Former villager Mr Albert
Childs of Snodland, near West Malling, Kent wrote in
September 2000:
"We move to Eastling in 1931, from a small village
called Hoath, near Herne Bay. My father was serving in the
Navy and was able to rent no:6 Prospect Place, Eastling
for 7/6 per week. I finished my schooling at Eastling under
Mr Cecil Harris, the head master.
"Over the years, my mother, who was a very active
person, took over the job of cleaning the school after Mrs
Pettit died and in turn took over cleaning the church and
the old village hall, built in memory of those who served
in the first world war. As I grew up, I spent many evenings
there.
"We used to have a Young Farmers Club at the School
and kept bees. I remember one afternoon, after a thunderstorm,
I was called from work to collect a swarm of bees, eventually
taking six in all. Some of them were in the orchard where
the new village hall is now built.
"I used to sing in the choir at the church, which
is in a beautiful country setting, and listened to the dog-fights
going on overhead during the second war. The Carpenters
Arms landlord was Joe Cornfoot, who later came to a sad
end after he moved out of the public house.
"My sister, who now lives at Faversham, puts flowers
on my father's grave from time to time, including her husband's.
Many of the people I knew are now buried in the churchyard.
"When War was declared. I had just come out
of church on the morning of September 3rd 1939, when I heard
about it, later being drafted into the Home Guard and, finally,
being called up to the Army in which I served for 3 ¼ years
up to the end. When I was demobbed, each of us who had served
in the forces were given £5 each as a thank you from the
people of Eastling."
Albert
Childs (age 81 years).
Mr Albert Childs wrote again,
shortly before he died in December 2000, with more memories
as a youngster in Eastling:
"James Meeson, the local farmer, had four farms. They
were North Eastling, where some bombs dropped during the
war, North Court Farm, Spuckles Farm and Tong Farm where
Admiral Penny lived in the farm house.
"Mr Meeson also laid on the Christmas parties for
us children with the help of the village mothers. Also we
were always invited, as children, to Lord Harris's birthday
party in Belmont House each year.
"Mr Herbert Whibley took over The Forge from Mr J.
W. Pay when he retired and ran it until I was called up.
Two elderly ladies lived in the Brook Cottage. I believe
they were related to the historian Edward Hasted. Mr Robert
Boucher lived in and farmed Divan Court Farm.
"I also spent weekends in the oast houses, helping
Mr Spillett in drying and pressing the hops for the sheer
pleasure of it. We always spent our years in the hop gardens
with my mother to earn the money for our new school clothes.
"I remember there was a man trap fitted to an oak
tree at Arnold's Oak on the road between Eastling and Hockley
Bottom.
"Eastling was not without its tragedies. There were
an elderly couple living in one of the cottages (in The
Street) between the (former) Post Office and General Store.
One died but, before the funeral could take place, so did
the other. So they were buried together.
"Mrs Tong, the waggoner's wife and a lovely lady,
fell out of a cherry tree while pregnant. They could not
save her. In another incident, a woodman and his son were
burning brushwood when the son had a fit and fell face down
in the fire. Before his father could rescue him, it took
nearly all the skin off his face."
Albert Childs
(deceased).
Susan Pout (nee Sandwell)
Mrs Susan Pout of Maidstone wrote
in 2000:
"I used to live in Eastling in the 60's. I attended
Eastling School along with my brother. We lived at Dunstall
House, and my father worked for Stewart Wood on his farm
in the village.
"My maiden name was Sandwell. I used to enjoy living
in the village, but then my parents moved to nearby Faversham.
My father has since died due to a road traffic accident
12 years ago. But my mother still lives in Faversham. I
got married and moved to Maidstone, and have been here for
almost 27 years.
"I have very fond memories of the village and it's
people."
Mrs S. Pout.
Julia Bonner (nee Butcher)
Julia Bonner wrote from Virginia,
USA in November 2000:
"I thoroughly enjoyed your website. I attended the
Lady Capel Girls school from 1961 - 65 and often visited
friends from Eastling. I remember friends by the name of
Julia Hales and another Evette ?
"I now reside in Virginia USA with my husband and
3 children. I still love and miss England. I was born and
raised in Whitstable.
"My maiden name was Julia Butcher and wondered if
any folks also went to school with me."
Julia Bonner
(
)
Dik Whibley
Mr Dik Whibley wrote in August
2000:
"My father was born (in 1921) and brought up in Eastling.
My Grandfather, Herbert Whibley, was the blacksmith, living
in Forge House until his death in 1961. I can just remember
visits there on Sundays."
The Skinner Family
Mr Robert Cockrell of Victoria,
BC, Canada contacted the Eastling website in August 2001
about his quest for information on the Skinner family.
His researches had already revealed that his grandmother
(maternal side) was born Annie Skinner, on 23 May 1895 at
Kettle Hill, near Eastling, Kent. She was married at St
Mary's parish church, 1 July 1916, to a Robert Harris McVie,
a Canadian soldier who was recuperating from War wounds,
and moved to Canada with him.
She had brothers and sisters, some of whom also moved to
Canada. They were Albert Thomas Skinner, Dorothy Fanny Skinner,
Charles Edward Skinner and Alice May Skinner. Annie Skinner's
father was Thomas (born 17 Sept 1867, died 27 May 1944).
He married a Fanny Phipps on 20 August 1892. Thomas's parents
were Charles L Skinner and Rebecca Fisher. Thomas had several
brothers and sisters - Charles, Polly, Annie and Rose Skinner.
Annie's mother, Fanny Phipps, was born of parents Edward
Phipps and mother Mary Anne Forster. Fanny was born 10 July
1892, also of Eastling, Kent. She too had many brothers
- Walter, John, George and Harry. All were born at Eastling,
other than George who was born in Borden (near Sittingbourne,
Kent).
Mr Cockrell says: "I can recall that my grandmother used
to mention the name of Faversham, but in what regard, I
cannot recall.... It is perhaps where she went to school,
or perhaps where she met my grandfather."
He adds: "There is a Skinner Street in the City of Victoria;
it was named after one of the original five founding families
of Victoria. They, too, were from Kent, but what their names
were I would have to do some research."
If any relatives or friends of
the Skinner family in the Eastling area wish to contact
Mr Cockrell, his address is: 4329 Layritz Ave, Victoria,
BC, Canada V8Z 7C5. Or.
Steve Godden
Mr Steve Godden of Ashford, Kent,
wrote in April 2002:
"My memories of the village go back quite a few years
(I was born 1953 at Homestall Farm, Doddington) but my father’s
family all came from Eastling.
My Grandfather built a bungalow on the southern edge of
East Wood where a timber yard now stands. He later moved
to Huntingfield Cottage (No 2, I think) where my father
was born in 1924, followed by a sister and later on a brother.
My father, along with his brother and sister used to go
to Eastling School and they walked there from Huntingfield
every day, by the lanes if it was wet and across the fields
when it was dry.
As far as I can make out they were contract farmers for
Captain Harris and I do know there is a picture in existence
of my father driving a new Field Marshall tractor as delivered
from Tetts of Faversham on Huntingfield land in the late
thirties.
I do know that my father was in the Eastling Home Guard
during the war. His wartime memories were not often talked
about because he had been accepted by the RAF but stopped
from joining by my grandfather because he worked on a family
farm. However, he always recalled how the only thing the
Eastling Home Guard ever shot was a cow and of the time
an American Mustang made an emergency landing somewhere
between Eastling and Stalisfield and how, by the time the
RAF came to collect it all the fuel had vanished from the
tanks."
Jack Taylor
Mr Jack Taylor of Maple, Ontario,
discovered the Eastling Website in June 2002 and sent his
memories of life in Eastling between 1936 and 1969.
"Hi - My name is Jack Taylor and I spent most of my
formative years in Eastling.
My father, Leslie Jack Taylor, was the village policeman
from 1936 until his retirement and then continued living
in the old "Airey Houses" at the Glebe until either
1968 or 1969 - then moving, with my mother, to Charing.
I was 3 when we came to Eastling and our first house was
no:1 Prospect Place. The Childs family were at no:6 and
Tommy was my best friend for most of the war years. The
other names you record on the site were - and still are
- mostly familiar.
Eastling during the war was a wonderful place to be raised
in. There was such a feeling of friendship and warmth amongst
the villagers. Of course there were some "characters"
that didn't quite fit in. Ivo Gibbs upset a few people whe
he dug up the trees in front of the manor. He claimed -
and perhaps justifiably - that the land was public property
and had been the seat of Village fairs many years before.
I was surprised that no mention was made about the donation
of the "Biro" pen to those who did not want the
cash at war's end. Times have changed.
We had a full choir in the Church in those days and an
active "Social Club" at the Parish Hall. Shortly
after the war ended, the village members built a bowling
green - where the old Police House now stands.... there
was never a problem in raising cash or enthusiastic workers.
Did you hear the tale of the time - at the end of "Hopping"
one year - when almost the entire Village were drunk ? There
are lots of other tales of course - some have improved with
age. My father is quoted and often referred to in "The
Gentlemen at War", a book by Roy Ingleton about the
actions of the Police during the 1939-45 war."
Jack Taylor,
44 Sonny Street, MAPLE - Ontario - L6A1B7
tel 905 832 4161 - or 905 832 7029
- Fax 905 832 2744.
Mr Jack Taylor of Maple, Ontario,
(see preceding item) has offered more memories of his parent's
arrival in Eastling in 1936.
"My family arrived in Eastling on a morning of a day
in the Spring of 1936. After the truck was unloaded my father
took the "movers" to the Carpenters for a drink
and the chance to get aquainted. I believe Joe Cornfoot
was behind the bar.
"There was an embarassed silence in the pub when Dad
introduced himself as the "New Policeman" and
while locals took another sip. One had the courage to ask
my father if he had settled in and if he had been visited
by the Tradesmen.
"There were two stores in the village at that time
- the Post Office was connected to a Butcher shop and there
was a General store run by Mrs Hawkett just behind the phone
box. My father replied that we had received visits from
both the Baker and the Butcher, but had not yet had a call
from the Milkman. He went on to say that he understood that
there were two available. One came regularly every morning
before sun-up and the second usually turned up after the
pub closed.
"At that "Bunt Blenkarn" spoke up and said:
"That's me - and as soon as I have finished here I
will be up to look after your missus." True to his
word - he was - and remained our milkman until he retired.
Bunt was a true character - seemed to survive on beer -
was never quite drunk and never quite sober - smelt of paraffin
and stale milk and beer and destroyed a number of decrepit
vehicles with his cargo of churns. At one time he even delivered
from a motorcycle combination with a flat platform built
where the chair would be. But he got through - even in the
winter of 1947 - when he borrowed my sled and walked through
the drifts.
"He came of good family and had inherited the right
to sit in the House of Lords - always smoking - always with
a laugh and time for a chat."
Jack Taylor,
44 Sonny Street, MAPLE - Ontario - L6A1B7
tel 905 832 4161 - or 905 832 7029
- Fax 905 832 2744.
Court Family History
Suzanne Court-Oak, from Colchester
in Essex, has been in touch to see if villagers can help
with her researches into her family’s history and their
links with Eastling.
Last year Suzanne contacted Sue and Peter Parry of Magnolia
Cottage in Newnham Lane, Eastling. She explained her father,
Mr James Court, had been born in the house in September
1920. Sadly, James’ father, Sydney Court, died only
five months later and the family moved north shortly afterwards.
One consequence of this was that, if ever a photograph of
Sydney existed, it was lost in the upheaval.
" I think it’s awful that my dad has never seen
a photo of his own father," says Suzanne. But, against
the odds, she hopes that her researches might uncover one
- a mission made all the more urgent by her father’s
deteriorating eyesight.
Visits to Eastling
Suzanne’s father can remember return visits to Eastling
towards the end of the 1920s when he stayed with cousins.
He thinks they may have had a farm behind their house as
he recollects sitting on a wall and there being lots of
pigs. He also recalls visiting his father’s grave,
flanked by two huge yew trees on the north-east side of
Eastling parish church. A further journey to Eastling in
the 1970s with his mother confirmed Magnolia Cottage (then
known as "The Cottage") as the house where he
was born.
Suzanne’s researches reveal that her grandfather,
Sydney, was born at Pig Green, Eastling, in 1895. His mother
was 17-year-old Ethel Court - unmarried and a "domestic
nurse". Suzanne says there is no record of who the
father was but the 1901 census shows Sydney, age six, living
with his grandparents Henry and Louisa Court at Tong Farm,
whilst his mother was "in service" as an in-house
assistant at Lenham working for a family named Bean. Sydney
enlisted to the army at Faversham in January 1914, left
England with the 1st Kent Mounted Rifles Regiment on 23
September 1915 and arrived at Gallipoli on 31 December.
Great War
His service in the Great War was dogged by ill health with
several bouts in hospital through influenza, typhoid and
enteritis. Eventually, he was transferred to the Lothian
and Border Horse Regiment and sent to Ireland where he subsequently
caught pulmonary tuberculosis which resulted in his discharge
with a pension. Clearly this had taken a terrible toll and
Sydney died in 1921, at the age of 26.
Suzanne’s delving into her family’s connections
with Eastling has revealed a number of intriguing "sub-plots".
With the agreement of Sue and Peter Parry, Suzanne was able
to inspect the deeds of Magnolia Cottage and note the names
of previous owners.
The documents show a John Frederick Croft and a Maylam
Long living there in 1899. Intriguingly, the latter appears
later the same year but now named with a Marie Agnes Tassell.
A search for these names in records for 1901 shows Maylam
Long, aged 40, born Lenham, Kent and still living in Eastling;
a John Croft, aged 72, born London and living in Doddington;
and Marie Tassell, aged 47, born Dulwich, Surrey, London
and living in Faversham.
"Satellite" Classrooms
Suzanne’s questions about the Newnham Lane cottage
have fired the interest of present owners Sue and Peter
Parry about who lived in their home before they moved in
six years ago. In a recent conversation with the niece of
previous owners Vi and Maugham Gibbs, Sue learnt that the
cottage was rumoured to have been used as "satellite"
classrooms for the former village schoolhouse, also in Newnham
Lane. And a neighbour has recalled another tale about a
school teacher living in a long-vanished cottage in the
garden of Magnolia Cottage, although Sue and Peter say they
have never seen any evidence to suggest that there was another
dwelling there.
Meanwhile, Suzanne Court-Oak is hoping that some of Eastling’s
older residents will have memories jogged by the various
names and places that have featured in her family history
quest.
To contact Suzanne
Court-Oak, write to her at
1 Toga Close, Colchester, Essex CO2 9JJ,
telephone 01206 520266 or
e-mail:
.
PC Stanley Latter
Mr Richard Mason of Biggleswade,
Bedfordshire wrote in November 2003 to say:
"I have just discovered that my wife's Grandfather
(Stanley Henry Thomas LATTER) was the Eastling village policeman
from September 1921 to February 1922* (see revision below).
He lived at 1, Prospect Place, Eastling.
"He was originally with the Chatham Force and went
back there after his short spell in Eastling and stayed
in Chatham until his retirement in 1946."
* Mr Mason contacted us again in September 2006 to say that
Kent County Constabulary had advised him that Stanley Latter
had actually "served at Eastling from 1924 to 1934".
Pain and Payne Families
Mrs Sue Middleton
of Bobbing, near Sittingbourne, wrote on April 18, 2004
to talk about Payne family links with Eastling.
My mothers maiden name was Payne and
I have been tracing the family back. My great great great
grandfather was born in Eastling in 1812. James Pain lived
at Tong Green Cottage in 1881 and was married to Esther.
I don't know what her maiden name was, but she was born
in Otterden.
Their son, my great great grandfather
was also born in Eastling in 1842 his name was Henry Pain
and he was married to Kezia Reynolds. He married her at
Newnham in 1862 and it was a double wedding as his brother
James married on the same day. They lived at Pigrun Cottage
in 1881 and in 1901 they lived at Newlands. He died in 1933
at Norton. I have looked for their graves in Eastling and
Norton and can't seem to find where they were buried. One
of their children Minnie Jane married Herbert Woolley and
they are buried in the churchyard, the first grave on the
right as you enter the new section. There is a Henry Paine
and Mary Anne buried in the churchyard; he was born about
1792 but I don't know if he is a relative.
There was a name change during 1881 to
1901 instead of being Pain it was spelt Payne. Their son
James (my great grandfather, born 1872) was also born in
Eastling and moved to Borden in Sittingbourne and married
Ellen Young. They had my grandfather James Henry Payne in
1896. He married Rose Ashdown in Norton in 1922 and they
lived in Monks Farm before moving to Station Road, Teynham,
where he died in 1978 . He worked for Bill Coultrip at Hole
Street Farm in Kingsdown for many years and it has been
said that Bill's wife Hilda was a cousin of my grandfather.
I think she may have belonged to the Woolley's.
A Leonard Spice Payne and Agnes Woolley
lived at Snoad Farm (Otterden) with his brother William
Spice Payne. It is recorded in the 1881 census with him
being a farmer. He probably died in the 50's and I wonder
if anyone remembers him or her.
Sue Middleton, Bobbing.
e-mail:
Eastling in 1977-79
Debbie Hesmondhalgh
(nee Livesey) wrote on April 20, 2004:
In 1977-1979, I came to live in Eastling
with my Mum and two sisters. I was seven years old. We were
on holiday to begin with but ended up staying on. We stayed
with a family at 1 Bankside, Newnham Lane. Within a hour
of arriving in the village from Leyland in Lancashire my
sister Sharon was run over on Newnham Lane and spent three
weeks in Canterbury Hospital in quite a bad way.
Whilst in the village we attended Eastling
School; the head was Mr Davis and his wife worked there
too. Another teacher we remember was Mrs Frazer; I think
she lived in the house next to the phone box (Plantation
House, The Street).
I remember the deep snow in winter and
the blazing hot summer. The snow was like nothing I'd seen
before. I was amazed. We had to get through to school as
Newnham Lane wasn't cleared and as we got nearer to the
school we'd walk along the piles of snow the plough had
left at the sides of the road.
We would walk for miles, sometimes to
a dutch barn and we'd play for hours in the fields and orchards.
It was fun! We also would go past Newnham as far as the
motorway bridge and we always thought that Virginia Wade
lived in Sharsted Manor. We'd knock on the door to see if
we could catch a glimpse but never did. I remember that
there were two old air raid shelters at the other side of
the field in front of where we lived, and a disused chalk
pit when we went though some woods on Newnham Lane.
My Mum would send us to Eastling shop
for a loaf of bread and if they'd sold out we'd walk all
the way back to the Newnham shop. There was a tree outside
of the church that we were able to climb inside and I think
I can remember a chalk pit behind the church. There was
a shop, the pub, the church and the school with swimming
pool and that was it. But we were never bored.
My Mum never settled in the village. We
left in June 1979 and moved back to Preston, Lancs. We have
never been in touch with the family that we stayed with
or the friends that we had made. My mum made friends with
Miss Dorothy Neale and helped her with the typing on a book.
Mrs Elizabeth
Marsh (nee Betty Godden) contacted the Eastling Website
on February 10, 2006 to say we'd got it wrong on the website's
history page about Laburnum Cottage and the properties that
once stood in front of The Nook in The Street at Eastling.
Elizabeth - who now lives in Dorset -
spent her early years in Eastling and returns occasionally
when visiting relatives in Faversham. Born in 1932, she
attended Eastling School between 1937 and 1946 and lived
in a house next to the Carpenters Arms pub until she was
10. Then the family moved to Elverland Farm, a mile or so
to the north of Eastling. She married in Eastling Church
in August 1952. Her father's grave is in the churchyard,
where her mother's ashes were also scattered.
Her grandparents, Mr and Mrs Chesson,
lived in the (now demolished) property in front of The Nook
from 1939 to 1964. Elizabeth explained that this "was
in fact the Saddlers and Harness Makers shop and was later
a Shoe Shop". The only remaining trace of the shops
is a domestic garage which now forms part of Laburnum Cottage
next door.
Elizabeth recalls: "Mr and Mrs Ruffle
lived in Laburnum Cottage.... During very heavy snowfalls,
Mr Cecil Harris, the headmaster of the school, used to lodge
there as he lived in Bearsted and came to Eastling every
day on an autocycle. When a youth club was started in the
old village hut, Mrs Ruffle would sometimes make buns for
us and some friends and myself used to serve refreshments...
We also had a very good table tennis team of which I was
a member."
The original suggestion that Laburnum
Cottage was once a saddlers/shoe shop featured in a brief
history of Eastling published in the 1990s to help in raising
funds to build the new village hall. From what Elizabeth
says it seems likely that incorporation of the saddlers
garage-cum-storeroom into Laburnum Cottage caused some confusion
for the authors. The website's history
page has now been updated.
Mrs
Elizabeth Marsh
Wyke Regis, Weymouth, Dorset.
Spuckles Cottage and the Whibleys
Mrs Sarah Marsh
(nee Whibley) is researching her family history and would
like to find out more about Spuckles Cottage, Eastling.
Although no relation
to Elizabeth Marsh above, Sarah is a cousin of Dik Whibley,
another contributor to this part of the Eastling website.
On March 1, 2006, Sarah wrote:
"My mother and father met in Eastling
where my paternal grandfather was the local blacksmith (Bert
Whibley) and my maternal grandmother was the infant teacher
in Eastling school (Gladys Taylor) who lived in the school
house.
"Mum and Dad (Keith and Barbara Whibley)
married in 1950 and spent three years of married life living
in Spuckles Cottage, where they had no electricity or running
water and had a toilet at the end of the garden. They also
boasted a resident ghost who nightly walked from the front
gate to the back of the cottage, but went very quiet if
anyone looked out of the window to see who was there. The
story was that originally Spuckles was two farm cottages,
and one of the labourers who lived there was run over by
his own tractor.
"I have strong memories of staying
in Forge House and being allowed to watch my Grandad shoeing
the horses in the attached forge. We had a tin bath with
a copper to boil the water to put in the bath, and a rag
rug in the parlour. Forge House was completely covered in
Virginia Creeper when I stayed there as a child.
"I would love to know if anyone has
any more information about the history of Spuckles Cottage,
as my mum spent some of the happiest years of her life there."
Mrs
Sarah Marsh (nee Whibley)
Margate, Kent
e-mail:
The Briggs Family
Mr Andrew Briggs
contacted the Eastling Website on September 9, 2006 to say:
"I read an article on your website
from Steve Godden, and it bought back memories. My father
Desmond Briggs was born in Stone Cottage, Hockley, Eastling
in 1937 then moved to Court Lodge Farm, Stalisfield and
attended Stalisfield School, often taken there by the late
actor Eric Barker, before moving to Kettle Hill and attending
Eastling School.
"He worked for Steve's grandfather
and father at Homestall Farm, and moved into Homestall Farm
Cottage after Steve's father moved out, living next to my
grandparents, Raymond and Violet. It was here that I was
bought up, after I was born in Ospringe in 1959. My father
also lived at Huntingfield where he went to Faversham School
and later met my mother while visiting the town. My grandfather,
Raymond Briggs and my uncle Harold Briggs also worked for
Steve's father and grandfather at Homestall Farm, so we
have a very good recollection of the area. My father has
been retired for the past five years and lives in West Wales,
although he does plan to return to Kent in the near future."
Andrew
Briggs e-mail:
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