Tuesday 21 May 2013

Earliest Memories: Lingfield Sy.

                       
                                    

Our first impressions of our surroundings are the ones which stay with us the longest, and for most of us that probably means 'where we were born and brought up'.

                              

I was very lucky in this respect, because my first 14 years of life were spent in the beautiful Surrey village of Lingfield. At that time (1946-60) I can honestly say that it must have been one of the best places on earth to live.

                                                      

It boasted a 14th Century, grade 1 listed, church; complete with wonderful brasses and monuments, including the tomb of Reginald de Cobham (below).

                                

As well as some really beautiful old domestic buildings dating back to Tudor times.

                          

Of course, as a child, I took all this for granted, as it was all I knew. But on reflection I now realise how very fortunate I was.

                                

This last picture is of the small ancient street that leads up to Lingfield church. The building on the right is The Church Hall where we used to hold dances and birthday parties.

p.s. I've mentioned before that due to Lingfield's proximity to Gatwick airport, the noise pollution is now all-invasive. I could never live there again. Sad!


22 comments:

  1. I am trying to place the house in the penultimate photo. Should there be a photo after the heading - I seem to be having problems with Blogger.

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    1. The photo has now appeared and, as I thought, it was the Cage. In spite of Gatwick it is on my bucket list.

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    2. I think it's the house opposite the old Wheelwright's workshop, just before the field where they used to have the fairground.

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  2. Quite a nice place to spend your childhood. Do you have any people you know there now? Do you visit that place often?

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    1. I expect there are a few people still there from my days, but I haven't been back for quite some time. In fact, I hardly ever visit the UK.

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  3. It looks full of historical interest and beautiful buildings

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  4. it's beautiful, Cro. Of course you didn't realize that as a child, how could you? It no doubt shaped you, however. I was a child in a beautiful coastal California town, Carmel, and I didn't understand what a unique place it was. No Gatwick, but completely taken over by commercial interests and now it seems a faux Disney town. Shame.

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  5. I don't think anywhere in the world can beat an English village at its best. Well so far I haven't seen anywhere anyhow. I love the history that is found in the churches. Haven't found that anywhere else either.

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  6. My earliest memory is sitting on my father's lap behind the wheel of his FIAT riding through Tripoli to go digging for Roman coins in Leptus Magna (which I still have). My brother was born in Tripoli, you should see the fun he has going through US or Israeli immigration...

    Your photos of Lingfield Sy are everything I imagined of England as a child.

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    1. It could almost be the location for Midsomer Murders; other than the murders.

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    2. If it was the location for real life Midsomer Murders, there'd be a lot of empty properties for sale and a couple of very bored policemen considering whether one of them should kill the other in order to make life more interesting.

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    3. By the way. Your hut, the one I promised you. I was thinking, rather than varnishing the wood, I should just paint it Cro Magnon Orange. What do you think?

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    4. Love it, love it, vom it.

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  7. Is that the Reginald de Cobham who fought in the protracted but eventually successful siege of Calais? Nice pictures - i'd like to go and visit some more nice places like that in England one day... looks lovely. Still never been to Ireland either.

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    1. That's him. I've never been to Ireland either; your late grandfather was always trying to send me there!

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  8. Beautiful village, beautiful memories. I lived in a very beautiful, though very different town in North-eastern Vermont from the age of 4-10. It still holds a particularly fond place in my heart and the last time I was there in 2004 I was still able to find my way around the town.

    I've been to Ireland once and found it far more beautiful and interesting that I'd expected. My husband discovered that he loved Guiness -- but only in Ireland -- apparently, it tastes completely different there...

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    1. I only know of Vermont through 'White Christmas', and even then I only really saw the inside of an hotel.

      I too am a 'draught' Guinness fan!

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  9. That is one of the few things I miss about not living in England anymore, the very old history. Not that I would trade my life here but Oregon history only goes back so far then all you get are bows and arrows and land thieving white men.

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  10. If anything could tempt me to spend all that time on an airplane so we could visit Europe, it would be the promise of seeing places like this. How could anyone look at your pictures and not love those buildings and all the history they represent?

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  11. Often, when we go back to our childhood homes, we find that everything is so much smaller than what we remember.

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  12. On the completely opposite end of the spectrum, my husband and I homesteaded virgin forest back in the 1980s in northern Alberta; and my brother is third generation on a prairie ranch that my grandfather bought in the 1930s from the original owner.

    In western Canada, 100 years is a long time; in Europe, 100 miles is a long distance.

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    1. In France, 100.... (nope, can't think of anything).

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