Blackboys & District Historical Society
Archive from the past Parish Newsletters:
From the Parish Newsletter June/July 2008:
From the Parish Newsletter April/May 2008:
From the Parish Newsletter February/March 2008:
From the Parish Newsletter December 2007/January 2008:
At our AGM in October we celebrated our first 10 years with a display of relevant photographs and documents. Members and friends enjoyed a seasonal supper before the official proceedings and there was plenty of time afterwards for everyone to peruse the items on show.
On December 14th we will be holding our Christmas event in Blackboys Village Hall. A buffet supper will be followed by a "presentation" by Don Dray , The Dancing Decades - from Ragtime to Swing. Tickets are limited and are available in advance only. On Saturday 19th January there will be a guided walk around Falmer, followed by a Pub Lunch.
The society has received several enquiries this year but there is one in particular that I would like to mention. I was contacted by a lady in New Zealand trying to find out more about her ancestors who lived in the Parish towards the end of the 19th century and into the 20th. The names she is looking for are Brown(e) and Squire(s) and a scan of census returns hasn't thrown up much information so far, can you help? If you can I would be pleased to hear from you. If you would like to know more about the activities of the society or are interested in joining, my contact details are below.
Ann Turner
From the Parish Newsletter October/November 2007:
From the Parish Newsletter August/September 2007:
On Tuesday August 7 there will be a guided walk in Brighton, instead of the usual monthly meeting with a speaker. Geoff Mead will be leading us on a 2 hour walk to discover more about how and where both the rich and poor inhabitants used to live. Cost is £3 each and we will meet at Brighton Railway Station at 6.45pm. If you would like to come along please let me know in advance as numbers may be restricted.
Our meeting on September 4th will include a talk about "Water on the Downs", with Dr Martin Snow. This will take place in Blackboys Village Hall, 7.30 for 8pm start. Visitors are welcome as always and entrance will be £2. (£1. for members). If you would like to know more please call me.
Ann Turner
From the Parish Newsletter June/July 2007:
From the Parish Newsletter April/May 2007:
From the Parish Newsletter February/March 2007:
From the Parish Newsletter December 2006/January 2007:
From the Parish Newsletter October/November 2006:
From the Parish Newsletter August/September 2006:
From the Parish Newsletter June/July 2006:
The society's meeting in June will be of particular interest to those who would like to know about Oliver Cromwell and his place in our country's history. It will be on Tuesday 6th June in Blackboys Village Hall 7.30 for 8pm. In July there will not be a normal meeting, members will be visiting the Bluebell Railway on July 4th for a guided tour of the engine sheds etc and a Buffet Supper. At the moment there are still some vacancies for this trip which costs £15 each, if you are interested in joining us for the evening then please call me on 01825 890359.
I have been delving into Mr Cornford's letters again and found some more of his memories about his schooldays, and I thought that readers might enjoy the following extracts.
There was a lot of sugar beat grown in the area, for cattle feed etc and at the time of year for the potatoes to be harvested, the older children from the schools were given time off from lessons if needed, for a period of about 4 weeks, and if a farmer needed help they could ask the teacher for helpers. This could be a nice change but if it was wet and the potatoes were muddy, it was a messy, cold job and there were days when school lessons were the greater attraction.
Today's pupils, and their parents, would probably be completely horrified if they were asked to go out and work in the fields now instead of attending school but I think the "guard duty" referred to in the next extract must have caused much concern even then, especially after some children were killed at Petworth in West Sussex, machine gunned while sitting on the school wall!
My main memory of the war I suppose as a young boy, was we had to take turns to sit on the school wall, between the school and"Lowlands " and watch for any German planes, and at a latter date, "Doodle Bugs", the theory was that if we spotted anything we had to blow a large whistle, and everyone in the school took shelter under their desks, I was never quite sure what we were supposed to do after blowing the whistle.
I do recall watching a "dogfight" when two germanplanes were shot down, one crashed in the grounds of Possingworlh Manor, the other came down in the woods towards Waldron. Unfortunately in the same fight we also had a plane crash land, it was a spitfire and ran out of fuel, it came down at the end of Terminus Lane, or "Cackle Alley" as it was better known then.
Up until the 1950's children from Blackboys School went on to Framfield School when they got older as the new Senior School at Uckfield was yet to be built. Some of them were obviously not impressed with this change.
I know when we first saw the inside of Framfield School we wondered why we had been sent there as Blackboys in many ways was a more modern building with much bigger classrooms, even if there were only two. I remember well the round steel supports for the roof, there were none of those in Blackboys, I remember my father being sent to repair some tiles on the roof and saying that as long as nobody rang the bell at the end of the roof it would be alright
If you have memories that you would like to share with society members, or if would like to become a member, or would like us to help you with a "local history" query, we would love to here from you.
Ann Turner
From the Parish Newsletter April/May 2006:
Our membership numbers are now at their highest so far since we were formed in October 1997, but we always welcome more! Our two meetings so far tfiis year have been very well attended and a Saturday afternoon visit to the Youth Hostel in Blackboys, which is due to close in October, was well supported. On 4th April we will be welcoming Mr Pryce with his talk about Sanctuary in Sussex and on 2nd May Mr Cally will be telling us about Lewes Bowls Society.
I have received some more "memories" from Mr Cornford and I will try and include some excerpts in the next edition. He was very impressed with the copy of the last newsletter which 1 sent him particularly because it includes so much of local interest.
If you would like to know more about the society, or how to become a member please call the secretary on 01825 890359.
Ann Turner
From the Parish Newsletter February/March 2006:
One of the benefits, I find, of using the "world wide web" is that one never knows what communications are going to arrive in the mailbox, or on the doorstep. Towards the end of last year I received a letter from a Mr E Cornford from Teignmouth, who was bom in Blackboys in 1933, he rightly thought that our society members might be interested in some of his memories. As there are so few people now living in the area who remember what life in our villages was like from the 1930's to 1950's I thought current residents might like to read the following extracts.
"I can remember well my mother taking me to school to be enrolled, to start school in January 1939. The first teacher we met was Mrs Thomas, she was the infants teacher and was there the whole of my school life at Blackboys, and for many years afterwards, and would always stop if she saw you in the village, to ask after you.
The school was not the nice smart building that is there now, but one which was I believe, built about 1878: I recall the date was above the porch. It consisted of two classrooms, Mrs Thomas and the infants had the smaller one, the other room housed two classes, the juniors and the seniors, as in those days unless you passed the eleven-plus, and got a place at the grammar school, you spent your whole school life there. Mrs Whybrow taught the juniors, the seniors were taught by her Husband, who was of course the headmaster."
We also had evacuees in the village, there were more of them than there were children living in the village, so the school could not cope, and "The Hut" was opened up as a second school. "TheHut" as it was known was the village hall and was used as Library, dance hall, school plays were put on there, in fact in those days it was the hub of the village, I remember going to many Whist Drives there Friday evening, the Library was, I think , on Tuesday evenings. The building was built of timber, with a felt roof and was on the left, going out of the village from school lane towards Framfield, on the edge of the recreation ground, just past the council houses."
There is much more about being a pupil at Blackboys School in wartime but the next two snippets are also worth a mention.
"We all spent a lot of time on the allotments, growing as much food as was possible. I had one and a half allotments to myself to grow what I liked, any surplus we didn 't need I used to sell to the local shop. The rent in those days was 9 pence a year per allotment in old money. Even after the war was over fruit and vegetables were still much in demand"
"Blackboys had an army camp, this was taken over by the Americans, a lot of the senior ranks from there were billeted in the village, we had the commanding officer staying with us for some time. My main memory of him was the fact he kept bringing us down "food parcels" a lot of which were cans and cans of peanut butter, we were glad to have it but since then, to now, I cant stand the stuff!"
I have been promised more letters, after Mr Cornford has read the book about Framfield & Blackboys, of which he was previously unaware.
Ann Turner
From the Parish Newsletter December 2005/January 2006:
Our AGM & Seasonal Supper in October was again a successful and enjoyable evening. In November we welcomed a visit by 2 "re-enactors" who gave us a glimpse of life in Saxon Times. Our next event will be on Friday 9th December when we will again be entertained with traditional songs and music from "Elsie's Band". Entry is by advance ticket only. We will not be having a meeting in January but our February meeting will be a talk about Sussex Trugs.
If you would like more information about the society please contact the secretary on 01825 890359.
Ann Turner
From the Parish Newsletter October/November 2005:
The society will not be meeting in August again this year and our next event will be in Blackboys Village Hall on Tuesday September 6th. The speaker, James Gardner, will be talking about "The Balcome Tunnel Murder". On October 4th we will be holding our Seasonal Supper and AGM. For our November meeting, members and visitors will be able to "Go Anglo Saxon" for the evening when we will be able to welcome some "speakers" who like to give adults the opportunities that school children have to "participate in history". Visitors will be welcome, as usual, to join in the fun!
If you would like more information about the above events, or the society in general, please contact the secretary on 01825 890359.
Ann Turner
From the Parish Newsletter August/September 2005:
The society will not be meeting in August again this year and our next event will be in Blackboys Village Hall on Tuesday September 6th. The speaker, James Gardner, will be talking about "The Balcome Tunnel Murder". On October 4th we will be holding our Seasonal Supper and AGM. For our November meeting, members and visitors will be able to "Go Anglo Saxon" for the evening when we will be able to welcome some "speakers" who like to give adults the opportunities that school children have to "participate in history". Visitors will be welcome, as usual, to join in the fun!
If you would like more information about the above events, or the society in general, please contact the secretary on 01825 890359.
Ann Turner
From the Parish Newsletter June/July 2005:
The June meeting of the society takes place on Tuesday 7 in Blackboys Village Hall. Our July and August events are still at the planning stage but will hopefully both be outside and different from our usual meetings, weather permitting!
We always welcome visitors at our meetings, prospective new members and enquiries and/or information regarding the history of the Parish and local area.
If you would like to contact us please call the secretary on 01825 890359.
Ann Turner
Secretary