You were lucky!! I grew up on Springfield Green, which was on the outskirts of Chelmsford and was bounded by fields. By the time I left, aged 18, the fields had turned into houses. I spent the next 40 years in a small village. We had a shop, post office and pub as by the 60s a lot of the trades had died with the owners. I often think how lucky I was - out grocer was also the milkman so he picked up my order book on a Tuesday and Friday morning and deposited my order on my kitchen table a few hours later!!! None of this pushing a trolley and associated 'hard work'....LOL Most of the activities seemed to be centred round the church or the cricket or football club. In the past the pub had also been the bakers shop. At the farm I had a 'Brew House' with brewing copper and a baking oven for bread. Aunty used to tell me that when she was a child they used to do all their cooking in that oven. Not sure about the brewing of beer but she pointed out the fact that it was possible to open the side bits on the back and cellar doors so the barrels could be rolled into the cellar. Some years ago our vicar was doing some research and he thought that the farm was on the old 'Pilgrim Way' which stretched from the coast. There were certainly a few interesting stones in the garden. Lt Saling church also had this big stone set outside and I gather it was something to do with the ley lines and one of my stones was a smaller version. Back in the 1800s there were more houses around the farm house so possible it was more at the centre of a hamlet that it was when I lived there. It certainly had a lot of history and had been changed over the years. Maggie ----- Original Message ---- From: Jean Kemp <[email protected]> To: GEN-TRIVIA-ENG-L <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, 2 February, 2008 6:13:46 AM Subject: [TRIVVIES] Village life I was born and brought up in a village which had been home to my father's family for years. However, my mother was a 'foreigner' having been in service with a farming family who moved to a neighbouring village from the Herefordshire area where she was born. After my parents were married they settled in the village where I was born. My father was a roundsman and his customers were curious about my mother and one of them bravely asked him if it was true that he'd left her, to which he replied that he'd left her that morning! <bg> I was the first child and in due course had 3 brothers. We all went to the village school. I left when I was 14, but my brothers went on to higher education. There was a very good bus service between Ashford and Tunbridge Wells. From the village, a return ticket to Cranbrook cost 9d and to Tenterden, 11d. We didn't often go beyond them. Trains ran from Cranbrook station to London pre Beeching. There was a coach service to London, but I think it was only once a day and needed to be booked. The village had a church, a school (C.of E). Vicarage, 2 pubs, a working man's club, (to which my father belonged) a bicycle cum hardware shop, a butcher, an excellent grocery, provisions, bakery,and drapery shop. a blacksmith, a cobbler who was deaf and dumb, a tobacconist and sweet shop, garage for petrol, vehicle repairs,accumulators and the like. The was a small village hall where the Womens Club, Guides and Brownies met, and a scout hut. On the outskirts of the village were 2 dairy farms and the milk was delivered and measured into the housewives jugs. Pre pasteurising and TT testing. The blacksmith, cobbler, garage and sweet shop, plus the dairy farms have now gone. We had a beautiful Green and a recreation field with a tennis court. May 15th was Fair day with livestock bought and sold. My Grandfather used to sell his bullocks there having walked them a couple of miles from the farm. At one time there was a funfair as well. Jean Oz . . "IS THE SUBJECT LINE STILL RELEVANT? If not, PLEASE change it." ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message