living memories

There are a number of local people with long memories of life in the village. Here we reproduce conversations with a few members of the village community. Do contact us if you have memories to share. Bob Hogben, who was a long term resident of Chelsfield Village was generous enough to share some of his experiences. Here he speaks about some of the Chelsfield families when he was a young man in the 1940s and early 1950s, the Warings and the Mays; about farming; and about being caught cherry scrumping from the orchard opposite the Bo Peep during the war. Click play to listen. The Bo Peep, or White Hart, as it then was, in about 1950. Bob recalls the wonderful cherry orchard that bloomed there every year. Much of the farming in Chelsfield was fruit growing - strawberries, cherries, plums and apples.

Chelsfield A Community Archive

Local Memories

Bill Waring at a village event.

Woodlands: the Waring family lived here in the 19th century, later they lived at Hewitts. Photo courtesy Bob Hogben.

Bob with one of his cows in the 1950s. Photo courtesy Bob Hogben.

Here Bob remembers the work horses drinking from the pond opposite Hewitts Farm. Click to listen.

From the Philip Lane Collection

Haymaking

Bob Hogben

Unless otherwise indicated on text and images, this website is protected by copyright under Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). Click here for more information.