Stan was born in October 1929 in the village of Peene the 5th of 11 children. Although his youngest brother died in early childhood the rest of the family grew up in a 3 bedroom house, 14 Underhill Cottages which would be unheard of these days.
These were happy times and as a family they all used to walk every Sunday morning 2 or 3 miles to the Methodist Chapel in Folkestone, until the start of the World War II that was after which it was considered too dangerous, so then they started going to the local Parish Church in Newington
Christmases were memorable as the Family would walk to Uncle Bills in Folkestone, where they would enjoy indoor fireworks and would all sleep on the floor in the front room.
Stan, went to the small village school in Newington, next to the Parish Church and left school aged 14, in 1944 and started work as a Farm Labourer on Vinsons Farm in the village, the start of a lifelong love of Farming. Although recently we found papers among Stans possessions he had completed for a medical assessment about himself in which he said – “although I have been a farmer all my life, I have never milked a cow or sheared a sheep”
Stan continued to live at home until he got married to Elsie and they moved to a small cottage in Newington opposite the Church. Although they were married for over 20 years, the marriage sadly ended in Divorce.
Another of Stans passions was the Newington & District Gardeners Association of which we know from the old minute book we found recently in his belongings that he was a founder member when the association was formed in 1963, together with his brothers Joe & Fred with Fred as the first Chairman of the Association and Stan the first Treasurer.
Stan left Newington in the late 1960’s when he got a new job as a Tractor Driver on The Brabourne Estate near Ashford and he moved to Joe Farm Cottages in Smeeth which was the start of a long and most enjoyable chapter in his life. Although Stan was an experienced Tractor Driver he did not hold a licence to drive a car on the road so it was only after moving to Smeeth he passed his driving test.
Joe Farm and The Brabourne Estate created many great friendships and memories for Stan, and for many of his family. Although Stan did not have children himself, he was blessed with over 20 nieces and nephews and one day each year there was an open invite for all his nieces and nephews and their families to meet up at Stans, for a walk and a family picnic and usually an impromptu game of farmyard cricket. Since Stans passing so many have commented on their fantastic memories of these gatherings and we also know that they meant so much to Stan as well.
One of these occasions which sticks in my mind was when the local MP Michael Howard who I believe was Home Secretary at the time was living in a House on the Estate and therefore there were extremely high levels of security. This was not going to stop “Stans Family walk” and he had got special permission that his family could walk along the footpath next to Michael Howards house, which otherwise had been closed to the public. On this occasion there must have been over 40 of us, including prams etc and I recall the look of increasing bewilderment on the face of this heavily armed policeman guarding the footpath as we all trapsed past saying we were part of Stans Family!
As a “townie” it was always an adventure being taken to visit Stan on the Farm. On one occasion when I was probably about 10 or 11, although Stan was the Arable Farm Manager, I remember one dark evening he had a phone call asking if he could help one of the stockmen as one of their Bulls had got into someone else’s field. Jill & I went along with Stan and the stockman and were purposefully striding across the field when suddenly out of the darkness we were faced with this fearsome bull, well I do not think Jill or I had ever run so fast before or since as we turned round and leapt back over the gate to see Stan and his colleague still standing next to the bull laughing and grinning at how we had panicked, needless to say neither of us would go back in that field.
Stan continued working and living on the Farm until he was 70, when he bought his first ever property, the Bungalow in Lyminge where he lived for over 20 years, and a brand new car of his own, a Skoda. He would often use the car to visit his brothers and sisters and also take his sister Dorothy and on other occasions his brother Joe and his wife Nonie on day trips to the country and to the coast.
On Saturday evenings he would take his Sister Mary and Sister-in-Law Nonie to Bingo in Dover, his regular phone call on a Sunday to my Mum would be full of who had won and how close they had come to scooping the jackpot.
Stan was also one of the volunteers to tend the Gardens at The Pilgrims Hospice., a role he thoroughly enjoyed and through which he made further friendships.
The extent of Stans friendship group was apparent at Christmas when Stan would often stay with either mine or Jill’s family. He would always have more presents than anyone, that is including our Children. Also, any of our friends and neighbours who met Stan would then repeatedly ask after Uncle Stan throughout the year when ever we spoke or saw them.
The friendships that Stan made knew no bounds and this became even more apparent to me a few years after Stan had retired when he was in hospital and I was surprised to have an answerphone message for me to call Lady Brabourne directly to update her personally about Stan. Lady Brabourne was genuinely concerned to have learnt that Stan was in hospital and said she would visit him at the Bungalow when he was back home, which I know she did on more than one occasion.
Stan spent the last few months at Montfort Manor Nursing Home where he was very soon part of their family, and although restrictions meant we were unable to visit very often I know from conversations with the Staff how they like so many of us felt he was special.
Stan was a much-loved Brother, Uncle and Friend to many who will be sadly missed.