DENTON AERIAL VIEW 1964

Great photo, John.
Not only are St Leonard's Close and Park Drive Close yet to be built, but half of Wellington Road, Cantercrow Hill and St Leonards Road too.

I remember it like this when I was a kid. One of my mates lived at Cornerways, at the corner of Denton Drive and Beresford Road, at the bottom centre of the photo. We'd walk up Cantercrow Hill, then carry on up the path and then across to the New Barn.

Andy

Thanks for posting this picture John, these open spaces were my "playground" as a kid! You have a great collection of photos, thanks for sharing them.

This is Denton village as it used to be back in the 1960,s just before there was a boom in bungalow and house building which expanded the village to nearly what we see today, as a kid I used to get sent down to Avis Farm, which had a early form of farm shop, fresh eggs, vegetables.and other produce the area at top of this picture shows this location ( All now built over etc ) The wooded area to top right of picture was called the plantation where there were some shelter areas which may have been erected during the war, but as kids we much enjoyed playing around etc .

Can anyone identify what the "structure" is at about 3/4 way up the right hand side which is bounded by Seaview Road/The Crescent/ Fairholme Road. Is it the last of the Nissen Huts which housed the military in the camp in that area? If so, what is the taller structure in the centre of the cluster of buildings, a tower with a water tank on the top?. I know there was a water tank for emergency use which was marked on the side EWS (emergency water supply) somewhere in that vicinity but I do not think at was there, I believe that was on the opposite corner where Station Road curves round into Seaview Road.

Great pictures John. It was my playground from about 1957 until I left home to get married in 1971. We used to play up on the plantation (or the planny as we called it). Does anybody remember the walks the village used to do to Berwick. I think it must have been around Easter time?

I lived in Kings Avenue from 1941 to 1960 when I left home to work in London. Mount Pleasant and Denton were great places to grow up in. There was a contingent of (mainly Canadian ?) soldiers stationed all around the Kings Avenue area in the early 1940s. They had gone by 1945 and most of their buildings were demolished after the war, except for the many nissen huts mainly higher up around Fairholme Road. Some of those huts were used as homes for families and one of my sisters lived in one with her husband when first married. Kings Avenue then comprised 3 blocks of 8 council houses on the north side of the road and 3 pairs of privately owned semis on the other side. I was born in number 9 and lived there with my parents. I had a number of playmates who lived in Kings Avenue and we roamed all over the mount and as we grew older we went further afield. The Planny was a favourite place and so was Poverty Bottom just over the hill. I remember the Easter walks over the downs to Berwick, They were well established and I believe they were started and led by a Newhaven man, Bert Lillywhite. The "structure" about 3/4 of the way up the right hand side is at the top of Kings Avenue where it turns to meet Station Road, I believe that the structure is a flat open area, possibly a covered resevoir or at least it had something to do with water and was linked in some way to the waterworks building down on Avis Road in Denton about next to the cemetery. It very quickly became covered in scrub and brambles which were almost impenetrable. Next to it, going down the slope towards the village was Hilton' field in which a retired farmer Tom Hilton kept his pensioned off horse. The horse was renowned for its flatulence which we as small boys found highly amusing.

I can see my parents' and grandparents' houses - last two on the bottom right of this pic :o)

The walk to Berwick was always on Good Friday. I remember them very well, we would then catch the train back to Newhaven.

In the bottom left hand side of the photo you can see the recreation ground,you can even see the sand pit swings and slide against the hedge. Just above rec is Sam Sorrell's pig farm. Above that there are four bungalows, we lived in the second one up. Behind the rear gardens were our allotments, I think they were rented from the Guinness Trust, I used to spend quite a lot of time digging ours, my dad used to say it was good for me. I could hear the other kids playing in the rec while I was doing it. Eventually we moved to Wellington Road, my mother didnt like living in the bungalow after someone tried to break in one night, she prefered to sleep upstairs.

Great image, brings a tear to my eye! Our house was the last one on the right hand side, below the "Plannie". The chicken farm was in between our place and the wood. The first "New" house to be built in Denton was opposite us and was bought by a family called, "Angus". We used to have a great time playing over those hills, especially in the wood where the Canadian soldiers had been billted during WWII.

Looking at these photos again, does any one remember the football ground at the bottom of the planney? I can remember it wasn't the flattest pitch in the world. If you had to take a corner from the bottom you were lucky to get it above knee height.

At the top of Station Road where it intersects with Seaview Road the square image to the left is the covered EWS reserve, local council offices thought it was waste land recently and wanted to use the land as potential development for homes, they should check their records, it supplies Newhaven Port.