Blind Lane

Blind Lane
Blind Lane


Blind Lane going towards Flackwell Heath c.1930 (picture courtesy of SWOP)	How it looks today

Blind Lane was once a narrow road,
Tree lined and rather dark,
The usual way to reach Bourne End
For films or river lark.

Many are the memories
Of Flackwell girls and boys
Who visited the cinema
And Bourne End's other joys.

Paddling on the river bank,
Swimming in the Thames,
Then the long haul back to Flackwell
When the summer never ends.

Supposedly called Blind Lane due the winding zig zag route to and from Bourne End. This prevented putting too much strain on cart horses climbing or descending the steep gradient. It has also been said that cart horses were blinkered so that they did not become scared by the steepness and narrowness of the hill.

Although there were footpaths across the fields from Flackwell Heath to Cores End, Bourne End and Well End this was the major vehicular route to the shops and railway station in Bourne End. Chalklands, the house owned by Edgar Wallace at the top of Blind Lane, later became the Ramakrishna Vedanta Centre. Several villagers worked for Edgar Wallace and his family during the 1920s.

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