Memories of Thursley: a series of recollections from the archive

The articles that follow were first published in our Parish Magazine and were compiled by Jackie Rickenberg. Villagers mentioned in the articles include: Mr A E Karn of Karn's Stores; Margaret 'Mag' Cooper; Mrs Swallow (Headmaster's wife); Messrs Rapley, Wisdom and Goble (Senior); Mr Tozer; Mr Davidson; Thomas Karn (Blacksmith); Lucy Good

This month I am featuring articles from a collection of Thursley memories, recently transcribed from the archives onto our website thursleyhistorysociety.org. The first one is titled “Thursley Between the Wars” and written by Margaret Cooper in 1989.

The vehicles were known as charabancs (from the French, meaning 'wagon with benches') and were hired for day trips usually to the sea-side.

“The present-day inhabitants of Thursley will find it hard to believe that once there was a school population of about one hundred and sixty children attending their present Village Hall when it was the Village School. Yet, this was the case in my young days soon after World War 1 in the 1920’s, when we walked in all weathers from Pitch Place and later Bowlhead Green; our dinner consisted of sandwiches or a lardy roll from Mr Karn’s shop, and sometimes a halfpenny cup of cocoa provided by Mrs Swallow, the Headmaster’s wife! How we saved each week to pay the five shillings needed for the annual char-a-banc outing to Worthing or Littlehampton, where we would dabble our feet in rarely seen sea water – one of the year’s highlights.

Thursley School, about 1920. Third row, first on the right is Margaret (Mag) Cooper née Gale.

Those were the days when the cat’s whisker and crystal set (an early unpowered radio receiver) were in their infancy, and TV was yet to be invented; possibly this was why we made our own amusements and wholeheartedly supported community efforts, such as the sixpenny hop in the old Village Hall (an ex-World War 1 army building) which used to stand next to The Three Horseshoes; the music was provided by people whose names are still known in the village – Rapley, Wisdom and Goble amongst others. The last named, Mr Goble Senior, was also the village carpenter, coffin maker and undertaker who lived at The Institute, now Prospect Cottage. The Institute, designed by Lutyens, served as a men’s club and was also the H.Q. of Thursley’s ARP (Air Raid Precautions) in the 1940’s.

The Institute, Thursley (from Kay Cottle's Postcard Collection)

Another of our amusements in the 20’s was to walk to the present (old) A3 “to watch the traffic on the hard road”. There was far less of it then, and the motor car was something owned only by the “gentry”- a ride on one being a very rare treat. At Bowlhead Green, it was quite an event when Mr A.E. Karn’s pony cart arrived to deliver bread, groceries and paraffin once a week. There were still only two shops in the village – Mr Karn’s and that of Mr Tozer, situated at what is now The Clump, the present Post Office and shop not being built until the 1930’s for Mr Davidson. On those rare occasions when we visited the local towns for shopping expeditions, we walked to the end of French Lane to catch the hourly bus to Godalming. The fare I recall was sevenpence each way, and if we should wish to go to Hindhead, for what reason I cannot imagine, then that would cost eightpence return.

The Old Post Office at The Clump, postcard date stamped 1912. Mr Tozer was the first postmaster, he had the first telephone in the village. The Acacia trees were planted in memory of William Cobbett,

For village girls leaving school in those days, the choice of a future career was limited in the extreme. We could either go into “service” or stay at home, if our parents could afford to keep us. The other choice was to seek employment in London, and I did this when I was fifteen, living with my married sister in Westbourne Park. Thus, it was that I met my future husband when we were sixteen, and when I brought him back to Thursley for introductions, he fell in love for the second time – only now it was with the village, vowing that this was where he wanted to live. It took the Second World War to see this wish fulfilled, but that as they say is another story.

An amusing insight into the “closed shop” nature of the village in the early 1930’s can be obtained from a question put to me once, when my future husband was visiting during one weekend. He had chosen to wear what was then the fashion of many smart young men about town, and an elderly lady whispered in my ear “Who’s the toff in plus fours?” I think the “toff” at the time was earning about £2 a week!

Thursley in the 1920’s and 30’s had not yet been “discovered” as a desirable area for commuters to live in, and the population was very much “native” in the true sense that generations of folk had lived in the same area for centuries, often in the same cottages. The Welfare State and affluent society had not yet arrived, and the inevitable consequence was that many of the houses and cottages were in a poor state of repair. So, although some of the original inhabitants may regret the passing of many of the old names, at the same time there is no doubt that the influx of “foreigners” with money to buy up and restore the old buildings has, on balance, been the salvation of much that is picturesque and irreplaceable in one of the country’s most beautiful villages”.

And a small very relevant excerpt from “In Days Gone By” by Lucy Good 1988.

“After being without electricity, and trouble with the water recently, reminds me of days gone by in the village when we had a very hot summer and a drought.

I lived in Yew Cottage. My father, Thomas Karn, worked with Grandad and Uncle Jack in the forge (the Karns at the shop were another family).

There was no electricity in the village in those days, or water on the mains. The rain water butts and tanks were empty and then the wells dried up. I can see my father now, with a wooden yoke with two pails on, struggling up Dye House Hill, after getting some water from the stream at the bottom which, in those days, fell into a small waterfall before going under the road. The water had to be for drinking, washing, cooking etc., and also some had to be brought up to use in the forge. Mr Rapley at Hill Farm had a horse-drawn water cart, which he used to get water for the animals and also to water the cricket pitch which was done with the horse’s hooves bound with sacks to save them churning the green up (Thursley cricket team was well known in those days). Everyone had oil lamps and candles for lighting – and of course, coal fires and stoves for cooking on”.

Good to know, just in case…………

NB: This entry will be continued as Jackie further delves into our archive.