Holdenhurst, Church Of St John The Evangelist c.1945

Photo ref: H296001

Memories -mrs roberts miss cook and her chow dog during the early war years they were second mothers to us all,village people were kind and helpfull ,mr pond the water bailiff gave me all the fishing tackle i needed and let me fish free of charge but also came with me to make sure no harm came to me,also most of my mates as well ,i am still in connection with holdenhurst villagers thank you all for my lifes memories to many to mention ron pye of great dean cottages

In 1956 I was an apprenticed grocer with a very poor wage.  My passion was fishing and if I went to see the river bailiff, a Bob Olley, after work to pay for a license, he would often say 'Go and do your fishing and don't worry about the license'.  Bob felt that to make me pay for a half day ticket just for 3 or 4 hours wasn't worth it.  When I caught a 23-pound Pike one Sunday morning, Bob was on hand to ...see more