My maternal grandparents, Charles Edward Rampling & Florence Gertrude Ashbee, were married 25 Dec 1906 at St. Barnabas Church, Homerton, London, England. This photo was taken in a pub at Robertsbridge in Sussex England, the name of the Pub is the Ostrich it was taken around 1952. I remember the Ostrich really well, we would ride the train down from London to Robertsbridge and Grandad would meet us at the train station, or outside the Ostrich, he would always say, "Fancy a drink" and invariable we would go in the Pub for a drink, they always had to hide me because I was too young to be in the Pub. The Pub is still there to this day.
Charles and Florence raised their children in London until the Blitz on London during WW2, Charles had been a fish monger and owned a fish shop, during the Blitz they lost everything and were evacuated to Robertsbridge, I cannot begin to imagine how difficult that must have been, to lose everything. They lived in a very small house, now known as the "Dolls House" thats how small it was. In that house were my grandparents, my mother and my sister Valerie, and on and off various siblings of my mother and their children, all were made homeless by the war. There was a small living area, a kitchen an outside Loo, no regular bathroom no shower or tub. I think upstairs there were two maybe three tiny bedrooms. My grandmother was wonderful at "making do" she could whip up the most fantastic meals on a wood stove. I loved visiting them, granddad was rather quite but very strict with us kids. I can remmeber my grandmother washing my neck and face at the kitchen sink she really scrubbed hard, and she always used the strong Lifebuoy soap, (I can still smell it to this day) but I didnt mind, it was done with love. I loved to go blackberry picking when I was down there, and no matter how few I came home with she always made a big deal over them and would make jam or pie for me. One of my most favourite things to do at Robertsbridge was to pick flowers, especially the wild bluebells and primroses, we would go for long walks down the railroad tracks to Bodium Castle. Which now when I think of it was probably really quite dangerous but there were always adults along I loved it the best when all my Aunts and Uncles were there. Us couisins would all sleep together in one bed..JPG)
Charles Edward was born 6 Dec 1885 in Hackney, London and died 28 June 1957 in Hastings, SussexCharles and Florence raised their children in London until the Blitz on London during WW2, Charles had been a fish monger and owned a fish shop, during the Blitz they lost everything and were evacuated to Robertsbridge, I cannot begin to imagine how difficult that must have been, to lose everything. They lived in a very small house, now known as the "Dolls House" thats how small it was. In that house were my grandparents, my mother and my sister Valerie, and on and off various siblings of my mother and their children, all were made homeless by the war. There was a small living area, a kitchen an outside Loo, no regular bathroom no shower or tub. I think upstairs there were two maybe three tiny bedrooms. My grandmother was wonderful at "making do" she could whip up the most fantastic meals on a wood stove. I loved visiting them, granddad was rather quite but very strict with us kids. I can remmeber my grandmother washing my neck and face at the kitchen sink she really scrubbed hard, and she always used the strong Lifebuoy soap, (I can still smell it to this day) but I didnt mind, it was done with love. I loved to go blackberry picking when I was down there, and no matter how few I came home with she always made a big deal over them and would make jam or pie for me. One of my most favourite things to do at Robertsbridge was to pick flowers, especially the wild bluebells and primroses, we would go for long walks down the railroad tracks to Bodium Castle. Which now when I think of it was probably really quite dangerous but there were always adults along I loved it the best when all my Aunts and Uncles were there. Us couisins would all sleep together in one bed.
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Florence was born 23 Aug 1885 in Hackney and died 20 Feb 1966 in London
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