Our previous Personality pages have featured village people who are notable for their long life in the village and/or who have made a significant contribution to the community. Roy and Jill Steggles deserve to be included on both counts.

Born in 1941, Jill was the sixth of nine children of the locally well known family of John and 'Floss' Gardiner. At the time the family were living in School Road Saxon Street, but they later moved to Ditton Green. Her eight brothers and sisters still live in, or not far from, their native village.
Roy started life in 1935 at Barking Essex but early in World War II his family moved to stay with friends at Stetchworth in order to escape the bombing. The war changed countless lives and was indirectly responsible for bringing Roy and Jill together. The Steggles family decided to settle in Stetchworth, so Roy was growing up and going to school there while Jill was doing the same in neighbouring Wood Ditton, both schools still thriving at the time. In those days children did not mix much outside their villages, Roy and Jill may have been aware of each other but it was not until well after they had left school that they really came together. Roy was 24 and Jill 18 when they met at The Three Blackbirds at Ditton Green, then a popular place for local young people.
Their marriage at Wood Ditton Church resulted in 1961 and in 1962 their first son Dale was born.
Initially they lived with Roy's parents at Stetchworth, as council houses were hard to come by for young newly-weds. But the Gardiner family have always been great self-builders and Roy joined in with two of Jill's brothers to build three dwellings, one of them, the bungalow in Stetchworth Road, became their home where their second son, Darren, was born and the one that they have now enjoyed since 1964.

Roy worked as a wood machinist until he retired while Jill held various jobs including latterly a care assistant at a Newmarket residential home. They have both been supporters of the Church for the whole of their married life and are great believers in the importance of a village community. You can bet that with any communal activities Roy and Jill will be to the fore, whether it be organizing and helping with the Church Fete or the social events held at Parsonage Farm. Roy is joint Churchwarden and Tower Captain of the bellringers. Jill is also a keen and competent bellringer and they are both members of the handbell ringers group. Jill is also an active member of the local Woman's Institute.
Looking at their large and beautiful garden it is obvious that Jill loves flowers and is blessed with 'green fingers', while Roy does some of the hard work. Other activities include square or line dancing and indoor bowls at Kirtling and they also enjoy the lovely local walks such as the Devil's Ditch, just across the field behind their garden. They take much pleasure from their three grandchildren.

Although they have seen great changes in village society they still think that the village is a good place to live. It is nice to know that while people like Roy and Jill are around Wood Ditton will still hold on to its identity as a true village community.

August 2004

Other Village Personalities
No 2 - Freda Swann
No 3 - Jack & Doris Scrivener
No 4 - Beryl Woollard
No 5 - Sepp and Daphne Krombacher
No 7 - Ivor & Iris Brown
No 9 - Derrick & Veronica Aspland
No 10 - The Revd. Ann Gurner

Return to Index page