For one ex Horntonian, the Jubilee photos sparked more than a passing interest:
4th June 2002 (by e-mail)
Hi,
Congratulations on a great web site - and how quickly you update it!
I have been hoping that in amongst the vast array of photos in the web site there would be a photo of the house in which I used to live -
the school house (my father was headmaster). I wonder if you have one you could e-mail to me to show my daughter - I would be most grateful.
We left in about 1962 when I was 9.
There is still a lot I can remember about the village. Sledging down the hill behind the playground is one vivid memory I have. One of my
friends borrowed my sledge and went through the middle of one of the giant snowballs which had been made by rolling them down the hill.
I also remember a tremendous thunder storm when the stream at the bottom of the garden overflowed and we were chasing goldfish all round
the garden.
I've visited the village once since we left, about 20 years ago when we called in on Miss Dimmalow. My parents have recently got a copy of
the video which I am looking forward to seeing.
Best wishes,
John Elvin
A rapid scan of the photo gallery revealed that, sadly, we didn't have a photo of the house John was looking for. But hey, this is a
village site and village people help each other out so, without further ado, we leapt into action. Armed with digital camera it was off
to the village to take the photo John wanted.
And then we thought we'd help John out with his trip down memory lane. So all the photos of the Best Dressed Houses plus the new photos
went onto a CD and in to the mail.
Back to John:
12th June (by e-mail)
Paul,
CD arrived today thanks very much. My memory is amazingly accurate given the time that has elapsed. I've looked at the other pictures
but have trouble placing them.
The house next to the school on the lane up to the church (decorated with the enormous bow) was lived in by the Burdens. My brother and
I used to go there to watch TV (in the 50's a TV was a rarity!). They also used to fatten pigs. I can remember the lorry taking them away
and bringing the next lot to be fattened. I think the waste from the school canteen used to go there.
Many thanks,
John
It's amazing the affinity people have with Hornton even after long absences. The web site gets visits from all over the world -
USA, Australia, New Zealand, Cyprus and all over the UK and Europe. It's great that the web site was able to provide John with the
opportunity to revisit the places of his youth and share them with his daughter. Now who'd have imagined that when we set the site up?!
