With a village centre a little different to today but without so many parked cars, a row of shops opposite ‘The Crown’ included Fred Clemons newspaper sorting business and W.H. Hales butcher’s, managed by Dick Hales. A grocery store owned by E.A. Lock & Son, now ‘Terry’s’, stood opposite while Albert and Kitty Stewart managed ‘The Crown.’ The Upchurch Stores owned by E. G. Neame was located in The Street opposite the church. Teddy Neame initially managed the post office later followed by Cliff Wanstall. Opposite the post office the Co-op came into existence as a grocery store and provided work for village girls while on the top right of Forge Lane stood an oasthouse, an Elizabethan barn, a forge, Church Farm Cottages and an orchard with a pond. These were replaced by the Church Farm Housing estate during the early 1960s.
Several people brought goods to the village for sale which included Mrs Barling who supplied milk from Bayford Dairy Farm, Ethel Barnes who delivered groceries from her Otterham Quay grocery store, a mobile fish and chip shop, a Betabake van with bread and cakes and a Corona lemonade truck. Ernie Hart from Lower Rainham sold fruit and vegetables from a horse and cart and a council refuse truck toured the village every week with a group of dustmen including well known locals Fred Carlton and George Bond who collected the village trash.
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Reverend Hugh Clark served as village vicar for most of the decade followed by Reverend Bradshaw in 1959. During the same period Eric Gransden played the church organ and continued as the main village builder and captain of the cricket club, while his father Charles Gransden and Mr A. Costen served as church-wardens. Police constable Murray regularly patrolled the village on his bicycle, Miss Roberts and Miss Broughton served as headmistresses of the Infant’s School and Holywell School respectively while school governors included Cecil Bishop, Cliff Wanstall and Teddy Neame. Cecil Bishop from Horsham Lane continued to play a major role in local council affairs.
The village carnival took place for the first time in 1952 with Inys Hales as Carnival Queen and the Upchurch Marathon started in the same year with Trevor Sifleet and Pat Atkinson winning the men’s and women’s events respectively. Coronation celebrations also took place in 1953 while the Great Flood submerged parts of the Ham Green peninsular and Twinney in February 1953. Upchurch Football Club shared Piwit field with Upchurch Cricket Club in Poot Lane but moved to the recreation ground in 1957.
Well known village characters included Ellen Boast, Alice Ball and Tom Sifleet from the Street, Queenie South from Horsham Lane, Milky Bill from Forge Lane, Podgy Edmonds from Twinney, Elsie Waters from Oak Lane, Charlie Clark, Thelma Hepton and Annie Bronger from Gore Bank and Johnny Boast and his grandmother Emily Wigley from Chaffes Lane.
Car owners in the village were far fewer than today so many people had to rely on the 39 bus service which functioned from early morning until late at night between Lower Halstow and the Medway Towns. This allowed residents a social life outside the village.
Plans were made to construct a village hall for the first time and meetings took place throughout the decade to discuss this. The Village Hall Committee met in February 1956 to view plans to convert an Upchurch oasthouse into a village hall but the cost proved too expensive so the plans were shelved. It wasn’t until 1961 that the building finally appeared.
Overall, Upchurch remained a small and pleasant village during the 1950s, much more rural, quieter and smaller than today.
About David:
David Wood was born and raised in Upchurch and is able to write from personal experience about many people and aspects of the village and of changes that have taken place over the years making ‘Memories of Upchurch’ a very readable book and a detailed historical study of the village. David's book ‘Memories of Upchurch’ is available direct from David on: david3702001@yahoo.co.uk or from us here at Upchurch Matters.
price £12 + p+p £2.
David Wood
David Wood
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