My paternal grandfather, Rennie Leslie Collins, moved to Truggers Farm, Chiddingstone Hoath with his wife Louie (Louise Helen Fanner) in the 1930's where he farmed the land and raised his three children, Philip, Margaret and Roger (my father). There is a picture of Truggers Farm House here on my biography page.
My father and his siblings went to school here, and indeed I too went to Sunday school here as a child. My aunt, Margaret, has written a nice article about her time at the school.
I was fortunate in being able to purchase this old postcard on e-Bay. It shows the the old school among the trees, although sadly rather more trees visible than the school. I remember the ground being very sandy, and there were large outcrops of rock, like the one in the photograph, all over the site.
In early 2005 the present owner of the school, John Clarkson, contacted me and supplied me with the pictures below taken on 22nd February 2005; a picturesque scene indeed after a snow fall! Apart from the new windows, the only major change is the removal of the tiles from the walls.
Many of the old trees surrounding the building were destroyed in the 1987 Hurricane, however many new ones have been planted.
Scanned antique postcard
If you found this page using a search engine or other link, please use the icons below to link to one of the main sections of the Roughwood web site:
As these postcards are all antique, hopefully I have not infringed any copyright regulations. If by some chance I have, please let me know and I will remove the offending image.
Please do not reproduce or store any of the pictures on this site without asking first. Permission is usually given for non-commercial use.
