Percy ("Dummy") Parker
Older residents of Hildenborough will no doubt remember the small wooden building fronting the Tonbridge Road at the bottom of Oakhill near the Flying Dutchman zebra crossing. This was the workshop of Percy Parker who repaired the village shoes for over four decades.
Percy lived with his wife Grace at No.3 Club Cottages, Riding Lane, near to where she worked as a maid at the local farm. Percy was a familiar sight around the village, riding his bike to and from work and also up to the village Working Men's club where he enjoyed a pint of beer. Born in 1897 in Mereworth, Kent, Percy was the eldest of six children. The family moved to Hildenborough when his stepfather got a job on a local farm. It is believed that they first lived at Club Cottages and then later at Garlands. Percy was born profoundly deaf and never learnt to speak, consequently he was always known around the village by his nickname "Dummy". This would probably not be acceptable these days but then no harm was seen in it, and it was not intended to be in any way derogatory, in fact Percy was a very popular figure and most villagers would not have known his proper name.
While he was still a young man, just before the first world war, he was sent to the Royal School for Deaf Children at Margate in Kent, where he learned sign language and the trade of shoemaking. It was while attending this school that he met his future wife Grace, who was also deaf. After leaving school, Percy took up an apprenticeship at Moon's leather shop in the Botany at Tonbridge where he became skilled in making shoes and all the other areas of leather working . After several years he decided the time had come to branch out, and he set up his own shoe repair business in the little rented workshop in Hildenborough.
While he was still a young man, just before the first world war, he was sent to the Royal School for Deaf Children at Margate in Kent, where he learned sign language and the trade of shoemaking. It was while attending this school that he met his future wife Grace, who was also deaf. After leaving school, Percy took up an apprenticeship at Moon's leather shop in the Botany at Tonbridge where he became skilled in making shoes and all the other areas of leather working . After several years he decided the time had come to branch out, and he set up his own shoe repair business in the little rented workshop in Hildenborough.
His sister Kath had married George Pettit and settled down in the village. Their three sons Terry, Malcolm and Spencer all have fond memories of visiting their uncle at his shop and recall that although compact, it had all the equipment and machinery necessary to make a pair of shoes and they were particularly impressed by the array of razor-sharp knives!
A typical visit by a customer to Percy with a pair of shoes for repair would first entail opening the shop door and catching his attention. They would then show him the shoes and he would write down the cost of the repair on his note pad. If this was agreed upon, the deal would be sealed by a "thumbs up" by both parties and Percy would then indicate how many days the job would take by holding up the requisite number of fingers.
A typical visit by a customer to Percy with a pair of shoes for repair would first entail opening the shop door and catching his attention. They would then show him the shoes and he would write down the cost of the repair on his note pad. If this was agreed upon, the deal would be sealed by a "thumbs up" by both parties and Percy would then indicate how many days the job would take by holding up the requisite number of fingers.
At home at Club Cottages, Percy and Grace made sure that they never missed a caller by keeping a terrier that would rush to the door when it heard a knock, so indicating to them that they had a visitor. They were both churchgoers and regularly attended the monthly service for the deaf at Rochester.
Percy continued to work right up to his death in 1978. Grace continued to live at Club Cottages on her own until 1991 when she was admitted to High Hilden care home where she later died. The workshop was cleared out and was for a while put to other uses including briefly being used as a gallery for a local artist to display his pictures. It gradually fell in to disrepair and was eventually demolished. Sadly there are now no visual signs that it ever existed on the site.
Percy's nephew Spencer and Grace's nephew Bill Richardson both still live in the village.
Percy's nephew Spencer and Grace's nephew Bill Richardson both still live in the village.
Thanks to Geoff Calderhead for the words and research, and to Bill Richardson for the photo's.
November 2015.
November 2015.