Love inspired

   This is a photograph of the Regent cinema on the right opposite York House in Twickenham where I met my Wife who was an usherette. It has since been knocked down to make way for a garage. She sold me a very long lasting Choc Ice. We courted for 5 years, longer than they do now and married in 1960. I have been happily married ever since. My cousin was the projectionist for a number of years and I used to go with him to choose the interval records from week to week. The projector was of the carbon arc type and films were transported from one cinema to the next by whatever mode of transport each projectionist had. I have a copy of this photograph from Frith on my wall just to remind me of my marriage vows!  

From a memory by Des Adams. Click here to read the full memory.

   I lived in Mountain Ash and my husband-to-be lived in Cardiff, so we both used to travel on the bus to Pontypridd to meet up. From there we would walk up to the monument for a kiss and a cuddle. We spent many happy hours up here thinking of our future together. Some times it was so cold we could hardly walk back to the bus as we were frozen. Now 47 years later we sometimes travel to Merthyr and every time we pass the monument we have lovely memories.  

From a memory by Joy Lewis. Click here to read the full memory.

   During the summer holidays as a teenager, my friends and I spent hours and hours on the Parrog - playing on "Bank Y Rhodyn", swimming at "Betws" and "The Cwm" which are small beaches a little further along the coast - all within walking distance. Many of us experienced a holiday romance during those summer months. That first kiss upon Bank y Rhodyn was an experience never to be forgotten. A summer love made all the more romantic living with such beauty around us.  

From a memory by Linda. Click here to read the full memory.

   In June 1964 a group of us Belfast grammar school boys crossed the sea to Liverpool and took the long coach journey south to spend the school summer vacation working in the Bournemouth beach cafes. We grew our school regulation short-back-and sides down to our shoulders. Of course we were incarcerated in the dark steamy wash-ups of the cafe during the blazing daytime hours. But the evenings were mellow and divine; we seemed to float in the softness, between the pier and the gardens. Bournemouth had a continental feeling about it. We sang Irish folk songs, sitting on the grass, as the light slowly failed. We would visit the bowling alley and eat chips before getting back to bed by about half-past-ten. Later there was light-hearted flirtation and romance with a group of local girls. Whatever became of little blonde Carol, I wonder? It was one of those summers of youth to last forever as a glow of enchantment in the memory. I was 16 then and will be 60 next year. When we got home to Belfast our long hair and pink shirts caused heads to turn along Royal Avenue. We came back feeling like a pop group.  

From a memory by John McMillan. Click here to read the full memory.