Nostalgic memories of Andover's local history
Share your own memories of Andover and read what others have said
For many years now, we've been inviting visitors to our web site to add their own memories to share their experiences of life as it was when the photographs in our archive were taken. From brief one-liners explaining a little bit more about the image depicted, to great, in-depth accounts of a childhood when things were rather different than today (and everything inbetween!). We've had many contributors recognising themselves or loved ones in our photographs.
Why not add your memory today and become part of our Memories Community to help others in the future delve back into their past.
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It's easy to add your own memories and reconnect with your shared local history. Search for your favourite places and look for the 'Add Your Memory' buttons to begin
Displaying Memories 11 - 20 of 26 in total
Back in the 1950's my father was the signal man crossing keeper at the Andover Town signal box. Trains running from Andover Junction would travel down line to Southampton, crossing the main road by the Odeon Cinema. We lived in a cottage at the level crossing just down the line at Rooksberry Crossing where my mother was the crossing keeper to the crossing gates serving the big house across the line which I ...see more
This photo is significant to me since I attended this school in the late 1930s/early 1940s. I was a member of Hanson House and played football on the sports field to the right of the pool. I rode a bicycle to school from Weyhill. I was a volunteer student air raid warden at the school. The male students spent the night in the male teachers room, the women in the female teachers room. We were never hit! The school's air ...see more
Does anyone else remember the open air swimming pool? We loved going there when we were kids. Kids today would have loved it. Such a shame they get rid of these sort of things, does anyone have any old photos of this?
I lived with my father, an officer in the Air Force, and my mother and brother in a good solid house on the Air Force base in Andover. I went to Portway Primary School by the airforce school bus and would be allowed threepence worth of sweets from the Linga Longa sweet shop around the corner from the school. I remember my years here as very happy. We had a wonderful Headmaster who, after he had been to see the stage ...see more
I returned to Andover in August 2010 and was as excited as the day we left in November 1956 when my family decided we were going to Australia. 54 years is a long time and I think that my wife was surprised at how much I remembered because I was only 12 when we left.
If you know "Black Swan Yard" there is a small shop there with a window and a small door, it is not being used now but when I was there I helped my dad ...see more
William Hawkins Heath was my Gt Gt Grandfather and I am trying to find out more about him, his siblings and successors.
Just after the war Dad, Mum and I would travel every other weekend to visit aunts and uncles and cousins on our Norton motorbike and sidecar. We usually based our visit with Aunt Flo and Uncle Stan (a wartime despatch rider, now back with his wife), they lived at 27 Wellington Road at the top end of a steep road about 100 metres up the hill, and the amazing thing was their Golden Retriever would bark as ...see more
So many memories, where to start? I was born 1961 and grew up in The Crescent, just off Weyhill Road.......the rattling trains full of gravel making the house shake, the outside toilet (visits in the middle of the night in winter were at olympic record level), Mrs Mabeys apple trees...scrumping i think it was called! The smell of the pig farm if the wind was in the wrong direction on a hot summers day, building ...see more
Before Chantry Way was developed, the town library was situated in the building on the right of this picture. The thrill of being able to indulge myself, for free, in books, books and more books still resides in me today. I swear I can still smell the distinctive aroma of the building once you stepped through its doors!
I was stationed in the RE's in Andover - Barton Stacey camp. Remember shopping in 'International Stores' supermarket as they had good looking girls ! I also recall being in a cafe when some of the Troggs came in. Happy days, must return for a visit some day.
