church street, ore village

[terry_again]

Yes I've seen that one. There was a similar case in the old town as well. Also many cases of infanticide, usually involving terrified teenage girls concealing their pregnancy and throttling the child at birth. Many people seem to have a chocolate box view of that era. The reality was very different. They were hard times: grinding, desperate poverty, young girls forced into prostitution, young men forced into crime, disabled people imprisoned for begging etc. Nothing peculiar to Hastings, things like that happened all over the country. This sort of thing should be compulsory reading.

[Anonymous1]

I couldn't agree more_ _ _..Some folk want a return to "victorian values", presumably so they can shyte all over the lower "classes" yet again_ _ _..rant over


As for who would know about the carpenters arms, perhaps Mephams the butchers might know. They've been trading in Winchelsea road for yonks, still there I believe_ _ __ _ _I may pop up for some sausages

[terry_again]

I can thoroughly recommend Mepham's minted lamb sausages. Superb!

Interestingly, parts of Winchelsea Road near the butcher's shop were once called North Row.

The authorities of the day seemed determined to confound the historians of the future by periodically changing the names of places. Clifton Road was Arrow Road, Greville Road was Serpentine Road, Victoria Avenue was Queen's Road and Frederick Road rejoiced in the name Cackle Street.

[tony_crittenden]

I remember the Church Street area having been born in the local hospital ( later St Helen's Hospital) in 1940. We lived in Offa Road and in the late 1940's moved to 156 Victoria Avenue ( Sea Breeze Cottage) which was a detached house. (now demolished). The East Kent Bus garage was next door. I remember there was a covered passageway between houses on Greville Road which went through to the rear gardens and what was left of Church Street. In my teens I had a Sunday paper round ( from Riddles Shop in Ore) and had to deliver ( and try and collect cash payment) from Greville Road and Church Street. I called at the remaining homes near to the junction with Clifton Road and have some recollection of a 'Pub type'premises somewhere there_ _ __ _ _I could go on with memories of Ore and still have 2 brothers and 2 sisters to help fill the gaps in my memories. I now live in Horsham but my wife's sister has now moved from Brighton to_ _ __ _ __ _ _.Greville Road !!!

[Anonymous1]

I had a paper round in Ore, the post office, can't recall the owner now_ _ _..It was the only job I ever got the sack from.

I just spoke to my Cornelius friend who lived in Wichelsea rd. and she remembers the pub and the offy, she recalls the bar looked more like someones front room. It's looking like her long deceased dad was one of the families from Church st_ _ _..her aunt is still alive, my friend will ask her about the pub.

[terry_again]

Thank you. It seems to be one everyone's forgotten about.

[Derek Jempson]

The two attached documents may be of interest to those who have posted on this topic. They both relate to my wife's grandfather's funeral, which took place towards the end of August 1951. He lived in Greville Road and was well known to many people in the area.

The first is a list of those people in Church Street who contributed to the cost of the funeral/flowers and the second an invoice for floral tributes.

[img://www.hastingsforum.co.uk/forums/sf_attachments/1951.08.28__1_.jpg]

[Derek Jempson]

[img://www.hastingsforum.co.uk/forums/sf_attachments/1951.08.28__2_.jpg]

[terry_again]

The address of 136 comes as a shock. Surely there were never that many houses in the street. Can't recall if it's been mentioned before, but the houses were in three blocks on the same side of the road. The only remaining building is the pub/off licence which is now part of a care home.

I have discovered that two brothers living in Church Street were prosecuted for living on the proceeds of prostitution in or around 1904 and their wives were prosecuted for soliciting in South Terrace.

The guy who built the Church Street houses lost heavily on the deal and went bankrupt, possibly due to the difficulties of building anything on that site.

Plans to develop this area of Ore Valley have been submitted, which are being opposed by a local group. The name 'Speckled Wood' has been coined, but I'm not aware of that name ever having been used in the past. Whilst I have some sympathy with the aims of this group, I can't help wondering why they are suddenly so up in arms about an area that has been neglected for half a century. Has this got more to do with property values than conservation? Why are they suddenly so bothered about a waste ground that has been largely inaccessible for decades? If the area is to remain undeveloped, it should at least be made accessible and have some decent footpaths cut through it. I believe there used to be several paths at one time which fell into disuse after the houses in Church Street were demolished.

[Derek Jempson]

According to my wife, Mrs Booth's house in Church Street was about ten to twelve houses down from the Victoria Avenue end of the Street, so there must have been numbers even higher than 136! Maybe the numbering didn't begin with 1? I can think of at least one road in St. Leonards where that is the case.

My wife lived in Greville Road for nineteen years before marrying me and she says that she never heard the name "Speckled Wood" until recently. I wasn't familiar with the area until after the Church Street houses were demolished, but I recall the site being used as a general dumping ground.