Tony Jobber's memories: Carnivals and more
Carnival float outside the Post Office on The Street
Note the old telephone box
Bunting and a donkey outside the pub as the crowd follows the carnival in 1963
All photos courtesy of Tony Jobber (the pirate centre foreground)
Tony Jobber is the blonde pirate on the left
Old weight limit sign at the end of Park Drive with new-ish Council Houses in 1963
Photos reveal past street scenes
By Chris Rogers
Tony Jobber spent his childhood in Hothfield and has fond memories as well as a collection of his family photographs.
Tony kindly e-mailed the History Society and wrote: "My name is Tony Jobber and have found some photo's of the 1963 village carnival I thought you may be interested in for people to try and put names to.
I lived in the village initially at 32 The Street attached to Sainsburys shop then on The Street where my parents Alf & Doreen Jobber still live*, I left when I married in 1977. I had a wonderful childhood with many fond memories of Hothfield and now live in Kingsnorth but visit the village frequently. I always read your online newsletter with interest and think you all do a first class job along with the village history site as well.
Attached are the photo's. (I'm the blond pirate on the left hand side of the Park Drive photo) Can you name any of the others?
The photographs were taken by my Grandfather Leonard Pagram MBE my mothers father who was a squadron leader in the RAF during the second world war and a major engineer who obtained his rank for his contribution to the Chain Home Radar installation along the east of England and commanded Polish pilots.
In time I will search through the many slides and photographs of Hothfield events, somewhere I know I have some photo's of I think 1961 or 62 carnival with the theme being nursery rhymes where I'm one of the blackbirds in a pie and Tony Neaves is a cockle shell, (oh how embarrassing).
So many fond memories I was allowed to help out on the farms of John Coles feeding the pheasants and Mrs Tufton with the lambing and Turkey rearing from egg to the Christmas roast (probably not allowed now days for Health & Safety reasons). I was also a paper boy for about 4 years even collecting the money each week (another taboo now days).
Seeing the photo of Pete Spooner made me chuckle as I have always been interested and in fact made a career of radio communications, when I listened to the police broadcasts one night I heard PC Spooner responding to a report of a hole in the road on the Little Chart road with the next broadcast being PC Spooner has found the hole can you send an ambulance to take him to hospital.
I could go on for hours it was such a memorable time and now as I retire I will search for any more photo's etc.
Kind Regards
Tony Jobber"
I'm grateful to Tony for kindly sharing his stories and pictures. I like some of the background to the photos, not only the cars and fashions of the early 1960s, and the fresh-looking Council houses (less than ten years old at that time) but also the long-lost telephone box outside the Post Office. At the end of Park Drive there was a sign that says: 'Locomotives, heavy motor cars and all motor vehicles with seats for more than 15 people prohibited'.
*Sadly Alf and Doreen have since passed away but their grand-daughter and her family still live in the village, as does Tony.