Higham Lane, Tonbridge

 Local Area in the 1930's (North Tonbridge)
The first house in Higham lane was originally called Tenby. It is still there now; it is often called 'The House with the Green Roof', for obvious reasons. In the summer you used to be able to walk along Higham Lane and touch either side of the road. That was probably when they had pack horses.

Where Woodlands Schools are now, there used to be a chicken farm. There was also a pig farm in North Tonbridge. This indicates that farming has changed a lot because we don't have farms for specific animals any more.

The area around Pen Bridge often flooded. The Bridge started off just wide enough for a pack horse but gradually it was widened for carts and eventually cars.

The area called Roselands used to be called Cold Blow. This was probably because it is on top of a hill. The name was changed because the name Cold Blow didn't really attract people because it wasn't a very inviting name. this is why they changed it to Roselands.

A lot of Tonbridge used to be orchards. As housing developments progressed many of the trees were felled and some ended up in gardens. Even now you can still see some of the lines as you look along the gardens.

As housing developments were built, roads were named after groups such as Artists, Cathedrals, Composers, Cricketers and Scientists.

The Artists were; Constable, Gainsborough, Hunt, Knight, Landseer, Lawrence, Raeburn, Rembrandt, Reynolds, Turner, Whistler and Wilson.

The Cathedrals were: Canterbury Cathedral, Norwich Cathedral, Sailsbury Cathedral, Winchester Cathedral and York Cathedral.

The Composers were: Arne, Beecham, Britten, Deluis, Elgar, Handel, Stainer, Sullivan, Vaughan and Walton.

The Cricket players were: Colin Blythe and Frank Woolley.

The Scientists were: Cavendish, Darwin, Faraday, Fleming, Newton, Priestley and Rutherford.

( Map of Area showing Roads)

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