My Memories of Hildenborough by Roger Hayward
I was born in Cornwall in 1942 and lived there until just
after the war. My mother is Cornish and my father has Cornish blood although he
was brought up in London.
Although I have some vague recollection of being taken into a cupboard under the stairs during an air raid, my first true recollection is also of the winter of 1947. My parents and I, plus my sister who was born in 1944, moved up to Wells Cottage in Leigh Road in 1946. During that winter a large oak fell across the road about 100 yards below us. I remember well my father and grandfather spending the day logging up as much wood as possible for the fires.
In 1947 I started school at Hildenborough. My mother walked with me on my first morning but thereafter I and my friend June Summers were put in the care of her older brother Marshall who may not have been too happy with those duties. I would walk up and back each day and never once had a lift by car. During the summer we would walk back across the fields from the footpath alongside Masters café which was opposite The Half Moon, or alternatively walk through the New Road woods. Going back further, my mother tells me that she and her friends had to walk about four miles each way to their primary school.
In later years I would cycle the mile or so even though it meant going up the A21. In those days it was much safer but there was one tragedy. A younger boy named Andrew Pirie was killed as he crossed the road at the Dutchman and this accident resulted in a zebra crossing.
Our holidays were always two weeks with my Grandparents in Cornwall. This involved the long drive down before the days of motorways. Normally my father would drive to work in London on Friday lunchtime. He would finish at about 9pm, by which time my mother and sister and I would have gone up by train to join him. My sister and I were then laid down in the car with our feet in the boot whilst Dad set off on the 300 mile trek. On the only occasion that we drove directly from home in an old convertible BSA, the big end went on the Basingstoke By-pass. Dad was a capable mechanic and began repairing it himself. He drained the oil, took out the big end and the piston attached and then put it all back together before limping back to Hildenborough on three cylinders. We went to Cornwall the next day by train. The holidays were always great from my point of view because the nearest beach was only about two miles away which was ideal for cricket (and swimming and rock climbing. )
My life at Wells Cottage was very happy. I had a huge garden to play in, and when that palled I would wander off over the fields as far as The Old Barn in one direction and over and beyond Meopham Bank in another. Wildlife in abundance and the chance to learn independence which children today are not allowed when cooped up in a 4x4 ferrying them everywhere. I would go off without my mother knowing where, but my appetite ensured that I came back for lunch and tea.
When we first moved in, the Craftcast estate had been started. All the houses along Leigh Road had been finished and a few bungalows had been started. As time went on, they would build a few more and then stop and come back again. During the lulls, we took advantage of the sand piles left behind on the builders site which is now occupied by the two shops. These were ideal for playing with dinky cars. At the time, I was not aware of the building methods used for these bungalows, but at the time it was revolutionary. Prefabricated barriers were put into place for each wall in turn, complete with spaces for windows and doors and into the voids they poured concrete. I have never found out how they made the flat roof. Since my mother moved into one of them about ten years ago, I have found how indestructible they are. The walls are so strong that it needs a very strong hammer drill just to make a hole for a screw.
After the Craftcast was finished, the next development was the Gough Cooper estate which covered the very low lying land between the Craftcast and London Road as far down as The Boiling Kettle. This is still designated as flood plain and caused big problems as recently as last winter. This estate took away some of our adventure areas. Originally it was crossed by very deep drainage dykes and we found these ideal play areas, full of tadpoles and frogs and newts. I can only assume that we would come home smothered in foul smelling mud, but that did not deter us.
My time at Hildenborough School was fine, but I really enjoyed the last year when Mr Haisell and Mr Emery joined. Although school uniform did not come in until the next year, they did start the House system with House prefects. In that year Jane Mannington was Head girl and I was Head boy. I passed the 11 plus and obtained a scholarship to Sevenoaks. That was the first from Hildenborough although Alan Branch joined me a year later.
It may be worth mentioning that both Mr Haisell and his wife and Mr Emery entered into village activities and were regular members of the village choir run by Mr Sutton. The picture I have from 1960 shows them as well as my mother and many of the parents of my school friends.
Although I have some vague recollection of being taken into a cupboard under the stairs during an air raid, my first true recollection is also of the winter of 1947. My parents and I, plus my sister who was born in 1944, moved up to Wells Cottage in Leigh Road in 1946. During that winter a large oak fell across the road about 100 yards below us. I remember well my father and grandfather spending the day logging up as much wood as possible for the fires.
In 1947 I started school at Hildenborough. My mother walked with me on my first morning but thereafter I and my friend June Summers were put in the care of her older brother Marshall who may not have been too happy with those duties. I would walk up and back each day and never once had a lift by car. During the summer we would walk back across the fields from the footpath alongside Masters café which was opposite The Half Moon, or alternatively walk through the New Road woods. Going back further, my mother tells me that she and her friends had to walk about four miles each way to their primary school.
In later years I would cycle the mile or so even though it meant going up the A21. In those days it was much safer but there was one tragedy. A younger boy named Andrew Pirie was killed as he crossed the road at the Dutchman and this accident resulted in a zebra crossing.
Our holidays were always two weeks with my Grandparents in Cornwall. This involved the long drive down before the days of motorways. Normally my father would drive to work in London on Friday lunchtime. He would finish at about 9pm, by which time my mother and sister and I would have gone up by train to join him. My sister and I were then laid down in the car with our feet in the boot whilst Dad set off on the 300 mile trek. On the only occasion that we drove directly from home in an old convertible BSA, the big end went on the Basingstoke By-pass. Dad was a capable mechanic and began repairing it himself. He drained the oil, took out the big end and the piston attached and then put it all back together before limping back to Hildenborough on three cylinders. We went to Cornwall the next day by train. The holidays were always great from my point of view because the nearest beach was only about two miles away which was ideal for cricket (and swimming and rock climbing. )
My life at Wells Cottage was very happy. I had a huge garden to play in, and when that palled I would wander off over the fields as far as The Old Barn in one direction and over and beyond Meopham Bank in another. Wildlife in abundance and the chance to learn independence which children today are not allowed when cooped up in a 4x4 ferrying them everywhere. I would go off without my mother knowing where, but my appetite ensured that I came back for lunch and tea.
When we first moved in, the Craftcast estate had been started. All the houses along Leigh Road had been finished and a few bungalows had been started. As time went on, they would build a few more and then stop and come back again. During the lulls, we took advantage of the sand piles left behind on the builders site which is now occupied by the two shops. These were ideal for playing with dinky cars. At the time, I was not aware of the building methods used for these bungalows, but at the time it was revolutionary. Prefabricated barriers were put into place for each wall in turn, complete with spaces for windows and doors and into the voids they poured concrete. I have never found out how they made the flat roof. Since my mother moved into one of them about ten years ago, I have found how indestructible they are. The walls are so strong that it needs a very strong hammer drill just to make a hole for a screw.
After the Craftcast was finished, the next development was the Gough Cooper estate which covered the very low lying land between the Craftcast and London Road as far down as The Boiling Kettle. This is still designated as flood plain and caused big problems as recently as last winter. This estate took away some of our adventure areas. Originally it was crossed by very deep drainage dykes and we found these ideal play areas, full of tadpoles and frogs and newts. I can only assume that we would come home smothered in foul smelling mud, but that did not deter us.
My time at Hildenborough School was fine, but I really enjoyed the last year when Mr Haisell and Mr Emery joined. Although school uniform did not come in until the next year, they did start the House system with House prefects. In that year Jane Mannington was Head girl and I was Head boy. I passed the 11 plus and obtained a scholarship to Sevenoaks. That was the first from Hildenborough although Alan Branch joined me a year later.
It may be worth mentioning that both Mr Haisell and his wife and Mr Emery entered into village activities and were regular members of the village choir run by Mr Sutton. The picture I have from 1960 shows them as well as my mother and many of the parents of my school friends.
Hildenborough Choir, c1955-60
(From left to right:)
Back Row: ???, ???, ???, Mr Southgate, ???, Tom Emery, Peter Bond, L. Haisell, ???, ???, Gordon Fleming
Third Row: ???, Lena Groves, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???
Second Row: ???, Mrs E Gwyther, ???, Mr Sutton, Mrs Sutton, ???, ? Danvers
Front Row: Mrs Peill, ???, ???, ???, (CUP), Audrey Webber, Mary Fleming, Peggy Hayward
(Also in the picture but not quite sure where, are: Kate Clarke, V. McLaren, ? Nicholls, Vera Archer,
Mrs Nicholson, Mrs Hall, Mrs Fuller)
(From left to right:)
Back Row: ???, ???, ???, Mr Southgate, ???, Tom Emery, Peter Bond, L. Haisell, ???, ???, Gordon Fleming
Third Row: ???, Lena Groves, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???
Second Row: ???, Mrs E Gwyther, ???, Mr Sutton, Mrs Sutton, ???, ? Danvers
Front Row: Mrs Peill, ???, ???, ???, (CUP), Audrey Webber, Mary Fleming, Peggy Hayward
(Also in the picture but not quite sure where, are: Kate Clarke, V. McLaren, ? Nicholls, Vera Archer,
Mrs Nicholson, Mrs Hall, Mrs Fuller)
Apart from the choir, my mother was a regular member of the WI, and with my father were members of the Gardeners Society and always had something to exhibit in the shows. One year my mother won the Turnbull Cup which is presented for a selection of items. One of which was a plate of six boiled potatoes. When I got up that morning, late as usual, I found them on the table and knowing that they were needed for judging before 11, I set off on my bike with the plate. Now you have to imagine no cling film and a stupid boy who did not have the sense to put the potatoes in a separate bag. I pedalled up to the drill hall with a plate of loose potatoes in one hand carried like a waiter. All that at the age of 8. There was no damage and Mum won the cup.
How different Hildenborough was in those days. Carol Miller has referred to some of the shops but there were so many more and so varied. We had Hendrys store and Post Office by the church as well as a sub branch of Lloyds. In Riding Lane, Carol had already mentioned her father’s butchers and McIvor’s grocery and Bert Quinnell’s sweet shop; the latter renown to me for mint flavoured ice lollies and real licorice sticks. In Church Road was a small wool shop and an off licence which were closed many years ago. On the main road just below the butchers was a haberdashery shop plus the two semi-detached shops nearby selling grocery and greengrocery. Further down were a bakery, now demolished, next to Dr. Davidson’s surgery and Dadswell’s newsagents soon to be opened by Kelly Holmes. Then the fish and chip shop next to Barkaways greengrocers. The garage next to the Half Moon did all manner of repairs as well as being the store that recharged the accumulators used to power the wireless, and just beyond was a hairdresser. At the Dutchman was another grocer, which later became a pottery shop, plus the cobblers run by a man who was deaf and dumb. He was affectionately known as “Dummy” and it was often my job to take shoes to him to be mended. It was not too difficult to enunciate my words to tell him that it was soles or heels with rubber or leather. In my later years as I became seriously deaf myself, I became much more aware of how difficult it must have been for him to run the business.
How different Hildenborough was in those days. Carol Miller has referred to some of the shops but there were so many more and so varied. We had Hendrys store and Post Office by the church as well as a sub branch of Lloyds. In Riding Lane, Carol had already mentioned her father’s butchers and McIvor’s grocery and Bert Quinnell’s sweet shop; the latter renown to me for mint flavoured ice lollies and real licorice sticks. In Church Road was a small wool shop and an off licence which were closed many years ago. On the main road just below the butchers was a haberdashery shop plus the two semi-detached shops nearby selling grocery and greengrocery. Further down were a bakery, now demolished, next to Dr. Davidson’s surgery and Dadswell’s newsagents soon to be opened by Kelly Holmes. Then the fish and chip shop next to Barkaways greengrocers. The garage next to the Half Moon did all manner of repairs as well as being the store that recharged the accumulators used to power the wireless, and just beyond was a hairdresser. At the Dutchman was another grocer, which later became a pottery shop, plus the cobblers run by a man who was deaf and dumb. He was affectionately known as “Dummy” and it was often my job to take shoes to him to be mended. It was not too difficult to enunciate my words to tell him that it was soles or heels with rubber or leather. In my later years as I became seriously deaf myself, I became much more aware of how difficult it must have been for him to run the business.
Back to the shops, because we are by no means done. Almost into Tonbridge on London Road was another sub post office cum grocery shop, and in Leigh Road another grocery later run by the Sindens who then moved next door to us, and finally in the Craftcast, the two shops which were originally a grocers and a confectioners. The latter is a story in itself. It was run by Mr Lorenzo who was blind. I believe that he had the support of the RNIB in setting up and then running the business but to this day I still wonder at how he could have coped.
Whilst not a shop as such, we also had the blacksmith in Leigh Road. This was a frequent stop for me on the way home from school. I was fascinated by the work that he did and the way he could fashion a piece of raw metal. At that time I had a hobby of breeding budgerigars and for the showing I had to make special cages for the annual show. The blacksmith saw one and asked me to make a bigger one for him which I did and sold it to him for 5 bob. That was not much but I did make a profit. I made a second one for him later. My other hobby at that time was fret work and woodwork in general. I was pretty good with my hands as Carol will testify later.
In place of many of those that closed down we have not gained a great deal, although it has to be said that at least we now have a pharmacy. Before that the two doctors, Dr Davidson and Dr Glaisher dispensed many of the common medications themselves but otherwise it required a trip to Tonbridge.
Whilst at school, I was allowed to join the Cubs long before I was 8 when it was run by Mr Portlock. Regrettably my only memory of those meetings was buying chips on the way home, and specifically the cost which was 2d in the winter and 3d when the new potatoes arrived. At the age of eleven I joined the Scouts which by then were run by Ted Manners, father of my very close friend Brian. Brian Manners and I were side-by-side in the scouts for about 7 years moving up to Seniors and then Rovers, enjoying many camps and hikes together. We were both selected as representatives from Kent for the World Centenary Scout Jamboree at Sutton Coldfield in 1957. We were amongst 35000 scouts camped there for a fortnight. That was a magnificent affair and far less restrictive that the recent Jamboree at Chelmsford. The latter cost £1300 for each boy against £15 at Sutton, visitors were charged £20 yet they were welcome for free at Sutton; and worst of all, there were no cooking fires at Chelmsford.
Whilst not a shop as such, we also had the blacksmith in Leigh Road. This was a frequent stop for me on the way home from school. I was fascinated by the work that he did and the way he could fashion a piece of raw metal. At that time I had a hobby of breeding budgerigars and for the showing I had to make special cages for the annual show. The blacksmith saw one and asked me to make a bigger one for him which I did and sold it to him for 5 bob. That was not much but I did make a profit. I made a second one for him later. My other hobby at that time was fret work and woodwork in general. I was pretty good with my hands as Carol will testify later.
In place of many of those that closed down we have not gained a great deal, although it has to be said that at least we now have a pharmacy. Before that the two doctors, Dr Davidson and Dr Glaisher dispensed many of the common medications themselves but otherwise it required a trip to Tonbridge.
Whilst at school, I was allowed to join the Cubs long before I was 8 when it was run by Mr Portlock. Regrettably my only memory of those meetings was buying chips on the way home, and specifically the cost which was 2d in the winter and 3d when the new potatoes arrived. At the age of eleven I joined the Scouts which by then were run by Ted Manners, father of my very close friend Brian. Brian Manners and I were side-by-side in the scouts for about 7 years moving up to Seniors and then Rovers, enjoying many camps and hikes together. We were both selected as representatives from Kent for the World Centenary Scout Jamboree at Sutton Coldfield in 1957. We were amongst 35000 scouts camped there for a fortnight. That was a magnificent affair and far less restrictive that the recent Jamboree at Chelmsford. The latter cost £1300 for each boy against £15 at Sutton, visitors were charged £20 yet they were welcome for free at Sutton; and worst of all, there were no cooking fires at Chelmsford.
In 1959, five of us took part in a canoe cruise from Welshpool to Bewdley and in 1960 I organised a trip for 10 Seniors Scouts to Kanderstag International camp site in Switzerland. I still have the tickets and invoices to prove that the 17 nights cost £15/18s/0d including camp fees, food, train from Tonbridge and three excursions while we were there.
Hildenborough Senior Scouts, trip to Kanderstag, Switzerland, August 1960.
Back Row: David Tyrell, John Crisp, Roger Hayward, Brian Manners, Barry Fellows, Norman Ives, Alan Clarke
Front Row: David Manners, Keith Vellacott, Kenneth Olive, Michael Haynes
Photobomb!......Peering in through the window, in the flat cap, is my father, Alec Hayward.
Back Row: David Tyrell, John Crisp, Roger Hayward, Brian Manners, Barry Fellows, Norman Ives, Alan Clarke
Front Row: David Manners, Keith Vellacott, Kenneth Olive, Michael Haynes
Photobomb!......Peering in through the window, in the flat cap, is my father, Alec Hayward.
I obtained the Queens Scout badge in 1959 and the Silver and Gold awards from the Duke of Edinburgh in 1960. The presentation of the Gold Award at Buckingham Palace was a special occasion for me and made even better by the District Commissioner, Mr D C Greisell who drove me there in his Rolls-Royce.
My time at Sevenoaks was not entirely happy. I never approved of my father’s insistence that I go there in preference to Judd or Skinners where most of my friends went. To compound that I had to wear shorts for the next two years followed by a boater for my last four years and be the ridicule of all in the village. I also found it difficult to come to terms with the class differences. At that age it was not crystal clear to me, but one event stood out. We had to analyse and dissect the newspaper delivered to the family. Everyone else had a broadsheet or at least the Mail but my father read the Daily Herald. Partly because he was a staunch socialist, with a small s, and partly because he worked as Managing Editor on the Sporting Life, a sister paper of the Herald. Later my results at school suffered because I was very lazy and the only academic subjects in which I did well were those that I enjoyed. Maths, Geography and Mechanical Drawing. In fact when it came careers day my chat went “ What are you going to do” “ I do not know” “What are you good at” “ Maths” “Have you thought of being an accountant” “No” “You need 5 O Levels” “ I can do that”. How very scientific. My only “good” school report was my last one when the masters could refer to my success on the cricket pitch. I take perverse pleasure in reading my final school report which has the single word “lazy” for one subject (true of all subjects) and “...pretty easy going and unwilling to disturb himself unduly...” from my House Master, also understated.
At least I did something useful during my last two weeks at school between exams and breaking up. We were paired off for a project on our own village history. By that time, I had a motor bike which gave the two of us greater mobility. The report is long lost but I do recall learning about the Turnpike and also the Navvy camp near Noble Tree Cross at the time the railway was built.
Apart from studies, I quickly became anti-establishment. Any school rules were there to be broken. No smoking. I smoked (and gave up when I left school). Curfew at 7. I broke curfew, especially every Monday night for the village whist drive in the drill hall. At sport I did enjoy rugby but was not very good, but in the summer it was cricket. As a six day school, we would play every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday afternoon, we had official nets every Thursday evening, unofficial on the other days and I played for Hildenborough on Sunday. Homework had to be fitted in (or not). Whilst at school I had my first jobs. A double paper round from Dadswell’s, all the way from Mount Pleasant to the lodge beyond the Colony. That was 2/6d per week. 12p today. At the time I would also cycle to school in Sevenoaks which in itself was 10 miles, plus the six miles for the paper round beforehand. I worked for a short time at Masters café; the owner was father to a scout friend (as well as generously allowing the scouts to use the woodland that ran down from the café to Stock Green Road). I also earned 2/6 for helping our milkman. He would pick me up at about 6 and then complete his round with me all the way up to Sevenoaks. Finally I went hop-picking at Mr Streeten’s farm for three years earning the princely sum of just over £5 for three weeks picking from 7 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon.
Cricket for Hildenborough was memorable. My father was captain for a few years which according to one of the team was because he was the only one with a car. Unfortunately I never played for Hildenborough with him because I was at school on Saturdays when he played, and he worked on Sunday when I played. I did play in two invitation matches with him at the age of 11 and 12, for a team he brought down from the Sporting Life to play against Hildenborough. They were my first games in adult teams. My father also arranged a few games between a team of friends that I selected from Hildenborough against a team collected by Arthur Hull who ran the tiny sports shop in Tonbridge. Those games were very one-sided because his sons, Jim & Christopher and the whole team it seemed, had been coached at Tonbridge School. At least I have a photograph of the teams at one of those matches.
Hildenborough Boys v Tonbridge Boys at Tonbridge Cricket Club, c1952
Back Row: Mr Arthur Hull, ???, ???, David Burns, John Cooper, Terry Cooper
Middle Row: ???, ???, ???, ???, Brian Manners, Freddie Gould, Peter Mann, Mr Alec Hayward
Front Row (on the bench): ???, ???, Chris Hull, Jim Hull, Roger Hayward, Norman Burgess, Alan Branch
Front (sitting on the grass): Ted Mason........................................................Ken Stroud
Back Row: Mr Arthur Hull, ???, ???, David Burns, John Cooper, Terry Cooper
Middle Row: ???, ???, ???, ???, Brian Manners, Freddie Gould, Peter Mann, Mr Alec Hayward
Front Row (on the bench): ???, ???, Chris Hull, Jim Hull, Roger Hayward, Norman Burgess, Alan Branch
Front (sitting on the grass): Ted Mason........................................................Ken Stroud
Hildenborough Cricket Club were very supportive of me and Alan Seal as being “the future”. We were both given regular games from the age of 13 and were later joined by two other youngsters, Colin Seal and Alan Hogwood. Before us the only youngster I remember was Snowy Pattenden. The most memorable match for me was one against the President’s Eleven. The president was the chairman of Booker McConnell which had extensive sugar interests in the West Indies. One year he had one of the famous three “W's” of the West Indies team playing, namely Clyde Walcott. Walcott was a huge man who hit the ball a proverbial country mile. During that game he hit a very quick 90 at which point our beloved captain Bobby Duffin, decided that Walcott was in his nervous 90's. He brought in the field to stop singles and brought me in from mid-wicket onto the square, which was suicidal. Luckily he posted me first which gave me a few minutes to retreat again without him noticing. It made no difference to Walcott who hit the next ball like a rocket straight over my head and I was not stupid enough to put my hand up to stop it. We also had a special annual match against the patients of the Colony at Princess Christians. We played in their field which was a little rough but no more rustic than one of their players. His mentor, everyone had a mentor or teacher, repeatedly showed him how to hold the bat the right way around; left hand above the right. As he took guard, he swapped over which led to the mentor rushing out to correct him. Each time he would say “yes, sir” a few times, enough for the mentor to go back. He would then take guard again he swapped back and the mentor gave up. Next ball, with his hands the wrong way, he hit the ball into the next field. Unbelievable.
That reminds me of another major change in our lives. We were all encouraged to learn from life without restriction. No cricket helmets then; I cycled hundreds of miles also without a helmet; I had two separate weeks on the ship TS Foudroyant, anchored in Portsmouth harbour messing around in boats in the harbour and across to the Isle of Wight plus the week long canoe cruise without any sign of a life jacket; I played on the swings and roundabouts in playground with solid concrete underfoot; I went rock climbing without a harness; how I could go on. It seems impossible to believe that I could possibly be still alive.
Alive I am. I got the O levels, was articled for 5 years and qualified. I married Carol Eldridge in 1966, I have two children and I am now a Grandpa.
I would welcome any additions or corrections, by e-mail please, to [email protected]
Roger Hayward
I would welcome any additions or corrections, by e-mail please, to [email protected]
Roger Hayward