Terry Piper, who had been evacuated from Old Portsmouth to the Weston part of the parish in about 1942 when he was aged 5 and who came to the ‘Bygone Buriton’ Heritage Bank Exhibition in September 2019, has returned to the village again – bringing some old photographs from his stay almost 80 years ago.
Along with many other families he had stayed in the wooden hop-pickers’ huts on the Seward’s farm in Weston. Terry can recall sing songs (his uncle used to play an accordion) and families walking to the Jolly Sailor pub on the Causeway. When all the wooden huts burnt down in 1943 his family, along with many others, lost all their belongings.
They then spent some time in Petersfield, before coming back to Weston after brick huts had been built. He recalls walking to Buriton School every day (“this felt like a very long walk for a 5 year old”) and after the war the family returned to Portsmouth.
His old black and white photos show some of the other families who were staying at the Weston huts during the Second World War.
If anyone has any more information about life in the parish at this time, please let us know by contacting us via info@buriton.org.uk
