Memories of Orchard Green
On 17/4 2013 Peter Josling wrote:
I was born at 7 Orchard Green on the 23rd October 1954. My Father was Arthur John Josling a Master Sign writer and my Mother was Beryl Lucy Josling nee’ Ward, I had an elder Brother Michael John Josling who was born 29th May 1949. I am uncertain when the family moved to the Green but it was obviously between 1949 and 1954. My earliest memory is of my Mother reading a book to me in front of the fire; I was possibly about 3 to 4 years old then.
The Prefab.
I can remember that my brother and I shared a bedroom at the front of the house and this came out into a hallway in which if you turned left was the front door. Over the hall was a toilet and bathroom. The toilet was separate from the bathroom. Having a separate toilet I think was very unusual at the time. The bathroom had a basin and bath with running cold and hot water. Behind our bedroom was my parents bedroom at the back of the house. All the bedrooms had copious amounts of cupboard space; these cupboards were made of metal and built in. Also in the hall there was an airing cupboard in which the hot water cylinder was sited. The hall then lead into the living room, this was an oblong shaped room with a large window with a door in it on the back wall. On the opposite side was a Parkray fire, this supplied heat not only for the living area but also heated a cylinder of hot water via a back boiler. Above each door was a vent, the idea being that the heat from the fire would circulate around the house keeping it warm, what is now known as warm air heating and quite a new concept at the time. It was though not very efficient and I can remember we had paraffin stoves to supplement the heating. The hot water cylinder also had an immersion heater for use in heating the water in the summer. From the living room you entered the kitchen which for the time was state of the art, along the inner wall was a work surface with a built in cooker, fridge and sink. Opposite this was a table that folded away when not in use and also a larder for storage. There was also a side door in the kitchen and this was the main entrance into the house. The garden was quite large and had what we would call a patio nowadays, at the side of this was an Anderson shelter recycled as a coal/storage shed. Behind the patio area was a grassed area then a shed that my father erected. Then there was a flower bed area which lead onto another grassed area, then from this up to my parents window was the vegetable garden. The front garden was an entirely grassed area with flower bed edges, in the centre my father planted a Christmas tree which by the time we left was some 12 foot tall.
The Orchard Greeners.
We lived next door to the Stubbs family on one side and the Moore family on the other. The Stubbs family consisted of Ernest & Doris Stubbs and their daughter Brenda. Ernest Stubbs worked at Clowes printing works and was a Father of the Chapel (Shop Stewart) there. Brenda was older than me and although I knew her she was not in my peer group. The Stubbs had a cat called Rip that we used to feed when they went away, to call Rip for feeding we had to click a pair of scissors and shout Rip. Also I could never make out when I was younger why a cat was called Rest in Peace (RIP). Another memory is that the Stubbs had a TV which I was allowed to watch from time to time, one particular memory is the Cassius Clay v Sonny Liston fight on Feb 25 1964 with the time difference between the UK & the USA this was late at night, I think it was live, and I was allowed to stay up and watch it.
The Moore family consisted of Dennis & Mary Moore and their daughter Julie. Dennis Moore I remember had something to do with building bridges and I can remember he was reputed to be the first man to walk across the new bridge at Haddiscoe across the support girders. Although Julie was younger than me she was my first friend and remained so until I was about 5 or 6 and joined the 2nd Beccles Cubs and began to make friends out of the Green. I believe she is now a London Black Cab driver.
Other people I knew at the Green starting at No 1 where Mrs Wilson lived with her son Colin. I used to play with Colin when I was young but lost contact with him when I moved from the Green. Going up the hill towards the Moores I have no recollection of the people living in No 2 to 4 other than I think they were older couples with no children. Living at No 5 was a Mrs Hembling and I think a daughter called Carol whom I knew but not well. After the Stubbs I can remember at No 9 the Marjorams lived and had a son called John who was considerably older than me. At No 10 my first memory is of Ted & Alice Bunn who had a son called Raymond who I think was the same age as my brother. Ted Bunn was a Far East Prisoner of War as was my father. After them Tex & Hilgard Brown moved in, Hilgard was a German and I recall she spoke with a heavy accent. They had a daughter called Edwina who I can remember well she was friends with Sylvia Carter who lived next door, one of them had a dog called, I think called Dinky a scotch terrier, and started a club called the Dinky club which consisted of the 2 girls and Sylvia’s brother John, Pat Fiske of No 15 might have been a member. They were slightly older than me and would not let me join, I put on my parts as they say, and after parental intervention I was begrudgingly allowed to join. At No 11 lived Bill & Hella Carter and as I have said earlier they had 2 children John & Sylvia. I think Bill Carter worked at Westwoods a transport company as a driver. When I was older I joined the ATC in Beccles and John Carter was an NCO, Flight Sergeant Carter, I think he was also in the ATC band at Lowestoft whom Beccles ATC were affiliated too. At No 12 I cannot remember who lived there earlier but can remember the Buggs moving in, Mr Bugg was an enormous man and I think they had a son and daughter who I cannot recall the names of. The people at No 13 I have no recollection of at all. At No 14 Sydney& Iris Freeman and their 2 sons John & Timothy lived. I was friendly with the 2 boys and can remember going round their house, Tim was slightly older than me and John I think was the same age as my brother. John I can remember had a job to die for, he used to work for Lotus and used to test drive each car by driving to Wales and back. Next door to them in No 15 was Stanley & Kathleen Fisk, they had a daughter called Patricia. I can remember spending quite a bit of time around theirs, their garden was a lot bigger than some of the others and still had remnants of the Orchard that the Green got its name from in it. Patricia was older than me but both her and her parents were very nice people and very kind to me. At No 16 resided Frank & Phyliss Farrow. Frank was Best Man at my parents wedding. He worked at Frank Fosters gents outfitters in Exchange Square. Beccles, which was the supplier for school uniforms etc in the area. Next door in No 17 was Albert & Barbara Amis and their daughter Linda whom I remember but did not really know. Until Frank & Velma Sparham and their son Chris moved in at No 18 I cannot remember who lived there. Frank Sparham I think was either in the Royal Navy or had recently left it. Chris was a friend until we moved. I think he went on to join the Navy and that he had a younger brother. At No 19 lived the Clarke family who had a son Geoffrey whom I can remember I think he was a friend of my brothers. At No 20 I vaguely recollect a family called Neech.
The Pit & Other Memories.
At the end of the Green in the middle there was originally a tree which over time with children playing on it died and was pulled out, this left a large hole, this immediately became the focus of play for kids. The pit was further enlarged by my brother and his friends who decided to make an explosive device out of old cartridge shells found at Ellough Airfield, the explosion was heard some distance away. At some point the pit was filled with water and became a mud pit and my last memory is of it being when some older children put a plank across it and made me go across it, I slipped in to the top of my wellies, my mother must have seen this and my father came out picked me up under his arm leaving the wellies in the mud and marched me in doors, much to the amusement of the other kids.
We also went through a stage of making go carts using old pram wheels and used to go down the hill in front of the Freemans house, this activity caused considerable damage to the Farrows fence when we crashed failing to get around the bend at the bottom.
Around bonfire night I can remember we used to attach copper tubes to our cycle crossbars and charge at each other firing rockets. Talking of bikes there were not small children’s bikes then and your first bike was normally second hand and wooden blocks put on the pedals.
As I grew older I played less and less in the Green but more with my 2 best friends Stephen Pye and Paul Griggs from Merrylees in Swines Green were we played in the ditch that ran alongside it, inevitably going home wet having fallen in it several times. Also we used to go up on the hill which is now High Lees and with homemade bows, arrows & spears all tipped with slate ends to do battle.
At the side of Rigbourne Hill there was a lane that ran up by the Co op and Fenns smallholding which backed onto the gardens in the Green, called Sandy Lane. Over the other side there was another lane; I think it was called Oak Lane that lead up to an old pit. One day we all decided to have a bonfire there and cook things, so we all respectfully got one item, someone bought a frying pan another bought sausages (Seppings of cause), eggs etc. We were having a great time it was a lovely summers evening and none of us realised how late it was, the first we knew of any problem was when several irate parents including my Father arrived, having found us by the smoke coming from the fire. I seem to remember I spent the next week indoors.
It is I think interesting that most people would have kittens if their children got up to any of the above today and I think it is extremely luckily no one got hurt, but we did have fun.
Other things as a foot note I can remember the coal being delivered by Horse & Cart and my Father collecting the horse droppings as manure for his marrows, of which he made marrow wine from. Milk was delivered to the door step by Buckenhams & the Co op, we used Buckenhams, my Father used to sign write their floats. As well as milk we would get small bottles of orange juice. You had one dustbin a galvanised one which was collected by a lorry that had sliding sides that the bin men emptied the bins into. The local shops were the Co op at the bottom of Rigbourne Hill and Drewells at the bottom of St Georges Rd, Drewells was my favourite as I normally got sweets
there.
In mid April 1968 we moved to Barnaby, I seem to recall that the day we moved it snowed, nothing new there then. Although sad to move I can remember that I was happy as for the first time I would have my own bedroom, that aside my memories of the Green are happy ones.
Peter Josling
17/04/2013
OTHER MEMORIES:
On 7/2/2013 Jean Wright wrote: Mr & Mrs Copeman my mother and step dad lived at no. 6. I have newspaper cuttings from when the new bungalows were being erected.
On 9/10/2013 Edwina Ettinger (was Edwina Brown) wrote: Thank you for this chance to connect with Orchard Green friends. I lived at 10 Orchard Green. Would enjoy hearing from childhood friends.
On 22/11/2013 Pearl Smith wrote: I was born at no.8 Orchard Green in January 1948. My maiden name was Warnes. Edwina is my cousin. Also at no.8 were my sister Joyce and brother Trevor.
On 3/6/2014 Colin Wilson referred to the photo on the Home page: I'm the boy on the right of the photo. I was born in the bedroom at no 1 in 1957.
On 10/6/2014 Jean Sparham-Roso wrote: Chris Sparham is my nephew. I remember many days spent at my oldest brother Frank Sparham's home as a child. Having link forwarded to family.
On 10/6/2014 Neil Springall wrote: I was born in No 1 on 9th April 1974 and can just about remember seeing the new house put in place a few years later if I recall. Some of my finest childhood memories happened in No1 with the finest lady I had the real honour to call my Nanna (Ada Potter), seeing the house photo in 2013 with the castle in the garden has just made me cry. Thank you so much for helping to fill out some of the missing parts in my knowledge and yet again my Aunty Jan never ceases to amaze me with her efforts. Please keep all of the hard work going xx
On 10/6/2014 Phillip Sparham wrote: Chris Sparham is my brother, we used to play out the front of No. 18 where we lived with Colin and Robert Wilson, Susan and Ivan Croft. They were great times.
On 10/6/2014 Susan Bloomquist wrote: Used to stay at my friend Betty Cooks house...brought back lots of fond memories of friends I had when I lived up Rigbourne Hill and went down to the Green to play ...always loved the garden at No 1 and when it was at 23 Rigbourne Hill...Thank you to everyone that put this site together...It has brightened my day.
On 19/6/2014 Colin Wilson wrote: Chris and Philip Sparham were close friends until we left school then Chris
joined the army. Phil I used to still see till a few years ago and Jean Sparham was in my class at school so hello Phil and hello Jean hope you are both well. Also John Hartley and Grace Hartley who lived at number 4 are my mums mum and dad, my grandparents on my mums side.
On 23/6/2014 Phillip Sparham replied: Hello Colin, I remember the days when we had our band in Orchard Green, you and Chris on Guitars and Robert and I on Drums. I remember it like it was yesterday, Great times had by us all.
On 28/6/2014 Colin Wilson replied: Yes we should have kept it up we may have been famous now.
On 2/7/2014 Ray Norman wrote: I went out with Sylvia Carter from No 11 for three years in the 1960s. The dog was called 'Binky' - close Mr Josling! Sylvia's mother Hella learned to play the Hawaiian guitar and performed at the Beccles Regal in one of the variety shows put on by Douggie Peck. And, as its programmes proudly proclaimed - and David Frost once mentioned on TV, the Regal was 'East Anglia's Leading Entertainment Centre'. I think Sylvia married an American and went to live in the U.S.
On 6/8/2014 Edwina Ettinger (was Brown) wrote: Every year the Orchard Green children would collect 'stuff' for the bonfire on the green with their go-karts. November 5th was always a fun event for all. Penny for the guy!
Lynda Adams replied: When I spoke to Linda Amis last year she also mentioned bonfire nights and how Mr Josling would use his ladders to help build the bonfire really high.
On 30/8/14 Chris Sparham wrote: Phil forwarded this site to me a couple of months ago. I remember the prefabs with fond memories. Hello to Colin and Robert Wilson, Michael and Stephen Pye, Susan and Ivan Croft. Lived in Hampshire for the past 37 years, don't get back to Beccles as much as I would like to. Happy days back then.
On 15/9/14 David Lawrence wrote: I want to say what an excellent and interesting site this is. I very recently moved to 8 Orchard Green and have found the information fascinating.
On 9/10/14 Colin Wilson wrote: Are any of the places there still council. I wouldnt mind moving back there.
On 8/12/2016 Jeff Clarke wrote: Brilliant site which really brings back the memories. We moved out from No.19 in (I think) 1961 0r 1962. I will try to dig out some more photos of the time to add to the collection. Would love to hear from all who may remember me and those times - now live in East Sussex. I will use the site to see if it jogs my memory further. Kind regards, Jeff Clarke.
On 28/03/2018 Steve Devereux wrote: My parents 'Bob' and Mary Devereux lived in number 12. My brother, Robert was born there in 1946, my sister Kathleen in 1949 and me in 1952. We moved to Banham Road when I was a baby but we kept in touch with some of the families who still lived there. Many of the residents also moved to Banham Road, Rigbourne Hill and Pleasant Place. I grew up knowing many of the families without realising that they had come from Orchard Green, such as the Joslings, the Freemans, the Lees, the Wilsons and others. The last tree of the orchard appears in several of the photos, invariably with a child in its branches. I have one of my brother in the tree. Thanks for this brilliant bit of work. Cheers, Steve Devereux.
This website is now archived and is for reference only.