MEMORIES​
Interview with Ronald John Homewood aged 82, born in 1922
Born in 1 Chapel houses, Upper Halling, his father worked in chalk quarries.
Went by ferry from Snodland to work in Cement factory in Burham. His brother worked there and recommended Ronald.
He worked in power house - adjacent, making tea, sweeping up and assisting fitters and tradesmen pre the second world war.
He worked 48 hours a week and was paid 3d an hour.
No canteen, owned by Blue Circle, previously owned by A.P.C.M.
Youngest of 6 boys and two girls. Good food, grew all own vegetables, huge allotment next to St Lawrence’s Chapel. Kept rabbits and chickens. Mother good cook. Cooked on solid fuel range in the kitchen, later had a gas stove. Main drainage, i.e outside flush toilet. Before that cesspit which caved in due to rain.
When young everyone walked, roads in bad state, top road not tarred. Buses from Lower Halling ran to Chatham and Maidstone fairly regularly. 70 years ago i.e late 1940s Maidstone and District buses started serving Upper Halling, having taken over the local bus service. Bus in morning to Medway towns and bus in evening coming back. Service 120 to serve school children.
At first Ronald walked to Snodland school.
Hop Picking - walked over the Warren to Hop garden in Dene valley (Cuxton), owned by farmers called Pye. Path went over stile so all barrows, prams had to be lifted over.
Mrs Bennett lived at No 3 Chapel Houses and did washing for the vicar.
School - Two departments, Infants and Juniors, Juniors on bend below water works, now converted into housing, Land where Infant school was is now council accomodation. No school dinners, children came home to eat.
Aged 11 Ronald went to Snodland Central School (now Holmesdale). At first he walked then took Beaney’s Transport, if in detention had to walk home. Headmaster at the time Mr W. Ray. Subjects, English, writing, maths
Religion - went to St Lawrence’s Church in Browndens Road, Reverend Trimble was the vicar, nickname was Baggy.
Spare Time - played cricket, football, kept bikes in shed. tinkered with them. Older brothers had motor bikes. On Sundays Ronald and siblings were free to do what they liked. Sometimes coach trips to the seaside.
Marriage - Married at 23 at Dartford Registry Office, had known his wife for about four years. Initially lived with his parents at 1 Chapel Houses.
Molly Wells.
Nee Underdown born in 1934 in Wouldham. Aged one the family came to Barn Meadow, Upper Halling (house no longer there). Moved down to Pilgrims Cottages in 1936, the family then consisted of father William Ernest, mother Florence Isabelle and children Peggy, Jim, Don, Joan and Mollie. Brian, Roy (born May 28th, 1939), June and Ken (b. 1942) were born subsequently in Pilgrims Cottages. ). War broke out Sept 3rd 1939. White Cottages in picture below are Pilgrims Cottages, The Street, where the four younger Underdown children were born. In the photo below Molly bottom right with sister June on her left. The party took place on the "green' which was situated in upper Halling, on the corner of the Street and Vicarage road it is now a row of houses.
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Father originally came from Wrotham and was a cement worker, worked at various pits including Holborough, Frindsbury and Rugby Cement (Halling). In the thirties suffered from bad back and unable to work, family received Parish Relief. He eventually had an operation in St Marys Paddington in about 1946, it was successful and he was able to work again, initially in paper industry in New Hythe and latterly at Rugby Cement at Halling, where hours were very long. Only two days off every three weeks.
Food - Father had allotment off Bradley Road and grew vegetables for family. Stews, suet puddings and during the war little meat. Dessert - damsons, apples, blackberry and custard were favourites. Bacon suet pudding for lunch and suet pudding with golden syrup remembered lovingly by Roy. Lots of substantial food. The main meal was held in the middle of the day. .the
children came home for the midday meal.
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Father also kept rabbits, which he sold and also used to feed the family. A neighbour used to kill the rabbits and was given one as payment, others sold to locals. Monies from the rabbits was used to buy Christmas presents for the children. Mollie remembers spending much of her spare time collecting food for the rabbits
Clothes were precious, one set usually for everyday and one for best. Mollie only had one pair of shoes which had to be mended every week as she was very hard on them. Mended by a Mr Snell, who was a deaf and dumb part time cobbler, he lived in Hills Place.
Molly... bottom right with sister June on her left and other village children at V.E. day celebrations in 1945.
The party took place on ‘The Green’ which was situated in Upper Halling, on the corner of the Street and Vicarage Road. It is now a row of houses.
Halling School - in the reign of King Edward 7th (1901-1912)
School times 9 - 12 and 1.30 - 4pm. Late comers were caned.
Punishments -
Caning, sometimes the whole class was caned.
Staying in after school, learning tables
Writing 100 lines - “ I must not talk in school”
Not allowed to learn a new song.
Standing in front of the class while class laughed.
Books -
Not enough new ones, boring for pupils
Playgrounds
Small one for boys, small one for girls.
Coal Fires
These had guards which teachers sat on
Drill
Very boring, no games, no imagination.
Girls skipped to school, and also ran with wooden hoops. Boys ran with iron hoops.
Summer holidays were timed to coincide with hop - picking.
Most children had a halfpenny pocket money each week.
Some children missed school because they had no boots to wear.
Children left school at the age of 14. Most of the girls went into ‘service’ and the boys worked on farms, or became butcher, bakers or grocery boys delivering goods on bicycles with baskets on the front. Some lucky boys were apprenticed to carpentry or bricklaying etc.
There were fairs in the village with roundabouts, swings hoopla etc which lasted three days.
Once a week a muffin man came to the village with a basket of muffins on his head. Also a winkle man with a basket of winkles. A knife grinder ground knives and a man with a barrel organ had a monkey which danced on the organ.
WORLD WAR TWO and after. Memories of Upper Halling. Roy and Mollie Underdown
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Two doodlebugs - (pilotless flyimg bombs) landed in Upper Halling, one hit trees above Court farm and one landed on the bank opposite Prings Cottage)
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Two planes crashed in Upper Halling, one thought to be piloted by a Polish Crew, which landed opposite Ladds Farm having dropped its engine in the firld to the North of the lower part of Chapel Lane. The second plane crashed on Bavins Bank and the crew were killed, it had a Canadian crew. Molly remembers a rice pudding being brought to the twi
men guarding the crashed plane.
A bomb fell near Ladds Lane, some farm workers had a lucky escapeas just before the bomb fell they had left the spot to work in another field.
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Barrage balloonswere stationed around the village, one at the Black Boy, one where the seat is now in Chapel Lane. The barrage balloons were tethered by chains and and let up into the sky (mostly at night) to prevent low flying enemy aeroplanes. About five airmen guarded the balloons. They lived in tents on site. Their washing was done bywomen in the village.
All houses had their own air raid shelters, either Morrison Indoor shelters, which were table like metal constructions under which people sheltered in a downstairs room, or Anderson shelters which were half buried in the gardens. The last Anderson shelter in the village to be removed was at Turks Hall Place where two new houses called Pilgrims Cottages were built in 2005. The Underdowns remembered a shell falling near the waterworks in Vicarage Lane.
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Rations and clothes coupons. Swopping - for example poorer families might swap their butter rations for another family's margarine ration, thies would enable them to have a larger albeit inferior amount. Also with clothes rations, if people could not afford to use the coupons they mighr swap them for an unwanted or outgrown item of clothing from someone else. Clothes were not plentiful, if a set of clothes got soaked or ruined there were no spare sets.
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SUNDAY SCHOOL - Small children up to the age of about nine attended Sunday School in St lawrences Church, older children attended catechism classin St Stephens. Roy Underdown who was a chorister might attend five services on a Sunday.
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