This article written by Jackie Rickenberg was published in the Parish Magazine in May 2024
From the left: Joyce, Patricia and Marian
Everyone that knew Joyce, was very sad to learn of her recent passing. Joyce had lived in Thursley for around 66 years, an incredible achievement! This month we would like to pay tribute to Joyce through the recollections of her great village friends, Patricia Coles and Marian O’Brien.
Joyce and Peter Hall moved into South House, in the village, in 1958. A year later, Pat and Patricia Coles moved into Upper Ridgeway Farm and finally, Michael and Marian O’Brien arrived at Vine Cottage in 1964, before moving to The Lodge, in 1969. All three couples were newly married and yet to start their families. The three wives became firm friends and shared their lives and family experiences. Here are some of their recollections:
Marian remembers meeting Joyce and Peter at a party in Cosford House, where they threw the most memorable parties of the time. Patricia thinks she first met Joyce at her strawberry farm, Coles Strawberries, renowned in the area for over 45 years, even supplying Wimbledon for many summers. Everyone in the village went there to buy strawberries in the summer, so Patricia got to know both Marian and Joyce very quickly.
The couples began their families and soon Joyce and Peter had Christopher, Adriana and Simon, the Coles, Stephen and Malcolm and the O’Brien’s had James, Sarah and Charles. They remember the children playing happily for hours on the Common, making camps and having all sorts of adventures. Stephen now lives in New Zealand and Adriana in Australia, but still remain close. I am sure there are lots of stories, as yet untold to parents, even after all these years!
Joyce was an excellent cook and soon got into village life, and she, Patricia and Marian helped with the catering of the annual Harvest Suppers, the flowers in the church and latterly, the Over 60’s club – very different to The 60’s Club, which was for all the children in the village, born in the 1960’s. Michael remembers being given the job of the table plan for the Harvest Suppers and each year incurring the wrath of Major Brian Camp, the rather formidable chairman of the Parish Council, who, it would appear, was easily given to criticism!
Patricia and Marian reminisced further about village life back in their early days:
There was a village policeman living in Harvesters, a busy Post Office, in the Old Post Office, a shop, run by Bernie Karn, in the Old Stores and a butcher alongside the shop. The day Marian and Michael moved in, they found a note on their kitchen table, welcoming them to the village from Nan Wonham, who ran the Post Office. Her husband Ben delivered the daily papers, milk was delivered by Mr Ellis and eggs could be bought from Ron and Mary Rapley, in Highfield Lane. Ron Voller was the postman and could be seen doing his rounds by bicycle. He and his wife, Nellie, also ran a kennels at Hilldown. Today it is Patricia who has a wonderful kennels and cattery at Upper Ridgeway Farm.
Fewer people had cars and almost all only one per family. Many caught the bus, either to Guildford, Godalming or Hindhead, from the lay-by just before the slip road onto the A3. There was one bus an hour and the ladies of the village caught it to get their weekly shopping, carrying it all back home with them. Patricia recalled a lady who was terribly shy and if the returning bus had any Canadian soldiers on it (still billeted here after the war), she would walk all the way from Godalming with her shopping!
There were at least eight working farms; Hill Farm (Middleton), Hedge Farm (Guyatt), Lower Highfield Farm (Rapley), Upper Highfield Farm (Abels), Cowdray Farm (Goble), Punchbowl Farm (Edwards), Upper Ridgeway Farm (Coles) and Bowlhead Green Farm (Ranson). Four of them are still working today. The Coles, Gobles and Ransons still run their family farms with Sally Scheffers now at Punchbowl Farm.
The village school had recently closed when Joyce and Patricia arrived in Thursley and there was a school bus to Milford which originally came all the way up Highfield Lane. However, after some accidents on the lane, it took to stopping near the shop where the children would alight and disembark.
The Red Lion had closed and was now a garage owned by Reg Cottle, who was a great help to everyone, but The Half Moon pub, near what is now Silkmill House and The Three Horseshoes were very much open. Streetfield had just been completed and there was a new cricket pavilion, which was later replaced following an arson attack. There was an active Women’s Institute as well as a monthly Church Fellowship and a Church choir which Sarah O’Brien sang in, despite being almost tone deaf (her words)!
It was so interesting listening to these recollections and hearing how the village has changed. What hasn’t changed is the strong community spirit and great friendships forged within the village. With Sarah’s recent move back to Thursley, Marian, is impressed at the number of WhatsApp groups and other ways in which this spirit is kept going amongst the different generations. Joyce enjoyed this link with the next generations having her son Simon and his wife Amanda, and their two children Nat and Hannah, living at South House, as does Patricia, with Malcolm farming at Upper Ridgeway.
One last fond memory of Joyce was told by Patricia:
“Joan was wonderfully bilingual but occasionally got a bit mixed up. She once told me a friend had had aquapuncture! I now have to think every time I use the word acupuncture!
She is much missed.