East Clandon Village

Clandon Conversations

Clandon Conversations is a collection of sound recordings of long standing village residents, both past and present, talking of their memories of East Clandon village. Some were born here and their memories go back 70 or 80 years. Others arrived in the village 30 or 40 years ago and tell of newer traditions and memories. The Clandon Conversations project was gratefully supported and funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Click the name to listen to the recording.

Person	Minutes	Description
James Bacon	40	Jim Bacon came to the village as a baby, and still lives in the same Back Lane cottage which was built in the 1500's and was said to contain ship's beams . He remembers all the cottages housing farm workers and estate workers and being tied cottages .Fascinating memories of all the farms and the farmers, of the cart horses and farming methods during the war . His Father worked for Major Bourne at Old Manor Farm. He talks of the school and the school mistress, the village shop, the pond and a childhood in the village. He talks of looking after the pigs in the unconverted Tithe Barn, of Lord Forte, for whom he worked for 35 years and of his mother who was the only person in the village who succeeded in buying a tied cottage ,which is where he still lives.
Christine Bates	17	Christine moved into High Clandon Farm in 1973. The farm house was the converted squash court of High Clandon House. She talks of High Clandon House when it was unoccupied and of its previous owner, of the annual village firework parties, of the Mary Poppins play group, of the sweet shop in West Clandon. She also talks of Ivy Weston who lived in St Thomas Drive and Keith Curtis who lived in Yew Tree Cottage.
Sue Boddie	52	Sue came to the village in 1972. She and her husband, Commander Boddie , were the first occupants of The Old School House after it was converted to a home. She was organist and Churchwarden at the church for many years and talks of the success of the choir. Her memories include village festivals and traditions at that time.
Carol Brailey	49	Carol and her husband bought Old Manor Farm from the Dunn Estate in 1970 and stayed till 1991. They opened up 3 inglenook fireplaces in the farm house. She remembers that when the Tithe Barn was converted ,all the mice migrated into the farm house ,until they got a cat. Her memories include the Queen's Silver Jubilee celebrations when their were about 60 children under 16 in the village. She also remembers Mary Prophet's play group, Hatchlands, the church, Peter Taylor, the W.I. and the village produce show.
John Brewer	15	John Brewer came from West Horsley and moved into No 9 Snelgate when he and Queenie were married. He talks of changes that they have made to the cottage,and of life in the village before the building of the A246. He talks of changes in the village and the pub and of Freddie Laker. He pays a lovely tribute to Bug Robertson.
Queenie Brewer	19	Queenie came to the village from Peckham during the war and in 1957 she and John moved in to 9 Snelgate where they still live. She gives information about the building of Snelgate and of how the cottages have changed. She has memories of the shop, the school, the church, of helping with the harvests and helping Mrs Bourne at Old Manor Farm.
Liz Sherras Clark	27	Liz is a famous botanical artist who has lived in The Cottage since 1994. She talks of the history of the cottage and its occupants, about her work, the Surrey Artists Open Studios, the Village Open Gardens and the Millennium Exhibition. She used to run painting courses in the Village Hall.
Daphne Cornwall	51	Daphne was born at No 1 Snelgate. She talks of the house in the 1930's and 1940's, of life the village at that time and her family. She is Anne Randall's Aunt.
Gill Culmer	37	James and Gill Culmer bought Beckets in 1983. It was built at the same time as the late Betty Hillcoat's house, Apple Tree House, in St Thomas Drive . Built to raise money to improve the Village Hall both buildings caused an outcry in the village, which led to the establishment of the East Clandon conservation area. Gill talks of memories of the village play group, the church choir, Clandon School, Cherry Trees, the pub and local characters.
Andrew Hogarth	31	Andrew and Elinor live at New Manor Farm which is a Lovelace House. It was built by the Earl of Lovelace in 1866 and sports the Lovelace coat of arms above the front door. Andrew and Elinor bought the house in 1982 and Andrew talks of life in the village when they came and the changes that they have seen. He talks about Freddie Laker who owned the house from 1969-1975; he also talks about Tim Haines who farmed the Laker land. Andrew talks of Lord Forte's farm, of St Thomas Drive and of life in the village in the eighties and nineties.
Elinor Hogarth	13	Andrew and Elinor bought New Manor Farm in 1982. Elinor reminisces about life in the village as a young mum with a one year old and a three year old. She talks about the play group in the unmodernised village hall. She remembers 2 new houses being built at High Clandon and the smartening up of village cottages; of amazingly dangerous equipment in the play park with an extremely high slide, of the children fishing in the lake and of the making of the pond in Back Lane when Andrew was Chairman of the Parish Council. She remembers the children singing in the church choir and ringing the bells! Elinor organised the church flowers for some 30 years.
David Holt	67	David talks of his memories of the village during the 23 years he lived here. He was born in the village and lived at Bay Tree Cottage throughout. He describes the cottage at that time, of how 8 members of the family lived there and what life was like in an unmodernised cottage. His grandfather was the foreman at the Hatchlands Estate and his great grandfather was the estate foreman for Lord Rendel. He describes the staff at Hatchlands, the butler, the chauffeur, the cook and the Christmas parties at Hatchlands. He remembers the fun the boys had playing together, of landfill scavenging, of ploughing with cart horses and the Hunt meeting at the Queen's Head.
Rachel Ives	26	Rachel came to live in Old Manor Farm in 1941 when she was 4. She talks of her childhood in Old Manor Farm, of the house, her Shetland pony ,of milking the cows, of the pigs in the Tithe Barn, of farm horses, helping with the harvest,and the village shop. She also talks of Christmas parties at Hatchlands, of going to parties with Michael Onslow and going to Clandon Park.
Gayle Leader	30	Gayle talks of the history of the cottage and the changes that they have made. She talks of how they made their beautiful garden and of its development. She also talks of the Village Flower Festivals, Open Gardens and Music in the Garden . She remembers the choir, the church, village festivals and traditions .
John Leader	34	John and Gayle bought Stuart cottage in 1975. It was built in 1550 and added to in 1600. It was originally a smoke bay cottage,but later a chimney was added . John gives a fascinating history of the cottage and talks of all that they have done in the village, including the creation of their beautiful and famous garden and the introduction of the Open Gardens.
Jill Liddell	57	Jill came to the village in 1955 to live with her Aunt and Uncle at Ryde Farm and Two Trees. Her Uncle had farmed at Ryde Farm Estate, the estate now owned by Sir Rocco Forte. She describes the farm and farm house. She talks of Clandon Manor Farm, the livery stables (now Clandon Mews) and the shop in the barn. After her Uncle's death, her aunt sold the farm land to Freddie Laker.
Andrew May	13	Andrew lived at Old Manor Farm from 1942-1954 with his brother David and sister Rachel Ives. A different aspect of childhood as they were kept separate from the village children. Their father was the agent for the fifth Earl of Onslow.
David May	11	As a child, David lived in Old Manor Farm from 1941-1952. His wonderful war time memories include the doodlebug falling and the Home Guard with rifles. His father was the land agent for the Onslow Estate and a hobby farmer who rented from Goodhart Rendel. He offers childhood memories of Hatchlands at Christmas, the butler giving out presents from under the tree, the shop and the forge .
Skip and Cathy McMullan	35	Skip and Cathy bought half of High Clandon House in 1982, and the other half in 1995. Originally built by the Earl of Lovelace in 1890, Goodhart Rendel took over the lease in 1920. The McMullans talk of the history of the house and its previous occupants and of excavating the original garden from being a wilderness. Their memories include village life and events dating from the 1980's.
Katherine Mellor	49	The Mellors bought Home Farm in 1965 for £17,000 from the Dunn Estate, when the farm house was in its original state . She describes the house, and how they modernised it to make it habitable. Wonderful descriptions of the village at that time, of village events and local characters. She talks of the resentment of the villagers to the in-comers from London.
Roger and Lesley Nickolds	35	Lesley and Roger bought The Old Post House in 1983 and give fascinating information of the history of the building, the shop, the post office and the telephone exchange as well as of village activities since the 1980's and village characters.
Caroline Otley	42	Caroline is the daughter of Queenie and John Brewer. She was born in 1961 and lived at 9 Snelgate. She gives a detailed description of a childhood in the village in the 1960's,of the school, the church,the choir and of local characters.
Anne Randall	41	Anne Randall is the fourth generation of her family to live in the village. Her great great grandparents built Huggins Cottage ,and their son built Ivy Cottage. She gives wonderful memories of the village in the war,when she and her mother lived with her grandmother . As she grew up ,she frequently visited her grandmother, and returned to the village to live in 1981.
Jenny Richardson	51	Jenny has lived at Badgers for 40 years. Her stepfather was an architect who worked with Goodhart Rendel. She talks of the building of Badgers and Sophy Cottage. She remembers village events, local characters, carols at Hatchlands and being snowed in.
Margaret Shuell	64	Margaret Shuell was born in Clare Cottage in 1939. She talks of childhood memories of the cottage during the war and of Italian prisoners of war working in the fields and Villagers as the Home Guard and as firefighters. Her father was the ploughman for Fullers Farm, working with horses. Her parents kept a pig and chickens and had a large kitchen garden.She has detailed memories of the school, of playing with other children in the village, of the church, the choir and the priests. She has excellent memories of the Hatchlands Christmas parties, the tree, the presents and Mr Goodhart Rendel. She recalls the building of St Thomas Drive, The Paragon and The Close. She also remembers the W.I. and recollects village special events and festivals.
Margaret Shuell and Frank Wallis	56	See the separate profiles of Margaret Shuell (above) and Frank Wallis (below)
Di Smith	54	Di Smith, nee Haines, was born in the village but now lives in Essex . She learned of the Conversations on this website. She has the most wonderful memory and gives the only detailed description of Captain Goodhart Rendel that we have . She talks of Huggins Cottage (the Huggins were her grandparents), of Holmhurst and Daphne cottages where she had lived. She has detailed memories of the school, the teachers, the shop, the pub and the church. She also remembers the two shire horses at New Manor Farm, the Hatchlands Christmas Party, the W.I, the Fete, the Flower Show,the Pie Outing to the coast, Morris Dancers and the Hunt. She is the same age as Jim Bacon and David Holt. An amazing memoir.
Frank Wallis	61	Frank Wallis was born in Daphne Cottage in 1935, the son of the cowman for Mr Paton of Old Manor Farm. Fantastic childhood memories of the school, the elm trees in the village,collecting birds eggs, playing conkers, of frost inside the windows in the morning in unmodernised cottages and of the cart horses at each farm. Wartime memories of Canadian and American soldiers here before D-Day and of Italian prisoners of war.
Tim and June Yorath	40	Tim's parents bought Kennel Cottage as a tumbledown cottage in 1962 and restored it to become Clandon Field House and by 1992 Tim and June had completed its transformation into its present appearance. Tim talks of his memories of the shop, the pub, of Lord Forte, the Dunn Estate and rather shabby farm workers cottages .
If you have feedback or comment about any of the conversations, please email them to conversations@eastclandon.org.uk. The parties providing the interviews prepared or accomplished the same in their personal capacities. The views and opinions expressed in the interviews herein do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of East Clandon Parish Council The Clandon Conversations project was supported and funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund