The Board of Governors held a meeting every month on the premises.
During those years I never thought that one day I would work at The
Union.
After working for The Bishop of Dover (Bishop Rose) and his wife, at St.
Martin=s Priory, St. Martin=s Hill, Canterbury, as House Maid and then Parlour
Maid, for five and a half years, I came to work at The Union in 1947, as The
Matron=s Maid. The Matron then was Miss Eborn and I worked for her for ten
years, until she retired and returned to live in her home town of Dover.
During my time at The Union (later to be named The Close), I worked for
seven Matrons. Sometimes my work took on a different role as some of the
Matrons had families, and then I had the children to look after as well.
During the time that Mrs. D. Upton (later to become Mrs. Holway) was
Matron there was talk of The Union / The Close being closed. Matron became
an active campaigner to keep the home in Bridge. None of the staff or the
residents, or in fact the people of Bridge, wanted the home to move into
Canterbury.
The campaign and everyone=s efforts to prevent the move were
successful. The Close was converted into houses / flats and The New Close was
built in Conyngham Lane, Bridge.
We all moved to The New Close in 1982 and here, men and women were
able to live side by side and were not segregated as in the old days.
I retired from The New Close in June 1985, having worked for The Kent
County Council, at The Union / The Close / The new Close, for thirty eight and
a half years. I remained a Committee Member for The New Close Amenity Fund
until the middle of 1997.
10th January,
1999.