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Part Two 1914 - 1938

Childhood and Families

Alan Brind

My granddad was HerbertAllen (Jack) Laxton 1884 –1936. He married EvaWhitear from Titchfield in1913 and they lived at 81West St. Titchfield.

Jack served for 24 years inthe 108th Heavy BatteryRoyal Garrison Artillerywhich, as Sergeant, he leftin 1926. He was a horsemanpar excellence and servedthe whole of WW1 inFrance and Belgium comingthrough numerousengagements uninjured. He was awarded a Mons Star with Clasp andRoses, British Army War Medal and Victory Medals.

He left the army in 1926 and became a bricklayer and worked on thebuilding of Titchfield Primary School and also the Embassy and Savoycinemas in Fareham. It was ironic that despite having worked with horsesthroughout his army career, he died, aged 52, following an infection dueto a bite from a horse fly.

Donald Upshall

As I was the first grandchild in the Upshall family I was named after myuncle who was killed in WW1. If you look in the church you will see hisname on the remembrance plaque. My father started the garage on EastStreet when I was born. Now, in 2015, we've been in business 89 years.

Today you don't realise how narrow the roads were then. There were nokerbs. You just walked along the edge of the road. But there wasn’t muchtraffic then. It is so different now of course. I remember the main A27road. I used to push my brother in his pushchair all the way in to Farehamwhere they had all these Hornby toys. I used to look at them in thewindow as I was a big Hornby train enthusiast at the time.

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My grandfather was the headmaster of the old Titchfield Primary School,when it was in West Street, back in the ‘20s and ‘30s; it was called theNational School. In those days headteachers were respected and strict,and when we went to tea with him you had to be careful. When the newschool was opened in 1934, he was on the board as a governor so hehelped select the new headmaster. I was at West Street for about ayear but I didn't used to see him. He had a motto, 'Manners MakethMan' He had it right across the entrance to the assembly hall. Then wemoved to the new school and he retired.

When we used to go to his house for tea in the ‘30s we used to sit thereand he might have another friend, a headmaster, round and you certainlythought he was special! He used to tell me that people used to raisetheir hat to him in the street. They were respected then. He used towear gentleman's boots, nice polished brown lace-up ones. When hecaught a bus he always went upstairs to keep fit. I know he wasconnected to the church. I don't know if he played the organ but he usedto go to the church because of the children, his students.

If you had to go to the doctor’s you did not need an appointment so yousat and waited for your turn. Dr Windermer and the vicar were very wellrespected. Mr Mason was the chemist but there were no pills. He mixedup the prescription in medicine form.

I was the eldest of ten children whom my mother had to bring up. Weused to live in the house opposite the garage, next to the Wheatsheafpub in East Street. There were no supermarkets, double glazing orcentral heating and we had an outside toilet. I left home before I was 16and my sister left for a secretarial job. Otherwise we were a bitcrammed but the War was on and we had to put up with it. You look backand think how did we exist? I gave six sisters away in marriage as myfather died near the end of WW2.

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Ben Waterfall

“Brother married sister, and sister married brother”

I am the grandson of the BenWaterfall listed on theTitchfield War Memorial but Inever knew my grandfather.Nobody ever told me about himand it wasn't until I started

looking upthe familytree that Ifound outabout him.My granwouldn't talk about him. I also didn't know, untilafter gran had died, that my great aunt Flo(Florence) was granddad's sister – no one ever toldme. I just knew her because she was married toGrandma Tilly's (Matilda's) brother.

Granny had a telegram from the Navy to say that granddad was on hislast legs down at Portlandand she should get down andsee him so she went downthere and was with himwhen he died. Gran lost herhusband and son, Berty, inthe same year. My dad wasthe only boy who survived,along with his sisters -aunts Rose, Minnie, Annie(Beryl's Mum), and Em(Emily).

Douglas Elkins

Once in my boyhood I had to be seen by a doctor, Dr Weir from Lee–on-the-Solent. He lifted my shirt tail and said I had chicken pox! “That willbe half a crown,” (12.5p) said the doc to my mother. Children in thosedays suffered mumps, measles, jaundice, chicken pox, conjunctivitis,thread worms and every other malady known to school children and manynever saw a doctor because of the cost.

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I remember I used to cycle into Fareham town and, on one occasion, stoodmy bike against the kerb to go shopping, for my mother. On my return thecycle had vanished so I had a three mile walk back home. Several weekslater I was astonished to see a boy of about my age riding through Farehamon my bike. I promptly grabbed him and my bike and marched him up to thepolice station. The police station then was in the large house which is nowthe Registry Office in Osborn Road South, behind the Magistrates Court.

The sergeant sat me in a room on my own and took the other boy intoanother room to ‘talk’ to him. After some time the sergeant returned andsaid that he had left the boy in another room for a short while but on hisreturn he found the boy had run away! I was re-united with my bike andwent off upon my way. Thinking about this many years later, I think thesergeant gave the boy advice and time to get away before sending me awayrejoicing.

Paula Weaver

My dad, George Rogers, known as Tom,was a Londoner. He joined the RoyalArtillery as a boy soldier in 1925 as hewanted to work with horses. Hisassessment documents state that hewas ‘a first class gunner and a promisinggroom, fond of horses.’ He was based atFort Wallington. He left the army in1931 and worked in the building trade.

I think he must have met my mum, FloFord, here in Titchfield. He told us thatall his mates in the army, including him,had to say goodnight to the girls at thebridge in East Street because theywere not allowed any further. Thevillagers did relent eventually becauseseveral of the soldiers, including mydad, married local girls and stayed inthe village.

George Watts

George was born in 1931 at number 26 West Street. It was hisgrandparents’ house and when his parents got married they had the upperrooms. Later the council built new houses at the top of West Street and hemoved with his family to the new house, number 72.

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June Pellatt

My great grandfather, William Burgesswas the last Town Crier/Knocker-Up inTitchfield. He had three children,William, Ada and my gran Pat. Pat marriedHarry Bowers and they had four children,my dad was one of them, George Bowers.

George worked at Arthur Hales cycleshop from the age of 12 and was laterapprenticed at the Upshall’s garage.Arthur Hales used to be partners in thecombined cycle shop and accumulatorbattery business with Edward ‘Eddy’Upshall, but they separated and he leftto open the cycle shop in the Square.Eddy carried on repairing cars at thesame site. His grandson Phillip still runsthe garage.

My granddad on mum's side was Sidney Russell, and his sister was Poppy. Theirdad was an educated man who had become a farmer in the area. Sidney didn’twant to go into farming so he joined the Royal Marines. Poppy married ArchibaldFreemantle whose father ran a pub. Although it was hoped that Archi would joinhis dad in the pub trade, he became a carpenter and later an undertaker. Hisgrandson John Freemantle still works as an undertaker in the village.

I think my gran, with a couple of friends, did munitions work, filling shells inWW1. They went by transport and it was all a bit ‘hush hush’. They had to stopthough because the chemicals they were using started to turn them yellow. (

.)

Kate Scott

‘Granddad cycled down to Fareham from Nottingham in a day.’

Maud was my great granny on my mother’s side. Granddad, Arthur StanleySentanse (Stan), came from Grantham in Lincs. He met granny on the 11th ofthe 11th 1929, funny wasn't it? He was in the army, the Royal Artillery andstationed at Fort Fareham. There were dances in Titchfield and the village girlsenjoyed going to them. They often married the in-comers. I think it made thegene pool better!

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As a married person great granny wasentitled to an extra one shilling (5p) aweek from the Government so shemarried on the 15th February 1930.Great granddad sailed to India on the20th February 1930. Granny carried onworking at Gudge Heath Lane, Fareham.When granddad came out of the armyhe couldn't get a job so he went toNottingham.

Great grandfather got him a job. Asgranddad was an ex-serviceman he hadexperience with horses so he cut thegrass with a team of horses at RAFSiskin and RAF Fort Grange. Whengranddad heard there was a job nearhere he got on his bike and cycled down to Fareham fromNottingham. It was one of the old bikes without gears. They werethen together and my dad was born later.

Leslie Ellis

Leslie Ellis was born in Harrogate. He was the youngest of sixchildren, four boys and two girls. The boys attended a Methodistboarding school in Colwyn Bay, North Wales. The choice of schoolcame about because of his father’s fear of Germans in WW1. Hisfather thought that he and his brothers would be safer in NorthWales. Leslie’s eldest sister taught him to drive when he was just14 years old.

Mike Ferris

“The gas holders were very large and ugly and they smelt veryunpleasant”

I was born in 1937  at number 2 Frog Lane, which at that timeformed the main entrance to the gas works. The gas holders werevery large and ugly. They smelt very unpleasant although I was tooyoung to realise this at the time. The weighbridge for the vehiclesleaving the gas works still exists in Bridge Street on the drivewayof the last of the terraced cottages.

We then moved to the Bellfield estate which was built in threephases with lower Bellfield being Phase one and Coach Hill and what

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we knew as middle Bellfield forming phase two. Numbers 81 and 82on Posbrook Road, opposite the cemetery, were the last to be builtbefore construction ceased during the War. We eventually movedto one of the cottages on Posbrook Road but then purchased land inBrownwich Lane where a nursery was established .

Rita Prior

Rita, a twin, was born onMonday 7th July 1930 atNorth Hill, Fareham. Herparents were LillianMaggie and LeonardEtherington.

My twin is Roy. He wasborn first. My aunt,Amy, was present at thebirth, being asked toassist the nurse. Mymother was not too well following the births so nanny, Mary EllenBown, and aunt Amy said they would look after me ‘until I couldwalk’ but in the end I was brought up with them at Catisfield, 2Fairthorne Cottages where I lived until I was married.

My early memories are of alwaysvisiting my mum and dad at North Hillregularly, spending birthdaystogether, I also remember, atChristmas, looking out of the windowto see my own mum and dad andbrothers and sister coming to spendChristmas Day with us all - nanny,aunt Amy, uncle Alec, aunt Elsie, anduncle Fred. Granddad, George Bown,died in 1933. I have been told heused to take me to watch the menbuilding the Titchfield by-pass, theA27. I remember being taken on thebus to visit his grave at TitchfieldCemetery.

In early June 1935 a little babywrapped in a shawl was placed in bed with me. Sylvia Annie RuthEtherington was born on May 31st 1935. Her mother Annie died

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shortly after her birth. Once again aunt Amy came to the rescue andSylvia became one of our family, believed by many to be my sister.Her father was Harold my father’s nephew, her grandmother was mygrandmother’s sister, so closely related, we grew up as sisters really.Stanley George Weychan was aunt Amy and uncle Alec’s only child andwas like a brother to me. At five I caught whooping cough and wassent home from school, to stay home for six weeks. Sylvia was only alittle baby and I remember her being quite ill with it. We also sharedchicken pox, mumps and measles. Aunt Amy was a marvellous nurse andlooked after us when we were sick.

Leslie Downs

I was born in Titchfield, in the Square. The village green at thebottom of West Street is where the house was but it was pulleddown. I had three sisters and one brother, five of us all together. Iam the only one left. My father worked in the building trade.

Kitty Potter

“The horses were not always willing to be caught”

I was born on 12th June 1913, in MillStreet, Titchfield, in the first ofthree cottages on the left hand side(as you face the A27). I had threebrothers and two sisters in my familyand now I am the only surviving sibling.My father Albert was the youngest often children born to William andHarriet Evans, both from Titchfieldfamilies. They were married inTitchfield church in 1855. William, mygrandfather, was an agriculturallabourer born about 1836. He died in1925. I remember him as being a sternman. My grandmother, Harriet, died in1915. My father’s sister Mary, withher husband Jack and children lived inthe cottage opposite and next door tothe ‘big house’ – the home of the Parrfamily. Aunt Mary worked at the big house and before school eachday I had to go across the road and help my aunt clean out thefireplaces.

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The Titchfield fire engine was horse-drawn and I think it came fromwhat was the site of the Drill Hall and later the Community Centre.The horses were not always willing to be caught and harnessed up.

Linda Felton

I have traced my family back to Henry and Hannah Mondey living inTitchfield in 1788. My great grandparents were George and BeatriceFrampton who owned two cottages in Church Street, Titchfield. Mygrandmother Gertrude Mary Frampton married John Austin, fromKent in 1925. They had three children, Betty Joan, John and mymother, Joy Evelyn, who was born in 1930. Her father hadtuberculosis, TB, at the time and they were told that she would notbe a normal baby. When she was born she was perfect and her fatherheld her up and named her Joy so that she would always bringhappiness to the family. Sadly, he died nine weeks later.

My grandmother was left with four children to look after as she alsohad her step-daughter Cathy. As the family were strugglingfinancially, my grandparents’ family took custody of Cathy. Gertrudemarried again and the family moved to 30 Bellfield. I was born therein 1951 and now live 18 doors away on Coach Hill.

Victor Chase

“My mother didn’t christen me, didn’t even give me my name oranything”

I was born in 1926 above the grocery store run by my father andmother. It was next to the chapel in Titchfield and what is now aChinese take-away restaurant. When I was born my mother, Ada, wasvery ill and my father had to run the shop. I had three brothers and a

sister. My sister went tostay with one of myaunties because mymother was so ill. Mymother didn't evenchristen me, didn't giveme my name or anything –it was touch and go as towhether she lived or not.She was a music teacherand had five sisters and

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two brothers. One, Fred, was killed in WW1. Mysister, Brenda, went to stay with my aunty andnever came back.

We had to get out of the shop in 1926 – therecession. My dad said that there was hardlyanyone in Titchfield that didn't owe him money.They used to say “Oh we'll pay you next weekTed” or whatever.

My grandfather worked at Hollam House and weused to get invited there as kids. New Year’s eve they used to havethe bell ringers in to ring in the New Year, and they had a partythere which we went to. My grandfather worked there and mygrandmother was cook so we got invited to all that lot.

I suppose we were fortunate in a way because my father, when hecame out of the shop, worked for a Mr Bradley, headmaster ofPrices School in Fareham. It was up Fishers Hill and we were moreor less their kids, we were always up there, tennis court and allthey had. Mrs Bradley used to take us out for car rides. In themdays, there was hardly any cars about. We used to go to Coshamvery often because she was interested in the Portsmouth VoluntaryAssociation for the Welfare of the Blind which was there. She wasone of the benefactors and she would take us there for a ride. Inthose days we were not used to a car and she would go overPortsdown Hill turning round to talk to us. We were shaking in theback! So we were privileged in a way.

Wally Pratt

“One of the last people alive who spoke with Lawrence ofArabia”

My brother was eight years older than me. He joined the RAF in1929. Whilst stationed at RAF Calshot in the early thirties he wenton a night out with some other airmen to Southampton and caughtthe ferry from Hythe. Whilst on the ferry he was approached byanother airman who questioned him about supplies from Calshot forthe RAF rescue launches he was building at Hythe. After theyparted someone asked my brother if he knew who he had spoken to.It was Aircraftsman Lawrence - Lawrence of Arabia. My brotherdied 3 years ago this week. Up until then he must have been one ofthe last people alive who spoke with Lawrence of Arabia.

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Bessie Traves

“We couldn’t afford to pay for the bells to be rung”

I was born on the 21st December 1915 at Milvil Farm near to theentrance of what was later to become HMS Daedalus at Lee-on-the-Solent. I was the eighth child of ten, six girls and four boysborn to Albert and Blanche Harris. Some of my older brothers andsisters were already out at work. Milvil Farm was the home of mymaternal grandmother and grandfather.

I went back to our family home with my mother to join some of mysiblings at Enterprise House in Peak Lane. It still stands alone onthe east side of the road. It was a smallholding with what we calledthe ‘large field’ and the ‘small field’ a greenhouse and an orchard.We kept pigs and chickens as most smallholders did .The house hadfour bedrooms and the then luxury of an indoor toilet. The familyhad to help with the work on the smallholding. Sadly, in 1925, asthe result of a serious accident to my father we had to give up thesmallholding. After this, the family lived at various addresses inStubbington and Hill Head. In 1931 my mother was offered thetenancy of No. 3 Posbrook Cottages so the family moved toTitchfield.

In August 1935, Imarried Alfred CyrilTraves. He was a LeadingSeaman in the Royal Navyand was serving in HMSHood. I still have his capribbon from then. Wewere married by CanonMorley at St Peter’sChurch, Titchfield, andwere the first couple to

be married at three o’clock following a then recent change in thelaw. We couldn’t afford to pay for the bells to be rung.

My first job was at a bungalow in Crofton Avenue 1929-1930. Ithen went to work in service for Colonel and Mrs House and their family atCrofton Manor. I was there until 1935. When I married, Mrs House’ dressmaker made my wedding dress, which I still have.

Cyril was away with the Navy a good deal of the time and then in 1937 hisship was sent to join the Mediterranean fleet. He did not return until early in

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1941. During this period Iwas in service inStubbington. Upon Cyril’sreturn to the UnitedKingdom he was involvedwith North Sea convoyescort duties. His ship wasbased at Grimsby and, inorder to have some timetogether, I joined himthere, where we lived with afamily who, after the War,became firm friends.

School

Donald Upshall

The new school on the A27was opened in 1934, I think,and I went to that school. Ienjoyed school, but in thosedays you were always a bitnervous as teachers weren'tso familiar. You respectedteachers with ‘Sir’ and ‘Mr Soand So’. Miss Sarr theheadmistress lived on CoachHill, the second turning onthe corner of Bellfield. Somechildren had to walk from Hook to school. When you got older you wereallowed to use ink but it came as a powder and had to be mixed up and pouredinto an ink well. The blackboard was on an easel and the teacher used chalk.

Douglas Elkins

I began school at the age of five years at Crofton Council Junior School inGosport Road, Stubbington, in the Autumn of 1934.

A toilet block sat in the middle of the playground. There was just a peaturinal and bucket lavatories for boys. Girls had bucket lavatories too. Twohand basins were provided in the playground. There was just cold water, nosoap, no towels. Drinking water was provided by a standpipe in theplayground. In winter there was often no water because the tap was frozen.

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Around 1935/7 the new steam passengership, HMS Queen Mary, was launchedand its maiden voyage was fromSouthampton. This vessel displaced over80,000 tons and the occasion drew suchattention that all of the pupils weremarched to the Coast Guard Cottages bySaltern Park (Hill Head) to see the shipsail past and out to sea.

Mrs Upson terrified me as she did other children. I was seven years old.Afternoon play time ended at 3.10 p.m. and there was then a 50 minutelesson until 4.00 p.m. I suddenly developed severe stomach discomfort andraised my hand to ask to go to the toilet. The formidable teacher promptlymade it clear that I could not leave the class until 4.00 p.m. Well, soon afterthat, I had diarrhoea but I sat in silence contemplating the mess that I wasin. Eventually children around me raised their hands and reported that therewas a nasty smell. Mrs Upson then came to investigate and decided that Icould go to the toilet after all. Bucket loos, no paper, no soap, no hot water.AD 1936!

The next class was taught by Mrs Dyer. When I was aged eight, one day agirl in the class reported that I had sworn in class - untrue. Mrs Dwyer toldme to sit at the front of the class, behind her desk, until lunchtime when Iwould be taken to the head master. I used to walk home at noon for lunch, adistance of about a mile but on this day I had first to be taken to MrFarthing. He listened to Mrs Dyer’s account and decided I should be caned!However, there were children sitting in classrooms eating their packed lunchso they found somewhere else to cane me so I wouldn’t upset their lunch. Itwas a large classroom out of sight of all. Afterwards I ran home in order notto be late back for the afternoon lesson at 1.30 p.m.

George Watts

I attended Titchfield JuniorSchool and my favouriteteacher was Miss Cardenwho wore a bottle greenjumper. Although I was onlysix I fell in love with her.There were only four classesthen and I went to the newschool which is still on itspresent site. The other teachers were Mrs Croucher and young Miss Morgan,and the headmistress was Miss Sarr, who took the top class.

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Kitty Potter

“We left school then aged 14”

I started school on the 8th July 1918 at the old school in West Street.The teachers that I remember were:Miss Cardin – ‘Babies’Miss Richards – ‘Infants’Miss Godley – ‘Standards I and II’Mrs Croucher – ‘Standards III and IV’Miss Ings was the headmistress and taught the older girls of 13 and 14years. We left school then aged 14. A corrugated metal fence separatedthe girls’ and boys’ schools. I went home for dinner.

Bessie Traves

I attended the old Stubbington School on the Gosport Road, leaving at 14to go into service. My school friends were all Stubbington girls. Iremember going by horse and cart on a Sunday School outing to Newlandsfarm for a picnic.

Celebrations and Leisure

Douglas Elkins

Around 1936/7 there was a ‘FlyingCircus’ which came to Lee-on-the-Solent and put on an Air Day. A manstood between the wings of a biplanewhich then took off and circledaround allowing us to see him jump offand descend by parachute. Quiteexciting for a small boy! At thisdisplay a very small airplane named the‘Flying Flea’ was presented and thiswas claimed to be the smallest flyingaircraft. Many years later I stumbled across one of these in a museum. Ithink it was said to have been French-built and unstable because of itsdesign.

Irene Harris

Mrs Harris, known as Rene, recalled how she went with her husband Steveto an air show in Lee-on-the-Solent in about 1932 when they were courting.

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Amy Johnson and Amelia Earhart, her American counterpart, were boththere and Rene and Steve went on an exhilarating flight over the Solent.That must have been an incredible experience for those days! The flightcost five shillings (25p), which was a lot of money then!

Victor Chase

My father built one of themseaside huts at Hillhead forMr Bradley. It was the firstone built down there andit's nearest the harbour. AtBrinnage, (Brownwich) thelong lane had all the familiesgoing down there on aweekend or sunny day, allwalking. On the right handside there was a field with astream going through. Weused to spend weekends there, loads of tents down there on the beach andthe fields behind. We had fresh water from the stream. That was ourholiday really. For a proper holiday we went to Lee-on-the-Solent cause theyhad the Tower there and all that. And a real holiday, like going abroad, wasone day in the year, the Sunday School would go to Southsea on coaches.Yes, that was a real holiday that was. In those days you had to go to SundaySchool, to get out of the way of parents, cos it was mostly big families inthem days. So talk about holidays that was our holidays. My father used toorganise coach trips like the one in the photo.

As kids it was football and actually my father who owned strawberry fieldsseparated a bit off andmade a football pitch out ofit up Hunts Pond Road. Weused to have properfootball matches there andour place was popular forfootball - that was the mainentertainment then. Myfather was chairman ofTitchfield Football Club andthey won a cup in the end, infact I think they won

several cups but the last cup they played in Botley and we won. It was the

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only time I know that they had a dance in the Square. They put a platformdown and had some piano accordion players and plenty of beer. I think thatwas just before the War.

Food and Farming

Victor Chase

Then in the summer us kids, we used to gostrawberry picking for about three weeks.And the money we used to get, part of it,went towards our clothes you know to helpout, and the other part we used to getcycles.

In the Square at the end there was a cycleshop so we used to take our bike down andget another one. That was your travel, yourbikes.

Kitty Potter

My father, a market gardener, rented the ground in what is now ProteaGardens, Titchfield, and we kept a pony. At that time it was possible to walkdown to the river to water the horses. This was before the A27 was builtand is approximately where the bridge that carries the A27 across theriver now stands. Some cottages in Mill Street were demolished to makeway for the road. We had a well in the back garden to supply the cottagesbut if it dried up we had to wait for the water-carrier to come round.

Douglas Elkins

Peel Farm and House were accessed from Peel Common. Henry Smith wasthe farmer and his son Quentin also farmed around the area. Henry Smithran the dairy and supplied all locals with milk, served from urns withmeasures poured into milk tins placed on householders’ doorsteps. When oldenough, I sometimes did jobs at Peel Farm. The pay for gathering acornswas two shillings (10p) per bushel. (One bushel = 8 gallons = 36.4 litres.)

Quentin Smith would sometimes ask my father if I would go and lead thehorse when horse-hoeing brassicas, this I did and the pay was three pennies(1.2p) per hour. Quentin would also take me to the annual Wickham Fair inhis van.

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Henry Smith wouldsometimes arrange a shootfor hares, on land whereHMS Collingwood playingfields are now, back to hisfarm house. We boys wouldbe paid 3d per hour to ‘beat’,driving the game throughthe fields, brassicas andfoliage onto the guns. Thiswas 1930-40. Jugged hare ora hare-cup would be unheardof nowadays.

Work

Kitty Potter

When I left school in 1927 I went to workfor Captain and Mrs May at a house calledLangalla in Catisfield. Most girls then wentinto service. In 1933 while I was workingfor Captain May, Paul Robeson, who wasappearing locally, stayed there with them.He gave me a signed photo of himselfwhich I still have. Mrs May died in 1939and Captain May in 1943.

Victor Chase

Paul Robeson, he come to Titchfield once.He was such a big bloke, I think he stayedat Hollam House. The maid had a shock once, they didn't have a bed bigenough for him and she saw him with his feet stuck out the end of the bed.

Leslie Ellis

Leslie attended Cambridge and Leeds universities to study medicine. Whenhe qualified, he assisted a G.P. in Ackworth, Yorkshire.

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Church, Chapel and Religion

Donald Upshall

I remember the names ofthe vicars, in the ‘30s. TheReverend Moorley, he waswell known and very sociablewith his parishioners. He'dgo round for a glass of port.The next one was ReverendSpurway. He was quite agood chap and he got uschoirboys formed in to afootball team and we playedWest Hill School. And thethird one after that was Reverend Miller. He married my wife and me. Inthose days you respected them more, the vicar, choirmaster and organist.When I was in the choir we had lady members, men, girls and boys. Themen would look over the boys and tap you on the shoulder and tell you tokeep quiet. We had a hand pump to drive the organ.

I remember my grandfather insisted I became a junior choirboy. Beingthe first grandson I had to join the choir. I used to have a pretty goodvoice and I became head choirboy. I showed my son, Philip, exactly whereI used to sit. We used to sit in the middle and the younger ones were lastand went into the choir stalls. I used to lead as I was head boy, I was 13or 14. I used to sing solos and my grandfather said something about goingto Winchester, but nothing came of it because of the War. I wasconfirmed in St Peter’s and then I acted as a server at communion. Wehad different coloured cassocks. Weused to have choir practice onTuesday. The choirmaster was calledSmith and he used to come all the wayfrom Southampton to take the choir.

Once a month, we would have aprocession. The servers would startand we'd all form up and walk slowlyaround the perimeter of the church,singing a hymn and then go back to ourseats. Being a Naval area there werelots of admirals and rear admiralsaround and academic types and theywould ask the vicar if we choirboys

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would go out and sing Christmas hymns, by appointment, in their houses.So the vicar and organist would take us in their cars to sing carols inthese houses and we would have lemonade and cake. That was in the ‘30s.Some of these houses have been knocked down but St Margaret's is stillthere. We used to be thrilled with that! It was quite an event. We used toget a little money to keep the interest up. Where the chapter rooms arenow, we had a vestry with changing rooms, one for the men. The girls wereseparate, outside the vestry so they would pull a curtain across.

In those days a lot of the older congregation had their name-plates in theplaces they always sat. On the left hand side right at the top were thethree spinster sisters, the Miss Hewetts, who were well known. Theyowned a lot of land. They lived next to the garage, not the one I lived inbut the one on the other side. They had their own little plate with theirname on it, on the pew, where they sat all the time. Mr Mason, thechemist read the lesson every Sunday morning.

Douglas Ekins

I moved to Peel Common,(Newgate Lane) in 1933;the southernmost houseknown as Willow Cot.

I believe Albert Holgatebuilt the Peel CommonMission Hall. Hitherto themission was carried on in acorrugated iron building (tintabernacle) situated by PeelHouse, just down intoWoodcote Lane. I, together with many other children on the Common, wassent to a Sunday School there long before starting day school. Thatcontinued until I was past 14 years of age.

John Williams

“I earned my first 6d for pumping the organ at the morning andevening services in chapel”

I earned my first wage of 6d (2.5p) for pumping the organ at themorning and evening services at the chapel. My family were quitereligious. My father was secretary of the chapel and among his duties hewas responsible for arranging for the lay preachers each Sunday. Theselay preachers came mainly from Southampton so usually came to our

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house for Sunday lunch. So my mother provided a good Sunday lunchfrom what little rations we had.

There was a canteen set up in the Sunday School hall of the chapel forthe service personnel to relax in. My mother was one of the ladies whoserved tea and sandwiches for them.

Paula Weaver & Pamela Fullick

We remember, aged about four, going to watch magic lanterns at SundaySchool with Mr Cousins. We used to get in the back room, Pam played andI pumped the organ. We played all sorts of music before everyone came.We pulled the curtains and played.

Mary Burner and her brother Robert Chase, The Chase Family

The name Chase goes back a long way in Titchfield and we have managedto trace our family history to the 18th century. Our family has mainlylived in East Street. The building trade was always part of the Chasefamily. Our claim to fame is that we are fortunate enough to still have afew manhole covers in some streets or gardens in the village, with‘D. Chase & Son’ on them! Apart from properties within the village, wehave papers which show that David Chase, our great-grandfather,bought ‘Bellfield House’, and other buildings on Coach Hill, in an auction.

David Chase was born in Frog Lane. His parents were George andCatherine Chase and they had 11 children - George, Jane, Caroline,David, Mary-Ann, Alfred, Ellen, Robert, Harriet, Elizabeth, andWilliam. When David married and had children he rented 31 EastStreet from Miss Rose Green, the owner, who had a large estate inCatisfield and Titchfield. The house was eventually bought from MissGreen.

David Chase and his wife Elizabeth had four girls Elizabeth, Mary,Emma and Sarah, and one boy William (our grandfather). Three girlsmarried, and presumably left the village, leaving my grandfather,William, and great aunt Sarah in the house. The 1911 census showsWilliam registered as a builder and great aunt Sarah as a spinster.Great aunt Sarah later moved out to a cottage in Warsash Road whenour grandparents got married. David and Elizabeth Chase are buriedin a tomb in the churchyard.

William Chase, our grandfather, was in his 40s when he got marriedto Bertha May. Miss May came from Bradford-upon-Avon and workedas a milliner at Hudson’s, formerly Collihole’s and now One Stop in

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the Square. We have a letter fromwhen grandfather was ‘courting’ her,where he wrote to her, posted theletter, even though she only lived roundthe corner in the Square, to ask her tocome to tea in East Street and got areply from her later in the day! Ourgrandfather did not serve in WW1; Iassume partly because he was too oldand partly because he was in thebuilding business.

William and Bertha only had one child,our father, William David RobertChase, known as David, who was born inOctober 1916. Sadly, grandmother

Bertha died when David was 18. She pricked her finger on a rosewhilst gardening and died of septicaemia. Grandfather died in 1938and they are both buried in Posbrook Lane cemetery.

Our father, David Chase, went to the local primary school inTitchfield in about 1920 and then went to Price’s Grammar School inFareham. David then worked for his father in the building businessand studied architecture at Portsmouth College of Art. He qualifiedin 1936. All his studies were painted in watercolour and weredelicate - a real work of art. On his right hand, his little finger waspermanently bent under and he couldn’t straighten it. He said it wasbecause it was where his hand was always pressing down on thedrawing board. He drew and produced beautiful plans for variouspeople in the village and surrounding area. Some plans we found wegave back to the people when father died; for example, to LindaGardner, her father Roy Gardner was a carpenter for my father, anddad designed her bungalow.

When David was in his twenties he decided to buy a car. He went toSouthampton and came back with a foreign car – no driving test then!My grandfather immediately told him to take it back and get a Britishcar. That was in 1936. He did as he was told. When he eventually tookhis driving test in 1937, the hill start was taken by the Old Portsmouthwalls on a gravel bank. A matchbox was put behind the back wheel andhe had to do a hill start without disturbing gravel or running back overthe matchbox. We have his first driving licence!

After he completed his training as an architect, and after grandfatherdied, David took over the building business and management of the

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properties owned by the Chase family. At that time the family hadproperties in East Street, Church Path, South Street, WestStreet and Southampton Hill, one of which was the old policehouse.

Most of the houses in the village would have had some sort of workdone to them by Chase. For example, Old Lodge in the High Street- grandfather was running the business when two cottages weredemolished to make way for a new entrance to Old Lodge.

At some point thebuilding yard moved from31 East Street toSouthampton Hill. It wassituated between Sisman& Goatcher garage andthe fire station, backingonto Barry’s meadow. Ourfather married JosephineBridget Doherty (Joey) inNovember 1938. Joey wasborn at Cheekpoint, Waterford, Southern Ireland. She left homeat 18 to go to London to St Thomas’s hospital where she did hertraining. On qualifying she moved to Southampton, to the RoyalSouth Hampshire Hospital, to be near some of her family.

My parents met at the Royal South Hampshire Hospital where myfather was visiting a sick friend. When they married, she gave upnursing and moved to No. 31 East Street. Women did not usuallywork after marriage then. She used to say that No. 31 was a darkand scary house - it had stuffed birds and animals in glass boxes inthe alcoves, which she soon got rid of. It was our grandfather’sdying wish that our parents should marry. With her nursingbackground, my mother had cared for him and it sounds like he tooka shine to her.

George Edward Ferris, 1885-1964

The Ferris family were engaged in the local Titchfield farming andagricultural community from the early part of the 19th century,principally on the farms at Brownwich, Little Posbrook and GreatPosbrook.

George Ferris married the daughter of the head shepherd atBrownwich farm and was initially a carter before becoming a skilled

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ploughman. He was,however, a man ofinitiative and after theend of WW1 hepurchased from hisemployer some land atBrownwich Lane. Here heestablished one of theregions early marketgardens and a nursery. Atthe same time he acquired

an ex-WW1 army hut, which was converted into a bungalow where hisfamily of three girls and four boys grew up. They were also engaged, atvarious times, in the activities of the market garden.

The principal crops he grew were strawberries and, under glass,tomatoes. However he was also an early pioneer grower of off-seasonwinter lettuce and chrysanthemums in the greenhouses. He also grewcrops such as anemones off-season in the strawberry fields togetherwith all the normal produce from a market garden. He enjoyed aparticularly high reputation for the quality of the strawberries, heproduced. Much of the crop of this fruit from the region, was shippeddaily by horse and cart to Swanwick station and then to markets inLondon and Scotland.

In 1929 George won the coveted accolade for producing the best 20baskets of Hampshire strawberries in Covent Garden for that year, forwhich he was presented with an engraved silver cup.

George was a founding shareholder in the Swanwick Basket Factory,which produced all the containers for the fruit industry in the region. Hewas similarly involved with the establishment of Titchfield Mill, whichspecialised in providing fertilisers, seeds and general farming supplies.

George's affinity with horses remained with him throughout his workinglife and one was employed on his land for all the heavy work until theearly 60s. After his eventual retirement, two of his sons took over therunning of the business.

Ken Bayley, a walk around pre-war Titchfield

I was 12 when I moved to The Close in Bellfield with my parents and mybrother and sister. These memories are of Titchfield in the yearsleading up to WW2. At Posbrook, the cemetery and the allotments werejust as today, but there were fields everywhere else. White City, as it

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was known, which is an extension to Bellfield, was not built. There wasBoyd’s Nursery, then Jim and Steve Harris’ land with strawberries andother horticulture. Then there was Mortimer’s land; they farmed rightdown to the sea. Every sort of vegetable was grown as well as corn. Butthere was no rhubarb, sweetcorn or pumpkins. Behind the farm cottageswas the copse, but all over the village anyone who had a bit of land grewstrawberries.

Coach Hill was not built up as it istoday. Just into Lower Bellfieldwas The Black Shop, a generalstore run by the Downes family.Further down was the doctor’shouse, where Dr Ellis now lives.Dr Windermer worked on his ownthere in the ‘30s. You had to go inand queue up. Some families paidinto a medical insurance, like theForesters. The next housebelonged to Mr Fielder who owned

the brewery in Bridge Street. He employed four or five workers. Iremember the bowling green on the right. Further on was the dairy farmrun by Miss Hewett of Mill Street. When Titchfield Road bypass wasconstructed it cut through her farm. I think she sold out before this.

In South Street,Freemantle’s builders andfuneral directors occupiedits present site. The Coachand Horses pub on the cornerof Coach Hill was the pub myparents went to occasionally.The main entrance to thegasometer was on the rightin Frog Lane. The surroundingland was meadows. We wouldgo there for the fair and thecircus. You could walk round to the churchyard which had metal railingsthen. These were later handed over for the War effort. There was awalkway through to the tannery. Back to South Street: The Red Housewas a pub. Next door was a sweet shop and general store, and adjacentto the Tudor cottages, a fish and chip shop. A piece of fish and somechips wrapped in newspaper cost four pennies (1.6p).

Beyond the old cottages was a black shed. This was the snooker club. I

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never went in there. Then there was Beards, a barber shop, which alsosold cigarettes and newspapers which he also delivered. Where thehairdresser is now was the blacksmith’s. Oily William’s shop was next.He sold everything from tin baths to chocolate. He owned two vanswhich he would drive around the district delivering paraffin. The lastshop in South Street was Arthur Hale’s bicycles. Arthur would also re-charge the batteries for our accumulators before we had electricity.You could buy a Raleigh bike for about £6. I had a bike.

The Bradley family would cycle down to Meon to collect winkles. Theywould bring them home, sort them and then cycle to Fareham to sellthem.

Church Street: there was aNational Provincial Bank onthe right. Close to thechurch on the left was theharness shop. Saddles andtack were made on thepremises and weredisplayed on large pegs onthe wall on the left. Theseare still visible and nowserving as flower potholders.

Back into the Square, sited where the Co-op is now, on the corner ofChurch Street, was the gasometer shop, where I remember people wentto buy coke. Past the Bugle pub was Anne’s sweet shop. There was alarge shop, Colihole, employing six or seven staff, selling clothes,curtains and material. There was a chemist where it is today, calledMasons back then. The Earl of Southampton’s Rooms were not there.The next building was the chapel. After this were a series of cottages.I remember a cobbler called Charlie who lived in one cottage. Thencame the barber’s shop, Worleys. He charged 6d (2.5p) for an adultshave and haircut. For children, it was 3d (1.2p), but he gave you back½d (0.2p) for sweets on the way home. But if you turned up with 2½d, hewouldn’t cut your hair!

Returning to the west side of South Street, past the Coach & Horsespub, there was a grocer, Walters, then a butcher, Horlock’s, thenJimmy Smith, another cobbler who also sold shoes, then anothergrocery and vegetable shop. On what is now the Green, I remember aTudor house which was pulled down. Turning into West St, there was asweet shop in the front room of the cottage where the Freemantles

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lived (the timber-framedwhite house). This was acommon practice. TheWest End pub came next,then White’s baker andgeneral store. Oppositewas another baker.

Back in the Square, onthe west side, were threeshops run by Lankester &Crooks. The first was a

grocer, the second an ironmonger and the third another butchers.Next came Walt Lane, the tinsmith. Near the Bugle pub was the postoffice, and then another butchers. Next door was St John the baker.His bread was good and he delivered it too. He baked delicious cakes.The Queen’s Head pub and the Parish Rooms have not changed fromhow they were then. Southampton Hill had no development on theright hand side. On the left was a builder’s yard and a garage.

In East Street there wasa shop called Farrell’s. Ithink it had been a clothesshop but it was closed andderelict. Then came WallyWay, the newsagent andtobacconist, working outfrom one room. Wally andhis mate would cycle offvery early to Farehamstation every day tocollect the papers fromthe train, bring them back

and deliver them around the village. I remember yet another generalstore before you reached the Wheatsheaf pub.

The Territorial Army used the building where the Community Centreis now. We could walk or cycle along Mill Street all the way toTitchfield Mill (with no A27 to cross). We played football in therecreation ground. There was a nursery opposite the Fisherman’s Restpub. There were two farms to the west, Wolf’s and Abraham’s. Bothfarms delivered milk to the houses in the village. You took out yourjugs and cans to be filled. However, I do remember seeing my firstmilk bottle about then.

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Back in East St, Upshall’s Garage was where it is now but there was acut through to the tannery. On the corner of East St and Mill St isBridge House, where the three Miss Hewetts lived. One was thefarmer in Bridge Street, another grew flowers and arranged these inthe church whilst the third was the choir mistress.

The village was a busy place. People would come to here to shop fromCatisfield, Park Gate and Stubbington. The carnival was a great eventevery year, with a procession so long that sometimes it met up withits tail! Those were good days. Everyone said “Good Morning” andhelped each other out, with a cup of sugar or whatever. My fatherworked in the tannery. My brother was in the army. He came homesafely. I met my wife Peggy on the bus one day! She is a relative ofSteve Harris. When we married we came to live in Common Lanewhere we brought up our three daughters and where I still live today.

Farmer’s wisdom

One boy’s a boyTwo boy’s half a boyThree boy’s no boy at all

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What’s that in Old Money?

Old Type Name CurrentMoney Value

1/4d ‘copper’ Farthing Nothing!1/2d ‘copper‘ Halfpenny, ‘Ha’penny’ 0.2p1d ‘copper’ Penny 0.4p3d ‘copper’ ‘Thrupenny bit’ ‘Thrupence’ 1.2p6d ‘silver’ Sixpence or ‘Tanner’ 2.5p1s ‘silver’ Shilling (12 pennies) 5p2s ‘silver’ Florin, ‘2 Bob bit’ 10p2/6s ‘silver’ Half Crown 12.5p5s ‘silver’ Crown (only commemorative coins) 25p10s ‘note’ ‘10 Bob’, ‘half a Nicker’ 50p£1 gold coin until 1932 Sovereign £1 ‘note’ Pound,‘ Quid’, ‘Nicker’ £121s gold coin until 1814 Guinea (for buying posh horses) £1.05

Names that still apply today

£5 ‘note’ ‘Fiver’ £5£6 ‘Sick squid’ sorry!£10 ‘note’ ‘Tenner’ £10£20 ‘Score’ £20£50 ‘Bullseye’ £50£100 ‘Ton’ £100£500 ‘Monkey’ £500£1000 ‘Grand’ £1000

Coins used to contain real silver and gold. A gold sovereign was a coinvalued at one pound which was in circulation up to 1932. To stop peopleclipping bits off, they were given a textured (milled) edge. As gold is soheavy, even a lead copy would feel light. Later coins had no preciousmetals in them, but were made of harder metal for a long life.

Cash is ready money and sometimes referred to as ‘readies’ or ‘dosh’. Coinsin the pocket or purse are known as ‘shrapnel’ or ‘loose change’. A ‘wad’ or‘wedge’ is a bundle of paper ‘notes’. Paper money is also known as ‘foldingmoney’.

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Titchfield Telephone Directory 1932

Tel No Name Business Address2 Windermer, Doctor Coach Hill3 McKenzie Mayburys5 Ransome The Shack6 Waters EastStreet8 Napier Catisfield Cottage9 Williams Sarisbury House10 Mason Chemist The Chemist11 Wisbey Orchardleigh, Catisfield12 Bunney Brodick Lodge, Catisfield13 Standen Laylands, Catisfield14 Lambert Larches, Catisfield15 Freemantle Builder/Undertaker Gainsborough17 Baxter Stanraer, Catisfield18 Villiers Hollam House19 Boyd Bungalow, Meon Road20 Lane Elmshurst, Catisfield21 Sanders Market Gardener Hollam22 Wield South Street24 Morley The Vicarage25 Walker Stationer & PO26 Mortimer The Limes, Catisfield27 Freemantle Butcher High Street28 Williams Segensworth House29 Watkins Tanner30 Titchfield Abbey Co-op31 Tibbitts Abbey Cottage34 Lumsden Invery Lodge35 Jackson Great Posbrooke36 Ransome West Hill Park37 Upshall Garage Garage, East Street38 Lang Corner House39 Skey Little Crofton, Catisfield40 May Langaller, Catisfield41 Bone Brownwich42 Ottley Clanconnel, Catisfield43 General store Lankester & Crook44 Chalmers Guessens46 Dredge Public House Coach & Horses47 West High Street48 Stevenson Singlestock, Catisfield49 Mathais Catisfield House50 Gorton Little Crofton51 Harvey Heathfield52 Waters Grocer54 Parry St Margaret’s55 Wadham Drumbrae, Catisfield

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Tel No Name Business Address56 Nobes Shoe Shop57 Maltby Catisfield House58 Canham Ingleby, Coach Hill59 Halahan Sunny Corner, Meon60 Sisman & Goatcher Garage Southampton Hill61 Blake Heathfield, Catisfield63 Seymour Meadowland, Catisfield64 Temple Carnahalla, Catisfield65 Harvey Whitecraigs, Catisfield66 Righton Norsome, Sandringham Rd67 Foote Catisfield Croft68 Boakes Park Farm70 Riches Warbreccan, Catisfield71 Webb-Bowen Fairthorne, Catisfield74 Snook Garage Southampton Road75 Goatcher Ashlyn77 Harris Meon Farm Posbrook Lane79 Titchfield Gas Co80 Nicholson Ranvilles, Catisfield81 Police82 Banks Highcroft, Sandringham Rd83 Edwards Old Lodge84 Harris Rohallion86 Hulley 24 Highlands Road88 Williams Ironmonger South Street93 McMinn Singledge, Meon94 Shaw The Mount, Catisfield95 Ulyat Crofton Cottage96 Fielder Brewer The Brewery House98 Allen Post Office Catisfield PO99 Bethell Meon House101 Darking New Clements, Catisfield102 Case Mendip, Sandringham Road,103 Bradshaw Little Brownwich104 Mugliston Stoneleigh105 Green The Croft107 Crosley Highlands Road109 Draper Hawkley, Fareham110 White Crofton House111 Mack Lithgow Ct, Catisfield112 Merriman Rosecroft, Crofton114 Robertson Briar Wood115 Spurgin Elmside, Meon116 Penny Cliff Cottage117 Hughes Meon Marsh

This is a transcription of a one-sheet document with all the 1932telephone numbers for Fareham and Titchfield, kindly supplied by JohnFreemantle. The original can be viewed at www.titchfieldspirit.uk

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Part Two Bonus Pictures

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Significant dates (Titchfield items in Bold)

1914 - Outbreak of the First World War, WW11914 - Mayburys (High Street), converted to a soldiers hospital1915 - Gallipoli, Allies failed attempt to secure waterway at Istanbul1916 - Irish Easter Uprising, leads to Partition and Civil War1916 - Battle of Jutland in the North Sea, naval battle with battleships1916 - Somme Offensive, north France, 1 million dead, we gain 6 miles1917 - Russian revolution starts leading to Communist takeover1917 - America enters the War on British side1917 - Battle of Vimi Ridge in northern France. Allied gain1918 - Spanish Flu pandemic kills 50-100 million people worldwide1918 - WW1 ends with 10 million combatants and 7 million civilians dead1918 - Parliament gives partial voting rights to women1919 - Lady Astor becomes the first female Member of Parliament1919 - Titchfield Parish Council’s 1st lady member, Agnes Hewett1922 - United Soviet Socialist Republic, USSR, formed1923 - Irish Free State wins the Irish Civil War1923 - Titchfield streetlights are converted from gas to electric1926 - General Strike as Trade Union Congress supports the miners1928 - Women get the same voting rights as men (all over 21)1929 - Great Depression drops world GDP by 15% in a decade1930 - English Amy Johnson flies solo England to Australia1932 - American Amelia Earhart, first solo flight across the Atlantic1932 -Amy Johnson and Amelia Earhart at Lee-on-the-Solent show1933 - Adolf Hitler appointed Chancellor of Germany1936 - Year of the three Kings. The abdication crisis1938 - , first full-length animation film

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