The Good Old Days

   When I was about 6-7 years old this was a favorite place to come and fish for minnows and frog spawn. The Summers seemed endless and jam jars were a precious item to us as they were needed to bring home the results of the days exploits. I think the mill was still working then, I know the water wheel certainly was. All you needed was your jar of course a stick, some thin string or cotton, a few worms and a bent pin. We would spend hours there. Across the road were the 'Rally Banks' which was the railway embankment and bridges another favorite play ground; as there was lots of undergrowth to play Cowboys and Indians in. In the winter when it snowed they were used as mini sledge runs. Seasonal treats were bunches of 'pussy willow' in the spring and blackberries in the late Summer, both of which could be guaranteed to pacify your Mum if you were late back!  

From a memory by Richard Child. Click here to read the full memory.

   I remember the day that this engine arrived in the rec. It was a source of great entertainment for us youngsters particulary, as originally everything was accessible. I remember climbing up on the footplate and seeing a little lad emerging from the firebox. It was rumoured that it was possible to get into the boiler and exit up the funnel but I never saw it done! It was great for playing hide and seek - I found one hiding place that no-one ever found. Sadly, even back then, Steel plates were soon welded over the more interesting points of access but it remained a popular attraction on every visit to the rec. Notice the railings around the roof? They are more recent. One proof of male bravado amongst the 9 to 12 year olds was jumping off the roof onto the grass below. Can you imagine that happening nowadays? I do not live in Daventry any more and I was saddened on a recent visit to see the state that the old chuffer had been allowed to get into.  

From a memory by Dave Cairns. Click here to read the full memory.

   I worked as a staff nurse at this fine hospital for several years in the sixties. I was hired to work in the Renal Unit, however it had not yet opened when I started. I was put to work wherever extra hands were needed until it did. I worked Friday, Saturday & Sunday nights as I was married with a baby. I remember my husband driving up this approach to drop me off for night duty. It was a great place to work, with marvellous experience - I learned at the "scene of the accident" as we all did then. I nursed Glasgow's first kidney transplant patient, whom I will never forget. I remember being sent out in an ambulance in 1968 (I believe) when a tenement building collapsed during the night of the "Great Storm". There was a tremendous sense of camaraderie between co-workers at the Western - we all helped each other without regard to rank or job e.g. the nurses would give the cleaner a hand if her workload was too great. It was never dull. My husband, a graduate of Glasgow University School Of Medicine, also worked here post-grad and looks back fondly on his time at the Western.  

From a memory by Eileen Smith. Click here to read the full memory.

   Brynmawr is a quiet little town on the edge of the valley roads. These photos bring back memories of all the hills I climbed, picnics on the mountain, paddling in the pond across from our house in Warwick Road. Snow 6ft deep in Winter. I remember the old steam train passing our house, I would wave to the driver and he would wave back to me standing on a low wooden fence. Everything was at a slow pace in the 50's. We would go to the local cinema and see mainly westerns in those days. Then come out and get a bag of chips and wander back home, just simple easygoing things.  

From a memory by Jackie Haynes. Click here to read the full memory.