The Association is indebted to Meredith Worsfold for allowing us to reproduce his published booklet entitled "ASHTEAD THE STREET in the 1920's".  You will see several links in this page to photographs which have also been kindly supplied by Meredith.

PROLOGUE

This booklet on Ashtead is a nostalgic look back to scenes, buildings and people in the days of my childhood. It concentrates mainly on The Street and Rectory Lane. My early memories date from the period 1925-30 but I also look backwards and forwards to add interest in the telling. I have had seven homes in the village, two in Woodfield Lane, two in Rectory Lane, two in The Street and one in Grove Road, so have witnessed many of the changes in Ashtead, which began to accelerate in the 1920's, particularly in housing development and the use of the motor car with all its necessary services. The population of the village rose from about 2,000 in 1900 to about 5,000 in 1931 and today is around 13,000. These figures are approximations but are indicative of the growth pattern. I sincerely hope that these pages give pleasure in the reading, both to those old enough to have their memories stirred, and to others who may find interest in a glimpse of life in Ashtead before their time.

THE STREET Greville Park Road to Woodfield Lane

No. 1 The Street, site of the former Victoria Works, later the Ashtead Pottery and now Lime Tree Court, seems an appropriate starting point for our stroll through the village, but before this, looking towards Leatherhead, to the left is Parkers Lane leading to the 18th century Ashtead Lodge, once owned by the Parker family. Opposite the house and between Parkers Lane, Parkers Hill and Leatherhead Road there was a triangular meadow surrounded by hedges. The next road to the right of Leatherhead Road, Ottways Lane, comes in at an acute angle, but with just sufficient space to squeeze in the white painted iron gates and drive to Timber Lodge.

As a small boy I would frequently be walking homewards along Ottways Lane in dark early evenings in winter, passing from each welcome oasis of light at each street lamp to the next with quickening footsteps through the gloom between. The gas burners would produce a soft hissing and an occasional plop and illuminate the strange word 'SUGG' to be seen in each glass-enclosed burner. Then, passing the side entrance to Timber Lodge, strange sounds would emanate from a brick powerhouse enclosing an engine driving a dynamo to supply electricity for the big house. The put-put-put noise was the exhaust beat of the engine.

Between the approach to Timber Lodge drive and Leatherhead Road there was a small unsurfaced triangular grass mound, which was a recognized stopping place for buses to Epsom. These were usually red open-topped buses owned by the General Omnibus Company; they were still running on solid rubber tyres until well into the twenties.

Continuing clockwise we come to the drive to Timber Hill, the residence and surgery of Dr. Reichwald. A nurse in full uniform was a familiar sight in the village pushing a carriage which resembled a white iron bed on wheels transporting the doctor's young paralysed son. Next to the doctor's plot was the Paddocks or Northfields footpath which crosses Skinners Lane and ends at Agates Lane. The final radial road, Greville Park Road, was still unsurfaced in the early 1920's; property development later speeded up the laying of a metalled surface. The three Haig Homes were built about 1924. This brings us back to our starting point.

No. 1 The Street, as already mentioned, was the Victoria Works, built for Cadett and Neall just before 1900, making photographic goods. The Pottery business began in the factory in 1923 and for 12 years produced an interesting variety of pieces, which are much sought after today. An attractive arched sign was erected over the entrance gates proclaiming 'Ashtead Potters Ltd'.

No. 3 The Street, Woodside, was the home of my maternal grandparents. It was a pleasant villa, well-built and standing back from the road. The resident owner was William Peters. The tenancy was conditional on his being accommodated and generally provided for at Woodside. To us children he was always Uncle Bill. He is depicted in the new History of Ashtead 1995, in a photograph of a Village Club outing, seated in the charabanc between the driver and Mr. Devitt.

As children, my young sister Beryl, younger brother John and myself lived on the other side of The Street so we spent much time with our grandparents at Woodside. Derby Day was always a day of great excitement when we would sit in the front garden with pencil and paper making lists of the names of coaches as they passed on their way to the Downs. There was little traffic control in those days and the queue of vehicles in The Street would often be stationary for ages. We always spent Christmas at Woodside, times of magic and wonder. Sir Malcolm Campbell's Bluebird was a popular toy at that period and Mickey Mouse was a new creation; there followed Mickey story books, colouring books, jigsaw puzzles and, even plastic toy gramophone records. Woodside was adjacent to the Pottery and its dumping ground where the day's rejects were thrown along with surplus sticky clay. Many useless little treasures found their way over the fence.

Woodside and its next door neighbour. The Limes (No. 7), a wooden clapboard building, were demolished in 1962 to provide the site for the development of Ashtead Park Petrol Station. Dr. Reichwald lived at The Limes in his early Ashtead days. It was later occupied by the Jackson family. The children, Victor and Joyce, were school contemporaries of mine. Victor was later to become manager at the South Suburban C.W.S. at the top end of the village. Before its demolition, The Limes had two further occupants. Succeeding the Jacksons was Mr. Porter who ran a timber yard on the premises for a few years. He kept a monkey on a chain in the yard. In its last years the premises were used by the Ashtead Streamline Car Hire Service.

The next house, No. 9, Linden Villa, was the home of Albert William Chitty and his daughter. He was in partnership with his brother as coal merchants in Ashtead. He was proud of his garden with its flowers and rose trellis the width of the house. The Chitty family were followed by Mr. Baker who owned a Baby Austin car which was his pride and joy. There were no lowered kerbstones at his entrance and he had purpose-made wooden chocks which had to be used every time to get onto the main road. No. 9 was later bought by Herriot the insurance brokers which they occupied and used as offices for a short time; they later demolished the building and built the existing office block.

Leaving No. 9 and strolling down West Hill towards the Brewery Inn, there used to be on the left an open space overgrown with grass which would be the site of the New Dawn Laundry in a few years time, and next to it would appear the large building to house the Telephone Exchange, Post Office and Sorting Office. One of the earliest general telephone exchanges in Ashtead was in a house in Maple Road. An early aerial photograph shows a small building, perhaps a cottage, between No. 9 and the Brewery Inn with its frontage right at the edge of The Street but it was before my time. It is also drawn on the 1879 map referred to later. Moving on we come to iron railings which lead us to the Brewery Inn standing at the corner of Woodfield Lane, once known as Common Lane and in my young days generally referred to as Station Road. This and other roads in Ashtead had open rainwater ditches at their sides, which discharged eventually into the Rye Brook, providing much fun and adventure to small boys who often went home with wet feet.

Mr. Gates with his cab would often be found waiting at the Brewery Inn corner. A ride in the cab with my grandmother to Ashtead station, the jingle of brasses and harness and the trotting of the horse are an indelible memory. At the rear of the Brewery Inn, Champions had their joinery works and my brother served his apprenticeship there.

THE STREET Woodfield Lane to The Marld

At the corner of Woodfield Lane and The Street there was a field with a fence on its road boundary. It lay close to the new Peace Memorial Hall and on The Street it ended at The Shrubs. The field was used for grazing by the Jersey herd, which supplied Sidney Willcox's dairy. Lock-up shops replaced the field in the late twenties and when this took place George Sayer's house, The Shrubs, was left projecting awkwardly on its own into The Street. The Home Guard used this house during the war for administrative purposes. Inevitably it was demolished and two more lock-up shops built in its place. The next building was an unusual chalet-like wooden structure supported on stilts above the ground. This was the office of Chown, the Estate Developer. Many will remember its later occupation by Venus and Spong whose advertisement read 'Electrical Engineers and Radio and Electronic Supplies'. Beyond Chown's office was a rather elegant three-storey terrace of shops with large gables to front elevation and inset balconies to the first floor. The terrace had a vehicular passage between Nos. 43 and 49, now infilled and occupied by Jackies, the Florist. The first in the row was No. 39, Henry Richards, watchmaker and jeweller. His son Maurice was pioneering in the new world of wireless, and my father would make wooden cabinets to house the sets which he had assembled. These cabinets were complete with fretted openings with cloth linings to keep the dust out and allow the wonderful sounds to come forth. The next shop was Heywoods the Grocers. Mr. Marriott the tailor occupied No. 43 which was a smaller unit than the other four, necessarily so to provide the width for the vehicular access opening to Pocock and Chapmans engineering works at the rear of the terrace block. No. 49 was Riddingtons, the bakers, previously associated with Sheath's of the Old Bakery in Rectory Lane. The last shop in the terrace was Bon Marche, Mrs. Evans, draper, haberdasher and milliner. These premises had earlier been used as one of the succession of Post Offices in the village.

The next building, as the road starts to rise, was The Street Farm which must have been one of the most attractive buildings in The Street. Sadly, it was to be demolished to make way for another car servicing and filling station, as in two other areas in the village. A small part is still visible at the footpath entrance to the Car Park where a flint wall remains from the original boundary. Farther up the hill was the new three-storey block built for the South Suburban C.W.S. to accommodate in No. 61 the butcher's shop. The manager was Harry Bauckham who sometime in the past lived in the flat in Rectory Lane, which I now occupy. No. 63 next to the butcher's shop was the general grocery store. The two-storey flats above the shops were intended for occupation by their staff.

The last building at the top of The Street, Parkhill, stood on the corner with The Marld, previously known as New Road. The house had its frontage to The Marld and its correct postal address was New Road. This was the other house in the village commandeered by the Home Guard during the last war and was our usual assembly point. In later years, to comply with Local Authority requirements, Parkhill was altered from house to bungalow. This was contrived by removing brick courses, one at a time, at eaves level and gradually lowering the entire roof in one piece. Beyond The Marld is the drinking fountain and Memorial to the Hon. Mrs. Mary Howard. This little corner of Ashtead must look very much as it did when the Cross was erected 120 years ago.

THE STREET Park Lane to Grove Road

On the corner of Park Lane and The Street are the Almshouses, an attractive building with four gables and a half-timbered front elevation. Founded by Lady Diana Feilding in the 18th century it has provided a home for needy widows for over 250 years. To continue from the Almshouses the next semi-detached pair of houses, standing high, were occupied in the 1920's by Mr. Huntley in No. 116 and Mrs. Sloman No. 114, a brass plate indicating that the lady was a furrier. These numbers date from the first numbering of The Street; they are now 128 and 126. There were several building developments in this area near the present bus layby from the 1930's on. The old and new numbers do not tally until we get to Gadsby's, numbered 88 and 90. Nos. 108 and 106, which were the homes of Reuben Baker and Arthur De'ath, have gone.

The Village Club was founded in 1887 as the Working Men's Club and was established on the present site in 1888. Its premises have been much enlarged and improved in its lifetime. Then the opening of Mrs. Snow's cycle shop at No. 98 provided a new interest. In addition to cycles and accessories there was a small range of well-made and detailed miniature cars with realistic steering action, manufactured by Schuco Studio, a German company. The other shops in that new little parade held no interest for a small boy, a ladies shop, wine merchant and an Estate Agent. A two-storey wooden house, The Elms, comprising Nos. 94 and 92, stood about fifty yards back from The Street with access between Nos. 90 and 96. These were the homes of Harry Chitty and William Kidd. The daughter, Elsie Kidd, was an acquaintance of the family and she was the reason for occasional visits.

The Elms was severely damaged during the war and as a result was rebuilt as a single-storey dwelling by the family firm. I was plumber's mate to Fred Bailey who was our plumber at the time, helping to dress the lead flashings to the brick chimney where it pierced the new roof. Many buildings in the village were damaged in the war and several totally destroyed. Ceilings were brought down, door and window frames shaken loose and roofs damaged. The centre of this major disaster was Gaywood Road and was caused by a parachute bomb. 

The morning after the event, pedestrians found the village streets paved with shattered glass from shop windows. No. 90 was Gadsby's the grocers, with a shop that has little changed over the years, unlike many along this part of The Street. Nos. 86 and 84 were a semi-detached pair privately occupied. Several of the properties from here down to No. 70 still had tiny front gardens with wooden palisade fences to The Street pavement. Miss Drew lived at No. 82 and was another in the Tea and Cakes business. Miss Kitchener's 'Little Gallery' was No. 80. This was another street building which had earlier been a post office in the village, complete with public telephone. I was given an introduction to her in the 1920's by a lady in the village who knew of my interest at that time in heraldry. Miss Kitchener was an expert in that field and I learned later that she was also a designer of coinage. In her later years she lived in a bungalow in Crampshaw Lane. When renovating this property after it became vacant, we found amongst the roof clutter a plaster cast of the 12-sided threepenny piece designed by Miss Kitchener. This, a breakthrough in British coinage, was a comparatively heavy nickel-brass coin with straight edges replacing the diminutive 'joey' and not at all suitable to slip into the Christmas pudding!

The Rosary, No. 78, was a confectioners and tearoom run by the Huntley sisters, specially catering for the needs of passing cyclists. Cycling then was a widely popular recreation and it was commonplace to see clubs of 30 or 40 members on the wheel. The Leg of Mutton also had its tea garden. Nos. 76 to 62 were still residential but would soon follow the trend of conversion to commerce, No. 76 to be a cake shop run by Mrs. Tompsett (now Jennifers) and next to itPullen, greengrocer. No. 62 became a ladies hairdressing salon 'Joan Doris', a venture by Doris Clatworthy, daughter of Mr. Clatworthy of Page and Clatworthy, Family Butchers, 60 The Street, telephone Ashtead 14! (My telephone number today has 6 digits plus code.) No. 58 was the stationery and printing business of Harry Johnson and his son. Here was also the Post Office of my childhood with its counter across the end of the shop. Rather strangely, these premises, in earlier days a grocer's shop, had been another in the succession of Ashtead Post Offices in The Street.

THE STREET Grove Road to Rectory Lane

The first junction on this side of The Street is Grove Road. The parade of shops each side of Grove Road has a nice harmony in its irregularity, particularly with its interesting variety of gables and dormers. The chimneys also are attractive with their ornamental brickwork and corbelling. The pierced and shaped struts to the corners of the roofs are another unusual feature. Unfortunately they provide a favourite roost for pigeons.

On the Grove Road corner was the village ironmonger's shop, No. 56, run by Jessie and Jo Felton wearing his standard buff shopcoat. What wonderful places these old traditional shops were and what a variety of goods were stored within, on shelves, on the floor, in the corner, under the counter and hanging from the ceiling. Clothes pegs, mouse traps, rat traps, Bluebell, Zebo, Silvo, Reckitts Blue, candles, crockery, nails and screws, tools, brushes and brooms, it would take pages to list them all. And Oh, the nostalgic smell! a concoction of paraffin, soap, moth balls, methylated spirits and real turpentine spirit. Some of the shop's wares would be spread on the pavement outside. Next to the ironmonger's was the village dairy No. 54 owned by Sidney Willcox, with his own Jersey herd in the field across the road. Mr. Willcox had taken over the business from Mr. Kelsey; cowkeeper and dairyman. In the shop would be Mrs. Willcox in blue apron, and the sons Edgar and Henry (Nobby) would be doing their rounds with the horsedrawn two-wheeled floats. In early days the milk was in churn, measured out in a ladle into your own jug. Then came bottles with cardboard discs pressed into the bottle tops. Boys liked to get hold of these card discs to spin them like frisbees. Mr. Gibbins, the chemist, was in the next shop. Occasional purchases made by our family were Friars Balsam, Syrup of Figs, Parrishes Food and Epsom Salts, but not all taken at the same time! This is another of the very few shops which has continued in the same trade all these years, although with a much enlarged shop area.

The Westminster Bank was on the corner, its manager having a flat on the first and second floors. There was a tradesmen's door with access by an exterior iron staircase at the side. An ancient petrol pump used to stand close to the side wall of the bank where there was access to the rear of Ashtead Motor Works in Grove Road. 

The Leg of Mutton and Cauliflower Inn stands facing Woodfield Lane. At one time the inn sign hung on a substantial post, which also carried an attractive and realistically modelled leg of mutton on one side and a cauliflower on the other. The farm buildings and land associated with the inn in earlier years extended as far as Grove Road. There has been a hostelry on this site for more than 250 years.

The International Tea Company's Store at No. 46 supplied most of our family's grocery needs and was close to home. The cash desk was a fine mahogany kiosk between the two entrances. Mr. Hill, the manager, would skillfully knock a pound of butter into shape with his butter pats and neatly fold it into its paper wrapper. All cheese was cut with the wire from the large cheeses on the counter to your requirements and bacon was cut on the slicer. Dried fruit, sugar, soda and apple rings were served with a scoop from drawers behind the counter which ran round three sides of the shop. The goods were transferred into a thick blue paper bag and then weighed. At the back of the shop there were two wooden stairways with about five treads leading to the main storage area on a higher level.

Mattens, the Cyclists' Rest, was a popular sweet shop and place of refreshment. These were the days when Mars, Milky Way and Double Six first appeared on the counter. It is easy to imagine the parties of thirsty cyclists swirling through to the tea garden at the rear to enjoy a pot of tea or a bottle of pop. There used to be an ancient bicycle mounted on the flat roof of the shop beside the Mattens sign. A tiny corner of the premises was used by Mrs. Edmunds as a greengrocery. If you look you can still see the old doorway although it is sealed off, which was the entrance to her shop, and you can get an idea of its mini proportions. The other side of the business was worked by Apple Joe, an elderly gent with a horse and cart who announced his presence with his cry, ever the same 'Apples a pound pears', which didn't tell you much except that he was there to serve you. Another familiar figure on the road was Carter Paterson, the carrier. If you wanted him to call you put his green card in your window. It was always the same driver, tough looking, weather-beaten and wearing a leather apron and black leather gaiters. The numbering of The Street continues from Mattens across the road to West Hill, but we should include Rectory Lane in our tour.

RECTORY LANE

Rectory Lane, once known as Cauliflower Lane, was in less distant days regarded as part of Crampshaw Lane. It was the main thoroughfare of the village in earlier times. Some of the oldest buildings in Ashtead are in this lane, including the Old Bakery at the far end and lower down the Old Rectory, Applebough, Fowler's Cottage and what used to be the old Forge House.

There were two shop units on the east side in the twenties. The first was Miss Court's photographic studios, also selling photo frames and albums, bibles, prayer books, stationery, paints and crayons. Miss Court was an accomplished photographer and there are several early photographs of Ashtead in postcard form which bear her name, in addition to her studio portraits. Her premises later became two units. The last in the row was the cobbler's shop of Mr. Roberts.

On the west side of Rectory Lane there is what was in its day an elegant terrace of five shops, but beginning now to look its age which must be approaching a hundred years. Now, in 1998, this parade of shops is becoming marred as Nos. 4 and 3 are being converted into residential dwellings, of course no longer with shop fronts. No. 4 was one of my favourite shops in the village, selling sweets and toys.

Miss Marshall, the proprietress, I remember as an elderly lady with her hair drawn back in a bun. She kept a parrot in her shop. It was an exciting place to visit; perhaps we would buy a book of transfers, a colouring or magic painting book, and at Christmas we would make paper chains with bundles of coloured paper and a pot of paste made with flour. Numbers 2 and 3 had been made into one large drapery shop when Mr. Large took over the premises. There is a really splendid photograph of Jessie Killick, the fishmonger at No. 1, in the latest History of Ashtead. This is another of the Ashtead shops still plying the same trade after all these years, supplying excellent wet fish. Mary, a quaint and familiar local character, was frequently to be seen coming to Killicks on her bicycle, wearing her housemaid's uniform, with a pail on her handlebars to collect fish heads and pieces for the cat.

The small shop next to the fishmongers, strangely numbered la, was occupied by Mr. Robbins who for over fifty years provided an excellent service to Ashtead people repairing and selling watches and clocks. He used the small room upstairs for his workshop. The shop was used before by Mr. Hoyle in the same trade and earlier by Harry Pengelly, electrical engineer. The building is a bit of an oddity since, although it is of the same age and style as the other four in the terrace, the fifth plot had a smaller frontage and was triangular in plan. The size and shape of the building was the reason for the smaller windows and the flat roof.

From the Rectory Lane corner we would sometimes see a stagecoach sedately rolling, though with good speed, down the hill. Vanderbilt's coach is said to have passed through Ashtead until 1914. In the 1920's, although an anachronism, a coach certainly regularly passed through the village, and children were delighted when the coachman blew his horn.

The Brooke Bond Trojan delivery van was often to be seen with its peculiar chain drive and the distinctive sound of its engine. Other interesting vehicles were to be seen passing through the village; Green Line coaches were a new sight in 1930, providing a good fast service for many years.

Steam lorries and tractors, a particular interest of mine, were often hauling huge tree trunks on a trailer, possibly bound for Longhurst's timber yard in Epsom. It seemed strange to see a contraption looking like a railway engine puffing away as if it had escaped from its restricting two-railed environment and was now enjoying the freedom of the open road.

The Steam Lorries were forced off the road in the early 1930's because of their heavy wear on road surfaces, unlike the steam roller which was allowed to continue without paying road tax as it was considered to be good for the road wherever it went. A familiar character often seen in this part of the village was affectionately known as 'Smithy'; he was only about 3½ feet tall. He lived in Maple Road and made his way round on a sturdy tricycle, sometimes with one wheel in front and other times reversed with two wheels in front.

Another fondly remembered wheeled vehicle was the Walls ice cream tricycle with its blue lettering on white, and an invitation to 'Stop me and buy one'; there was a rush to catch him before he disappeared from view. Fetcham Sis was our local vagrant and would often be found dozing under any convenient hedge, or doddling along the pavement muttering to herself.

THE STREET Rectory Lane to Parkers Lane

The corner plot, Nos. 40 and 38 between Rectory Lane and The Street, had its perimeter defined partly with a hedge on the Rectory Lane side and mostly with an unusual cross-latticed wooden fence, which can be seen in some old photographs. A pair of semi-detached cottages were located at the top of the piece of land facing The Street,. They are shown in an old map dated 1879 and at that time they were the only buildings between Rectory Lane and Parkers Lane. Harry Clatworthy and his family were living in No. 40 when, in 1927, our family moved into No. 38, Hillmoor, the other half of the semi-detached pair. Before us there had been Elisha Alfred Curry of the County Police. The house had three bedrooms, two living rooms and a scullery with a shallow caen coloured fireclay sink and a cold tap. The outbuildings housed the mangle, mower, bicycles, garden tools, portable zinc bath and the lavatory. The top end of our garden, with a view of The Street, was against the back of the fishmonger's shop in Rectory Lane and we were well aware when kippering was taking place.

With the increasing use of the car this part of the village was about to change dramatically, being a prime site for a filling and service station. The demolition of No. 40, the other half of the pair in which we were living, was the first step in this development. In 1930 when this was happening the dust and racket of building work next door to us was not the ideal environment for my mother, at that time expecting my brother Howard John. Happily, Sister Thompson, our dear village nurse and midwife, was always at hand to attend with her experience any who needed her. We were soon to see the garden wall come down, the foundation trench dug, and a new high wall built nearly as high as our house, which would be the back wall of the new Woodcote Motor Garage. Now, as motorists came down the hill from Epsom Road into the village there right ahead was the Woodcote Garage, and Mr. Styles, the forecourt attendant smartly attired in white coat and shiny peaked cap, waiting to serve you and the motor. The new flat over the garage was soon occupied.

The move to Hillmoor had been a step forward for my father. Here he was able to build his shed-cum-workshop, which had not been possible at the Flats, our previous home in The Street. We moved to Rectory Lane in 1936.

Our neighbour in No. 36, called Roke, kept pigeons and I was occasionally given a pigeon's egg for tea which was quite a novelty. The sisters Norma and Mabel Sayer of the Brewery family later moved into this house. Pendennis, No. 36, was the last house to be built on this stretch of The Street. The front elevations and gardens of Nos. 36 and 38 are almost unchanged in 75 years. There was a tobacconist and confectioners run by Mrs. Maffey at No. 34. Our family used the shop frequently, being next door but one. The back room was partitioned off to provide Mr. Freeman's barber shop which I regularly visited; he later moved to a shop in Rectory Lane where Miss Court had her studio. Ted Woods lived at No. 32 with his wife, twin daughters and son Ron. He plied his trade as a carpenter for many years and was a familiar sight trundling his hand cart round. Our firm also had a hand cart which would be pushed for miles, sometimes as far as Fetcham, with ladders and plant, and often a bicycle or two piled on top. It was the only way before motor transport became commonplace. Nos. 30, 28 and 26 were residential and still are. No. 24 was the boot maker and boot repair shop of Tom Devitt. He was a popular local figure, serving on the local Urban District Council for many years, and Chairman from 1953 to 1955. He was also a JP. He can be seen in the charabanc next to Bill Peters in the new History of Ashtead (p. 130). His shop was nearly opposite Woodside, the house where my grandparents lived.

This part of The Street was West Hill; our address at Hillmoor was 38, West Hill, The Street. After Tom Devitt's shop the next pair, 22 and 20, were occupied by the Hogsdens and the Waldrons. Mr. Hogsden was our chimney sweep. His daughter named Lucy always appeared at school as bright as a new pin, indeed why should she not, but in a child's convoluted way of thinking I half expected her to bear the trade marks of her father! The Waldron boys next door were good friends but a few years ahead of me; I remember sharing their bonfire and fireworks.

Where are they now, those peers of mine?

Wistfully I may never know,

Remembered in childhood's sunny days,

Perhaps ‘tis better so.

Mrs. Darling ran a ladies shop at No. 18, outfitters and haberdashery, much used and convenient for my Granny across the road who was an accomplished needlewoman. The adjoining shop was a small grocery store, run by Mrs. Stevens and later by Mrs. Crossland. The range of daily needs sold was really remarkable considering it was only the front room of a semi-detached dwelling. The next two blocks were subdivided into flats, one flat up and one down. No. 14 was to become Morings, the shoe repair shop. At No. 12 Mrs. Chapman lived upstairs, and Mr. Ballard, plumber, and his wife were in the ground floor flat.

My parents moved to No. 10 in 1924, two years after I was born. Like No. 12 it was divided into two flats. Bill Bailey, a builder, lived in the other flat. His daughter, Bubbles, was one of my playmates. The Brifex factory overshadowed our garden. After three years at the flat and after my sister Beryl was born we moved to Hillmoor, No. 38. Mr. Fall, the cycle agent, occupied No. 10 after we left, living upstairs and using the ground floor as shop, store and repair shop. He soon deservedly built up a lively business. The all pervading smell in the shop was rubber from the tyres. There were new cycles hanging from the ceiling and all the other paraphernalia normally to be found in a cycle shop. No. 10 is still a cycle shop in 1998. The flats at No. 8 were occupied by Mr. Roberts, whose shoe repair shop was in Rectory Lane, and the other tenant was Jeggo, gardener in a house in Greville Park Road. Next to these flats there was first a private residence, No. 6, and then No. 4 (not a shop) where Mr. Page recharged our wireless glass accumulators; there would be rows of them, electrically connected and quietly bubbling away as they received their charge.  

Finally at the end of The Street was the main entrance to the large Brifex Leathercloth factory. The blank south-west wall had the word Brifex painted on it in enormous red letters on a white panel. The sign was obliterated in the early days of the war, to prevent its use as a navigational aid to enemy aircraft. After the war a large three dimensional sign was manufactured and erected in the same position. The letters were finished in gold leaf and red enamel. The building was reduced in height when converted to offices for W.S. Atkins in 1972. This Company no longer occupies the premises which at this moment in 1998 are vacant.

(Since Meredith completed his short history events have inevitably moved on again and the Atkins building has been demolished and a new small estate of residential properties built on the site.)

EPILOGUE

This nostalgic stroll around The Street in Ashtead started from No. 1 and finished at No. 2 but with over 180 properties between. It is interesting to note that from Greville Park Road to Woodfield Lane every one of the old buildings has gone with the exception of the Brewery Inn. Yet on the other side of The Street all the old buildings have survived from Rectory Lane to Parkers Lane with again one exception. No. 40, which was demolished to make way for the Woodcote Garage.

Looking at The Street from the Brewery Inn corner, it has managed to retain a lot of its village character. Houses have become shops but none is garish, and many of the roofs have been little altered after a hundred years. To date, no ultra-modern monstrosities have appeared to spoil this part of the village.

It is not easy to conjecture in what way Ashtead will change in the next century. Let us hope that successive generations of Ashtead residents will continue to care about and safeguard the best interests of our village.

DEO GRATIAS