https://spitalfieldslife.com/2025/08/13/roy-wild-hop-picker-iii/ In the midst of life I woke to find myself living in an old house beside Brick Lane in the East End of London Wed, 13 Aug 2025 14:56:43 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://spitalfieldslife.com/2025/08/13/roy-wild-hop-picker-iii/#comment-1774829 Wed, 13 Aug 2025 14:56:43 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=204078#comment-1774829 My eldest brother was a keen rock climber & mountaineer, and during my very early teens, often took me to Harrison’s Rocks in Kent at the weekends. We’d go by train and there was a choice of two stations where we could disembark, but either one meant we had a walk across large hop fields to get to the Rocks. One was Eridge, and I’m racking my brains trying to remember the other one; perhaps Tunbridge Wells. I’d never heard of hop picking until that time, but found it fascinating. Once I’d started at senior school, there were several gypsy families who all went hop picking, so their daughters never turned up at school until well into October. I was quite envious of them!

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