People Lipscombe Road TN2 3SL

Information about the children who lived in Lipscombe Road between when it was built and the 1960s

If you lived in Lipscombe Road on the Ferndale Park Estate as a child between when it was built and the early 1960s, have you ever wondered what happened to the children you used to know and play with? This page may tell you because it contains information, and some pictures, about some of them. It has been compiled from information and memories from persons who used to live on the estate, and from my own memories and research. Since 1998, I have been interested in genealogy, researching my own PAGE family extensively throughout East Sussex, and my mother’s HARRIS family in the East-End of London. I have used the various genealogy websites, especially the General Record Office (GRO), Ancestry and Find my Past, to help find information about the children and their families who lived on the estate when I was a child. All my research on this page is information that is in the public domain.

The GRO references to Tonbridge is because between 1837 and 1980, Tonbridge was the registration district that covered Tunbridge Wells. Since then Tunbridge Wells has had its own district. The centralised registration of births, marriages, and deaths in England and Wales commenced on 1 July 1837. Indexes to the records are available for public inspection and are separated into birth, marriage and death indexes. Each index is divided into quarters for each year (January-March, April-June, July-September and October-December) and they are referred in the text by the year, followed by /1, /2, /3 or /4 to indicate the appropriate quarter, eg 1944/2 for my birth in June 1944. There are many references to items published in the Kent & Sussex Courier newspaper and these are referred to as just Courier.

The names of people are listed in address order. Some of the earlier built houses had names before they were numbered, and in those cases I have added the name to the address. Occasionally I have added text in italicised square brackets to information given to me from others for clarity.

Whilst I am very grateful to those who have given me information and pictures so far, I would love to have more, so if you know anything about any of the children who lived on the estate between when it was built and the early 1960s, then please get in touch with me so I can add it here. I also welcome any corrections or clarification of anything that has been written here so far – thanks (chris@g4bue.com).

1 Lipscombe Road, Benula (now 14 Lipscombe Road) – Sheila JOHNSTON

The 2 June 1967 Courier reported, ‘Married at St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Tunbridge Wells on Saturday were Mr Geoffrey Frederick Hazell, only son of Mr and Mrs W R Hazell of 55 Kingsdown Road, Cheam, Surrey and Miss Sheila Jean Johnston, only daughter of Mr and Mrs C Johnston of Benula, 1 Lipscombe Road, Tunbridge Wells.’

It appears Geoffrey and Sheila lived in Surrey after their marriage because the GRO has two births at South-West Surrey, in 1968/4 for Ian Geoffrey HAZELL and 1972/2 for Neil Douglas HAZELL, both mother JOHNSTON. Geoffrey was born on 15 January 1938 and the 1939 Register shows him living at Teddington, Twickenham, Middlesex with his family. The GRO has a death at Guildford on 28 March 2009 for Geoffrey Frederick HAZELL, born in 1938, and electoral registers for 1998-2018 show a Sheila Jean HAZELL living in Larkfield Street, Cranleigh, Surrey.

Alan DANE (70 Ravenswood Avenue): “I believe Mr JOHNSTON was a partner in the Johnston Brothers company (tar producers and contractors) of Aylesford and Tonbridge.”

4 Lipscombe Road, Littlecot (now 11 Lipscombe Road) – Joan GRIFFIN

Street directories show the GRIFFIN family lived at Littlecot from 1940 until between 1957 and 1959. The 1939 Register does not show an entry.

The 16 December 1949 Courier reported, ‘The wedding of Mr Ronald Crittenden, son of Mrs H E L Crittenden and the late Mr Crittenden of 12 Mountfield Gardens, Tunbridge Wells and Miss Joan Griffin, daughter of Mr and Mrs A J Griffin, Littlecot, Lipscombe Road, Tunbridge Wells, took place on Saturday at Christ Church...’

6 Lipscombe Road, Highfield (now 9 Lipscombe Road) – Angela and David HAFFENDEN

I remember Angela HAFFENDEN very well. She, Shirley STAPLETON and Maureen GOWER (9 & 10 Lipscombe Road), Margaret STILL (80 Ravenswood Avenue) and Christine and Sheila STILL (40 Hilbert Road) were good friends with each other and I got to know them when I was about 14 and we all went to the youth club in Commercial Road, off Camden Road. In fact, Christine STILL, Maureen GOWER and Margaret STILL were early girl-friends of mine!

The GRO has a marriage for Angela’s parents at Edmonton, Middlesex in 1938/2 for Arthur H HAFFENDEN and Agnes M BANNISTER, and births at Bromley in 1940/2 for David HAFFENDEN and at Hereford in 1944/4 for Angela HAFFENDEN, both mother BANNISTER. There is a birth in 1952/4 at Tonbridge for Sally A HAFFENDEN, also mother BANNISTER, suggesting Angela had a younger sister. I haven’t been able to find any definite GRO marriages for David, Angela or Sally. A report in an April 1965 Courier about Sally HAFFENDEN of the 7th St James White Heather Patrol (girl guides) suggests the family had moved from Tunbridge Wells by then.

An Ancestry family tree shows Arthur Horace HAFFENDEN, born 11 September 1912 at Edmonton, Middlesex and Agnes Marjorie BANNISTER born 27 February 1915 at Dalston, Middlesex, but no children. The 1939 Register shows them living in Woodlands Avenue, Sidcup, Kent, before they moved to Tunbridge Wells between 1948 and 1950. The tree shows Arthur died 1969/2 at Weston-super-Mare, Somerset and Agnes on 25 November 1993 at Norwich, Norfolk.

Alan DANE (70 Ravenswood Avenue): “The HAFFENDENs moved to number 6 sometime for 1950 and 1952.” [Mr HAFFENDEN first appeared in the street directory at 6 Lipscombe Road in 1950.]

John HEASMAN (42 Ravenswood Avenue): “Girls I recall at the youth club: Gillian, your sister, Pat EADE, Valerie WATSON, Angela HAFFENDEN and Christine and Sheila STILL.”

7 Lipscombe Road, Peraclid (now 8 Lipscombe Road) – Sheila and Chris VENESS

I don’t remember Sheila, despite her being only six months older than me and living close to my good friend Keith GOODYEAR. The GRO has births at Tonbridge in 1943/4 for Sheila C VENESS and 1947/3 for George F C VENESS, both mother KEMBER.

A March 1957 Courier reports at age 15, Sheila was working as a machinist at the newly opened Royston Carr shirt factory on the Ponswood Industry Estate, with her mother Cissie VENESS. The 6 September 1963 Maidstone Telegraph reported Sheila (of 7 Lipscombe Road), who studied at Northern Polytechnic, London, had been awarded the Intermediate grade in the 1963 examinations of the Incorported Institute of British Decorators and Interior Designers.

The 14 October Courier reported, ‘A wedding at St Courier Church, Tunbridge Wells on Saturday was of Mr Edgar Douglas Gardener and Miss Sheila Clare Veness. Mr Gardener is the youngest son of Mrs Pearl and the late Mr A D Thompson-Gardener of Bangalore, India. His bride is the only daughter of Mr and Mrs J A Veness of 7 Lipscombe Road, Tunbridge Wells.’ See picture opposite above. In January 1973 the same newspaper reported Sheila had been granted a decree nisi at the Tunbridge Wells Divorce Court. The GRO has a marriage at Tonbridge in 1973/3 for Sheila C GARDENER and Geoffrey A WITHERS, and a marriage at Aberconwy, Caernarvonshire, Wales in 1984/2 for Sheila C WITHERS and Albert E MacDonald. Electoral registers for 2002-2018 show Sheila and Albert living at Llanrwst, Gwynedd with Christian WITHERS. The GRO has a death at Llanrwst on 14 September 2018 for Albert Ewen MacDONALD.

The GRO has a marriage at St Albans, Hertfordshire in 1981/3 for George F C VENESS and Kathyrn A BENNETTS.

The 23 August 1968 Courier reported, ‘Two young men, neither a trained motor engineer, have built a sports car for about £100. They hope to race it on the Lydden circuit next month. The enterprise was undertaken by Chris Veness, aged 20, of 7 Lipscombe Road, and Clive Smith, aged 18, an apprentice engineer of 22 Chestnut Avenue, Hawkenbury. The 750cc car has a 1937 three-crank bearing engine and the body is of aluminium with a tropical blue livery. It was built on an Austin Seven chassis. Clive said, “We started serious work on the car in November. Chris and I went to a race meeting and realised you could make a sports car quite cheaply. We intended to use it on the road, but we will race it instead.” The car, as yet unamed, makes its debut at Lydden on September 22 at a 750 Motor Club meeting.’

Carol CAMPBELL nee SMITH (78 Ravenswood Avenue): “Sheila lived next door to the MURPHY family at the bottom of Lipscombe Road. with her mother and brother, Christian, I don’t remember her father. They had a family dog called ‘Josie’, a white bull terrier as I recall. They also had a tortoise and I think they may have had a marmalade cat too, though I’m not sure about that. Christian played the piano and when I could, I used to love to listen to him from a discreet distance. They had a lovely garden, with a goldfish pond about half-way down and a woodland area at the bottom where they backed onto the recreation ground woods. It was a large garden, as all the gardens were, but I think there’s was wider. There was a gate at the side of the garden which gave direct access to the ‘Rec’. The house was different from most of the others on the estate, in that it was a bungalow.

“Sheila and my mother remained in touch until my mother died in 1997, when I took over and Shelia has remained a firm family friend. She eventually moved away from Tunbridge Wells, and I last saw in 1968 on our return to the UK from Malta. I am still in touch with her and she is now Sheila MacDONALD and lives in Wales.”

8 Lipscombe Road, Max Villa (now 7 Lipscombe Road) – Maxcine KLUGMAN and Jacqui MURPHY

The GRO has a birth at Tonbridge in 1935/3 for Maxine P P KLUGMAN, mother CORKE and a marriage at Tonbridge in 1955/4 for Maxine P KLUGMAN and Kenneth J MURPHY. The GRO has births at Tonbridge in 1956/4 for Jacqueline MURPHY and 1959/3 for Douglas W MURPHY, mother KLUGMAN. The GRO has death records at Tonbridge in 1978/1 for Kenneth James MURPHY, born 17 August 1933, and at East Sussex in 2017/4 for Maxcine Pauline P MURPHY born 1935. Probate records show her full name was Maxcine Pauline Pearl MURPHY and she died on 14 November 2017.

Maxcine had 12 older siblings! The GRO has a marriage at Tonbridge in 1917/4 for Harris F KLUGMAN and Lillian R CORKE, but their association goes back to at least 1910 when the GRO has two births at Tonbridge in 1910/2 – Harris Walter Klugman CORKE and Lilian Clarissa Klugman CORKE (twins). The 1911 Census shows Lillian living with her family and the twins at 91 Silverdale Road, Tunbridge Wells and working as a tailoress, and Harris living on his own as a single man close by at 5 Denbigh Road (off Silverdale Road) working as a tailor.

The GRO also has a birth at Tonbridge in 1912/2 for Queenie Ruth CORKE and the following KLUGMAN births at Tonbridge with mother CORKE: 1912 Queenie Ruth CORKE, 1914/3 Victor, 1916/2 Bernard H, 1918/2 Rachael, 1923/1 Rosemary M, 1924/2 Ernest L, 1927/4 Pamela B R and 1932/4 Lilian C and Queenie Ruth (twins). An Ancestry family tree shows Maxcine’s father was Hirsch Frederick KLUGMAN, born on 8 April 1885 in Lithuania, which was then part of Russia. The tree shows he died on 1 August 1957 and Lillian on 30 June 1986, both at Tunbridge Wells.

On 15 March 2023, Jacqui SWEETMAN nee MURPHY, said, ֹ‘I did recognise some of the names in Ravenswood Avenue and Lipscombe Road , but I cannot remember very much about them. I do know Carol CAMPBELL as we were friends when we were very small, my Mum Maxcine was a very close friend of Carol’s Mum. I lived in Lipscombe Road (8) until 1968 and then at Ravenswood Avenue until 1977. Maxcine moved from Tunbridge Wells in 1996 and retired to Hailsham. The photograph you have of me in 1962 is my sixth birthday.’ (Photograph above right).

Alan DANE (70 Ravenswood Avenue): “Mr and Mrs KLUGMAN had a daughter (Marian?). Mr KLUGMAN was a large built gentleman with a heavy European accent. He had some difficulty walking, and indeed breathing, and could often be seen slowly proceeding with a bucket of feed for his chickens.”

Carol CAMPBELL nee SMITH (78 Ravenswood Avenue): “Maxine was married to Ken and they had a son called Dougie and a daughter called Jackie. They lived at the bottom of Lipscombe Road at number 8. Jackie was my best friend and I could often be found at her house, the two of us playing in the (rather overgrown) back garden. We didn’t go to school together, I went to St. James’ and she went to St Barnabas. Maxine was godmother to my sister Lynne. My mother and Maxine were very good friends, I would say that they were confidants. Life wasn't always easy, as is the way of things sometimes, and they supported each other. My father was away a lot with the Royal Navy and with three young children, my mother needed all the help she could get. We continued to visit Maxine and the family and my mother wrote to Maxine from time to time long after we had moved away. Maxine and the children moved up the road to 76 Ravenswood in the late 1960s, probably after Ken had died. Maxine and her children all had her light brown, curly hair and pale blue eyes. She was a very kind family orientated woman with a generous heart and an easy-going nature.”

9 Lipscombe Road, Franton (now 6 Lipscombe Road) – Shirley, Jill and Bob STAPLETON

I remember Shirley very well. She was a very good tennis player coached by her mother, who my Mum told me once played tennis at Wimbledon. She also coached other children on the estate at the tennis courts in the Grosvenor Park close to where the Table 8 cafe now is, but they are no longer there. She gave me my first (and only) introduction to tennis, and I was quite good at it until my passion for cricket and football caused me to neglect it.

The GRO has a birth at Tonbridge in 1945/1 for Shirley A STAPLETON, mother COWPLAND and a marriage at Tonbridge in 1968/3 for Shirley A STAPLETON and Keith F SPURGEON. There are also births in 1940/4 for Robert K STAPLETON and 1952/3 for Jill D STAPLETON, neither of whom I remember, mother COWPLAND

Shirley’s tennis accomplishments were regularly reported in the local press (above right) The 10 August 1962 Courier reporting the Tunbridge Wells Open Lawn Tennis Tournament, said, ‘Among the other stars of the week was Shirley Stapleton, who lost to Virginia Wade in the final of the under-21 event. She is the most improved player in the district...’ I didn’ know until I read this that Virginia Wade, who won the Wimbledon Ladies Singles Championship in 1977 (the 16th year she played there) lived in Tunbridge Wells from when she was 15 and went to Tunbridge Wells Girls’ Grammar School.

Alan DANE (70 Ravenswood Avenue): “Mr & Mrs STAPLETON plus son Robert (Bob) and daughters Shirley and Jill. Mr STAPLETON was an ambulance attendant (he did not drive) and was based at the Ambulance Station, then in Monson Road. Mrs STAPLETON was a keen tennis player.”

10 Lipscombe Road, Alsatia (now 5 Lipscombe Road) – Wendy HARPER

The 10 September 1943 Sevenoaks Chronicle announced the following birth, ‘On 7 September at Alsatia, Lipscombe Road, Tunbridge Wells, to Peggy (nee Seymour) wife of Herbert John Harper, the gift of a daughter Wendy Jacqueline.’ The GRO has a birth at Tonbridge in 1949/3 for Kenneth A HARPER, mother SEYMOUR. Street directories show the family moved from Lipscombe Road for 1950 and 1953. The GRO has recoded a marriage at Tonbridge in 1965/3 for Wendy J HARPER and David N ROSLING.

Alan DANE (70 Ravenswood Avenue): “Mr Bert HARPER owned a garage in Silverdale Road.”

10 Lipscombe Road, Alsatia (now 5 Lipscombe Road) – Maureen GOWER

I remember Maureen GOWER very well, she was one of my early girl-friends! I don’t think she had any siblings and street directories show her family moved to Lipscombe Road for 1950 and 1953 and moved away for 1959 and 1961. The GRO have a birth at Tonbridge in 1943/3 for Maureen P GOWER, mother DENTON and a marriage at Portsmouth, Hampshire in 1970/2 for Maureen P GOWER and Terence E SAUNDERS that may be her. The GRO has two SAUNDERS births with mother GOWER at Portsmouth in 1976/4 for Matthew James and in 1986 for Marcus Philip SAUNDERS. Street directories for 2002-22 show a Terence E, Maureen, Marcus and Matthew SAUNDERS living in Medina Road, Portsmouth.

10 Lipscombe Road, Alsatia (now 5 Lipscombe Road) – Judy Walker

Judy’s family moved in about 1960-61 after the GOWER family moved out.

The 16 June 1961 Courier reported a show organised by Judy WALKER in her garden at 10 Lipscombe Road in aid of the National Spastic Society (see picture above right). The 8 May 1964 Courier reported Judy had been accepted by the Italia Conti Stage School for a two-year course. She is the only daughter of Mr and Mrs F WALKER and her mother, Mrs Jill WALKER was a professional chorus girl before her marriage.

The 22 March 1968 Courier reported a marriage under the heading, ‘Dancing bride weds a dancing teacher’ as follows, ‘Mr Stephen Kidd, aged 22, and his 20-year-old bride Miss Judy Anne Walker are now fully qualified dancing teachers after passing their professional examinations the week before their wedding. The couple plan to live at 16 Gladstone Road, Tonbridge...and work as assistant teachers at Tonbridge Dance Studio. Both live in Tunbridge Wells. Miss Walker at 10 Lipscombe Road and Mr Kidd at 46 Montgomery Road. Nimble feet run in the Walker family. Miss Walker’s mother was a dancer for a number of years, although she performed on the stage, not on the ballroom floor.’

11 Lipscombe Road, Shangri La (now 4 Lipscombe Road) – Nicola and Keith GOODYEAR

Keith GOODYEAR was a year older than me and became one of my best friends when I was about 14 years old. He had a younger sister Nicola and was a senior scout in the 18th St Barnaba Scout Troop that met at the old St Barnabas Hall. Keith persuaded me to join the troop when I was 15, becoming a Queen Scout a year later (the fastest anyone in the troop had done it at that time). The 9 June 1961 Courier reported the Boy Scout’s Association Tunbridge Wells District’s annual meeting at the Tunbridge Wells Council Chamber the previous day when the District Commissioner, Mr P A Godfrey Phillips, said five Queen’s Scout badges had been gained in the district, ‘Queen’s Scout badges had been gained by...Keith Goodyear, Christopher Page and John Davis of St Barnabas...’

Keith bought a motor cycle as soon as he was old enough and shortly after changed it for a larger one, a Triumph with an open side-car. In those days, we weren’t allowed to ride a motor cycle with an engine larger than 250cc until we had passed the test, unless it had a side-car. Although Keith hadn’t passed the test, he wanted to ride a larger machine and bought the Triumph and side-car!

Keith went to Judd School at Tonbridge and when he left, he worked for British Railways, commuting to London every day. When I asked what he did there, he said he tried to find trains! Evidently British Railways had a big problem at that time of ‘losing’ trains after they had finished their journeys. They couldn’t find where they had been left and Keith’s job was to telephone various railway stations and yards to try and locate them. I lost touch with Keith when I moved to Brighton in 1963.

Keith’s father was a Special Inspector in the Tunbridge Wells Borough Police and used to cycle in his uniform to meetings at the police station past our house. The GRO has a marriage for Keith’s parents at Tonbridge in 1939/2 for Arthur W GOODYEAR and Edith D HOPE, and births at Tonbridge in 1943/1 for Keith A GOODYEAR, and in 1950/1 for Nicola C H GOODYEAR, mother HOPE. The Deaths column of the 15 May 1992 Courier reported, ‘GOODYEAR – Peacefully in hospital on May 13 1992, Arthur William Goodyear, aged 86 years. The dearly loved husband of Biddy and father of Keith and Nicola...’

The GRO has a marriage at Tonbridge in 1965/4 for Keith A GOODYEAR and Valerie J THORNTON-INMAN and births at Tonbridge in 1966/2 for Kim Natalie and in 1969/3 for Jason Keith GOODYEAR, mother THORNTON-INMAN. Sadly, the GRO has a death at Pett, near Hastings, East Sussex in 1999/4 for Keith Anthony GOODYEAR, aged only 56.

The 6 January 1950 Courier reported, ‘To biddy, wife of Arthur W Goodyear, on January 3, at the Clarence Nursing Home, Tunbridge Wells – a sister for Keith.’ The GRO has a marriage at Tonbridge in 1970/3 for Nicola C H GOODYEAR and Michael C MEAKINS.

Alan DANE (70 Ravenswood Avenue): “Mr GOODYEAR worked for one of the ministries (Civil Service) at a large erstwhile house in Mount Ephraim (on the corner of Boyne Park).”

Brian DANE (70 Ravenswood Avenue): “I remember in 1966 Keith Goodyear’s wife, who was affectionately known as Twiggy, made a record on the Columbia label with her friend Anne (Twiggy and Anne). Not sure how successful it was, however, my wife bought a copy which still sits with our record collection.” Brian and his wife cannot remember Anne’s surname but said she lived at Rotherfield at the time.

The 45cat website confirms Twiggy and Anne made a record for Columbia on 14 January 1966 called Some Do, Some Don’t (Some Will, Some Won’t) and with Open Arms on side two. There were two versions, both seven inch 45RPM singles: DB 7799 released in the UK and 45-DB 7799 NI released in Nigeria.

<The City Sixty.jpg> The City Sixty Chart for 29 January-4 February 1966 published by the pirate radio station showing Twiggy and Anne’s record at number 20.

<Record Mirror 19660115 New Singles Reviewed.jpg> Extract from the 15 January 1966 Record Mirror of the review of Twiggy and Anne’s record in the New Singles Reviewed section.

Brian wasn’t sure how successful the record was, but it did reach number 20 on The City Sixty 4 February 1966 chart published by the pirate radio station Radio City. The record was number 59 the previous week and number 42 and 54 the two weeks after. On 8 February 1967 the station owner Dorothy Calvert was found guilty of operating a radio station inside UK territorial waters, and Radio City closed down at midnight that night. When the record was released it was reviewed in the New Singles Reviewed section of the 15 January 1966 Record Mirror, ‘TWIGGY AND ANNE: Some Do, Some Don’t; With Open arms (Columvbia DB7799). New girlie duo on a fast-moving near-country opus with some first-rate lyrics. Catchy enough to make the grade and the flip shows their versatility. ***.’

About the time the record was released, Dame Lesley Lawson DBE nee Hornby changed her name to Twiggy and became a fashion icon of the 1960s and one of the first international supermodels. Her website says in January 1966 (when Twiggy and Anne’s record was released), she had her hair coloured and cut short in London by Leonard of Mayfair who was looking for models on whom to try out his new crop haircut. A professional photographer took several photos of her that Leonard hung in his salon that were seen by a fashion journalist from the Daily Express who asked to meet the young girl. The paper published an article declaring her ‘The Face of 66’. Her hairdresser boyfriend, Nigel Davies, became her manager, changed his name to Justin de Villeneuve, and persuaded her to change her name to Twiggy (from ‘Twigs’, her childhood nickname). The rest, as they say, is history!

Wikipedia wrongly lists Twiggy and Anne’s record on its web-page as model Twiggy’s first record, causing it to be much sought after by Twiggy fans! I found a reference on the internet to a copy being sold on ebay for £30! If those fans had bothered to check the official Twiggy website they would see published there, ‘1966: Twiggy records her first single 'Beautiful Dreams' for Ember records, released in the UK and then distributed throughout the world.’

Alan Streak posted the following on the 45cat website: ‘Twiggy and Anne were two girls from Camborne (I think) in Surrey, who were asked to make a demo disc by Columbia records in about 1966, but who had no accompaniment available. So we were asked (The Hamilton Folk Four, that is) to provide a backing for them, which we did. Neither of them was the model, Twiggy. I have been trying to get hold of the recording and would be grateful if anyone who has it would get in touch. Strangely John Dunn on Radio 2 also mistook the Twiggy connection when interviewing her, he played the Twiggy and Anne record and asked her about it . “It isn’t me’, she said. Then who is it, he asked. I wrote in and put him right and subsequently he interviewed the other one.’

You can listen to the record on YouTube by clicking on the relevant button below.

Commenting on the record on YouTube, LancelotSpratt said, ‘My uncle is a backing vocal and Twiggy and Anne haled from Crowborough, East Sussex. Recorded at Abbey Road.’.

For the sake of completness to this story, does anyone recognise Anne in the picture above, or know her identity, please?

John HEASMAN (42 Ravenswood Avenue): “I joined the army from school, but was medically discharged. I then became a telephone engineer, first in Tunbridge Wells, then Hastings. During that time I worked with Keith GOODYEAR and John YATES. Keith GOODYEAR was responsible for me joining the Scouts along with yourself, and what a brilliant time we had! He married a very good folk and country singer called Twiggy (Valerie), but unfortunately I lost touch with them when I left the ‘Telephones’. They had two children, Kim and Jason. Keith and Twiggy lived in Pembury for a while and then moved to Fairlight, near Hastings around 1968 or 1970. Unfortunately they split up and I believe Keith worked in the Middle-East for a while but returned to work for BT. I think his widow Valerie may live in Pett village, near Hastings. I don’t know anything at all about Nicola GOODYEAR.”

Sheila Johnston, 1 Lipscombe Road, and Geoffrey Hazell wedding – photo thanks Courier.

Sheila Veness, 7 Lipscombe Road, and Edgar Gardener wedding – photo thanks Courier.

Lilian and Harris Klugman, 8 Lipscombe Road – photo thanks Ancestry LynneHart63.

Jacqui Murphy’s sixth birthday party on 6 October 1962 at 8 Lipscombe Road; Jacqui is second from left in the front row and Carol Smith is second from left in the back row. Jaqui says the other girls are not from the estate – photo thanks Carol Campbell nee Smith.

Extract from the 28 July 1967 Courier about Jill and Shirley Stapleton, 9 Lipscombe Road.

Extract from the 2 August 1963 Courier about Shirley Stapleton, 9 Lipscombe Road.

The 2 January 1970 Courier reported, ‘Jill Stapleton, aged 17, of 9 Lipscombe road, Tunbridge Wells, has been accepted for the junior covered courts champion-ships of Great Britain which begins at Queen’s on Monday. Jill is the only girl from the Kent area accepted this year. Girls from this area who have taken part in recent years are Shirley Stapleton (now Mrs Spurgeon)...’

The 25 August 1961 Sevenoaks Chronicle reported, ‘Alison Stroud (left) and Shirley Stapleton, winner and runner-up of the Tunbridge Wells Tennis Club Tournament, are seeded one and two in the girls’ single event at the Tunbridge Wells Junior Open Tennis Tournament this week.’

The 16 June 1961 Courier reported a show organised by Judy WALKER in her garden at 10 Lipscombe Road in aid of the National Spastic Society. The show, consisting of dances, poetry reading and singing, was performed by Judy and her friends. The report included a picture (which hasn’t produced very well), captioned, ‘Our pricture shows Judy Walker helping Nicola Goodyear with her costume before the show. Other members of the cast are (l to r) Jill Stapleton, Julia Mance, Sally Haffenden, Valerie Weston and Jacqueline Murphy.

Judy Walker, 10 Lipscombe road, and Stephen kidd wedding – photo thanks Courier.

St Barnabas Hall in Stratford Road at the junction with St James Road close to Grovenor Bridge, as it was when I attended there for country dancing on the first floor as a pupil at St Barnabas School between 1952 and 1954. Later. I attended scout meetings there. also on the first floor, with Keith Goodyear, John Davis, Tony McQueen, John Heasman and Malcolm Foy from the estate – photo thanks Vince Cox, Facebook OTWPS

The 22 May 1936 Courier published this picture of the Executive of the Tunbridge Wells Rangers Supporters’ Club that includes ‘Arthur W Goodyear’ second left in the front row (click on the image to enlarge it) – photo thanks Courier.

Above: Twiggy (left) and Anne – photo thanks Discogs website.

Right: The demo record made by Twiggy and Anne, and Below: The two sides of their record (click on a picture to enlarge it) – photos thanks 45cat website.

The City Sixty chart published 4 February 1966 by pirate radio station Radio City – photo thanks Pirate Radio Hall of Fame website.

Extract from the 15 January 1966 Record Mirror of the review of Twiggy and Anne’s record in the New Singles Reviewed section.