An audience with Denis Tavner

It seems that Denis has always been at the heart of our village but in fact he moved here when he retired in 1995 to be near one of his three sons who lives in Norwich.  Whatever the village activity Denis seems to be in the thick of it.  He is a Parish Councillor and a member of the Village Hall Committee.  He also seems to have a great knack of winning raffle prizes at the Red Lion Coffee mornings.  However, Denis already knew East Anglia well as after leaving school at the age of 14 he worked for an electrical contractor in Catford in South London, and was responsible for getting the pay packets to the workmen on the many airfields in our  region.

School was in Brockley where Denis, with four sisters and three brothers, was born in 1929.  It was a happy childhood - although they had very little they wanted for nothing.  His father worked as a coal merchant but served as a special constable during the war.  Mr Tavner senior was also a member of the Great Britain gold medal tug o’ war team in 1934.  Denis recalls of his mother “she never had her hands out of water”.  He also remembers her coming to school to get her packet of ‘Players Weights’ that Denis had bought for her and inadvertently taken to school!

Being in London during WW2 was an experience for Denis.  He witnessed the daylight bombing of his local school that took the lives of dozens of children and teachers. He also witnessed the doodlebugs falling on nearby Lewisham & Blackheath. He remembers the rocket sites on Blackheath where, before the war, he had had fun at the travelling fairs. 

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As was usual in those days Denis was conscripted and chose to join the Royal Navy as a Seaman.  He served on HMS Superb, a cruiser and HMS Rocket, a destroyer.  His vessels worked as escorts for the carriers Implacable & Illustrious and he remembers seeing Barracudas, Sea Fires & Sea Furies taking off and landing on the decks.   He loved his time in the Navy and would have stayed in after his time as a conscript ended were it not for an accident which cost him the sight in one eye.  It seems that Health & Safety has come on a long way since those days!  After leaving the Navy Denis qualified as a Quantity Surveyor and joined Bovis.  On marrying he moved out of London to Badgers Mount in Kent where he built himself a house.  In those days a plot of land cost just £2500!

Denis recalls that he was an enthusiastic dancer spending time in the dance hall above Burtons in nearby Eltham or at the Thursday dance at Welling Embassy where he loved the swing bands - including the Billy Cotton Band.  He may not be cutting so many shapes on the dance floor now but an interest that has stayed with him all his life is breeding hens, especially show birds.  He has been a member of the Poultry Club of Great Britain for over 50 years and has in the past been a judge.  He still shows his birds at the Norfolk Show.  

It was a real pleasure to chat with Denis about his life and his memory is undimmed.  If you were ever a train spotter you will be impressed to know that he can name all 40 of the Southern Region Schools Class locomotives from 30900 Eton to 30939 Leatherhead!

Features Editor