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Thursley History Society organised a visit to the museum in November 2024 Sukey Langdale writes, "12 Thursley residents (including some from Pitch Place and Bowlhead Green) met in Southsea over coffee and then moved to the Landing Craft Tank 7074, the last survivor of this type.  It took 10 tanks to Gold Beach on June 7th 1944. It had two tanks on board for us to look at.  Then we were let loose in the museum to view whatever we liked at our own pace and it was truly fascinating.  The shop had bits and pieces to buy including very interesting books about D-Day.   Then we finished by looking at the Overloard Embroidery, finished in 1974.  It is 83 meters long, with incredible detail and colour .   To cap it all we then had a very good fish and chips lunch, sitting outside on the “front” at Southsea in glorious sunshine.   What a day!" From L to R: Tom Grillo, Sue Ranson; Peter Hunter, Jackie Rickenberg, David Young, Tricia Horwood, Pat Clake, Lizzie Young, Sukey Langdale, Jerry Horwood, Sally Scheffers, Peter Clacke These are just a few examples of exhibits both outside and inside the museum A scale model of the Atlantic Wall The 83 metre, 33 panel Overlord Emroidery is worth the visit for that alone. How good to end the tour with some fine Fish & Chips!

This article was written by Sally Scheffers for the History of Thursley Society in 1993 (as can be seen from the dot matrix print) and now includes some Thursley wells. The full article can be downloaded from this pdf A Donkey Wheel in action As mentioned in the article, a donkey wheel can be seen working in Carisbrooke Castle: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/carisbrooke-castle/things-to-do/meet-carisbrooke-donkeys/ Thursley Wells: Patricia Coles of Upper Ridgeway Farm believes that her well is probably both the deepest and oldest in Thursley. It would have been dug before the building of the house in 1331 as water was required for its building. In common with most wells, it was built nine feet from the exterior wall although it is now within the curtilage of the house having been absorbed by an extension. It is stone built for approximately seven feet, and then it was dug through rock. It is 100' deep to the water level and the water is 14' deep. Susan Goodridge of Pitch Place Farm discovered they had a well within their property when digging up the floor. The rebuild, approved by Waverley, consists of a new top layer of bricks but the lower brick work and pumps are original plus the cow bone, which serves as a water monitor, lies at the bottom. Julia Cash sent this photograph of the well in the garden of Street House , Summer 2024. There is also a well within the curtilage of the property but it covered up by floorboards and a stud wall. These photographs were supplied by a previous owner. Gillian Duke of Badgers , The Lane, sent these two photographs. The well is now within the curtilage of the property but earlier plans show it the requisite nine feet from the back door. Lisa Woods of Holly Cottage, Bowlhead Green, sent these photographs of the well that is now beneath her kitchen sink! It had to be filled in by order of the Environment Agency due to an oil spill: Other wells have been reported in Hole Cottage, the garden of what was The Red Lion Inn, Boxalls (now filled in), Red Lodge (covered by a fridge!), Watts Gallery Chapel, Robin Hill (Bowlhead Green), Punch Bowl Farm, The Old Vicarage and Gnome Cottage (in the Punch Bowl). Please send details of any more to davidjohnyoung51@hotmail.com Thanks to Ian Exton, wells can be found on two maps. He wrote: I was just looking at old OS maps of the village. It seems they really liked putting the wells on the map in the 1870s. They're very clearly marked. https://maps.nls.uk/view/102347514 These show the location of wells at Emley Farm and (Upper) Ridgeway Farm Also, try the British Geological Society map as you can turn on borehole and water well data. https://mapapps2.bgs.ac.uk/geoindex/home.html With well data turned on

This delightfully named cottage was probably built between 1730-50. It was known as Pit Dairy before being renamed as Gnome Cottage by the National Trust. © Copyright Colin Smith It is a two-storey stone cottage with a half-hipped roof. It is thought to have been a farm and we have seen an old photo showing it as "Punchbowl Dairy Farm". The outlying farm buildings were demolished many years ago. The cottage has a large hearth and it has several early Georgian features, such as the brick in the quoins and in the jambs of the windows. It is a wonderful place to live. We moved into Gnome Cottage in 1991. Andrew works for the National Trust as Head Warden for Hindhead commons and I am an Infant Teacher. Andrew moved to the area in 1988 from Whitley Bay in Northumberland and I am originally from Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire. We were married in Thursley Church on the 31st July 1993. Jilly Storey, 1996 Jilly and Andrew Storey, 1996

By Judy Hewins, Marchants Hill Rural Centre, 1979, with notes by Sean Edwards and an article by Jackie Rickenberg which was published in the Parish Magazine in June 2024 On 10th April 2013, Sean Edwards of The Street, edited and published a document originally produced in 1979 as a teaching resource, written by Judy Hewins from Marchant’s Hill Rural Life Centre. It was entitled “Village Study Notes – Thursley”. It contains a well collated account of Thursley village, plus much original research that should be available to a much wider audience. I have included some excerpts of it here: 1.    “FUNCTION b) Original Function: The settlement dates from Saxon times. It developed as a farming community and would have needed to be self-sufficient, therefore the availability of the following resources influenced the location of Thursley: Water, light soil which is easy to cultivate, fuel from the surrounding wood, rough grazing for the animals and building materials for houses were all important. c) Increased Importance: Later Thursley increased in influence with the development of another function, the iron industry, with locally available raw materials. This brought employment and wealth to the village. d) Function Today: Now, however, these original reasons for existence have been lost. Thursley is a residential village with high property prices. It assumed this new function with the greater wealth, mobility and leisure time of its changing population. Thursley is a very charming place to live, but within easy commuting distance of the nearby towns and even London. Farming is still seen, but not as the prime function of the village. The farms are dispersed around the village. 2. POPULATION AND ADMINSTRATION The information given about the population of Thursley has been taken from the 1971 census. The total population of the civil parish was 630 people. a) Parish Council: An act of 1894 introduced Parish Councils to organise Village affairs. Thursley’s first Parish Council met on June 2nd 1895. Today it serves as a voice of the local people and retains the power to make bye-laws. It has 7 elected members, who serve for a 4-year term and a paid part-time clerk. They meet every five or six weeks and their main business is to maintain footpaths, deal with local complaints and discuss planning applications. 3. HISTORY a) Earliest Times: There is evidence that the settlement at Thursley dates from Saxon times. Parts of the village church are known to date from 1030. The name Thursley may be from the Anglo Saxon meaning a clearing or “field” in the forest, where the Gods Thunor and Thur were worshipped. Alternatively, the name may be a personal one associated with a former owner or holder of land - there was an Abbot Thor in 975 A.D. or an archdeacon Thor in 1100. Parishes were originally marked by boundary stones, and the bounds were beaten annually. On Thursley Common there are two boundary stones both known as Thor’s Stone. One beyond Thursley Hammer Pond marking the boundary between Thursley and Pepper Harrow and the other on the margin of Pudmore Pond marking the meeting of three parishes, Elstead, Pepper Harrow and Thursley. Both stones are located in extremely boggy areas, so it is very inadvisable to try and discover their location. d) The Turnpike Age: In the 18th Century many roads were in a very poor condition. The narrow sunken lanes in Thursley were often virtually impassable to wheeled traffic and the main London to Portsmouth Road, which passes near to the village, was a dangerous highway where travellers were often attacked by robbers and cut throats. The poorer people had to walk and tragedy sometimes befell them. Thursley Burial Register contains this entry “January, 4th 1788, Samuel a Sailor found dead upon Hindhead, who perished in the Snow”. Prior to the Turnpike Act of 1753, many laws were passed requiring people to work on the upkeep of their local roads, but there was little improvement. The first metalled road was constructed in Thursley in 1749. In 1753 it was allowed that local trusts could make up roads, each in their own areas and they could then collect tolls from people who used the roads. The Portsmouth Road, near Thursley, thus became a Turnpike Road in 1767 and travel by stage coach became more popular. A milestone still remaining gives the distance to Portsmouth as 33 miles and Hyde Park Corner, 36 miles. The Tithe Map (1846) shows the Commons Roads, including French Lane, Road Lane, Highfield Lane and Rutten Hill Lane. A total of 20 roads in the parish altogether. The Award which accompanies the map, shows the site of the Turnpike Gate and Tollhouse – which was owned by the Trustees of the Turnpike. In 1851 Henry Craft was the Tollgate Keeper. He was 39 years old and lived with his wife, Jane and two children, Mary Ann aged 14 and Henry aged 11, described as a scholar. On census night he had a visitor, Edward Jay, a 31-year-old Agricultural Labourer and also living there was Mary Welland, a 13-year-old girl. Ten years later the Turnpike was in charge of Mrs. Craft, Henry Craft described himself as an Agricultural Labourer, the children had left home and Edward Lyling lodged with them. 4. SERVICES AND AMENITIES a) The Church: Displayed in the Church Porch Enter this door As if the floor Within were gold And every wall Of jewels all Of wealth untold As if a choir in robes of fire Were singing here Nor shout, nor rush But hush . . . . . … For God is here Thursley church is dedicated to St. Michael and All Angels and dates from Saxon Times. The original church was built in 1030 A.D. and is therefore over 900 years old. The Saxon plan was of a nave and a chancel and except for the addition of a South Porch circa 1230, the church remained in this way until major restoration work was begun in 1860.” More to be continued next month. HOWEVER. By the time you read this, we will have had the exciting launch of the Thursley History Society’s new website, which will include a lot of the archives you have read through the years in this magazine, including these study notes. So please do take a peep at: thursleyhistorysociety.org    also Instagram: @thursleyhistorysociety And as we’ve recently enjoyed the Horticultural Society’s Spring Show, I thought it might be interesting to look back on one from seventy years ago. The pdf below is the complete 44 pages of Judy Hewins's Village Study Notes - Thursley 1979:

This book was compiled through the efforts of the Thursley Women’s Institute to commemorate their Jubilee Year, 1965. What different times we live in today! Many of the articles in the book appear under separate headings on the website and can be searched using '1965', the whole text of the book can be downloaded, see below. As President of the Thursley Women’s Institute, I would like to place on record my appreciation of the help afforded by Mrs Sadler (WI) of The Lodge, Thursley, who was responsible for the cover design, and to members of the Thursley Women’s Institute and Thursley village who contributed the following articles.   The delightful copyright photographs are by Miss Megson of Godalming who kindly allowed them to be reproduced and the reproduction was done by Mr Sadler of Thursley   Ursula Dunlop, Pitch Place, Thursley 1965

This article, written by Mary Bennett, first appeared in the Parish Magazine in July 1978 and was published by the History of Thursley Society in a loose-leaf book. THURSLEY IN THE 'TWENTIES When I was a child in the ‘twenties, Miss Aileen Lutyens, Sir Edwin Lutyens’ youngest sister, dominated the Thursley scene. She lived in the large house by the Clump, now Charringtons (the present vicarage stands in what was then her meadow) and looked exactly like her photograph in the village hall - brisk, capable and benevolent. There were close links between her and the Rapleys at Hill Farm, since Mrs.Rapley - already an old lady in my memory - had taught the little Lutyenses before her marriage. Both families were musical and, in retrospect, I think it was rather bold of my mother, as a newcomer, to start a choral society in the face of this entrenched interest. But she did, and all was well; Miss Lutyens’ penetrating alto was safely absorbed into the new choir, which proceeded to do well in a couple of Dorking festivals but did not survive our partial migration to Oxford in 1925. Miss Lutyens was one of those who got Thursley its first Village Hall, the large army hut that stood on the crest of the hill by the ‘Shoes and was to be the scene of all major social events for some forty years; she was also a founder member of the local W.I. I suspect that she had a hand in most of the local events of the time. The School was a real school then, presided over by Mr. Swallow, and beyond the playground where the Thorfield flats now are, was the Vicarage, now Thorcroft. This was then a much larger house (the upper storey was later destroyed by fire) and the garden seemed to me infinitely romantic, with winding paths leading through the belts of trees and shrubs that encircled the two lawns. On one occasion there was a fairy play, in which we dressed up with butter-muslin wings and flitted in and out of the laurels - this must really have been rather awful, but remains magical in my memory. Angela Smith, the Vicar’s daughter, also ran a pack of Brownies, whose meetings were the high spot of my week. We met in the Vicarage stable loft, which meant climbing up one of those ladders that are no more than hand-and-foot-holes against the wall, and stepping sideways off it through the loft door, an adventurous exercise when one’s legs were short. One of the things Brownies had to learn was (oddly enough) how to make a rice pudding. This was impossible for one of us, since her home had no oven, a fact that made a deep impression on me at the time and is a fair measure of the change in standards of living since. Angela Smith must have had a considerable gift with children since she kept a dozen or so little girls from a variety of homes happy and out of mischief on Saturday mornings for some years. Beyond the Vicarage, at Foldsdown, (which they had themselves built) lived the Parkers. Mrs. Parker was very pretty and very fragile - everyone liked and respected her, but she was not strong enough to play as active a part in village affairs as Mr. Parker, to whose drive and devotion Thursley owed the installation of its first district nurse, Nurse Collins. It is hard nowadays to realise that there was a time when the nurse’s salary and expenses were wholly provided from private subscriptions, but so it was, and a very great deal of work was needed to keep the nursing fund solvent and in good order. Of course I did not realise this until much later: I thought of Mr. Parker as a kindly grown-up, with whom my father used to go for walks, and Foldsdown as the scene of very splendid children’s parties at Christmas. My mother’s chief friend in those days was Miss Stevenson, who lived at The Lodge, now the O’Briens. She was a retired headmistress, a formidable and rather fascinating Scot, who still gave violin lessons and was very occasionally persuaded to play at village concerts. Among her pupils was Bob Goble from across the road, soon to join the Dolmetsches at Haslemere and eventually to become the leading English maker of harpsichords. A musician of a very different sort was Mr. Pecskai, who taught at the Royal Academy and played in a well-known London quartet. Hungarian by birth and breeding, though passionately English in sentiment, he looked like a rather stouter Napoleon: my father enjoyed the verve of his conversation and we saw a good deal of him. He and his elderly rather cross-grained accompanist, Miss Lebel, lodged at Heathview, the house now owned by Wendy and Graham Jones, until he suddenly married one of his pupils, when Miss Lebel went off and took lodgings with Mrs. Harbutt in Vine Cottage. Poor Mrs. Harbutt must have had a time of it with my old cousin, Mrs. Woods* in her front room and Miss Lebel in her back - neither old lady at all easy, and the two of them on far from friendly terms. Louis and Bertha Pecskai eventually built themselves Rack Close and they lived in Thursley until his death in the 40’s. But that takes us far beyond the days of these childhood memories of a Thursley that now seems very remote indeed. MARY BENNETT * Margaret L. Woods, a well-known poet and popular novelist at the turn of the century.

Pax Cottage was built in 1500/1550 as a single hall house standing free of the now attached Oak Cottage built in the 17th century, and Shrike Cottage and Rose Cottage were attached in the 18th century. It was purchased by Peter and Leslie Huish on 20th July, 1957 The roof construction has no ridge pole and has rafters attached in pairs supporting the handmade tiled roof which was first thatched with heather. The small sitting room was originally open to the roof void and an open fire on the floor allowed the smoke to escape through a smoke vent now covered by the the tiled roof. Pax Cottage also showing Oak Cottage Timber frame construction in bedroom We have opened the original large fireplace after removing three smaller fireplaces, and exposed the beamed walls and ceilings. The relatively large garden at the rear has been featured in the "Gardeners World" of August 1992 and "Which" magazine and has ironstone paths and patio constructed by Pat and Leslie Huish. We spent two years moving earth to level the garden which sloped downhill in two directionss. The garden includes Himalayan Pine and hybrid Catalpa trees Leslie grew from seed.

Guy Singer has written two books about Thursley Church. They are available direct from the author: https://www.guyjsinger.com/books

The Beanside Canal existed before the Tweedsmuir camp was purchased by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in 1922 and turned into a tented rest and recreational facility for the British Army and remained like that until the start of the Second World War. See https://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/tweedsmuir-military-camp/ Beanside Camp. The view of the Army camp looking towards Shackleford and the Hogs Back. The Levy sisters, who farmed at Smallbrook, had to take the cattle out of the Beansides fields for the summer. The 1930 Army Camp at the Beansides, now known as Tweedsmuir. The Army and reserves came from Aldershot. In 1937 a member of the Staffordshire Regiment murdered a woman at Beacon Hill. All the troops were lined up outside The Dye House for his arrest. The troops only came in the summer for a three months' staywhile the barracks were cleaned and fumigated. With thanks to Sean Edwards for the maps, retouched black and white and the colour photographs below: The red arrow shows the location of the Beanside bridge BRIDGE REMAINS CANAL REMAINS CULVERT

The cottage was situated by the stream in Rocky Lane. All that is known is that a William Enticknap was born there in 1880 and his father had a donkey and cart. In 1952 William Enticknap was known to be living in Witley. The cottage was known to be occupied until 1905. This article, written by Jackie Rickenberg, was published in the Parish Magazine in January 2024 Stream Cottage Happy New Year to one and all! 2024 is an exciting and busy time for the Thursley History Society. We are currently in the early stages of organising an event to launch and showcase our new website. It will be relevant to, and hopefully of interest to, every single person that lives in our village and surrounding parish. It will be crammed with photographs and documents relating to the buildings, the people of Thursley and their lives.   In the meantime, if we cast our minds back to the December article, I asked about the location of a photograph featuring two Edwardian ladies standing on a path. Thank you to Sean Edwards, for not only did he recognise the photo, he had re-enacted it with his late wife Salosh and mother, Monica Edwards, exactly one hundred years after the original. The original was from 1897 and Sean’s reconstruction was from 1997. And the location was what we now refer to as The Valley of the Rocks, but in those days was known as Rocky Lane, at the top of Highfield Lane, just before entering The Punchbowl.   Notes, found in the archives but not signed, say:   “Rocky Lane, the BOAT (Byway Open to All Traffic), at the top right-hand side of Highfield Lane, was once an important track, as part of the route from Churt to Witley Station. Now, it is a lovely leafy path (written before off roaders obviously!) down to the stream at the bottom. However, if you look carefully, you may see the outline of a dwelling in the nettles. On the eastern side of the stream there was a cottage, aptly called Stream Cottage, which was inhabited up until about 1905. The Enticknap family lived there, one of the last members to be born in Stream Cottage was William in 1880. He became a bricklayer and lived in Witley. As a child, William remembered riding in his father’s cart pulled by the donkey which also lived at the cottage. William’s mother would go to Hindhead to see her uncle and aunt who kept The Royal Huts (a hostelry), known locally as Hut Inn, and William recalled seeing the local doctor driving his dog cart past on his rounds from Haslemere. Even though Stream Cottage has long gone, we are fortunate to have pictures of the Enticknap home. The first is a very old photograph of Robbie Morgan’s, of two young Edwardian ladies by the stream with a building in the background. However, a watercolour painting (see below) of Stream Cottage by Josiah T Wilson hangs in the Victoria and Albert Museum. On inspection, it seems that the artist has abused his artistic licence somewhat, as the stream seems be on the wrong side of the cottage.”    And another unattributed handwritten note from the archives states:   “The stream leading to Rocky Lane and Ridgeway Farm, which was originally Ridgeway Nurseries, note the shed on the right. In in my grandparents time there used to be a cottage there also.”   Last month’s photo, this time looking up Rocky Lane, still showing Stream Cottage 1897. The same view this time on 1st January 1997,100 years on with Salosh and Monica Edwards, but by now Stream Cottage has disappeared. An earlier view of the bridge c.1860, again looking up towards Little Cowdray.     Rocky Lane, 2009, by Sean Edwards

From British listed buildings: Hall House. Early C16 core, refaced in C17. Timber framed, clad in sandstone rubble with brick patching and dressings, hipped plain tiled roof. Two storeys with corbelled stack to left of centre and stack to left end. Two 3-light, gabled, casement, on-eaves dormers to centre and one 3-light window to either end of first floor. Five windows to ground floor, irregularly spaced, under-cambered heads. Door to left of centre in large, open, gabled porch with arched entrances to front and sides with carved spandrels. Interior:- Some framing visible. Grade II, 29th April, 1986 Smallbrook Farm 1897 Cart Shed, footpath up to Church Cuts. Maria and Ann Levy, 1897. The sisters are in their milking gear, the hats, we decided, were to protect their hair from being dirtied by the cows, or to stop them getting ringworm. They rose at 5:30am for the milking - the rest of the family rising at 6:00am. Mrs W Levy of Smallbrook, Uncle Lancelot from Petersfield and their sister, Mrs Woods, from Hedge Cottage. Ann Levy on her milk round in Thursley village, 1908. She and her sister, Lucy, ran the farm together. They managed the farm and the lodgers with the help of the carter and the cowman until 1931. The picture was taken outside Wheelers Farm. Smallbrook Farm, 1897 - the second row of trees are the elms of Highfield Lane which blew down. The second 1897 picture shows the added windows. The Granary, 1897, was pulloed down by LadyThomas, you can still see the back wall and the steps. The photographs below are from Betty Weeden's album Stewart and Faith Wagner, 1996 Sale details in February 2024: https://search.savills.com/property-detail/gbgursgus230100

This small 20 page booklet is available from the Godalming Museum and the Lutyens Trust. It contains a circular car trail that allows you to see about 24 of Lutyens's designs in a fairly compact area. In Thursley it identifies The Corner , Lutyens's first executed work, Street House which was his boyhood home, Prospect Cottage which was formerly the Thursley Institute and Thursley Churchyard where there is a simple cross to his father and a memorial to his nephew killed in the first World War.