Post Office c1955, Bassaleg
Post Office c1955, Bassaleg Ref: B670006
Memories of Post Office c1955, Bassaleg
Wonderful Memories Growing up in Bassaleg
I lived in Bassaleg from the age of 3, (1955), when Church Crescent and surrounding area was being developed. I lived in Church Crescent with my family until I left for Manchester in 1976. I went to the Graig Secondary Modern School as it was called then. After school I worked a couple of hours at Bassaleg Post Office. It was run by Mrs Mabel Bevan, who later on, after the death of her husband Ray, married her cousin Stan Bubb. Her nephew, an accomplished athelete, Lynn, also lived there. The post office was split into two halves, the post office itself was at the back of the building and I worked in the front part, selling sweets, cigarettes, and groceries. I was only around 14 years of age, something I wouldn't be able to do nowadays. I left school at 15 and worked full-time in the post office. I loved meeting all the villagers, and enjoyed my time there. Eventually I got a job in Newport at a store... Read more
Group News
I have in my possesion a monthly magazine called 'Group News', July1951. It was printed by Whitehad Iron & Steel Co Ltd. It refers to the Annual Sports Day and Gala Day on the above date. There are pictures of the war landings, but also in the magazine there are pictures of the following people: Mr S Whiting winning the 100 yards race, M Lewis second, K Sargent third, Barbara Nethercott winning the ladies race. Also there are photographs of the following people: Patricia O'Neil, Mr and Mrs F W Holyoake (taken in Scotland), Stanley and Christopher Davies (taken in Trafalgar Square), Mr J Fitzgerald and his daughter Pearl (taken in Pill), Malcolm Lewis winning the 440 yards, a photo of the Whiteheads' cricket team, and finally there are photos of Mr and Mrs Deakin (pictured at their wedding), Mr and Mrs L College (also pictured at their wedding), and Mr and Mrs R C Greening - Mr Greening held the 440 hurdles record. And finaly there is a... Read more
Bassaleg & local memories
Read and share memories of Bassaleg and Gwent inspired by Frith photos.
William Lewis
I started my apprenticeship as an agricultural engineer at the garage of William Lewis on the corner of Forge Lane and Newport Road. Then there was not much traffic and so like all the boys we used to drive the tractors up and down the main road. It was there that I met and remembered my late wife Tegwen there. She was attending the Bassaleg Secondary School which was behind our our unloading yard. We used to play rugby on the gravel patch. The children from the school would walk past the garage and like all lads we would chat them up and get dates. The garage lasted several years after we transfered to Newport Road on Rumney Common in Cardiff.The garage had been a forge and a lot of work was carried out for the Tredegar House Estate at the other end of Forge Lane originally before being taken over by William Lewis. The lane had been developed into a dual carriage way during the Second World War. Now... Read more
Bassaleg Railway Station
I was 4 in 1960, but I remember my dad working as a goods guard on the railway at the back of our house in Church Crescent, He used to go over the garden fence to work, and catch the train to Brecon, and North Wales from Newport. We would watch for him going up and down the line, and wave from the garden. It was quite an experience catching the train from Bassaleg Station, which is now Junction 28 restaurant.
Also Bassaleg Church School by the river, I remember many days there with the Head Teacher Mr Merlin Jones, who later married Miss Jones, a teacher who came to Bassaleg from Rhiwderin School. We often had trips to church at St Basil's. Those were the days when school was run like the military.
