by Mrs B Pechal.

When we first moved here in 1968 we bought No 9 Catisfield Road and soon afterwards we were told by a friend, who by coincidence had once lived in Heathfield Cottage, No 5 Catisfield Road that our house had been built on their tennis court. I think at one time when Heathfield Cottage had been the lodge to Heathfield House, which is now the Oast and Squire Public House, the area from the corner of Catisfield Road up and possibly beyond our house had been their garden.

Mr Lutman used to live in Owls Hoot no 11 Catisfield Road. His garden went down to the A27 with his drive going onto that road instead of Catisfield Road. The A27 was a single carriage road when we moved here and Catisfield Lane went onto the A27 at the end where it is now cut off.

We then built our present house 9a in Mr Lutman's garden as he could not manage all that garden any more. It was then that Mr Phillips who lived at 15 Catisfield Road told me that our garden used to be a gravel pit and that is why we are lower than Catisfield Road. He also told me that years ago there used to be a farm at the end of Appleton Road and the cows used to come along the road to be milked at the farm when the road was just a track. When we arrived in the area the farm had gone and it was a car tip and very unsightly.

Where Larches Close is was just a large field when we arrived and a cow lived in the field, which escaped one day and came through the holly hedge with Mr Lutman hanging onto its tail. He was trying to stop it tramping all over his lawn, but it was a very funny sight from my kitchen window in No 9.

Cherrygarth and The Timbers were not there either and the land belonged to The Croft on the corner of Cherrygarth.

2/2006.

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Comments, queries and messages to: Catisfield pages originally 'on the web' January 1996 Most recent revision: 22 Feb 2006       © Doug Glading ..... 1996-2006