Thundersley Glen Memories

From Thundersley Glen looking east
Collection of Bob Delderfield

Use the enlargement button to see a rather splendid view from Thundersley Glen looking east. The photograph is undated but certainly was taken more than sixty years ago. I sent a copy of it to Gwyn Jordan who has lived in Thundersley all his life and knows the particular area very well. He has very kindly allowed me to publish his immediate response to the picture.

“This is a wonderful photo. I have seen it before but I could not lay my hands on it now. It shows the view from what has been known as “Jaspers” (the name of the man who tried to exclude trespassers and protect the area for the owner) the high spot on the bank overlooking the Glen just south of the A13 near Kenneth Road.
My father would carry his deck chair up to this spot from our back garden just to the West of this spot where we had the family poultry farm. Note that there is bracken, grass and a wonderful meadow flora up on this plateau.
We could see right out to the Thames then. It shows how by giving way to the spread of woodland and scrub much due to the loss of grazing rabbits we have lost many wonderful views from the clearings in the woodlands. This area is still a sandy hill but covered with sycamore and oaks and much altered by the building of a mountain bike course and sometimes they have put large white paint marks on the trees too.
This photo is truly important. But mind you the whole of this area is private and when the photo was taken the fencing was a great deterrent to enjoying the site. But all fencing rotted years ago and now many think it is just like the rest of Thundersley Glen.
Great historical shot.
Thank you for this great reminder. Gwyn”

Perhaps this stirs others of you who remember the Thundersley Glen area as it once was?
Please let us know your thoughts by adding a comment.

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  • I remember Thundersley Glen well. My family (Mum, Dad, brother John and myself) went over there regularly as we lived on the other side of Kiln Road in a flat and didn’t have a garden. There was a bench at the top of the glen in a clearing area. I would stand on it and sing ‘She wears red feathers’ by Guy Mitchell. I was only about 4 years old! When my auntie and uncle visited us from London they came over there, too. I remember there were bluebells, violets and rabbits. Incidentally I knew Barry Brazier who wrote an earlier comment. He was a neighbour. His father made a blackboard for me when I was a child living over the Butcher’s shop.

    By Carol Powley(née Southward) (01/07/2019)
  • I recall arriving at ‘the pond’ one autumn afternoon from the entrance on Kiln Road, in the ’30’s’ and seeing virtually the entire surface covered with mating frogs and toads all busily creating the followng years spawn. Later my brother and friends spent many hours fishing for ‘whatever’ from ‘the pond’s’ banks

    By Harold Russell (01/03/2015)
  • I seem to recall that the “pond”, which was originally created by damming the stream at its southern end as a pleasure feature for swimming and boating, was partially drained by the Council after a child fell in and got wet.  It was alleged at the time that the parents demanded that the Glen be made “safe” for children to play in.  I think that was back in the 60s (not sure), long before the current craze for “health and safety” was invented.  It used to be larger than it is now and not so overgrown (although I confess to not having looked closely recently).

    By Barry Brazier (18/02/2015)
  • Lovely to see this photo of the Glen as it used to be.  I spent many happy hours in this area as a child in the late 50s and early 60s.  The pond, which we knew as ‘Jasper’s pond’ was the place where many local children played.  I recall my friend Susan and I once fell into the pond, whilst trying to collect frog spawn. We were covered in green slime and soaked and had a severe telling off when we arrived home.  When a little older I went with friends and family during particularly snowy weather to toboggan.  We picked a hill that led down towards the pond.  Sadly, we had not noticed that there was barbed wire at the bottom and sped into this as we could not stop in time.  In spite of these two misfortunes, I remember the area fondly.

    I lived in Hill Road as a child and remember the Jordan family, my parents knew them well. 

    By Eileen Gamble (nee Emery) (24/11/2014)

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