Next door

The adjoining property was also owned by my parents and upon the death of my Mother in 2000 paper receipts showed a purchase price of £375 for the pair in 1948. They rented this house out at a low, fixed rent for most of their ownership.

Their principal tenants were Percy 'Perce' and Monica Maynard; Sid Smith lived with them as a lodger, and I think that they may have adopted him from Dr Barnado’s. Sid eventually became the village postman.

Apart from various modifications, the pair of cottages remained very much the same for some time. A bathroom was eventually added to No 4, night storage heating to No 3 probably around 1964/5 then to No 4 in the eighties.

Long gone

On the east side of our house there stood a another pair of semi-detached houses, Nos.1 and 2, which were demolished in the 1960s to make way for a new build.

No. 2 was occupied by Mr & Mrs Russell and their son John who was a bit older than me. John still lives in the village, not far from his childhood home.

No 1 was occupied by Mr & Mrs Payne, their son Roger and their daughter Valerie. Roger was 9 months younger than me. No 1 had a cellar which always seemed to have water in it.

In the photo, the middle set of cottages are 1 and 2, whilst the pair at the right hand side are 3 and 4 Copthorne Bank.