Hothfield History Exhibition

'Then and Now'

Saturday 25th October 2008

  

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photograph of the Matthews family holding photographs of themselves when they were children and living in the Nissen Huts, courtesy of Chris Twydell
(Above) The Matthews family holding photographs of themselves when they were children and living in the Nissen Huts

(Below) close up photograph of one of the many interesting
displays about Hothfield
close up photograph of one of the many interesting displays about Hothfield, courtesy of Chris Twydell

photograph of of the Parish Council displaying archive parish council records and also taking the opportunity to ask local people where they think the old Hothfield village sign should be located. Pic courtesy of Chris Twydell

(Above and below) The Parish Council displaying archive parish council records (courtesy of the Centre for Kentish Studies) and also taking the opportunity to ask local people where they think the old Hothfield village sign should be located
photograph of of the Parish Council displaying archive parish council records and also taking the opportunity to ask local people where they think the old Hothfield village sign should be located. Pic courtesy of Chris Rogers

photograph of a local vintage lorry which added to the line-up of vintage cars and military vehicles which were on display. Pic courtesy of Chris Twydell

(Above) A local vintage lorry which added to the line-up of vintage cars and military vehicles which were on display.

(Below) photograph shows the ladies who arrived in their vintage military vehicles dressed appropriately as Land Army girls.

photograph shows the ladies who arrived in their vintage military vehicles dressed appropriately as Land Army girls. Pic courtesy of Chris Rogers.

photograph of 'Two Rogues' shows Chris Rogers (Hothfield History Society and event organiser) dressed as a 1950's farm labourer and local resident Les Perkins dressed in his familiar Pearly King suit. Pic courtesy of Chris Rogers.
(Above) Chris Rogers (Hothfield History Society and event organiser) dressed as a 1950's farm labourer and local resident Les Perkins dressed in his familiar Pearly King suit.

(Below) Local Hothfield resident John Coles (Hothfield History Society) donning his Clippy's uniform for his Road, Rail and Transport display.

photograph of local resident John Coles (Hothfield History Society) donning his Clippy's uniform for his Road, Rail and Transport display. Courtesy of Chris Rogers.

photograph of Poacher at Carnival. Courtesy of John Coles.

Photographs above and below courtesy of John Coles.

photograph of Miss Hothfield. Courtesy of John Coles.

The Hothfield History Society would like to thank the residents of our village, past and present, for making the History Exhibition the great success that it was. Everyone who came will have found that the day was extremely busy and lots of you caught up with neighbours and friends who you hadn’t seen for years. Without the interest of the villagers the Village Hall would have simply been pictures and words without any meaning. We estimate that approximately 500 people may have turned up on the day!

photograph of the busy village hall, courtesy of Chris Twydell

We are all very grateful for the stories, photographs and memories that you shared with us before the Exhibition, and on the day. Please do keep sending us any stories or pictures that you come across – just because the Exhibition has passed it doesn’t mean that we’ve stopped being interested! There are always new details to record and stories for our archives, so please keep them coming.

photograph of the busy village hall, courtesy of Chris Rogers

On the day we had visitors from as far away as the West Country and Wales; many of you brought photographs for us to scan in and family mementoes to show us.

We continue to receive stories and e-mails at: hothfieldmemories@hotmail.com. If you left your name and contact details with us then we will get around to contacting you soon.

We would like to thank everyone who helped to set up the event and run it on the day – there are too many to name but you know who you are. We are particularly grateful to the Coles family for lending us their field and for running the refreshments on the day, and to the Holloway family for their support and assistance with publicity and more. We are also grateful to the Parish Council, the Village Hall Committee for running the barbeque, and the Summer Fête Committee for lending us fencing, signs, ropes and bunting, and much more!


A line-up of some of those who turned out in vintage clothes which helped to add to the historic atmosphere. The five people on the right are from the Kent Time Warp Car and Costume Group. Can you identify the different decades represented in the line-up?
 

Just before the Exhibition, a letter was received from a former soldier who was stationed at Hothfield in 1944. We hope to publish extracts from his letter as well as other messages that we’ve received over forthcoming editions of the Hothfield Newsletter. John Wilkinson was also based in Hothfield during part of WWII and has kindly donated his wartime helmet that he wore when building railways on the south coast. We are very grateful to John for his kind donation and for sharing his memories with us.

Croucher Family
Are you researching the Croucher name? Mr and Mrs Carter came to our event from London hoping to look up Mrs Carter’s family, named Croucher. Later in the day another person spoke to the Kent Family History Society who was also interested in the Crouchers. If that was you then please contact us so that we can put you in contact with Mr and Mrs Carter as you may have information to share and you could be related!

Sales of Hothfield History Books and Postcards
Looking for ideas for Christmas presents with a difference? This is a summary of our publications:

• The ‘Hothfield in the 20th Century’ book was produced in 2000 to record village life through the 1900s and costs £10.
• Our more recent book transcribes the work of the Reverend Russell who was the vicar in Hothfield in the 1890s who researched everything that he could up to the time of his death. Hardbound copies cost £80- £85, and comb bound copies with a stiff acetate cover cost £30 - £35. It is also available on CD for viewing on a computer for £8. If we get lots of interest we may be able to save a few pounds on the printing costs.

To find out more detailed information about either of our publications please follow this link.


If you would like to purchase a copy in time for Christmas, please place your order by Friday 28 November 2008.

We also have some antique Hothfield postcards for sale showing the waterfall and the bridge from around 100 years ago and cost £5 each. You can of course look at them first before deciding whether you would like to buy. For more information please telephone Chris Rogers on (01233) 624 105.

Hothfield Mysteries
A resident posed a question at the Exhibition that we had difficulty answering: Why is Plantation Close called that name?

When the new housing was built in the 1950s that area was entirely part of the Common and was a woodland. It was also very boggy and the path that ran across from corner to corner from the Thanet Arms to the junction of Cades Road was often very wet. The area could not therefore really be considered as a plantation. Sackville and Tufton were the local names of the Lords of Hothfield, and Beech Drive may well have had a few beeches left from the Common, but ‘Plantation’ seems more difficult to explain.

It is also thought that Plantation Close was supposed to have been continuous right through to join up with Beech Drive and the whole road would have been one long ‘Plantation Road’. Stories suggest that the roads were misaligned and did not connect, or that the garage block was built instead on the route.

Any suggestions, or if anyone knows then we’d be pleased to hear from you.

Hothfield Common First World War Practice Trenches
ITV Meridian recently interviewed Chris Rogers (Hothfield History Society), Ian Rickards (Ashford Area Warden, Kent Wildlife Trust) and Yasmin Holloway about the First World War practice trenches on Hothfield Common.

To view the four-minute news item that was broadcast on ITV Meridian on 7 November 2008 during Remembrance Week, please follow this link to the ITV Meridian web site:

http://www.itvlocal.com/meridian/news/?void=256483

Hothfield History Society
Hothfield History Society is an informal group of local residents who undertake research about Hothfield’s history. We would welcome additional members to join us - if you are interested please do get in touch with us.

Contact Us
We would love to hear from you, so...

 
...please do contact us with any stories or memories about Hothfield that you would like to share with us by emailing us at hothfieldmemories@hotmail.com
  
 
 

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Last Update  21.11.2008
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