THE VILLAGE
Memory recalls life in Fernhurst, its countryside and people. We
hope to recapture the enjoyment, outlook and activities, with a measure
of continuity and to seek the general and not the particular view.
Fernhurst is said to mean ‘Fara’s Wood’ by some
authorities, ‘Fernwood’ from other sources. About sixty
years ago it was pronounced ‘Farnhurst’ by the residents,
and said to mean’Bracken Wood’. Fernhurst lies in the
anticline between Blackdown and Telegraph Hill, and is situated in
the midst of some of the most beautiful scenery in Sussex, with much
woodland, which helps to retain its charm. Many inhabitants are employed
on the land, and in the woods the sound of the axe may still be heard
as the woodmen cut the chestnut saplings, or trim the oaks, which
look to have withstood the storms of centuries. Blue smoke rises from
the woods and the tractor is heard on the land, with the seagulls
following as they followed the horses of bygone days.
Fernhurst is on the main road from London to Chichester on the edge
of West Sussex. A wonderful panorama unfolds, both on entering the
village and further on through the village, especially as one nears
the top of Henley Hill, there is a view of the Sussex Weald, which
can rarely be equalled by main of England’s beauty spots.
Crossing the main road in the centre of the village, where once stood
the cross, now a traffic sign, are roads to the church and to Lynchmere.
Memory recalls that these east and west roads were once bridle paths
to the commons. Standing on the crossroads, within glancing distance
are the village store, the Post Office, the church, Lloyds and Westminster
Banks, the Village Hall, the petrol stations, working Men’s
Club, Co-operative Stores, Spread Eagle pub, boot and shoe repairing
hut and houses that are good to see.
Fernhurst has a population of about 2,000, whose welfare is in the
charge of the Parish council, which is very representative.
Industries are very varied, many are new, and we shall revisit many
pleasant occupations remembered by the older inhabitants of Fernhurst.
There are large and small farms, small builders, the Henley common
Fencing, Research Station at Verdley, Burrows & Paine car service,
oil heating service. The church and village school we shall visit
with memories that have special places. There is a half-hourly bus
service through the village linking Haslemere and Midhurst.
The kindly folk of Fernhurst reconstruct the village centre and tell
of a butcher’s shop and a chemist’s shop where the banks
now are. There was also a joiner’s on the site of Cole’s
paper shop and the Co-operative Stores.
A village blacksmith was once across the road by the Post Office,
where the horses patiently awaited for their turn.
There are many new houses that have grown up to mingle with the older
ones and two council estates on the outskirts of the village. All
mingle to form a very pleasant village, with gardens well tendered,
and still growing the sweet old-fashioned flowers mixed with more
modern plants. Lavender and sweet briar, columbines and larkspur,
Canterbury bells and tall hollyhocks, blended with sweet Williams
and moss roses are a very charming picture. The old wells are to be
seen kept as garden features and add greatly to memories of years
gone by, when conversation and much chatter lightened the toil of
the water carrier.
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