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Alcombe
Alcombe maps
Historic maps of Alcombe and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Alcombe maps
Alcombe area books
Displaying 1 of 11 books about Alcombe and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Alcombe
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memories of Alcombe.
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Alcombe School
This is a very exciting discovery for me because it is one of the oldest photographs I have seen of a part of old Alcombe that I can recognise, even at my great distance from the UK.
My Great-Grandfather George Mildon had a school at Alcombe from the year of his marriage to Alice Frankpitt in 1874. He evidently bought the school from a Francis Ransome who had lived there with his wife Ann, their 4 children, his Assistant Thomas Kemm, 2 servants and a number of boarding pupils.
After 20 years teaching in Alcombe, in 1894 George Mildon sold the school, and with their 6 children, they emigrated to New Zealand.
The following details are as we can reconstruct from recent research, which has placed the school down the modern Manor Road off to the photographers right, which was once an extension of Combeland Road seen here to the photographers front. The school master's family and the boarders' accommodation probably occupied the two residential buildings to... Read more
Growing up in Alcombe
I was living with my grandparents at that time, Amy & Sid Berry, their son Stanley (uncle to me) was the local hairdresser and he went around on a pushbike, later a moterbike & side car, to cut local men's hair. Everybody knew Stan, he later opened a shop in Alcombe next door to the fish & chip shop & later a shop by Legs sweet shop in Alcombe. I have lovely memories of those years, and my aunt, Stan's sister, still lives in the same house in Hayfield Road where I was born (a sister & brother of mine were also born there). Times must have been hard in those years but for me they were happy times, always people coming in to see my Gran who also had people staying at different times that had been billeted out because of the war so Gran was kept busy with cooking and washing, there were no wash machines, fridges, microwaves etc like today's modcoms, still she kept happy. I... Read more
Esville Combeland Road
I was born in the house on the right hand side of the photograph.It was the home of my grandparents David and Lydia Howells who had moved to Alcombe during the depression.Both were staunch methodists and belonged to the Alcombe Metodist Church.The Howells had three daughters Esme(still living) Lena amd my mother Millicent.I had many happy memories of living in this house.The shop at that time was run as a grocery shop by the Veales and remember vividly going in for my bags of broken biscuits and gob stoppers.
Somerset memories
School Carol Concert
This was where my mother and father were married in 1937.
I used to walk up to the Church with the whole of Minehead Grammar School for our annual Christmas Carol Service. Our lovely music teacher, Mr Langdon, used to play the organ and I can still hear the bass notes reverberating around the Church while we sang 'God is Love' in Latin.
Pony Rides
We used to call this 'the donkey slip'. It was where the Webber family started their donkey and later pony rides.
My friend and I used to be in charge of the pony rides during the summer season sometime in the 50's.
We weren't paid but had the joy of riding the ponies bareback to their field on North Hill at the end of the day, after cleaning the tackle and putting it in the stables.
NAN'S CHRISTENING
MY GREAT GRANDPARENTS THOMAS AND LOUISA SPARKES AND THEIR CHILDREN MOVED FROM MINEHEAD TO CARDIFF.
THEIR YOUNGEST CHILD HILDA WHO WAS MY GRANDMOTHER TOLD STORIES TO MY MOTHER AND ONE OF THEM BEING THAT SHE COULD REMEMBER RUNNING UP THE CHURCH STEPS TO HER CHRISTENING IN 1900 WHEN SHE WAS 4 YEARS OLD.
My Time at The Camp.
I was born in Minehead, and have also lived in Dunster, Williton, Timberscombe and Rodhuish, and attended all the schools. I worked in Butlins Holiday Camp at Minehead from 1962-1963.
This was the first full year that the Camp was opened. Most of the time I was working the rides in the amusement park. I helped build the Big Dipper, which was 70ft high, but is gone now. Some nights I sang on the stage under the name of Elvis the 2nd, singing mostly his and Cliff Richard songs. When I was at the camp there was three Dance Floors, One for Rock & Roll, another for ballroom dancing, which once held the Come Dancing competition for the BBC. And the third was for general activities. I danced every night in the ballroom, I was disappointed when I went back to the camp last year (2006) and found that there was no ballroom there now, just the building that housed them. I still go dancing twice a week where we... Read more
