Folkestone Then & Now Guestbook

A great set of pictures, so nice to see how it all used to be.

What a wonderful page, thank you so much for sharing these photos
We live on the canterbury road and really interested to see the photos you have, do you know roughly what year they were taken?
I am interested to know when the school on Canterbury road and the houses along that section of the road were built? Also whether the airfield ran along the back of those houses opposite the school?
Thanks again for taking the time to creat this page

(Continued)
Our neighbours included the mayor, Alderman george Gurr and his wife. (He is on record having advised townsfolk that they were "safer in their own beds."

Our house was repaired at the end of the War and we reoccupied it for a time from early 1946, hence my attending Harcourt Primary School, newly occupied though built in 1939. We then moved to take over 'The Valiant Sailor', then without its farm. (See my earlier submissions re Pubs).

Referring again to your 'War' section, there is a photo, very meaningful for me, of aerial mine damage to part of Morehall Avenue which took place at around 2am on the morning of 29 May 1941 when I came within a whisker of death. My parents and I lived at No. 12, the end wall of which can just be discerned extreme bottom right of the photo. The picture appears to have been taken from the upper level of the sweets & tobacco shop in Cheriton Road owned by the Wright sisters, Elsie and Gladys, the former my Godmother. (I checked the angles only the other week.)

My bedroom faced the road. The mine landed in the centre of the Avenue, between numbers 28 and 29, killing 13 (including an infant) and injuring 43. I recall my bedroom window blowing in on me, covering me in glass and plaster. Somehow, my parents and I escaped serious injury, though our home was falling about our ears. We managed to make our way to the air raid shelter situated beneath the pavement in front of 'The Morehall' pub. (continued)

Lee Podgson's photo of the WW2 bunker is, in fact, and Observation Post (OP) and is, indeed one of two. They are not on East Cliff, as such, but they lie just behind The Valiant Sailor, pub. I used to play on and inside them when first I came to live at the pub at the end of hostilities. The military were still 'in residence' at the time. There was also a battery of two (perhaps three) 9.2 inch ex-naval guns (probably removed from de-commissioned WW1 warships). The Capel Battery, as it was known stretched right along the clifftops to Capel village.

Close by, there was a Zig Zag path extending to The Warren. I used this to reach 'my garden' i.e.. The Warren which I had virtually to myself in those days. Barbed wire and mined areas were everywhere. Just behind the pub, we had a tea garden which had a lovely summerhouse which looked out over The Channel.

It might be of interest to learn that this summerhouse was used by Marconi in his experiments to send and receive cross-Channel 'wireless' messages. The pub then was part of an extensive farm with herds of cattle which used to graze the fields and hills around the area extending as far as the Folkestone/Canterbury Road. The farmer, Bill Aird, was suspicious of these new-fangled "radio waves". He believed they would be detrimental to his cows' milk yield and sent Marconi packing (and out of the history books!)

Re. your "Pubs" database, I walked past The 'Morehall' only the other day. The site is being converted into flats, a local told me.

You may not be aware that immediately in front of the pub, beneath the pavement, there is/was an air raid shelter which, slightly injured, I entered around 2.30 am. on the night of 29 May 1941 following the devastation of one end of Morehall Avenue by a wayward parachute mine. (A photo appears elsewhere on your website which just shows the end wall of my home!)

I mentioned the shelter to one of the builders working on the redevelopment who confirmed that the pub's cellar is still present. "I'll have to cut through, he said, to verify if the shelter still exists or has been filled in." (Personally, I think it is still there!)

After the War, our house was repaired and we reoccupied it until moving to The Valiant Sailor. You have some good photos of those premises on your 'Pubs' section, I notice.

The second picture captioned 'Uphill Mill' (i.e. one of two on the RH side) is actually the windmill at Hawkinge Hall. It outlasted Uphill Mill but got very derelict and collapsed on a calm day in 1961.

I went to morehall primary school in the seventies.
The infants was just behind the main building
And had a separate playground to the juniors. the concrete wall was still at the front.i remember being scared of the slipper if you did wrong.i don't know if there was slipper or not. my father went to this school when it was an all boys secondary. I went on to pent valley. The round room was an art room. If you was told to stand in a corner you would run round saying I can't find the corner. I later moved and went to wyndgate school but got the floor and egg treatment before I left

Great website, in fact probably the best there is on folkestone history!!

Great work christine, much appreciated!!

My mum went to harcourt in the mid to late 40's..her best friend from that time lives in middlesex. Mum lived in folkestone with her mum down by the harbour, later married and moved to deal where she and my dad lived until she died in 2009. My grandmother lived there until she died about 43 years ago. They originally came from smarden.
I went to folkestone tech from 1966 until 1972. My granddaughter went to the same school, now folkestone grammer, until about 4 years ago....we have always loved folkestone and will always have deep connections to the town. I remember going to the swimming pool during the summer down by the rotunda...

some fabulous photos, I was born in Folkestone in 1950 and went to St Eanswythes and then Hillside, both Dover Road and Park road, the head master W A Parks was still head in the 1960's when I left to join the RAF. I left Folkestone when my father died in 1970, I have since returned a couple of times with John Bullard my old school mate and was a bit disappointed to see how the town had changed. still very happy childhood memories.

Hi. What a fantastic site - many congratulations. Although we never lived in Folkestone (after my father retired from the army my parents bought a place near Deal)but we do have close connections. Dad ran a fishing charter boat out of the Inner harbor through the 80's and early 90's. The boat was "The Prince Albert" 37ft wood built (ex RN lifeboat-I think) with wheelhouse, which he bought from a man who ran hourly mackerel trips from the harbour. George (my dad)was well known among the other skippers, he was ex-REME and a wizard with engines. His brother Stan also ran a charter from his boat-Saga, although he gave it up before dad. "The Albert" was sold when dad was diagnosed with lung cancer and transported to Ireland. There are some photos somewhere of her being craned out of the harbour and onto a low loader. I'll dig them out next time I'm in the UK and mail them to you. I hunted your site for any photos of "Albert" - she was moored 3 arches down from the swingbridge- alas none I could find). George's ashes were scattered at sea, just off Sandgate (one of his favoured fishing sites, when he couldn't get out to the Varne which, given the winds and weather was often!!)
Once again, a great site. Kind Regards.Gary

A few years ago on the beach at the East Cliff Folkestone I came across what I believe to be an old iron house name.
It reads "SCINDIA HOUSE".
I understand during and after World War 2 rubble from local bomb damage was tipped from the cliff and ended up on the beach.The sign was found roughly below the area where the putting greens and bowling club are.
Being interested in the Merchant Navy I am intrigued by this.Scindia was the name of a clan in an Indian state,but it was also the name of a large Indian shipping company.
Scindia employed many British officers and captains on their ships in earlier times.
I wonder if a retired sea captain had his house in Folkestone or nearby and named his house after the Company he was with?
Would love to know where SCINDIA HOUSE was!

Love your site, it brings back many memories. I lived there from 1950 to the late 90's. You can hardly recognise where the old Harcourt Primary School was situated with all the new building works at Pent Valley.

Thank you for the photos posted on your website Christine, they bring back many memories - but only from the 50s onwards.

I lived in Cheriton till the late seventies then moved to Thanet. In 1996 I moved with my family to the USA. The website brings back many happy memories. I went to All Souls Primary then Harcourt Secondary till 1968.

Hi,

I'd just like to point out that the fourth photo in The Hills section isn't of Ceasar's Camp at all, but is taken from Ceasar's Camp across the reservoirs westward toward the North Downs. The hills are north of the reservoirs, which would be to the right of the view in the photo.

Also, the hill in the photo entitled Flat Hill Adjoining Ceasar's Camp is Round Hill, through which the road tunnels you mention elsewhere in the section pass

Love your site.

Kind regards,

Dave.

My grandad was born in East st (harbour)to a large fishing family but sadly no longer with us.
He had many books of Folkestone and new hundreds of people over the years,he would have loved to have looked at this well documented and put together web site,I to have found this to be of great interest and fascinating look bk in time.congratulations on A professional And well thought out yesteryear folkestone site.

Just rediscovered this site (it keeps moving). The photos bring back wonderful memories.

I lived in Folkestone from 1954 until 1966 but my parents lived there until about 1989 so obviously I visited.

Attended Christ Church primary and the Harvey.

I have good memories of church road and the C W G hall which was next to the magic also remember Fortuna and sunshine cafe's