yes, id love some pictures...im sure my american neighbours would be delighted to see pictures of their former residence. in case you cant email me directly from this site, my email is zippymezippy@hotmail.com.

 

many thanks in advance!

 

nick

   What a fascinating story!  The long arm of coinc idence can be really quite astonishing (though the probability theorists say it's not all that remarkable).

 

   Anyway, welcome to the club.  If you're interested I can send you some pictures of Quornden.  GRP

 

 

Im in my late 30s, and now live in the USA, however as a child i was brought up by my parents in a house in Toys Hill (called "Beechwood"), next to the national trust car park. Anyway, my parents used to drive me past Quornden on my daily commute to school in Sevenoaks, and i always use to admire what a magnificant house and garden it was! I cannot remember the surname of the owners at the time, but there was a boy at my school (who was the same age as me) who used to live there...American chap.

 

So then fast forward to present day. Due to my work, i ended up moving to the USA 2 years ago, and just recently we bought a house out here from an American couple, in their late 60s/early 70s. This couple had remained very close to the house we bought from them, so we invited them around for drinks just a couple of nights ago. Anyway, it turns out that when she was younger, she lived with her parents in Kent. Not only in Kent, but in Ide Hill. And yes, in Quornden!

 

Incredibly strange coincidence. So through apparently entirely unrelated events, i used to live just down the road from this house, i used to go to school with someone who lived there, and i have bought a house in america from someone who used to live there as a child!

 

i then couldnt resist googling the name, and came across this place, and thought id share my little story!

 

   Thank you for your reply to my enquiry.  I apologise for the delay in answering but I kept getting "ACCESS DENIED" when I tried to log on.

 

   The reponse to my query has been extremely gratifying.  I'll get in touch with you next week and tell you all about it: this is Thanksgiving Weekend in Canada and we are very busy with visitors at the moment.

 

  "bye for now, G

 

I definitely have some photos of the house and, I think, of Colinette farm which we also owned.

 

I can rake them out and scan them if you haven't already got enough from other sources.

 

I have no idea if this will ever come to your attention, so I will keep this brief. My family lived for years - in somewhat mysterious circumstances! - before and during the war at Quornden, and my mother - then a young girl - knew your father Harvey well, telling me that he was a wonderful man and a fine pianist, and also  Benjamin, your grandfather, I believe (?) My grandmother and her elder sister Wyn - who amongst other things ran the farm there - also lived there, as well as my mother's younger brother, and for reasons not yet come to light were told by the Constants that they could live there in perpetuity. 

   My mother has many photos of the place taken over the years, she says, though I am yet to be convinced she knows where they are at the present! Please get in touch if you wish to explore any of this further with me.

 

Best wishes,

Nicky