Annesley

Colin Topley is trying to reach his friends from Annesley, in the hopes that they might all form a reunion in the not too distant future. Colin can be reached by landline on: 01233 623 336  If you have difficulty in getting in touch with Colin, please leave a message with Goldonian Web or send an email to Colin direct by clicking on his name that is in blue.

Annesley, one of the many small homes dotted around the country, Annesley, was at Bank nr Lyndhurst, Hampshire, and like many of these homes, fed many boys to Goldings, Gordon Hollier, Stanley Wright, the Townsend brothers, Micky Beare, and many more,

The house as we knew it is no more, it was converted into flats many years ago, and there is no public access to the house or the gardens, so we will have to content ourselves with a walk round the outside. I did visit the house and surrounding area about five years ago, with my new partner who was interested in my past. I was surprised how small the building and gardens were, as a child they seemed so big! and the oak tree, from which I fell and broke my arm is still there.

Bob Cox

This photograph was taken in the gardens of Annesley about 1952, do you recognise yourself? The names I recall from, left to right are: myself (Bob Cox); ?; Micky Beare; Stanley Wright; ?; ?; Kenneth Lockey; ?; Leslie Reed; ?;?;?; Elspeth Weatherall; ?;?;?. What was the name of our dog, was it Spike?

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I have always had a near photographic memory & have retained very clear memories indeed of this home, including the names of most of the children & staff members. I have managed to re-establish contact with some of my fellow-inmates. The superintendent from the time the home opened during WW2 until it closed in 1970 was a Mr Weatherall aided by his wife. Due to their being in charge the whole time, their culture was taken on by each new staff member as they settled in, with a few notable exceptions who genuinely knew how children such as we should be treated; our response to them proved them right. Mr. W. is still alive & almost 100 years old. She is dead. I will say no more about either as I'm in touch with their son Guy who I like. There were several housemasters while I was there: the very civilised Mr Jones & his nice wife; Mr Lambert who could be ok but got less ok prior to his leaving though he did teach us some good songs, his favourite saying in his Lancashire accent was "Right, monkeys..."; there was a temporary master Mr Garner straight from a Remand Home, tough but very fair; then there was Mr Mills & his wife, too fond of hitting kids he was; then Mr & Mrs Charlton, he seemed ok but wasn't, later called up into the RAF; when I left there was the comparatively young Mr Sheehan who seemed cold & unemotional but at least didn't hit us. The matrons were: Mis Gunton, irritable & "handy"; Miss Salomon who I thought at first was too strict but got to like later; Swiss Miss Hangartner, too handy; Miss Tucker now Mrs Lang, married to a fellow Annesley boy Pete Lang; Mrs Pike, not too bad; Miss Eames, sometimes ok, sometimes not; a Dutch lady we all loved deeply, Miss Praal later Mrs Macdonald; the awful German Miss Kurzler; the lovely German Miss Fruhtel; the gorgeous & friendly Miss Court. The cook was a wonderful tiny woman, Miss Janet Shaw who saved many of us from beatings as she hated to see us hit. We paid for a commemorative bench which is still in the village of Bank across from the pub (see attached photo). We all had numbers which were marked on our clothing & other belongings, e.g. I was 22 & on the labels of our shirts, for instance, was marked DBH 22. However, we were not referred to as numbers, usually by our surnames if boys, Christian names if girls but boys' Christian names would be used if we were lucky enough to have a half- civilised staff member. It would be a mammoth task to write out the events of the years during which I was there but I already began the job some time ago, anyway. Please let me know if you would like clarification on any point or if you need more info.

All the best Colin