The following recollections are from Mrs Sybil Rouse who was born into the Three Bridges community in 1920.

By the river's edge once stood the flourmill with the largest grindstone I'd seen. The mill house, owned by the two Caffyn brothers, was also inhabited by a curious collection of fowl and smelly goats. People out for a Sunday afternoon stroll gave the house a wide berth; it was very picturesque but not the place to linger on a summer's day. The village children were curious about the house and its strange occupants but after being chased by the Billy goat that was untethered, they kept their distance as none of them could outrun him.

Gone is the enormous oak tree where King Charles once hid on his flight to France, or so father once told me, but I didn't believe that, it was nowhere near the sea. What would a king be doing here? Neither did I believe the story that mother's family tree had been traced to the first Duke of Norfolk who lived in Arundel Castle, if that were true Alice wondered why they were so poor.

The floodgates that controlled the flow of water were meant to be opened in danger of flood but whoever was in charge, often forgot until half of the village was under water. Some once took a boat out, the children had a wonderful time getting as wet as possible, the South Sea Island canoe, hanging suspended from the ceiling in the junk shop never seeing water, promptly sank when the flood burst through the door.

During World War 11, Alice's father was taken to work on an American Army lorry when the water reached half way up New Street where the family lived. It was all great fun until the water receded leaving everywhere covered in mud. Huge rats appeared from nowhere. The flood gates were removed, the river diverted, it put a stop to all the flooding and all the fun. The mill pond, now drained, was shallow and easily frozen in winter, but it once echoed to shrieks and screams as village children showed off their skills of sliding and skating, the scene lit by dozens of candles in jam jars. Then it was home to hot cocoa and bed. With one of father's old railway coats on the bed it was warm, the coat so heavy, one was unable to move, little wonder that father suffered from back ache wearing one of those. The pond now lies under the playing fields of Hazelwick School.

A superstore, car park and filling station have since been built on part of those playing fields, adding to the traffic congestion in the village and more hazards for future generations of school children.

The Mix family owned the Tilgate Park estate, a beautiful mansion that could be seen from miles away.

The estate covered over 3,000 acres of forest and included three lakes, one of which was used by Sir Malcolm Campbell, who lived in nearby Reigate, as a testing bed for one of his famous Bluebird engines.

My mother, when she was still single, had held the position of head parlour maid to two spinster sisters who were members of the Mix family. The two Miss Mix's were both scout mistresses and drove the only Austin 7 with a canvas hood to be seen in the village.

They insisted on wearing elastic-sided boots and long skirts that swept the ground, long after these went out of fashion.

The last member of the family, a lieutenant in the Royal Navy, drowned in one of his own lakes on an early morning swim.

Later used as a billet for troops from overseas, the mansion was demolished as being too costly to repair. The park was purchased cheaply by the Council and is now a leisure centre, with a restaurant on the site of the mansion. The stable block complete with clock tower is now a private residence.