Ashdon memories
Here are memories of Ashdon and the local area. You can start now: Add your own Memory of Ashdon or a Ashdon photo.
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Memories of Essex
A Patient's View
When I was eight I was admitted to Saffron Walden General Hospital for surgery. My parents were told that I would be discharged home at the end of the week. I vividly remember the feeling of being suffocated when the pad of chloroform was put over my face to anaesthetise me.
During the week a young girl was admitted to the ward with suspected Polio. She was put into a glass encased cubicle and the next day she was transferred to the isolation hospital. It was decided that all the children in the ward should be put into quarantine for three weeks, so my week turned into four! Visiting hours were restricted to a short time in the afternoon on Tuesdays, Thursdays and at the weekends as it was considered unsettling for children to see their parents more frequently! The weeks seemed very long. However, it obviously didn't affect me too adversely as, ten years later, I trained to be a SRN (State Registered Nurse!)
In later years... Read more
A Meeting Place
In the 1950's the building on the right of the picture was the Corn Exchange. The local farmers used to congregate there on Tuesdays which was market day. The buiding is now used as the public library.
Market day was not only stalls on the market square, as it is today. In the 1950's I remember that there was also a livestock market just around the corner from the market square. There were sheep and cattle. Next door there were hens, rabbits and auctions took place there. Later a pig market was constructed nearby.
When my grandparents, who lived in Derbyshire, came to stay, Grandpa would take me to the market. He enjoyed it as much as I did but for him it was also a novelty because there weren't any livestock markets in his home town.
Appeal For Information
Hello
I don't have a memory as such. I am one of the current owners of the Saffron Hotel and am looking into its history and would love to hear from anyone of their memories and also any insight they can provide on its history. I have a certain amount of information obtained from census information but any other information would be greatly appreciated. We are asked so many times for the history on this great building and feel very embarrassed when we have only limited knowledge.
Many thanks
Angela Baulk
The Rose And Crown
I spent the first night following my wedding here so that spot will always have a special memory for me. The room was old and I seem to remember the floor was very uneven, however we did manage to have a great first night! My parents lived in Saffron for a number of years, eventually emigrating to New Zealand. I joined them later, minus my bride sadly.
I have visited Saffron on trips back to the UK on a number of occasions, it is still a beautiful little town and a place full of many happy memories. One special memory I have is of the delicious pork sausages available from the butcher's shop not far from the market square, they were a regular dish on a Saturday when I visited my parents in Saffron.
Childhood
I lived in Saffron Walden as a small child, I moved away when I was aged 10 but still think of it as home. There used to be a fishmongers in King Street which I think is a butchers now and we lived in the flat above it. I went to R.A. Butler School and spent many happy hours playing on the common. I remember clearly the night that the Rose and Crown Hotel burnt down as we could see it from our windows. My mum worked in the Saffron Hotel and I used to visit her at work sometimes with my gran for a bottle of coke and a packet of crisps. My mum's friend Muriel ran the Youth hostel in Magdalen Way and my friend Colin's family ran the Hoops pub. I got ran over by a car once on the corner of the road by the Hoops! I don't get back to Walden often enough, usually a family party or funeral, and really should make the effort... Read more
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