JEAN RAMSAY AND DANIELLE CHRISTINE COLLINS
Jean: I trained at the Royal East Sussex Hospital as a nurse. I worked at St. Augustine’s Nursing Home, then I went to work at the Sussex Private Clinic, St. Leonard’s. Nurse training in January 1960. As Staff Nurse on Eye Ward and Night Sister at the RESH. Then to St. Augustine’s in 1971 until 1980 and after I worked at the Sussex Private Clinic where I stayed until Clinic closed in 1998.
Danielle worked alongside Jean at SPC. I moved from London nursing and was posted to SPC.
Both lived in Fairlight for many years. Jean moved to Fairlight in 1972. Danny in Fairlight for 35 years. Initially in St. Matthews Drive, moving to Fairlight, prompted by Jean, to Primrose Hill.
Jean First memories of living in Fairlight – still very much a village – no in-fill building, mostly original large plots. The house had only been used for holiday accommodation. We totally refurbed the house. Elderly population then, not many children. There were a lot of Colt bungalows – wooden houses – a company in Bethesden, Kent that sold these structures. Some still exist. Colt houses do need a lot of maintenance – painted every couple of years. Jean’s house was built in 1932 part of Waites’ estate – 2 thirds of an acre plots. Everyone’s house built about 1930s. As people got older they sold land and then infilling began. Danielle came to live in Fairlight and said it was quite villagey, very community, no street lights and skies were stunning and near to the sea. Colt houses still in – Rockmead Road, and Clinton way.
Jean: Shops: Fairlight post office, The Woolpack near the circle run by 2 ladies who did knitting, making things from materials. They would put on a show every year – by Patent wools. They would bring all the clothes you could knit and got villagers to dress up in these clothes – they put on an knitting exhibition with models, Circle Shop – people ran it did home delivery, Avenue Stores (corner of The Avenue and Lower Waites Lane) Griffins Farm shop as you went to Pett Level on the right, and Wakehams on left side, Market stores in Pett Level, Staffords and petrol station which is now Alldays ,the Co-op. Another little shop on the opposite side to Staffords was called Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a little food shop and then farther on righthand side was the Windmill Stores (now a block of flats). Everyone used the garage for petrol and it was served to you – not serve yourself. Servicing was done as well. Sue, Garage owner’s wife, had a hairdressers at the back of the garage!!
Memories of problems with cliffs – there weren’t problems initially. On Sea Road – they were beginning to crumble in the early 1970s. ‘Greengates’ – Jean looked at this property. (My parents were living in Gorsethorn Way)- Covehurst on Rockmead – had asbestos, ‘Fairview’ (a wreck) and ‘Greengates’ which was lovely – lovely garden and cliff!. Only 3 houses for sale then. My mother said no way her grandson was going have a garden that went off a cliff – after much persuasion we bought ‘Fairview’. They moved ‘Green gates’ nearer road on rollers!! Also ‘Greywings’ was moved on rollers. ‘The Arc’ completely disappeared down the cliff! You could walk the whole of Channel Way right down to Pett level over cliffs. There was a footpath at bottom of Briar Close that went up between the two houses (Two boys) into Cliff Way..
Jean heard this from a patient at SPC – an elderly lady who, as a child, used to come down in the summer to stay in The Haddocks (Coastguard cottages) Her father, she said, dug stream lane out and carried stones from the beach up the cliff on a ladder with a big basket on his back and laid the lane with the stones over several years. His name was Drake. Stream Lane is an ancient path. It was one of the old walkways and he dug it out for vehicle access.
Jean: Coronation memories I was living as a schoolchild in Dartford – my parents had a TV for this. I had a friend who came to stay for the day to see it. It went on all day! on TV. She came from a Colonial family (having lived in South Africa and a great royalist) and every time the National Anthem was played she would leap up and stand to attention. My mother made us both dresses one was red with white stripes and the other was blue with white stripes – very patriotic for the Coronation.
Winter of 1962/63 Jean was living in Nurses’ Home at RESH working nights at St. Helens Hospital. The ‘buses didn’t run so we walked from RESH to St. Helens in the snow to do 12 hr shift. Dreadful – There was an epidemic of ‘flu over this winter. There were power cuts all the time – lifts weren’t working. St. Helens had three floors. A lot of staff at St. Helens were pupils in training as SEN, RESH was SRNs in training so had set wards. One nurse on each ward and auxiliary between wards. 21 bedded wards night shift. If someone died, as lifts weren’t working, we would carry the body in a canvas bag down three flights of stairs – then outside walking down the path to the mortuary in the snow with a Tilly lamp plus the canvas bag! – the mortuary was so full that when you opened the doors there were bodies on the floor and you had to push the body in to make room. It was a traumatic time. We all had starched uniforms, sleeves, and hats with cardboard inside and the starched hats would catch in the curtains round the beds!