BY STEVE SHARP Welcome to the new East Malling Memories site. I have moved this to its current location to keep it up and running. I will keep as much as I can, and add some of, if noy most of, the original writings etc. But as with EMM it will rely on input from you. I will attempt to copy the comments already made, and put them on here but will just have to see what happens.

The Park taken during the summer of 2004. During the early sixties whole sections of the park would be covered in nettles, within in which, myself, Kevin Handley, Steve Watson and many others, would make camps in, we modelled it on a TV series popular at that time....I believe it was called "Ten Town" about a group of kids who build a town out of boxes....or that's how I remember it!... we would hack our way through the nettles with sticks,of course the odd casualty was inevitable, these stings would be treated with a dab of spit on a doc leaf, deftly delivered to the affected area, a method we called "flobbing"...which sounds disgusting now I come to think of it!! then it was rubbed vigorously in to the affected area, we used to think it worked but... who knows? Many of the trees have now gone.... there were many more, we used to spend most of our time trying to climb them, in fact we had names for most, Step ladder, Single barrel Double barrel, the Bee hive tree... in which, rumour had it, Kev and I was up when it blew down, where that emanated from I'll never know!...we never denied it though....guess it added to our street cred!... Oh and the shit bugger tree, which is a whole new story of how it got its name... These were the days when summer seemed to go on for ever and ever, we would go out after breakfast and not come in till tea time, Kev, Steve, and I along with the others would decide on what was going to keep us amused for the day, we might start with a kickabout up the top end of the park if anyone had a ball, and "Mugsy" would show us his fancy stuff, this meant he would wiggle his legs over the ball in positions only he could, or we might go up to the swings, they were outside the institute in those days, which was a green corrugated iron and timber construction... as I recall we had a really big slide in the middle of two sets of swings, a see-saw and a roundabout, and our favourite? the sand pit especially when it had just been refilled with fresh sand, which was always a bonus, as it stunk most of the time!! the outline of it can still be seen in front of one of the benches there today

This was Deers ,we would buy firework matches here during October, if you remember they were matches which had a really large head, and would glow bright green or blue phosphorous, god only knows how they were ever able to sell them to us! Oh and do you remember the jamboree bags with the filling pullers for toffee and the small plastic cup filled with chocolate 3 old pennies, and what about the man with a limp who used to be the lolly-pop man seeing us across the road in front of the King and Queen, what was his name?

This was the old butchers with the stable door and saw dust on the floor, I believe they used slaughter the cattle on the premises. And if you are really old you will remember the circus used to parade past here when it was in the village, we would scare the poo out of each other with rumours of escaped lions from the circus or escaped bulls from the butchers!!, Oh and just up the road lived the dreaded PC Bubb, I was lucky enough to speak to him recently, pleased to see he is still going strong

This is a shot of the watercress beds, taken during the summer of 04 this place hasn't changed at all over the years, it was one of those places we visited every now and then as kids, it has taken all this time to really appreciate its beauty, it truly is a magical place, and I never get bored, the wild life is something special too.

I class myself as being extremely fortunate to have been raised in such an idyllic area, if you have a chance, go for a walk and see for yourself, especially early in the morning its well worth the effort, and if you bump into an overweight bloke with a Golden retriever, then , that'll be me, say hello!!

Here's a resident you dont often see, pleased to see, as of last week he is now protected.

Each time I walk past this place I see something new this picture doesn't do it justice, the morning I took this I stood watching a big grey heron wading in the water, I guess he was looking for his breakfast, I have been lucky enough to see him on several occasions

Autumn at the Watercress Beds. You have to be there early morning to appreciate the tranquillity of the place, the early morning mist rising from the stream, and the first frost of the winter threatening to turn everything white.

The Red Rover pub, now a private dwelling, though the sign post is still in place. From here at the right time of year the sunrise is amazing. I have lost count of the ammount times I have walked past here

The school lake was also a nice place to be, its a shame it isn't appreciated as much today, where else could you get such a scene, it was also the scene of two lots of heroics by yours truly but that's another story. I would often find myself on hot summer afternoons just sitting on the banks of the lake, basking in its atmosphere, you have to admit this picture does drum up memories of long hot summer days, you know.... when the bills that come through the door never had your name on!... when all your meals just appeared on the table... and your clothes suddenly turned up washed and ironed in your drawer, I personally think we are all ,"base over apex" as Mr Crystal would say, we should be born old and frail, we would then have all this to look forward to.

My life so far has been blessed, I was born into a family where mum and dad stayed together, it wasn't always sunshine and roses, don't get me wrong, but, now, looking back, its been good, the only problem I have now is I feel like someone has crept up behind me an nicked the last 40 years of my life, thats how quick it feels like it has gone!! Sadly we lost Dad in 2012 after a short ilness...

This an unusual shot, as there are no beer cans to be seen! why is it we have to put up with yobs who think its OK to leave their waste for us to have to look at, where are their parents!! Its actually taken from under the favoured conker tree of our time, many a stick was launched into its branches and its fruit gathered up ready for the seasons annual conker championships, you could always tell it was that time of year as we all had bruised hands, and no one had any shoe laces! we would try all sorts to toughen the skins up, nothing seemed to work, but, we kept trying, I think my best ever was a sixer. Once that season was over, or we just got bored, we would go onto ,maybe, marbles, remember? holesy's, smacksies, tipsies, and no rebounds!! there was something about a bag of marbles, and mum used to make us a small draw string bag for them, or was it just a sock!! It seemed like all the kids on the estate used to join in with whatever game was in season, POM POM, HOPSCOTCH, or just playing in the park we never seemed to run out of things to do

Now, is this Windsor or is it East Malling church, we've got some scenery round here haven't we!! but its been there for hundreds of years!! I have known it for 63 of them, so where was it hiding! I think I must have spent all those years looking at the pavement!... Something else?.... you know the little stream that runs out of the wall on the way up to the church? well it has dried up!! please tell me this is a normal occurrence for this time of year, and not some moron deciding to divert it or whatever!

UPDATE IT HAS STARTED TO FLOW ONCE AGAIN I think we should all meet up under the railway bridge and have a game of "PooSticks"!!!

I know it may look strange to show a picture of this roller, but, it was the subject of much fascination as kids, we would play on this for hours, and on my first revisit I was amazed to see just how small it is, we would climb in and out of the triangular slots on the sides, sad weren't we!! By the way, it still makes the same noise when its being towed

This is a picture of Stickens Lane just where the railway goes over still as I remember it even down to the ragstone banks And this is where we all cut our teeth on our first pint of beer, in them days it was owned by Mr and Mrs Woodger, and there was a little "Snug" to the side of the main bar which had a bar billiards table in it

Those of you who were of my era (or there abouts) will, no doubt, have some fond memories of your time spent within the walls of the old school....Looking back I wonder how the teachers put up with us, though to be honest, they had more tools at their disposal than the poor sods have today.... they must have had the patience of a saint, not that any of our antics were malicious, just that they were constant, non stop, schoolboy stuff. I was lucky enough, just recently, thanks to Steve Watson, to re visit the old place to take some "last chance" photo's before the demolition commenced, to rebuild on the original site, so Steve, Kev Handley, and I had one last reccy..... not that they need to do much knocking down of the new school, its falling down ! I was so dissapointed, it is in a right old state, I hardly recognised it, so photo's were pointless, but happy to say the old building is as I remembered it.

The first thing I remembered was the hands sculpture on the left, although it was always there and we saw it every day, we never took much notice of it, yet I remember it so well, I've been told that it has a meaning or some significance but what it is ? let me know

The playground where they had us line up at the end of break... and woe betide anyone who messed around when Mr Lewin was in charge, it was a "bend over" and a stiff wooden knee up your jacksy, as I recall there was a fence that ran across the area, and on the left were those square concrete blocks we used to mess about on , invariably we would have a kick about, but I think footballs were banned so it was only ever a tennis ball, that is until we discovered girls, I can still remember watching the netball matches here!!

This shot is just inside the main entrance, and if you are wondering, that is Steve Watson just coming into picture, it all seems so small now, I have been trying to remember all of the teachers, there was Mr Pape headmaster, Mr Val, I think he was deputy head but he also took geography, Mr Crowhurst- Science, Mr White- Maths and Tech drawing, Mrs Hewitt- English, Mr Crystal-Maths, Mrs Reed-History, Mr smith- English, Mr Russell- Music, Mr Baker- PE and Maths I think----who have I forgot??? And of course the main assembly hall, how did they get us all in there! I remember Mr Russell used to try his utmost to get us singing, he later went to Snodland school, I did manage a chat once and he was exactly the same. It seems a great shame to tear down so many memories of so many people. Kev Handley, showing his gymnastic skills! This was probably my favourite place in the school, we had many five a side games with Mr Baker, Who sadly passed just this year. And guess what Kev found up on top of the window ledge....a bean bag!! wasn't there always. Just in case you don't recognise this shot, its where you were sent if you was bad! as I remember the last door on the left was Mr Pape's office, stood outside there a few times!!,(didn't we Cathy!! :) this door nearest us was the school secretary, What was her name, she used to live down on the London road past the garage at the bottom of Winterfield lane Of course, in our day that tree wouldn't have been there neither would the building on the right, which is a nursery I couldn't possibly miss the opportunity to share some pictures of Blackland's before they knock this one down too!! destined to be a housing development I'm afraid, once again, I have many memories of the school, Mrs Rogers, Mr Alexander, Mr Rabjohn, Mr Hood, Mrs May, it was from here I remember our first trip to Maidstone Museum We were all dressed up in our finest, in those days I suppose it was a major trip, I managed to peep into the assembly hall recently its tiny!! but then.... so were we, and what about the sports days Mr Alexander would get his starter gun out and we would don our coloured sashes can anyone remember the names of the houses, I vividly remember being in the lead in on race but my plimsoll came off, so I went back for it!! Jill Palmer reminded me of the Christmas decorations we used to make with items suspended from the cane hoops which were subsequently hung from the ceiling. Do you remember the cross on the wall outside the school and what we all thought it was there for, well I distinctly remember being told it was where a little boy was run over by a steam roller!!! In actual fact I think it was more likely to be a horse and cart. I also remember playing in the playground, we would link arms wandering round shouting"who wants a game of Wars" or "cowboys and Indians" and gradually others would link on,... and off we'd go, I think by the time we'd done our recruiting and sorted out who was going to be the Germans and who was in charge, playtime would have been over!!! Have a look below at what the same view is like today now they have knocked it down Didn't we also take our first steps in learning how to swim from here? We would get on the coach ....you know...the one with the really grumpy driver, and make our way to Maidstone swimming baths, not the Moat Park one, the one down by the river, I can still remember the funny old lady who used to take us for the lesson she used to wear a black cossy and wore glasses, she would make us all line up in front of the counter where we handed in our basket of clothes in exchange for a thick rubber band with a number on it, and we had to lift our feet up one by one to have them inspected for verrucas, I even got sent back to get changed once myself because I had a spot on my foot, most indignant I was, though I think my most embarrassing moment must have been the very first time I went, my Mum thought she would have a go at knitting a pair of trunks for me! which was fine all the time they were dry!!! it proved a bit of an adventure however getting out of the pool!!!! And this is what they have done to it now. I'm standing in what would have been the playground facing the building. Over the back you can just make out the top of the new structure they have erected, what a sad day, so many peoples memories were forged in this here. The council intends to build houses on the remaining ground. They will not rest until they have concreted over every last inch of Malling. This is a view from the road, the park would be on the right Walking in the new school hall brought memories flooding back of the school performance of Jacob and his Technicolour Dream Coat, I think I can still remember who played the lead role, wasn't it Carey Mills brother .....Ian rings a bell, I remember Barny and her girls at the front doing there rendition of the Tiller girls, and Mr Nee running around Like only he could, ......was he a fudge packer? he certainly had the look of one!, for us lads it was a major excuse not to go to lessons on the pretence of doing the lighting or stage props, and who remembers the beauty queen competition? didn't Claire Reynolds win it? and who can ever forget the morning we clapped, stamped, and jeered that poor miss Tribe, crying off stage at assembly, art teacher wasn't she? still remember seeing her ride her bike to school from where she lived on the London Road, funny little lady, wonder if she is still around? Mr Crowhurst's Science room, and our fourth year form room room too, he was one of those teachers who made his lessons interesting without being a nasty git like old Beaky Smith, ....had a tasty lab technician too as I recall!! This is the corridor looking away from the science room, and that is Steve Watson in the foreground, who I might add, is soon to retire, lucky bugger! This is where we used to spend a lot of time sitting on the ledge in the morning waiting for the bell to go for assembley The main entrance with what used to be the library on the left and Miss Reynolds office on the right