Grange Cottage

Great Burstead
By Robert Howard

This is the house I lived in from about 1953/4 to 1958 called Grange Cottage, Kennel Lane. It belonged to Mr Ellis of Grange Farm, Mill Rd. To the right of the cottage can be seen a hedge which divided the garden from the terraced house on the corner of Mill Rd and Kennel Lane and so it was the first house on the right of Kennel Lane.

On the left was a concrete path to the rear which had a shed and an earth closet; at the back of shed the front door opened into the living/dining room and the stair door. Behind this door, on the left, the stair was steep and turned 45 degrees so that the treads were wide one side and very narrow the other. After my mother fell carrying my brother and broke her ankle I helped my father change it so it came out into the kitchen. The sheet at the window in the photo was an old trick to stop the glass misting on washdays.

Whilst living here I built a so called cart using large rear wheels and small front ones from a pram with rope steering. I would sit on the back of this and scoot up and down the road (Kennel lane) with very little traffic to worry about. One day my cousin and myself took it to the top just past Ball’s Plastics and set off for the bottom. Gathering speed the cart started to swerve from side to side until I could not control it and both of us hit the grass verge on the left which tipped us onto the road. A sore ankle and skinned knee only slightly dampened our elation at going so fast but we never did it again.

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  • I have added a further story to the main page about fun with a soap box cart.

    By robert howard (06/02/2019)
  • This was one of three cottages owned by Mr. Ellis, the farmer. The other two can be found here.

    By Editor (20/02/2017)

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