk for miles across the marsh and often would be gone all day, sometimes getting lost and not being able to cross the dykes and get home and we would have to find a longer way round. We collected sheep's wool and would stick it to soles to put in our wellingtons to keep our feet warm in winter. I have many happy memories of our life in Kenardington although we only lived there for two years, but I was smitten with the place and have visited every year for the last 50 years. The Altunians lived there after us for about 18 years. My father bought the house from two retired farmers, I don't know their names. I would love to know who lived there during both the World Wars or if anyone has any photos at all that they don't want I would love to have them.

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